Black-faced Solitaire

How to find it

Listen first: its song carries far through the forest, and the bird itself stays in the dim understory of cloud forest, where it can be shy. One photographer called it a true skulker and very hard to find, so patience pays. Evening is when it is most active and sings from a shady canopy perch. Scan low vegetation for berries, then glance up into the canopy or into trees in pasture. Walking the trails and hanging bridges with a local guide has worked for other birders.

How to recognise it

Adults are slate gray with a black face and chin. The short, wide bill and the legs are bright orange, which stands out against the black face.

It is a slim thrush about 16 to 18.5 cm long. The underwing is silvery white, and this shows well when the bird flies.

Young birds are easy to separate from the plain gray adults, because they have rufous spots on the crown, nape and upper back.

What it sounds like

Recording: stevestevens, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The solitaire hides in dense shrubs and bamboo in the understory, yet it often climbs into the canopy to feed or sing. It forages low in vegetation for berries, and sometimes comes up into trees in pasture.

It eats mostly wild fruit and insects. At some times of year it moves up and down the mountains to find berries and seeds with fleshy coverings. It is mostly active in the evening, when it sings from a shady canopy perch.

Where it lives

This is a bird of wet mountain forest with dense undergrowth and bamboo. It also persists in wooded gullies among pastures and crops.

In Costa Rica it lives in the highlands, from the Talamanca range in the south to the Guanacaste range in the north. It breeds from about 900 m up to at least 2,750 m on both slopes. After breeding it often drops to about 450 m, and sometimes to 100 m on the Caribbean side.

When to see it

Breeding runs from April to June, the nesting season, in the wet season. After breeding, birds move downslope and may form loose flocks in the wet season, found as low as about 400 m then.

Similar birds

In Costa Rica and western Panama it is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The one thing to watch is the name: other Costa Rican birds also share the name jilguero, such as the Lesser Goldfinch (Jilguero Menor) and the Yellow-bellied Siskin (Jilguero Vientriamarillo).

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the everyday name is Jilguero, while the official AOCR Spanish name is Solitario Carinegro. Clarín de cara negra is another Spanish name.

Keeping wild birds as pets is a long-rooted Costa Rican custom, and the jilguero is one of the most prized for its song. Keepers say it delights them and carries them back to the heart of the mountain forest.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it R-END, a resident endemic, and IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its population trend is decreasing.

Photography tips

A Costa Rican photographer at Tapanti said it is very hard to see and mostly just heard. It does not show itself much, and dim light made the shot hard, so he had to brighten the photo afterwards. Expect low light in the understory and be ready for a bird that stays hidden.