Stub-tailed Spadebill

How to find it

Start with the voice, since the call is what gives the bird away. It usually comes just after a short flight, so listen for a nasal 'chi-dik' and then scan the low understory nearby. Look in thickets and dark spots with logs, close to the ground. Expect the bird to sit still afterwards, so be patient once you have placed the sound. Night walks at Los Almendros turned up birds asleep on small shrubs about two metres above the ground, and they often returned to the same roost spot night after night. Dry forest water spots, such as riparian strips and small shaded pools, concentrate birds, especially in the dry season.

How to recognise it

This is a tiny bird, up to about 9.5 cm long and 12 g.

Look for these marks:

- Brown head, back and wings.

- White throat and yellowish belly.

- A very short tail, which gives the species its name.

- A broad, flat bill.

- A clear face pattern, with yellow stripes behind the eye.

- Pinkish feet.

Because its brownish and pale green tones merge with the understory, trust shape and face pattern over colour. A small, short-tailed bird perched low in shade, with a flat bill and yellow stripes behind the eye, is the one you want.

What it sounds like

Recording: Ben Costamagna, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

For much of the day the bird flits from place to place in the understory, flying low near the ground. After a short flight it often calls, then sits still.

At Los Almendros in Guanacaste, nesting birds fed their chicks spiders, crickets, moths and moth caterpillars. Adults at the nest also waited for the chicks to defecate, then carried the fecal sacs away to keep the nest clean.

In Costa Rica, breeding birds gather grasses and plant fibres to build deep, cone-shaped cup nests, placed in low saplings.

Where it lives

Across its range it lives in the low and middle levels of the understory in humid forest, semi-deciduous forest, gallery forest and dry forest, from sea level up to about 1300 m.

In Guanacaste it favours lowland tropical dry forest, though it can stay near damp areas. It is found in thickets and dark spots with logs, flying low near the ground.

In Costa Rica it is recorded in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, and the species ranges south only to western Costa Rica.

When to see it

Nesting at Los Almendros in Guanacaste was photographed from 10 to 21 June 2022. Night roosting birds were also photographed there in December, June and September.

Similar birds

The White-throated Spadebill is a close relative that also lives in Costa Rica, and early on the Stub-tailed was considered very close to it. Use the very short tail and the face pattern to separate them. Costa Rica has three spadebills: Stub-tailed, White-throated and Golden-crowned.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica and Nicaragua the usual Spanish name is Piquichato Norteño. Elsewhere you will meet piquichato chingo in Honduras, picochato colicorto in Panama and mosquerito pico chato in Mexico.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican bird list marks it as a resident (R), and the IUCN rates the species Least Concern.

Photography tips

Sheltered, shaded spots are better in the windy northwest, and shaded water spots draw birds in the dry season. Work from a place where you can watch the low understory, and keep still after you hear the call.