Common Chlorospingus

How to find it

Look for small flocks rather than single birds, since it often travels with other species and joins mixed flocks of resident birds. When a flock passes, check each greenish-yellow bird for the white spot behind the eye. Elevation is a good clue to which species you have. On a Poás and Arenal area tour, Common was the lower-elevation chlorospingus, seen commonly around Bosque de Paz, while Sooty-capped was found higher. Do not expect it everywhere: one Christmas tour found it only once, on a second hike at Savegre, while Sooty-capped was far easier on that trip.

How to recognise it

All three Costa Rican chlorospingus species have greenish-yellow backs and breasts, so the head is where to look.

The Common Chlorospingus shows a clear white spot behind the eye. The spot stands out against its dark head.

It is a medium-sized New World sparrow, about 14 cm (5.5 in) long across its range. Males and females look alike, so there are no two plumages to sort out.

The Costa Rican form regionalis is described as looking intermediate between the northern and South American groups, with whitish ear patches but a fairly brownish crown.

What it sounds like

Recording: Grete Pasch, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is an active, restless bird that often flicks its tail while it forages. Small flocks are the rule, and they often travel with other species. In Monteverde, researchers found it acts as a core species in mixed flocks, and there it hunts arthropods rather than fruit. One tour described it as a species that often forms the backbone of mixed flocks. A Costa Rican naturalist lists it among the resident birds that join mixed flocks with other mid-elevation species, including a Red-faced Spinetail and a Rufous-capped Warbler.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is one of the commonest birds of woodland at middle elevations. Across its range the habitat is rain forest, in tangles of bushes and thickets, a useful guide to where to scan. It is on the species list of Cloudbridge Nature Reserve near Chirripó in southern Costa Rica. A birder reports flocks of chlorospingus around Cerro de la Muerte, feeding on berries with Yellow-thighed Finches and Spot-crowned (Black-cheeked) Tanagers, though the post names only the genus. Higher on the slopes, the Sooty-capped Chlorospingus takes over.

Similar birds

Sooty-capped Chlorospingus is the main lookalike. It has a blacker head, a jagged white line above and behind the eye, and a grey throat. It replaces the Common one higher on the slopes of Turrialba Volcano and lives in mossy forest, typically from about 1600 m up to the treeline. The Ashy-throated Chlorospingus is much harder to find, with a restricted range on the Caribbean slope of the Central Valley volcanoes and the Río Reventazón watershed.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican birders use the nickname Cuatro Ojos (Four Eyes) alongside the official name Tangara de Monte Ojeruda. The nickname presumably refers to the pale spot behind the eye.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list marks it as a resident (R), and the IUCN lists the species as Least Concern across its range from central Mexico south to Bolivia and northwest Argentina.

Photography tips

Flocks are the way in: find a mixed flock of resident birds at middle elevations and watch for the restless, tail-flicking greenish-yellow birds. Bosque de Paz and Cinchona are places where photographers have posted images of it.