Sooty-capped Chlorospingus

How to find it

Head for mossy highland forest and look for the small flocks rather than single birds. Move up the slope if you are seeing only Common Chlorospingus, because this species lives higher. Stop when a mixed flock passes through the undergrowth or midstory and check each bird in turn. Listen first for the high thin "tseet" and the chips of a moving group. Cleared areas near the forest are also worth a look, since it sometimes ventures into them.

How to recognise it

The adult has a blackish head, a white eyebrow stripe and a grey throat. In Costa Rica the white line is described as jagged, running above and behind the eye.

The back is olive. The underparts are yellow, fading to white on the belly. It is about 13.5 cm long and weighs about 20 g.

Some birds in the Irazú and Turrialba area are greyer and have no yellow underneath, so do not be thrown if the yellow seems missing there. Immatures have browner heads, duller underparts and a fainter eyebrow stripe.

Costa Rica has three Chlorospingus species, and all have greenish-yellow backs and breasts. The head pattern is the quickest way to sort this one out.

What it sounds like

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a flock bird. It usually moves in small groups of up to 20 birds, and these groups often join warblers and other small birds in the undergrowth or midstory.

In Costa Rica it searches mossy branches, hops through dense thickets and pokes among moss, lichens and bromeliads. It sometimes hangs acrobatically to find insects and small spiders. The nest is a bulky cup of moss, liverworts and beard lichen, and often 3 or more adults feed the chicks.

Where it lives

It lives in mossy highland forest between about 1600 and 2100 m, and sometimes ventures into cleared areas. A Costa Rican source calls it an abundant resident in the highest parts of the Central Volcanic and Talamanca ranges, from about 2000 m up past the treeline. It is fairly common in the Tilarán range above 1600 m.

On the upper slopes of Turrialba Volcano it replaces the Common Chlorospingus, which lives lower on the slopes.

When to see it

A Costa Rican source gives the breeding season as February to July.

Similar birds

The Common Chlorospingus (Chlorospingus flavopectus) is the bird most likely to be confused with it. The Sooty-capped has a blacker head and a broad, clear white brow, and it is found at higher sites. The Common Chlorospingus has the nickname Cuatro Ojos, but this species has no such nickname in the sources found.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish name is Tangara de Monte Cejiblanca. Other Spanish names in use include Frutero Copetón and Clorospingo Cejiblanco.

Status and conservation

The Official List of the Birds of Costa Rica classes it as a resident regional endemic (R-END), and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Photography tips

At Tapantí, Common Chlorospingus flocks in fruiting trees can hide other birds, and one source calls finding a different bird among them a Where's Waldo puzzle. Check each member of high-elevation groups, and watch for a blacker head and broad white brow.