Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher

How to find it

Look at forest edges and in forest settings rather than in gardens. Listen for its calls in dense low growth, since it often announces itself before it shows. Low, fairly dense growth suits it: one group saw a bird early on the Carara trail, shortly after entering it, and another tour found one in streamside vegetation along Guacimo Road. In the far north, one came back repeatedly near some docks and gave close looks. It is much harder to find than the Common Tody-Flycatcher, so a local guide with experience of the species helps.

How to recognise it

This is a tiny flycatcher, about 9 to 10 cm long. Males and females look alike.

On Costa Rican birds, look for:

A long bill.

A gray head, with a gray crown and nape.

A yellow belly.

An olive back and yellow wing bars.

Elsewhere in its range the underparts are described as grayish white with faint streaks on the breast.

Then look at the face. A white line above the lores and a broken white eye-ring show on the gray face. In Costa Rica, a dark line crossing the eye and breaking the eye-ring points strongly to this species rather than a look-alike.

Behaviour and diet

It mostly eats arthropods and also takes some fruit. It usually forages in pairs, close to the ground in dense vegetation, grabbing prey from leaves in short sallies from a perch. It rarely joins mixed flocks.

Its habit of hiding in thick tangles of low underbrush is what defines it for birders. It often shows itself by sound or a flash of movement before it can be seen clearly.

Where it lives

Across its range it lives in dense, scrubby vegetation in the tropical and lower subtropical zones. It tolerates converted habitat and may benefit from forest clearing if the forest regrows.

In Costa Rica it ranges from sea level up to about 1,000 m. It occurs on both the Caribbean and Pacific sides of the country, and it is fairly common in the southern Pacific region, where it is relatively common in the wet part.

Similar birds

Costa Rica has three tody-flycatchers. The Black-headed has a white throat and a sharp contrast between its black cap and yellowish green back, and it stays mostly in high treetops, while the Slate-headed stays low in thick growth. The Common is black above and lemon-yellow below, with a white eye that stands out against a dark face, and it is a regular garden bird below about 1600 m. At Carara it can be mistaken for the Northern Bentbill, whose crooked bill separates the two.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama the usual Spanish name is espatulilla cabecigrís. Espatulilla means 'little spatula' and refers to the long, flat bill of the tody-flycatchers. Elsewhere other names are used, such as espatulilla gris in Nicaragua and espatulilla rastrojera in Colombia.

Status and conservation

It is a resident on the AOCR list and rated Least Concern by the IUCN, with a very large range and no immediate threats known.

Photography tips

Listen for its calls in dense low growth, because it often shows itself by sound or a flash of movement before it can be seen clearly. Its habit of hiding in low tangles makes it hard to photograph, so patience at a spot where it keeps returning pays off.