Tawny-crested Tanager

How to find it

Look for noisy groups of up to 20 birds moving through the low and middle levels of wet forest. They often tag along with Chlorothraupis tanager flocks, so find those flocks first and then scan through them. Concentrate on the wet Caribbean slope, where the species is common to abundant. Be ready to meet either a mixed flock or a small group of only this species, since accounts differ.

How to recognise it

The adult male is dull black, with long tawny-orange feathers across most of the crown that form a rounded crest. The crest can be raised. Length is about 14.5 cm.

Look closely at the bill: its lower base looks silvery. The legs are blackish.

The female is plainer. She is dark brown above and slightly paler below, with blackish wings and tail. Across the species' range she is dark olive-brown all over, and darker than any other tanager living in the same area, which helps separate her from other tanagers.

What it sounds like

Recording: Fundacion ProAves, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a noisy, sociable bird. In Costa Rica it forms flocks of up to 20 birds, and these often travel with flocks of Chlorothraupis tanagers, joined by a few woodcreepers and foliage-gleaners, and often a pair of White-throated Shrike-Tanagers.

Males raise the tawny crest when excited or courting, and it stands out sharply against the black body. Elsewhere in its range, small groups of only this species have been described that rarely join mixed flocks.

Where it lives

It uses the low and middle levels of dense, very wet forest. It sometimes visits tall secondary growth next to the forest.

In Costa Rica it ranges from sea level to about 1000 m, or up to 1200 m in the southeast. It is a common to abundant resident of the humid lowlands and foothills along the Caribbean slope, and it is rare in the drier area south of Lake Nicaragua.

When to see it

Breeding probably runs from March to June, judging by gonad data and the presence of juveniles.

Similar birds

The brown female can be mistaken for an antbird, but she has the typical shape and bill of a tanager, which an antbird lacks. Her dark colour, darker than any other tanager in the same area, is another useful clue.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans call it Tangara Coronidorada. Other Spanish names are tangara de Delattre and frutero de copete anaranjado, while Panama, Ecuador and Colombia use tangara crestinaranja.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list marks it as a resident species (R), and BirdLife International rates it Least Concern across its range.

Photography tips

Find a Chlorothraupis tanager flock first, then scan through it for the black birds with tawny crests in the low and middle levels of the forest.