Rufous Piha

How to find it

Listen first: the call is a loud whistled 'pee-hah' that carries through the trees. A hand clap or other sharp noise may prompt it to call. Calls come at long, unpredictable gaps, so give each spot time. Look in the middle and lower levels of humid forest, where it perches leaning forward before darting out for fruit. Carara National Park is named as a target species site in a Costa Rica birding guide.

How to recognise it

The adult is about 23.5 cm long, and males and females look alike.

The upperparts are an even reddish cinnamon. The underparts are a little paler, with the throat palest of all. The bill is broad.

A Costa Rican natural history text describes it as nearly uniform rufous, with the size and shape of a Turdus thrush but a bigger head and a thicker bill. It calls it more robust than the Rufous Mourner. The overall build is compact and small-headed, which gives it a thrush-like look.

Because the plumage is so plain and so well matched to the forest, shape, bill and colour tone are what to note if you do get a view.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

The piha perches for long spells leaning forward and looking around, then darts out to snatch a fruit, insect or spider from leaves, often hovering briefly.

It rarely drops to the ground, and when it takes food there it flies back up to eat it.

Males and females do not form pairs. Birds usually live in small, scattered groups, not tight flocks. The species is polygynous, and males apparently court females.

Where it lives

The Rufous Piha lives in the middle and lower levels of humid forest. In Costa Rica it ranges from sea level up to about 1,200 m.

It occurs on the Caribbean slope and separately on the Pacific slope, from central Costa Rica south into Panama. A Costa Rican natural history account says it climbs slopes to about 600 m in the northern and central areas, while in the south, on both slopes, it reaches about 1,200 m.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica runs from March to August. The female builds the nest alone, a light cup on thin horizontal branches 5 to 10 m up, and lays one egg.

Similar birds

It looks like the Rufous Mourner, but the piha has a compact, small-headed, thrush-like shape, not the flycatcher look of the mourner. It is also browner, with a contrast between the back and wings and the front.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird goes by Piha Rojiza or Pía Rojiza. Elsewhere in its range it is also called Guardabosques Rojizo or Guardabosques Rufo.

Status and conservation

The AOCR official list gives it as a resident species; it is fairly common on the Pacific slope, uncommon on the Caribbean slope, and rated Least Concern by IUCN.