Boat-billed Flycatcher

How to find it

Listen for the loud, distinctive calls, then scan the treetops. Look high in the canopy near open areas, and inside large trees where it perches high. It can sit hidden in foliage, so be patient. Check utility wires too, where it perches to watch for insects. Open woodland with scattered tall trees, forest edges and semi-open country are good places to look, and in towns you can listen for the complaining call from gardens, wires and tall palms.

How to recognise it

Look for these marks:

A very large flycatcher.

A heavy, blackish bill with a clearly curved upper edge.

A dark head with white eyebrows and a white throat.

An olive back and bright yellow underparts.

Adults carry a hidden yellow to orange patch on the crown, which you will rarely see. Young birds lack the patch, have yellowish eyebrows, and show cinnamon to rufous edges on the wings, tail and upperparts.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

It lives in pairs or family groups of three to five birds, and it chases toucans and other nest predators. Nesting birds fiercely chase intruders from the nest tree: in one case both parents drove off a Gray's Thrush, a tityra and another Boat-billed Flycatcher.

It does not stay long in one spot. It eats mostly cicadas, which it spots from a perch and grabs from trunks or foliage, rarely catching insects in flight. Large prey is beaten against the perch before it is swallowed.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is found in the canopy and at forest edges, in young and old second growth, pastures, shade coffee, farmland, towns and savannas with scattered trees. It stays in deforested areas only if large trees remain.

It ranges from the lowlands up to about 1,850 m, rarely reaching 2,000 m, and after breeding it moves down to lower elevations. It is a resident across the whole country.

When to see it

Breeding runs from March to July in Costa Rica, with a shallow stick nest built 6 to 30 m up in a tree. Another source gives February to June, when pairs are busiest and most vocal.

Similar birds

It is often mistaken for the Great Kiskadee, since it looks like a kiskadee with an oversized bill. Against that similar-sized bird it has more olive on the back, less rufous in the wing and a much thicker bill with a curved upper edge. The Social Flycatcher is another lookalike, but it is smaller and the large bill separates them.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the AOCR Spanish name is Mosquerón Picudo. Local sources also give Pecho Amarillo, a name it shares with the Great Kiskadee.

Status and conservation

Listed as a resident (R) on the AOCR list, it is widespread and fairly common in Costa Rica, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Photography tips

Perched birds on utility wires or bare treetops give the clearest views. Listen for the call first, then scan high, open-edge canopy, and be patient if it is hidden in foliage.