Pitangus lictor
Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The lesser kiskadee (Philohydor lictor) is a species of passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Panama and every mainland South American country except Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, though only as a vagrant in Argentina.
The lesser kiskadee was described by the German naturalist and explorer Hinrich Lichtenstein in 1823 and given the binomial name Lanius lictor, mistakenly placing it with the shrikes. It was later moved to genus Pitangus to join the great kiskadee (P. sulphuratus). As early as 1957 one author suggested that it belonged in its own genus. Its present genus Philohydor was introduced by the American ornithologist Wesley Edwin Lanyon in 1984. By 2001 some authors had adopted the movement of the lesser kiskadee to that genus. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World adopted it in 2016 and the IOC by 2018. The North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy adopted it in 2022 and the AOS South American Classification Committee in early 2023.
The genus name Philohydor is from Ancient Greek philos for "-loving" and hudōr, "water"... Wikipedia →
Recording0:23
Brazil · 2015
© Luciano Bernardes · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:20
Brazil · 2021
© Marllus Rafael Almeida · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 10 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 11 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 12 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 14 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 15 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 16 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 5 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Kiskadee sighting in Yasuní National Park on a given day, based on 1,246 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 26th most-seen of the 533 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.
September and October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Kiskadee in Yasuní National Park on a given day, against about 30% in February to July, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lesser Kiskadee 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 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Lesser Kiskadee sightings, Yasuní National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 50%) and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Kiskadee is recorded against all the birds logged in Yasuní National Park (1,246 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.
