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

Costa Rican Warbler (Basileuterus melanotis)
Photo: Jo Roberts, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist
Costa Rican Warbler

Family Parulidae

Costa Rican Warbler

Basileuterus melanotis

In Spanish: Reinita Costarricense

  • Resident
  • Regional endemic

A restless, striped little warbler of highland cloud forest, found only here and in western Panama.

The Costa Rican Warbler is a small, boldly striped bird of the highland forests, and it is one of the species listed as endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama. Science first knew it from specimens taken at Cervantes, Costa Rica.

It rarely sits still. Most people meet it as part of a mixed flock moving through the cloud forest understory, so a patient morning in the right forest is the way to find it.

How to find it

Look for it in mixed bird flocks moving through middle elevation cloud forest, where it is usually seen while foraging. Watch the dense undergrowth, and also the ground near streams. One birding writer found it in a mixed flock with Ruddy Treerunners on the San Rafael to Varablanca road, on a sunny morning around 9:30 to 10, when most other birds were quiet.

How to recognise it

This is a small warbler, about 13 cm long. It is olive-brown above with buffy underparts, and the head carries bold black and white stripes. The crown has a buff-orange stripe with a wide black stripe below it. It also has blackish lores and ear patches, a dark cheek, and a pale buffy white arc under the eye. Males and females look alike, so any adult you see should show the same pattern.

What it sounds like

0:07

Recording: alicia penney, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

Costa Rican Warblers forage in pairs and small groups, searching the understory for insects. They often join mixed-species flocks. They also typically forage on the ground, especially near streams and other riparian areas. In Costa Rica they keep constantly on the move in dark, shady, dense undergrowth, which is why they are hard to watch for long and harder to photograph.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives between about 1,000 and 2,200 m, in mature montane evergreen forest, including older secondary forest. Its Costa Rican range starts in the Cordillera de Tilarán in Alajuela Province and continues south through the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Talamanca, then into western Panama. Across its whole range it is found from 800 to 2,500 m.

Similar birds

It was once treated as a subspecies of Three-striped Warbler, which has a plain black centre crown stripe, but that species does not occur in Costa Rica. Its song differs, too.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican sources list the Spanish name Reinita Costarricense. Another Spanish name in use is Reinita Tica. The Spanish name for it describes it as restless.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident endemic (R-END), and the IUCN rates it Least Concern, though its range is restricted.

Photography tips

It keeps constantly on the move in dark, shady, dense undergrowth, so photographs are hard. Follow mixed flocks and be ready for brief views.

How we know this 15 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-eared_warbler
  2. Love Your Planet read 2026-11-04https://loveyourplanet.com/doc/costa_rican_warbler
  3. BirdForum Gallery read 2026-11-04https://www.birdforum.net/gallery/costa-rican-warbler.693980/
  4. Animalia.bio read 2026-11-04https://animalia.bio/black-eared-warbler
  5. iNaturalist (Wikipedia text) read 2026-11-04https://uk.inaturalist.org/taxa/518302-Basileuterus-melanotis
  6. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/thswar5/cur/introduction
  7. Mr Birding Guide (Spanish) read 2026-11-04https://mrbirdingguide.school.blog/2021/08/16/las-aves-que-llevan-a-costa-rica-como-referencia-en-sus-nombres/
  8. 10,000 Birds read 2026-11-04https://www.10000birds.com/may-warblers-costa-rican-style.htm
  9. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/category/birds-to-watch-for-in-costa-rica/
  10. Cloudbridge Nature Reserve bird list read 2026-11-04https://www.cloudbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Bird-Species-List-Costa-Rica-13-April-2020.pdf
  11. Avibase read 2026-11-04https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=1741B8A74BACEFB2
  12. Wikispecies read 2026-11-04https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Basileuterus_melanotis
  13. BirdForum Opus read 2026-11-04https://birdforum.net/opus/Costa_Rican_Warbler
  14. Birds and Buds read 2026-11-04https://birdsandbuds.com/2021/08/11/costa-rica-birding-monteverde/
  15. Exotic Birding read 2026-11-04https://www.exoticbirding.com/costarica/cerro-de-la-muerte/target-birds.html