Since 2004 · Licensed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT)

Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus gracilirostris)Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush

Family Turdidae

Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush

Catharus gracilirostris

In Spanish: Zorzal Piquinegro (Cuitiento)

  • Resident
  • Regional endemic

A confiding highland thrush with a black bill, found only in Costa Rica and western Panama.

The Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush is a small thrush of the high mountains. It has the smallest range of any Catharus thrush and is found only in the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama.

In Costa Rica it lives from about 2,200 m up to above timberline, higher than any other nightingale-thrush. It is tame and often confiding, so it can give a beginner good views.

How to find it

Roadsides at high elevation are worth checking. One tour group found it sitting quietly at eye level on a wire along the road leaving the Savegre Valley. Another had a target-bird sighting near Cerro de la Muerte, where it can be seen well at the higher elevations. Edges and clearings can also be good places to watch, as it forages on the ground and in low plants.

How to recognise it

This is a small thrush, about 13.5 to 16 cm long. Adults have olive-brown upperparts, a grey crown, pale grey underparts that turn whitish on the belly, and an olive breast band. The black bill is the feature that gives the bird its name and is the clearest mark to look for. Young birds are darker on the head and underparts than adults. They have a brown breast band and a belly marked with brown.

What it sounds like

0:18

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It forages low in vegetation or on the forest floor, alone or in pairs, moving in hops and dashes. It turns over leaf litter for insects and spiders and also eats many small fruits. Despite living in dense habitat, it is tame and often confiding. Males sing for long periods, so the bird is easy to hear even when it stays out of sight.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives from about 2,200 m up to above timberline. Its habitat is montane evergreen forest, elfin forest and páramo. It is found in the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Talamanca. It is relatively common to abundant in Costa Rican forests, and numbers rise above about 2,500 m. In páramo it is uncommon.

Similar birds

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush looks similar but has a pale base to the lower bill, a rufous cap and no brown breast band. Those marks separate it from the Black-billed.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans use the nickname Cuitiento for this thrush. The AOCR Spanish name is Zorzal Piquinegro, and Zorzalito Piquinegro is also in use.

Status and conservation

It is a resident endemic on the AOCR list, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, common, with much of its Costa Rican range inside national parks.

Photography tips

It forages on the ground or in low plants, in forest and also in disturbed areas, so edges and clearings can be good places to watch. Its confiding nature can help you get close views, and high roadsides are worth scanning for birds perched at eye level.

How we know this 16 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. JungleDragon (from Wikipedia text) read 2026-11-04https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/7225/black-billed_nightingale-thrush.html
  2. HandWiki read 2026-11-04https://handwiki.org/wiki/Biology:Black-billed_nightingale-thrush
  3. BirdWeather (Wikipedia text) read 2026-11-04https://app.birdweather.com/species/black-billed-nightingale-thrush
  4. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/category/costa-rica-bird-finding-guide/
  5. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-billed_nightingale-thrush
  6. Field Guides Birding Tours read 2026-11-04https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos17.html
  7. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_de_la_Muerte
  8. Birding Ecotours read 2026-11-04https://www.birdingecotours.com/tour/birding-tour-costa-rica-escape/
  9. Field Guides Birding Tours read 2026-11-04http://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos12.html
  10. Cloudbridge Nature Reserve bird list read 2026-11-04https://www.cloudbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Especies-de-Aves-Costa-Rica-13-April-2020.pdf
  11. Oiseaux-Birds read 2026-11-04https://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-black-billed-nightingale-thrush.html
  12. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rican_P%C3%A1ramo
  13. Earth Life read 2026-11-04https://earthlife.net/blackbillednightingalethrush/
  14. Wikipedia (Spanish) read 2026-11-04https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharus_gracilirostris
  15. Aves del Tercer Planeta read 2026-11-04https://avesdeltercerplaneta.blogspot.com/2014/02/zorzalito-piquinegro-catharus.html
  16. Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bbnthr1/cur/introduction