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

Brown-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus tyrannulus)
Photo: Jay Pruett, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist
Brown-crested Flycatcher

Family Tyrannidae

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Myiarchus tyrannulus

In Spanish: Copetón Crestipardo (Tontillo)

  • Resident

A noisy, bushy-crested flycatcher of fences and scrub in the northwest.

The Brown-crested Flycatcher (Copetón Crestipardo, also called Tontillo) is a mid-sized flycatcher of open country with scattered trees, scrub and mangroves. In Costa Rica it is described as common in the northwest on the Pacific side and uncommon in the interior.

It is noisy and conspicuous, and it often sits out in the open on a fence or in the upper scrub. That makes it a good bird for a beginner to learn on a trip that passes through Guanacaste.

How to find it

Check fence posts and wires along rural roads. Birds use posts with hollow tops for nests, so a pair carrying food or nest material shows you the spot. Look for it perched in the open, in the upper scrub or in the mid-canopy. Parents returned every 10 to 20 minutes, so waiting near a nest gives close views.

How to recognise it

This is a flycatcher about 19 to 20 cm long. It has a dark bushy crest, a pale gray throat and chest, and a pale yellow belly. The bill is black, with only the base of the lower half orange. The upperparts are grayish brown, and the wings are dark with pale wing-bars. The flight feathers have thick rufous edges, and the tail is short and ruffled.

What it sounds like

0:17

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

Behaviour and diet

It mainly eats insects caught in flight or picked from foliage, and it also takes berries and small fruits. It perches in the open, scanning around and bobbing its head. It nests in hollow tree holes and hollow fence posts. In Guanacaste, parents fed nestlings flies, caterpillars, butterflies and fruit.

Where it lives

It lives in open areas with scattered trees, scrub and mangroves, perching at mid-canopy height. It reaches about 900 m elevation. In Costa Rica the form brachyurus lives in the northwest, on the Pacific side. Recordings come from near sea level in Guanacaste, and one bird was calling from mangroves.

When to see it

In Guanacaste, nesting falls in the dry season, in April and the first days of May. Birds are busy and easy to watch then.

Similar birds

Costa Rica's other Myiarchus flycatchers include Dusky-capped, Panama, Nutting's and Great Crested. Nutting's is smaller, has an orange mouth lining, a browner face and a very different whistle. These flycatchers are easiest to name by ear.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird is called Copetón Crestipardo, and the AOCR list adds the nickname Tontillo in brackets. Other Spanish-speaking countries use different names, such as Papamoscas Gritón in Mexico and Burlisto Cola Castaña in Argentina.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as R, a resident species, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

Look for it perched in the mid-canopy of woodland, in the upper part of scrub and on fences, where it is usually seen. A nest in a hollow fence post beside a road gives close views if you wait quietly at a distance.

How we know this 13 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Área de Conservación Guanacaste read 2026-11-04https://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/paginas-de-especies/insectos-2/5785-i-myiarchus-tyrannulus-i-tyrannidae
  2. Wikipedia (Spanish) read 2026-11-04https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiarchus_tyrannulus
  3. Birds of the World (Cornell) read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bncfly/cur/sounds
  4. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-crested_flycatcher
  5. xeno-canto read 2026-11-04https://xeno-canto.org/species/Myiarchus-tyrannulus?query=ssp:%22brachyurus%22
  6. Diversidad y un poco de todo read 2026-11-04https://www.diversidadyunpocodetodo.com/copeton-tiranillo-myiarchus-tyrannulus-en-perchas-naturales-y-artificiales/
  7. Backyard Nature read 2026-11-04http://www.backyardnature.net/n/b/brwncrst.htm
  8. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Costa_Rica
  9. Aves Ibéricas, Aves Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://www.avesibericas.es/costaricaaves6.htm
  10. Explore Costa Rica blog read 2026-11-04https://explorecr.blogspot.com/2010/08/2010-playa-bajamar-y-playa-tivives.html
  11. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bncfly/cur/introduction
  12. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bncfly/cur/appearance
  13. 10,000 Birds read 2026-11-04https://www.10000birds.com/no-need-to-fear-the-flycatcher-in-costa-rica.htm