Greenish Elaenia

How to find it

Start by listening, because the bird is quiet and spends much time high up. Recordings at Las Cruces Biological Station were made at dawn, around 5:30 to 7 am, which suggests it sings early in the morning. Once you hear a song, scan the high foliage. Drier second growth at Carara, such as the Universal Trail, gave one group good studies of this bird. Whistling like a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl beside Carara in the late afternoon drew one in, as owl mimicry can pull in small birds. Expect a plain bird that is easy to overlook, and check any mixed flock that passes.

How to recognise it

This is a small flycatcher, 13 to 14 cm long and weighing 11 to 13 g. Males and females look the same.

The plumage is very plain:

- dull olive-green overall

- pale yellow underparts

- a yellow stripe in the crown, partly hidden

- no bright edgings on the wing feathers

The missing wing edgings are the most useful clue. Males have a larger yellow crown patch than females, but it is partly hidden. A Field Guides report on Costa Rica notes that elaenias are hard to identify, yet this one is fairly distinctive.

What it sounds like

Recording: Carlos Martínez, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The Greenish Elaenia is quiet and inconspicuous and spends much time in the middle and upper canopy. It eats mostly insects, plus some fruit, seeds and insect eggs. It hover-gleans from foliage and also makes short sallies from a perch. It forages singly or in pairs, and sometimes joins mixed flocks, so a passing flock of small birds is worth checking.

Where it lives

Across its range the bird uses forest edges, second growth, gallery forest, scrub and semi-open country with scattered trees, most often in the mid to upper canopy.

In Costa Rica it is mostly a Pacific bird. A recording of the Costa Rican subspecies was made at Carara National Park near Puntarenas, at about 10 m elevation. It has also been photographed in Santa Rosa National Park, Guanacaste, and recorded at Las Cruces Biological Station. A small isolated population lives in the Río Reventazón watershed around Turrialba, where it is rare.

When to see it

A guide's April trip to Carara, at the end of the dry season, found this bird easily on the Universal Trail. Other groups have recorded it in January, February and March.

Similar birds

The Yellow-olive and Yellow-margined Flycatchers can be confused with it, but they have brighter yellow edges on the wing feathers, which the Greenish Elaenia lacks. Check the wing edging first. It does not resemble other elaenias, and guides contrast it with the Yellow-bellied Elaenia, which is often heard and not seen and is not distinctive.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish name is Elainia Verdosa. The AOCR list also gives Tontillo, a general nickname Costa Rican lists use for elaenias. Names differ elsewhere: Elenia coronigualda in Nicaragua and fiofío corona dorada in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), and Mexican sources rate the species Least Concern with stable, widespread populations.

Photography tips

The yellow crown patch is usually hidden, so a good look from below or at eye level helps. Some birders glimpsed it on a Carara trail, but expect to need a good angle or some luck.