Phytotoma rara
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The rufous-tailed plantcutter (Phytotoma rara), sometimes called the Chilean plantcutter, is a passerine bird of southern South America, now placed in the cotinga family. It is a medium-sized bird about 19 centimetres (7.5 in) long with a long black tail with a red base. Males have greyish-brown upper parts, a chestnut crown and breast, and dark facial markings. Females are similar but lack the chestnut crown and have streaked, buff underparts. There is a wing bar which is white in the male and buff in the female. This is a fairly common species with a wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
It is a stocky bird, 18-20 centimetres in length, with short wings and a red eye. The longish tail is black with a reddish base. The upperparts of the male are grey-brown with dark streaks while the crown and underparts are chestnut-coloured. There is a white bar on the wing and a pattern of dark and pale areas on the face. Females have buff underparts with brown streaks and have buff rather than white in the wings. They do not have the males' chestnut crown but may show a cinnamon wash to... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 2 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Plantcutter sighting in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 70 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and November–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Plantcutter in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and April–October, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-tailed Plantcutter sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Rufous-tailed Plantcutter sightings, Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 20%) and Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Rufous-tailed Plantcutter that you can see in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Austral Thrush (about 70%), Chucao Tapaculo (about 70%) and Thorn-tailed Rayadito (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-tailed Plantcutter is recorded against all the birds logged in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (15 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
