Olive-crowned Yellowthroat

How to find it

Head for open, damp country such as wet pastures, marshy ground and lake shores, not forest interior. The bird stays hidden in dense cover, so a guide's help is useful, as when one was called up out of thick vegetation along a lake shore. Learn the warbling song first, since it lasts 4 to 5 seconds and often runs longer. Once a bird is in view, check the mask and crown color, because the Gray-crowned can share the same site.

How to recognise it

This is a small warbler, about 12.5 cm long. Unlike other Costa Rican yellowthroats, it has no gray or rufous on the face or crown, and no white or buff on the underparts.

The adult male has a very broad black mask. It covers the front of the crown and runs to the sides of the neck. It is not edged with gray or white against the olive-green upperparts. The underparts are bright yellow with olive flanks.

The female has no black mask. She shows a short yellow stripe from the bill to above the eye, with olive cheeks and a larger olive wash on the flanks.

Compared with the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, the Olive-crowned has a finer black bill, a bigger black mask and a greener crown.

Behaviour and diet

This is a bird of thick cover. It stays hidden in dense vegetation, which is why a guide on one Costa Rica tour had to call one up out of the tangle along a lake shore.

The breeding season in Costa Rica runs from April to June. The nest is placed in a large, dense clump of grass.

Where it lives

It is a common resident along the Caribbean lowlands, and it climbs locally to about 1000 m. It only rarely reaches the central mountains.

It is a common bird of wet pastures and other marshy habitats, so open, damp country is the place to look. It usually prefers wetter spots with taller vegetation than the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat uses. Records also come from near Bijagua in northern Guanacaste and from the far south of the country.

Similar birds

The Gray-crowned Yellowthroat is the main confusion. A birder who thought a bird near Bijagua was an Olive-crowned was corrected: it was a Gray-crowned. The Gray-crowned usually lives in drier habitats, yet both have been seen in pastures and lakeside cover at the same site, so check the mask and crown color.

The male Common Yellowthroat looks similar but has a gray border above the black mask, which this species lacks. Both sexes of the Olive-crowned are also more evenly yellow below and brighter green above. The Common Yellowthroat is a migrant (M) in Costa Rica, while the Olive-crowned and Gray-crowned are residents (R).

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rica and Panama call it Antifacito Coroniolivo. Nicaragua uses chipe de corona oliva or enmascarado carinegro, and Colombia uses reinita carinegra.

Status and conservation

It is listed as a resident (R) in Costa Rica, and BirdLife International rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

Give it a few quiet minutes at the edge of wet pasture or lakeside cover, since it stays hidden in dense vegetation. A guide calling it out of thick cover has worked on a lake shore. Check the mask and crown color on each bird you photograph.