Ochre-bellied Flycatcher

How to find it

Expect it in shady forest understory at many lower elevations. Watching fruiting plants beside trails is a good way to find it; one bird was eating berries along a path at Wilson Botanical Garden. Watch for the wing flick as it lands, which is a handy clue in the understory. Look along shaded streams too, since the nest often hangs over water. It can pop up at the edge of a driveway, as one did several times at Talari. It is small and inconspicuous, so patience pays.

How to recognise it

This is a small bird, about 13 cm long, and plain by design.

The upperparts, head and upper breast are olive-green. The underparts are ochre, with a dull orange belly. The cheeks and throat are greyish olive. Two buff wing bars cross the wing; they are faint, so look closely. The base of the lower bill is pink to orange, a detail worth checking if you get a good view.

Males and females look alike. Young birds look like adults but have a paler, more yellowish belly. It also helps to remember what it lacks: there is no white on the head, wings or belly.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

It eats fruit and insects. It hover-gleans from a perch in short sallies and forages mostly in the lower and middle forest levels. It usually feeds alone, but sometimes joins mixed flocks at fruiting trees.

Its most useful habit for spotting it is a distinctive flick of one wing and then the other when it lands. Males sing from leks, which are display groups, and finding the lek is much harder than finding the bird itself. Up to six males perch in shaded understory, 15 to 50 m apart.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in humid forest on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes, below about 1200 m. Across its wider range it is a common bird of humid forest, usually in the undergrowth near water, and it favours forest edges along streams.

In the Central Valley it was known only from the southwest, near the El Rodeo protected zone. A 2006 record from Heredia, at 1400 m, was the first north of the valley. It sometimes wanders into semi-cleared areas and gardens near Turrialba, but only rarely.

When to see it

Courtship and singing at display groups is reported between March and July, in a general account that cites a Costa Rica bird guide rather than speaking only of Costa Rica.

Similar birds

Costa Rica has a close relative, the Olive-streaked Flycatcher (Mionectes olivaceus), called Mosquerito Ojimanchado. The Ochre-bellied is plain and dull, with no white on head, wings or belly. That helps separate it from other forest flycatchers of similar habitat, such as the Slaty-capped Flycatcher. Two faint ochre wing bars also help.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the species is called Mosquerito Aceitunado, and Tontillo is the everyday name. Tontillo is also used for the Olive-streaked Flycatcher, so the name can cover both birds.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list classes it as a resident in Costa Rica, and globally the IUCN rates it Least Concern, with a very large range.

Photography tips

Watch fruiting plants beside trails and the shaded edges of streams, and wait for the wing flick that gives it away. A nesting bird can be very confiding: one female with a nest beside a trail made several visits and sat on a fence for long minutes while a tour group stood close by. The nest is a moss-covered ball with a side entrance, hanging from a root or branch, often over water.