Olive-streaked Flycatcher

How to find it

Start at dawn, when it sings most, and listen for the long tinkling song coming from low, dense vegetation. Look along the inside and edges of humid to wet forest, secondary forest and plantations. Shady, moist undergrowth such as ravines is a good bet. Watch mixed flocks of tanagers and antbirds, which it sometimes joins. Outside the breeding season it is mostly silent, so it is easy to miss by sight or sound, and the high, falling 'tsew' call is worth listening for.

How to recognise it

This is a small bird, about 13 cm long. Look for these marks:

- olive-gray upperparts

- dusky olive wings and tail

- a white spot behind the eye

- a streaky breast, with underparts streaked yellow and olive from neck to belly

Among the confusing flycatchers of Costa Rica, this one is easier to name once you have seen the eye spot and the streaks together. Its close South American relatives, the Olive-striped group, are described with a mostly dark bill, but that detail comes from those birds, so treat it as a guide only.

What it sounds like

Recording: er-birds, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a timid bird, quiet and easy to overlook, but common. It is usually alone, though it sometimes joins mixed flocks of tanagers, antbirds and similar birds. It eats mostly fruit but also picks insects off foliage. It sometimes flicks one wing open at a time, a habit shared by its relatives in the genus. It is mostly a year-round resident, but it moves up and down slopes on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Breeding there includes April to July.

Where it lives

It lives in humid forest of the foothills and nearby lowlands, feeding in the understory and the middle level of the forest. It is found through much of Costa Rica's highlands, and in the country it mostly lives at 800 to 2,200 m. Some Caribbean slope birds drop as low as 50 m outside the breeding season. It likes dense, shady, moist undergrowth, such as in ravines. Specimens have been collected at Rincon de la Vieja and in the Tapanti sector of Tapanti National Park, and it is also listed at Cloudbridge Nature Reserve.

When to see it

Lowland sightings on the Caribbean slope come in the non-breeding months, when some birds drop as low as 50 m. Breeding there includes April to July.

Similar birds

The related Ochre-bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagineus) lives in Costa Rica too. It has an ochre belly and two buff wing bars, and its upper breast is greenish. The Olive-streaked shows a white spot behind the eye and a streaky breast instead. The Streak-necked Flycatcher is another look-alike, but the Olive-striped group has a grayer olive head, a darker bill and two faint wing bars.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The AOCR gives the Costa Rican name as Mosquerito Ojimanchado, with Tontillo as the nickname in brackets. Tontillo is also the nickname of its relative, the Ochre-bellied Flycatcher. Other countries use other names: Panama says mosquerito olivilistado, and Venezuela says bobito rayado.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident endemic (R-END), it is considered common in Costa Rica, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Photography tips

Its habit of staying low in dense, shady undergrowth means patience pays. Go at dawn, when it sings most, and scan the inside and edges of humid forest, secondary forest and plantations. Watch for the odd flick of one wing, which can give away a bird that is otherwise very still.