Oilbird: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the oilbird lives – recorded in 9 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Steatornis caripensis
Group	Cuckoos, turacos & other birds
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	9 countries
Continents	North America, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Steatornithiformes
Family	Steatornithidae

Where does the oilbird live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the oilbird in 9 countries and territories across North America and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil, South America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the oilbird endangered?

The oilbird’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the oilbird?

The oilbird (Steatornis caripensis) is a bird in the order Steatornithiformes and the family Steatornithidae, genus Steatornis. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the oilbird

The oilbird (Steatornis caripensis), locally known as the guácharo, is a bird species found in the northern areas of South America including the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the only living species in the genus Steatornis, the family Steatornithidae, and the order Steatornithiformes. Nesting in colonies in caves, oilbirds are nocturnal feeders on the fruits of the oil palm and tropical laurels. They are the only nocturnal flying fruit-eating birds in the world (the kākāpō, also nocturnal, is flightless). They forage at night, with specially adapted eyesight. However, they navigate by echolocation in the same way as bats, one of the few birds to do so. They produce a high-pitched clicking sound of around 2 kHz that is audible to humans.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Oilbird (revision 1378321881), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q213785 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).