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

Gray-capped Flycatcher (Myiozetetes granadensis)
Photo: Viktor, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist
Gray-capped Flycatcher

Family Tyrannidae

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Myiozetetes granadensis

In Spanish: Mosquero Cabecigrís (Pecho Amarillo)

  • Resident

Bright yellow flycatcher with a gray head, common in the lowlands

The Gray-capped Flycatcher (Mosquero Cabecigrís, also called Pecho Amarillo) is a small flycatcher with bright yellow underparts and a gray head. It is common in the Costa Rican lowlands and often perches in the open.

On trips we build, it turns up around gardens, wires and roadside edges, including La Selva and the Carara area. Listen first: it is very vocal.

How to find it

Look in open, farmed or residential areas with scattered trees, and listen for its loud calls. A pair can show up on wires near buildings, and fruiting trees attract it. Scanning roadside edge habitat on the Caribbean slope can turn it up alongside Social Flycatcher and Great Kiskadee. It feels safer perched high, so check the upper branches.

How to recognise it

A small flycatcher with a gray head, a short white eyebrow that meets over the bill, a white throat, an olive back and bright yellow underparts. It measures about 16 to 18 cm (roughly 6 to 7 inches) and weighs around 28 to 30 g. Males have a mostly hidden orange to reddish patch in the middle of the gray crown. Females have a smaller patch or none, and young birds show little or no orange. In full sun the yellow underparts look very bright. The bird is conspicuous from the front and blends in from behind.

What it sounds like

0:04

Recording: Niels Krabbe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 5 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It catches insects in the air and from vegetation, flying out from an open perch to snatch them. It sometimes hovers to pick small berries, and it eats a few seeds too. It behaves much like the Social Flycatcher but is more tied to forest and often forages in the canopy. It sometimes drops to the ground to hunt or drink, but feels safer perched high. The nest is a bulky domed globe with a side entrance, often well hidden in bushes.

Where it lives

It lives in roadside trees near farms, gardens and second growth woodland, often close to streams. In Costa Rica it reaches up to about 1,500 m elevation. It is common in the lowlands and less so in the highlands. The Costa Rican birds live on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes, part of a range that runs from eastern Honduras and Nicaragua south to central Panama.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica spans at least February to June, so nesting pairs and singing birds are likely in those months.

Similar birds

Social Flycatcher has a strong black and white head pattern, while the Gray-capped has a gray head with only a short, weak eyebrow. Tropical Kingbird lacks the whitish eyebrow that meets over the bill.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica and Panama the name is Mosquero Cabecigrís, and the nickname 'Pecho Amarillo' (yellow breast) appears beside it. Other countries use other names, such as güis cabecigrís in Nicaragua and chilero cabecigrís in Honduras.

Status and conservation

Listed as resident (R) on the AOCR list, common in the lowlands, and rated Least Concern by the IUCN with a stable population.

Photography tips

Perched birds in the open are easy to approach by eye, and it flies out to snatch insects from exposed perches. Shoot from the front in sun to show the yellow underparts, since it blends in from behind.

How we know this 18 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Cornell Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/grcfly1/cur/introduction
  2. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey-capped_flycatcher
  3. Holistic Birding read 2026-11-04https://holisticbirding.wordpress.com/grey-capped-flycatcher-myiozetetes-granadensis/
  4. Spanish Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiozetetes_granadensis
  5. BirdForum Opus read 2026-11-04https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gray-capped_Flycatcher
  6. Animalia read 2026-11-04https://animalia.bio/grey-capped-flycatcher
  7. Planetscott read 2026-11-04https://www.planetscott.com/speciesdetail/4406/gray-capped-flycatcher-myiozetetes-granadensis
  8. Birds Colombia read 2026-11-04https://birdscolombia.com/2018/11/12/suelda-cabecigris-gray-capped-flycatcher-myiozetetes-granadensis/
  9. Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica trip list read 2026-11-04http://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos12.html
  10. Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica 2017 read 2026-11-04https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cr217.html
  11. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/tag/snowcap/
  12. Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica 2016 read 2026-11-04https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos16.html
  13. Eagle-Eye Tours read 2026-11-04https://www.eagle-eye.com/blog/costa-rica-sampler-trip-report-feb-16-27-2026/
  14. John Gordon, Listening to Birds read 2026-11-04https://thecanadianwarbler.blogspot.com/2025/03/costa-rica.html
  15. Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica 2024 read 2026-11-04https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos24.html
  16. 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
  17. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiozetetes
  18. Valéry Schollaert, Costa Rica natural history read 2026-11-04https://valeryschollaert.wordpress.com/tyran-a-tete-grise-myiozetetes-granadensis/