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

Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris)Groove-billed Ani

Family Cuculidae

Groove-billed Ani

Crotophaga sulcirostris

In Spanish: Garrapatero Piquiestriado (Zopilotillo)

  • Resident

Shaggy black ani of pastures and roadsides, often beside cattle.

The Groove-billed Ani (Garrapatero Piquiestriado) is a common, noisy black bird of open country in Costa Rica. It is resident all year and easy to find for a beginner, because it likes pastures, roadsides and fence lines rather than dense forest.

Look for a group walking through short grass near cattle, or black birds with a floppy flight crossing a road. Groups often let you approach closely while they forage.

How to find it

Check pastures, roadsides and fence lines, especially near cattle. Watching cattle in a pasture is a good way to find it. The best viewing times given are early morning, from dawn to about 8 AM, and mid to late afternoon, from 2 to 5 PM, when groups are active. You will often hear the two-note call before you see the birds, so sit still and watch low vine tangles, where they hop about flushing insects.

How to recognise it

Adults are all black with a long, loose-looking tail and a tall, narrow bill. The head and breast feathers look scaly and shiny. The bird is about 30 to 35 cm long and looks hunched and shaggy. It flies weakly and floppily. The grooves that give the bird its name are usually visible only at close range. Juveniles look similar but have a smooth bill without grooves. In good light the black plumage can show a green and blue iridescence. Costa Rica has several common black birds, including the Great-tailed Grackle, Bronzed Cowbird and Melodious Blackbird, but the ani's parrot-like bill, short wings and long tail set it apart.

What it sounds like

1:00

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It is social and travels in flocks of up to about 15 birds, usually 6 to 8, though some are seen in pairs. Groups are conspicuous and noisy. They forage on the ground, walking and running through grass, and often feed beside cattle, catching grasshoppers and other insects that jump up as the cows walk. Anis also sunbathe together with wings spread. Several pairs share one communal nest, and all group members incubate the eggs and feed the chicks.

Where it lives

It lives in pastures, savanna, plantations, secondary forest, marshes, forest clearings, gardens and suburbs. It is not a bird of dense forest. In Costa Rica it ranges from sea level to roughly 2,300 m, and it is most common below about 1,500 m, on both slopes. It is resident throughout the country and common to abundant, except in the South Pacific, where the Smooth-billed Ani has largely replaced it.

When to see it

It is resident all year and largely sedentary, with only short local movements following food and chances to breed. A Costa Rican source says it breeds from June to November, and rarely in April.

Similar birds

It looks very much like the Smooth-billed Ani. The Groove-billed's bill lacks the smooth, high arch of the Smooth-billed, and some Smooth-billed birds have small grooves at the base of the bill, so voice and range are the best ways to tell them apart.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans call it tijo, tinco and zopilotillo, as well as the official garrapatero piquiestriado. Zopilotillo is also used for the Smooth-billed Ani, so the name can cover both anis. Tijo comes from the bird's loud two-part call, in the same way the long-tailed manakin got its Spanish name from its sound. Matacaballos (horse-killer) and pijuy are also listed, and pijuy is the name used in scientific papers. The name garrapatero refers to the ticks it eats from cattle.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rica bird list marks it R, resident, and it is rated Least Concern.

Photography tips

Anis forage in small groups on the ground and often sunbathe with wings spread, which makes them easy to watch in the open. Groups often let you approach closely while they forage. Good light brings out the green and blue iridescence in the black plumage.

How we know this 13 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Aves de Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://avesdecostarica.com/Crotophaga-sulcirostris.html
  2. Costa Rica Focus read 2026-11-04https://www.costaricafocus.com/bird-species/groove-billed-ani/
  3. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groove-billed_ani
  4. Animal Diversity Web read 2026-11-04https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crotophaga_sulcirostris/
  5. Lista Oficial de las Aves de Costa Rica (AOCR) read 2026-11-04https://listaoficialavesdecostarica.wordpress.com/lista-oficial/lista-oficial-online/
  6. The Tico Times read 2026-11-04https://ticotimes.net/2023/07/17/costa-rica-wildlife-meet-the-groove-billed-ani
  7. Flickr (text from Aves de Costa Rica) read 2026-11-04https://www.flickr.com/photos/jobando/24184677674
  8. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/tag/groove-billed-ani/
  9. Birding in Costa Rica (Substack) read 2026-11-04https://billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/birding-in-costa-ricauvita-quepos
  10. Biosonidos UNED read 2026-11-04https://biosonidos.uned.ac.cr/node/1173
  11. Huitzil (SciELO) read 2026-11-04https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?pid=S1870-74592020000100206&script=sci_abstract
  12. EcoRegistros read 2026-11-04https://www.ecoregistros.org/site_en/imagen.php?id=116174
  13. Grokipedia read 2026-11-04https://grokipedia.com/page/Groove-billed_ani