Golden-bellied Flycatcher

How to find it

Look along forest edges, streams, roads and clearings in middle-elevation wet forest, where the forest is more open. Scan high perches and the canopy. The bird usually sings from a perch in or near the forest canopy, so listen first and then look high up. Roads and clearings give the clearest view. Learn the squeaky skee-kit chatter and the harsh skeeew before you go. Watch for a pair rather than a single bird.

How to recognise it

Look for a bright yellow belly, a whitish chin, an olive back and a dark head with a white eyebrow. A yellow crown patch is hidden and rarely shows. Overall it is about 20 cm long.

The best clue is a dark stripe running between the whitish throat and the cheek, which sets it apart from other large yellow-bellied flycatchers. A Costa Rican source adds a thick blackish line from the lores to the ear coverts, edged by white lines.

Young birds lack the yellow crown patch. They look browner above and paler, slightly buffy, below.

What it sounds like

Recording: Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a fairly noisy bird, usually found in pairs. It perches at mid height or high in trees and mostly snatches insects from foliage in short upward flights. It takes fruit the same way. Sometimes it hunts insects in flight from an exposed perch.

Pairs stay together all year, and family groups stay together for several months after the breeding season. A calling bird often has a mate nearby.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives at about 800 to 1,800 m on the Caribbean slope. On the Pacific slope it reaches up to 2,300 m.

It uses the canopy and edges of wet cloud forest covered in epiphytes. It is especially common along streams, roads and clearings, and it also uses plantations and altered areas.

It occurs on the Caribbean slope from the Guanacaste range, at least as far north as Volcán Miravalles, south to Panama. It is also found locally on the high Pacific side of the northern ranges and up to 2,300 m in the Talamanca range.

When to see it

It is a year-round resident in Costa Rica and does not migrate. A Costa Rican natural history source says it breeds from March to May.

Similar birds

The dark stripe from the bill to the cheek (malar stripe) separates it from Great Kiskadee-type flycatchers. Dark stripes on each side of the white throat also tell it from Social and Gray-capped Flycatchers. The Streaked Flycatcher shares the nickname Pecho Amarillo, so check for the golden-bellied's plain yellow underparts and strong head stripes.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish name is Mosquero Vientridorado, and Costa Rican lists also give the everyday name Pecho Amarillo, a nickname shared with the similar Streaked Flycatcher. Spanish sources call it bienteveo ventridorado in general, while mosquero vientridorado is the name used in Costa Rica and Panama.

Status and conservation

The AOCR lists it as a resident (R), and it is considered fairly common in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

The bird usually sings from a perch in or near the forest canopy, so look and listen high up. Use roads and clearings, where the forest edge gives a clear view.