Contopus lugubris
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The dark pewee (Contopus lugubris) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is endemic to the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama. This large, dark pewee is found between 1250 m and 2150 m altitude in wet mountain forests, especially at the edges and in clearings, and in adjacent semi-open areas with tall trees. The nest is a broad, thick-walled saucer of mosses and lichens, lined with plant fibres. It is placed 5–18 m high across a branch. The eggs are undescribed, but the female builds the nest, lays only two eggs and incubates the eggs for 15–16 days before they hatch.
The dark pewee is 26.5 cm long and weighs 23 g. The upperparts are sooty-grey, darkest on the prominently crested crown. The wings and tail are blackish, the wings having grey feather edges and a weak wing bar. The throat is pale grey, with most of the rest of the underparts a paler olive-grey than the back, becoming yellowish on the lower belly. Sexes are similar, but young birds are browner above and have rufous fringes to the wing feathers.
The dark pewee is solitary when not breeding. It perches on a high watchpoint from which it sallies forth to catch flying insects, returning to the same exposed perch. This is a conspicuous species, with an incessant loud whip call, and repetitive fred-reek-fear song. It will defend the nest aggressively against larger species, including the emerald toucanet. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Dark Pewee sighting in Volcán Barú National Park on a given day, based on 672 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 296 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Dark Pewee in Volcán Barú National Park on a given day, against about 20% in April, September and November, the lowest months. That is one of Volcán Barú National Park's driest months, with about 90 mm of rain against 460 mm in October.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark Pewee sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Dark Pewee sightings, Volcán Barú National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%) and La Amistad International Park (Panama) (Panama, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark Pewee is recorded against all the birds logged in Volcán Barú National Park (672 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.
