Family Thraupidae
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
Tangara dowii
In Spanish: Tangara Vientricastaña (Mariposa de Clima Frío)
- Resident
- Regional endemic
Wet mountain forest canopy, 1,200 to 3,000 metres, moving with mixed flocks. All year.
Above 1,200 metres, in the canopy of wet mountain forest, this tanager usually arrives with company. It travels in mixed flocks, groups of several species feeding together through the treetops.
It is black, scaled with blue across the face, neck and breast like sequins, with a rufous patch on the crown and a cinnamon belly. The official list's local name for it is Mariposa de Clima Frío, the cold-weather butterfly. It is a regional endemic, which means it breeds only in this small corner of the world: the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama.
Where to see it
- Hotspot page
- Named place
- Nearby lodge (numbers match the cards)
- Tapantí National Park, above the Orosí valley
- Santa Elena Cloud Forest ReserveNot on the map above: it sits too far away to show at this zoom.
- Monteverde Cloud Forest ReserveNot on the map above: it sits too far away to show at this zoom.
Nearby lodges
Within 20 km of a place on the map, in the same zone.
- 1
Hotel Quelitales7.8 km from Tapantí National Park, above the Orosí valleySee the lodge - 2
Trapp Family Lodge4.8 km from Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (off the map)See the lodge - 3
Mirador de Quetzales13.6 km from Tapantí National Park, above the Orosí valleySee the lodge - 4Photo comingParaíso Quetzal Lodge14.7 km from Tapantí National Park, above the Orosí valleySee the lodge
- 5
Dantica Cloud Forest Lodge19.6 km from Tapantí National Park, above the Orosí valleySee the lodge
How to recognise it
About 13 cm and 20 grams, shorter than a new pencil. Male and female are very much alike, though adult males carry more of the blue scaling.
Black on the head, back and breast. Blue scaling, the spangles of the name, on the breast and the sides of the face and neck. A rufous crown patch, a green rump and a cinnamon belly.
The mark that settles it is the pair together: blue-spangled black above, cinnamon below.
The call is a high tsip.
Where it lives
Common from about 1,200 to 3,000 metres, in the canopy of wet mountain forest heavy with epiphytes, the mosses and bromeliads that load the branches. Only in the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. It moves with mixed-species feeding flocks.
When to see it
All year.
Trips that find it
- Costa Rica Classic Birding, All Inclusive8 nightsSee the trip
- Birding in Costa Rica's Northern Zone11 nightsSee the trip
- Birding in Costa Rica's Top Three Destinations9 nightsSee the trip
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Plan my birding tripHow we know this 1 sources, each read on the date shown
- Wikipedia: Spangle-cheeked tanager read 4 November 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spangle-cheeked_tanager