Elegant Euphonia

How to find it

Start with the mistletoe. A local birder in the Turrialba area scans the tops of trees for mistletoe, which is called matapalo, to find this bird. Check clumps beside roads and tracks where you can see up into the canopy, as a pair was seen feeding beside the road at Tapantí National Park. Watch mixed flocks of tanagers at eye level, because a male joined one above Savegre. Listen for the long liquid warble and the sharp sip note. Aim for the band between about 1,200 and 2,200 m.

How to recognise it

This is a tiny bird, about 10 cm long and 13 to 17 g in weight. Where most euphonias are dark blue and yellow, this one is turquoise and orange.

The male has a light blue hood and a deep orange belly. His bright blue crown and orange belly help you pick him out among the leaves of tall oaks.

The female has a blue crown too, with a green back and green underparts. In Costa Rica she wears the same light blue hood on a green body, and that green blends in with the foliage.

What it sounds like

Recording: Christian Franco, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It eats almost only small berries, especially mistletoe berries. Flocks, sometimes dozens strong, gather to feed in clumps of fruiting mistletoe, so the plant is the best clue to the bird.

In Costa Rica, tour groups have had good looks when birds joined mixed flocks of tanagers at eye level on the track above Savegre. They have also watched it feed in roadside mistletoe at Tapantí. After breeding, some birds move to lower elevations in Costa Rica.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this euphonia is recorded from about 1,200 to 2,200 m. The Costa Rican and western Panama form lives in the mountains, from the Tilarán range southward, and it ranges from the slopes of Irazú Volcano to the Talamanca range.

Across its range it is most often found in humid mountain oak forest. It sometimes appears near sea level during seasonal movements.

When to see it

On the Turrialba Volcano slope, locals say they see it in the dry season, though the author of one account notes it is a resident and present all year. After breeding, some birds move to lower elevations in Costa Rica.

Similar birds

Most Costa Rican euphonias are blue and yellow, so an orange belly is the first clue. The male Elegant Euphonia has a deep orange belly and a light blue hood, and the female is green with the same hood.

Golden-browed Chlorophonia is also green and lives in the same highlands, but it has a yellow forehead and yellow underparts. The Elegant Euphonia has a blue hood and an orange belly.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish names listed are Clorofonia Capuchiceleste and Eufonia capuchiceleste. Other names in use include Monjita elegante and Fruterito elegante, and local names given at Cloudbridge Nature Reserve are Agüío, Monjita and Caciquita. Mistletoe, its favourite food plant, is called matapalo.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it R, a resident, and in Costa Rica it is described as fairly uncommon, while across its whole range the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

The male's bright blue crown and orange belly help you pick out this tiny bird among the leaves of tall oaks, while the female's green body blends in with the foliage. Tour groups had good looks when birds joined mixed flocks of tanagers at eye level on the track above Savegre, and when it fed in roadside mistletoe at Tapantí. Roadside mistletoe is the best place to try.