Black-throated Green Warbler

How to find it

Head into montane forest and scan the mixed flocks of winter warblers rather than hunting single birds. Look high, in the mid to upper canopy, where it spends most of its time. A light chip from the treetops is a cue to look up. Learning the call notes helps you locate it, and constant motion and tail flicking can give away a bird among the leaves. Stream edges in hilly or highland country are good places to stand and watch.

How to recognise it

Males have a bright yellow face, a black throat and upper breast, and heavy black streaks on the flanks.

Females and young birds have a pale throat with less black. Both sexes share an olive back and two white wingbars.

The outer tail feathers are mostly white and flash brightly when the bird fans its tail. It also flicks the tail while foraging, which helps confirm the ID as it moves through foliage.

It belongs to a group of four closely related warblers with Townsend's, Hermit and Golden-cheeked. Townsend's and Hermit both occur in Costa Rica, so check the face pattern carefully.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

This warbler forages mostly high in the mid to upper canopy, hopping along branches and picking insects off leaves. Its constant motion and tail flicking can help you spot it. It forages actively in vegetation, sometimes hovers to glean food and sometimes catches insects in flight.

Winter birds often join mixed flocks of warblers feeding on insects in the trees, so scanning the flock is a good approach.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this is a bird of montane (mountain) forest and of streams in hilly or highland country. Alexander Skutch wrote that here it prefers somewhat higher elevations than farther north. He called it rare as a winter resident near 2,900 feet and said it ranges up to nearly 10,000 feet.

Birds have been recorded in the Savegre Valley, on the Caribbean-slope foothills near Turrialba, at Poasito de Alajuela on the Poás slopes, and on the high slopes of Volcán Irazú. It winters through Central America as far as central Panama.

When to see it

Late October to early March is the period when a birder can expect to see it among the winter warblers, along with Tennessee and Wilson's Warblers. Skutch recorded early arrivals at Vara Blanca on September 28 (1938) and a late spring departure at Juan Viñas on April 17.

Similar birds

Townsend's Warbler is the look-alike here, but it is far scarcer. One writer puts the ratio at around 20 Black-throated Greens for each Townsend's, so a yellow-faced warbler with a black throat is usually a Black-throated Green. Hermit Warbler also occurs in Costa Rica, so check the face pattern carefully.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rica's Spanish name is Reinita Cariamarilla. Other countries use different names for it, such as reinita gorginegra in Colombia and reinita verdosa in Puerto Rico.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list classes it as a migrant (M), a winter visitor that breeds in North America and does not nest in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

Because it feeds high in the canopy, look for it where mixed flocks pass through at stream edges or forest openings. The tail flicking and flashes of white in the outer tail feathers can help you pick out the bird as it moves.