Black-headed Grosbeak

How to find it

Treat this bird as a bonus, never a target. If it turns up at all, the dry northwest in Guanacaste Province is the most likely area. Scan grosbeak flocks with care, because the December 1977 female was seen with a Rose-breasted. Look for a buffier, more rufous bird than its neighbours. Check mixed flocks of small birds in the middle and upper levels of forest, and listen for the sharp 'ik' call as well as the warbling song.

How to recognise it

Across its range, the adult male shows:

- a black head

- a mostly cinnamon-orange body

- black wings and tail with bold white marks

- a back streaked black

- a yellow belly

In Costa Rica it looks much like the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but it is much more buff or rufous. The two species are very close in size and shape, so the colour of the underparts is the detail to study.

The female is buffier below than a female Rose-breasted, with finer, sparser streaking on the flanks. It has a heavy bill, which it uses to crack seeds and buds.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

In Costa Rica it is usually solitary. Sometimes it joins mixed flocks of small birds in the middle and upper levels of forest.

Across its range it eats insects, spiders, seeds and fruit. It is one of the few predators able to eat toxic monarch butterflies.

Where it lives

The Costa Rican account says its habitat is like that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the 'calandria'. No nesting data exist for Costa Rica, so these are lost migrants and not residents.

The old records come from two places: a female near San Isidro del General in December 1977, and several birds of both sexes in Santa Rosa National Park in October 1978, possibly strays from a migrating flock.

When to see it

The only dated Costa Rican records found are from October and December, in 1978 and 1977. For comparison, the common Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a regular migrant on the Turrialba Volcano slope, with one observer's records running from October 3 to April 10, and any Black-headed would be expected within that window.

Similar birds

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, locally called 'calandria', is the bird to rule out first. The Black-headed is much more buff or rufous. Females of the two species are hard to tell apart and are best separated by geographic range. A Costa Rican naturalist notes that a female Rose-breasted can only be mistaken for a female Black-headed.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican list name is Picogrueso cabecinegro, entry number 752 in one natural history list of the country's birds. Costa Ricans call the Rose-breasted Grosbeak 'calandria', and the same account says the two species are very close in size and shape.

Status and conservation

The June 2026 update of the official Costa Rican list keeps it as A-SC, an accidental species with no accepted voucher yet, so photos or recordings are still wanted.