Ramphocaenus melanurus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia. The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus. The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάµϕος, "beak") and cænos (καινός, "strange"). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade. The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".
Thirteen subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 3 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 6 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren sighting in Yasuní National Park on a given day, based on 161 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 259th most-seen of the 533 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–May and July–August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren in Yasuní National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and September–February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-billed Gnatwren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
36th of 54
Of the 54 parks where we can rate Long-billed Gnatwren sightings, Yasuní National Park ranks 36th at under 5%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 40%), Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 30%) and Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-billed Gnatwren is recorded against all the birds logged in Yasuní National Park (161 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.
