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Black-and-yellow Tanager (Chrysothlypis chrysomelas)
Photo: Cricket Raspet, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist
Black-and-yellow Tanager

Family Thraupidae

Black-and-yellow Tanager

Chrysothlypis chrysomelas

In Spanish: Tangara Negro y Dorado

  • Resident
  • Regional endemic

Unmistakable yellow-and-black tanager of Caribbean foothill flocks

The Black-and-yellow Tanager lives in Costa Rica only on the Caribbean slope, in foothill forest on the side of the central mountains. The male is rich yellow with black wings, back and tail, and he is unmistakable.

On a trip we build, it is a bird to look for in mixed tanager flocks in the foothills, such as around Braulio Carrillo National Park, where it moves with Emerald and Speckled Tanagers.

How to find it

Look for it in mixed flocks of tanagers in foothill rainforest. At Quebrada Gonzalez in Braulio Carrillo, one birder found it high up in mixed flocks, and also in the parking lot and along the ridge section of the trail. Small fruiting shrubs in the understory can bring it down, and one birder watched it eating small white berries there with Silver-throated, Speckled and Emerald Tanagers. Forest edges and clearings give the best chance of a closer view.

How to recognise it

Males are mostly rich yellow with a black eye ring, black wings, back and tail, and a dark, stout, cone-shaped bill. They are unmistakable. Adults measure about 12 to 13 cm. Females are much duller: green above and yellow below, sometimes with a whitish belly area. In Costa Rica and far western Panama, females have a whitish throat and lower belly, a trait that sets the local birds apart. Look also for the white tufts at the sides of the breast on females.

Behaviour and diet

It occurs in small groups or joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It eats small fruit, usually swallowed whole, plus insects and spiders. It prefers the canopy of wet forest and tall second growth, so it is often high up. Small fruiting shrubs in the understory can draw it lower, and it will feed lower at forest edges and clearings.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives only on the Caribbean slope. Its range runs from Alajuela Province, near Cerro Santa Maria, south along the east base of the Cordillera Central and the Talamanca range to the Panama border. It is found in foothills and slopes, typically at 600 to 1,200 m and sometimes as low as 400 m. Wet, mossy foothill rainforest is the habitat where flocks may hold a dozen tanager species.

When to see it

It is a year-round resident, so birders can look for it in any month.

Similar birds

Females can be mistaken for a warbler, and for the female Yellow-backed Tanager. The white tufts at the sides of the breast, the colour pattern and the whitish throat and lower belly of Costa Rican females help separate them.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rica's official Spanish name is Tangara Negro y Dorado. In Panama it is called tangara negriamarilla, and in Colombia frutero negro y amarillo or chococito negriamarilla.

Status and conservation

It is listed as a resident endemic on the AOCR list, is considered fairly common in Costa Rica, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

It prefers the canopy, so it can be hard to see well. Forest edges, clearings and small fruiting shrubs are where birders have the best chance of a closer view.

How we know this 16 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/baytan2/cur/introduction
  2. Wikipedia (Spanish) read 2026-11-04https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysothlypis_chrysomelas
  3. Earthlife read 2026-11-04https://earthlife.net/black-yellow-tanagers/
  4. Birda read 2026-11-04https://app.birda.org/species-guide/36189/Black-and-yellow_Tanager
  5. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-and-yellow_tanager
  6. Animalia.bio read 2026-11-04https://animalia.bio/black-and-yellow-tanager?letter=b
  7. Birdingcraft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/category/caribbean-foothills/
  8. BirdForum (Birdingcraft) read 2026-11-04https://www.birdforum.net/threads/birdingcrafts-costa-rica-patch.131932/
  9. Tropical Birding read 2026-11-04https://tropicalbirding.com/product/comprehensive-costa-rica-birding-from-border-to-border/
  10. Birding in Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://birdingincostarica.com/costa-rica-birding-itinerary/
  11. Lifer Tours read 2026-11-04https://www.lifertours.com/single-post/see-more-tanagers-on-a-birding-tour-to-costa-rica-5-essentials
  12. Costa Rica Focus read 2026-11-04https://www.costaricafocus.com/best-places-to-see-tanagers-in-costa-rica/
  13. A-Z Animals read 2026-11-04https://a-z-animals.com/animals/yellow-tanager-black-and-yellow-tanager/
  14. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysothlypis_chrysomelas
  15. Ecos del Bosque read 2026-11-04https://ecosdelbosque.com/fauna/chrysothlypis-chrysomelas
  16. Aves Ibericas read 2026-11-04https://www.avesibericas.es/costaricaaves9.htm