Dot-winged Antwren

How to find it

Listen first: in rainforest most birds are found by sound, and pairs that sing duets give themselves away in dense vegetation. Then watch for restless movement or leaf rustle in a vine tangle. Check thickets and vine tangles at edges and clearings, where it often forages in more exposed spots than related antwrens. Carara's forest is fairly open, which makes birds easier to find, and its trails are also good places to watch army ant swarms. Mixed flocks are worth following, because antwrens trail leader species such as White-shouldered Tanagers and Tawny-crowned Greenlets.

How to recognise it

This is a small bird, about 11 cm, warbler-like, with a thin bill and a long, stepped tail tipped white. Across its whole range adults measure 10 to 12.5 cm and weigh roughly 7.5 to 11.5 g, and the sexes differ.

The male is mostly velvety black, with white spots on the wing coverts and a hidden white patch on the back.

The female has a dark slate head and back and a black lower back and rump. Her underparts are entirely rich rufous-chestnut, paler toward the rear. Among Costa Rican antwrens she is distinctive for those bright rust underparts.

What it sounds like

Recording: Rajan Rao, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This antwren is hyperactive and constantly searches the foliage. It forages in dense vegetation and vine tangles, picking insects and spiders from the outer foliage, and it is often more exposed than other antwrens. It flutter-flies, hitches along trunks and branches, and hangs, jumps up or hovers to snatch prey from leaves and vines. It travels in pairs or family groups, alone or with other antwrens in mixed flocks. It seldom follows army ants.

Where it lives

It lives in the understory of humid forest, but it is more often found in clearings, forest edges, advanced second growth and dense, partly open areas, even cacao plantations. It is found locally up to about 1000 m.

In Costa Rica it is common in the Caribbean lowlands and on the southern Pacific slope. It reaches north to Carara in low numbers and reaches the Pacific side in the northwest through low mountain passes. It has also been recorded in Corcovado National Park and Piedras Blancas National Park.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica runs from January to August. Both sexes build the nest, hidden in foliage about 4 to 7 m up, and both sexes incubate.

Similar birds

The male looks like the male White-flanked Antwren, and the two often forage together, sometimes with Checker-throated Antwrens too. The Dot-winged has a longer, tapered tail with bold white tips and lacks the fluffy white flanks. A tour report calls it another dark antbird with white corners on the tail, a useful contrast with the Slaty Antwren, which is smaller than the Dusky Antbird and has a shorter tail.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Besides the official name Hormiguerito Alipunteado, the species is also called Tiluchí de Alas Punteadas in Spanish.

Status and conservation

It is a resident (R) on the official Costa Rica bird list, and BirdLife International rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

Look in thickets and vine tangles at edges and clearings, where it forages in more exposed spots than related antwrens and gives a clearer view. Watch for any movement or leaf rustle in a tangle, and follow the song to find it first.