Mistletoe Tyrannulet

How to find it

Scan the upper levels of trees and look for mistletoe clumps, since that is where the bird tends to be. Listen for the drawn-out whistle, which is given often and can lead you to a bird you would otherwise miss. Forest edges, orchards and pastures with scattered trees are good places to look, as mistletoes are common there. Garden trees and shaded crops are as worth a glance as forest. Check any mixed flock passing through the treetops, and an early start may let you hear the dawn song from the canopy.

How to recognise it

This is a very small bird, about 11 to 12 cm long. Look for these marks:

A slate-gray cap.

A bright white eyebrow stripe, which gives the Spanish name Cejigrís its sense of a pale brow on a dark head.

An olive-green back.

Clear yellow edging on the wings. The edging is thicker on the leading edge but does not make wing bars, which is a quick mark to check.

Because the bird often stays fairly high in trees, you will usually see it from below, so binoculars and a patient look at the upper levels help. An active little bird with its tail cocked, moving fast through the foliage, is a good sign.

What it sounds like

Recording: kalvinchan, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The Mistletoe Tyrannulet forages actively, moving fast with its tail cocked. It hunts mainly small arthropods among the foliage and may join mixed-species flocks, so a passing wave of birds in the canopy is worth scanning.

It also eats fruit and prefers mistletoe berries. A Costa Rican naturalist notes that it spreads mistletoe seeds: it eats the fruit, then wipes the seed onto branches, where a new plant can grow. In that way the bird helps keep alive the plant it depends on.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it ranges from sea level up to treeline, about 3,000 m (9,800 ft), though it is mainly a bird of the lowlands and foothills. It lives across most of the country, mainly on the Caribbean side.

It can turn up almost anywhere humid where mistletoes grow: tall forest canopy, secondary growth, lone trees in pastures and clearings, gardens and shaded crops. You do not need pristine forest to meet it, only trees that carry mistletoe.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica runs from about January to July, possibly into August.

Similar birds

It was formerly lumped with the Paltry Tyrannulet. That species is now split off, and the Guatemalan form lives only in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Birds in Costa Rica are Mistletoe Tyrannulet. The yellow wing edging, thicker on the leading edge but without wing bars, is a quick mark to check.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rica and Nicaragua use the name Mosquerito Cejigrís. Other Spanish names include Mosquerito Centroamericano, and Tiranolete del Muérdago in Panama.

Status and conservation

It is a resident (R) on the AOCR list and is rated Least Concern.