White-crowned Manakin

How to find it

Plan around a specific place, because this is a shy bird and the habitat matters. Focus on mature foothill and mid-elevation rainforest in the Caribbean hills, between about 500 and 1,500 m. Braulio Carrillo National Park, in the Quebrada Gonzalez sector, is the site suggested for trying. Around Turrialba, on the Caribbean side, it can sometimes be found, along with the White-ruffed Manakin. A lek gives the best chance of seeing males, and tour groups have reached one by hiking to the highest part of a foothill property. Listen for the buzzy call and watch the low understory.

How to recognise it

The male is all black with a snow-white crown and nape, and the eye is red. The crown can be raised like a crest. The whole bird is tiny, only about 9 to 10 cm long.

Females and young males are olive-green with a grey head and throat, and the underparts are grey-green or olive.

The Costa Rican subspecies, anthracina (also called Zeledon's), has velvety black upperparts. Its crown and nape feathers have black bases, but the forehead feathers do not.

Size, crest and plumage of the male and female are described for the species in general, not only for Costa Rican birds.

What it sounds like

Recording: Tommy Andriollo, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a quiet, inconspicuous bird, usually alone, though it sometimes joins others at fruiting trees. It eats mostly fruit.

Males display at leks, with slow flights between low branches. These leks are spread out, with two to five males sitting just within earshot of each other, up to about 100 m apart. They swoop between perches, or flutter slowly like a butterfly when a female is present.

Where it lives

Across its range it lives in the lower layer of humid lowland and mountain forest, up to about 2000 m elevation. It stays in the undergrowth, usually about 3 to 6 m off the ground.

In Costa Rica the local race lives in central and eastern parts of the country, in the Central and Talamanca mountain ranges, and is listed for the Caribbean slope. Visitors can look for it in the Caribbean hills in mature forest, between about 500 and 1,500 m.

When to see it

All Costa Rican manakins, this species included, are resident. They live in the country all year and breed there.

Similar birds

Males are among the easiest manakins to identify, thanks to the black body and white crown. Females are easily mistaken for other manakin species in the field. Even so, a grey head combined with red eyes makes the female fairly easy to identify as this species.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Saltarín coroniblanco is the name used in Costa Rica and Panama. Colombia and Venezuela call it saltarín cabeciblanco, and Peru uses saltarín de cabeza blanca.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as resident (R), uncommon and hard to see in Costa Rica, while across its wide range it is fairly common and rated Least Concern by the IUCN.

Photography tips

Manakins in Costa Rica are hard to photograph because they live in forest and move quickly between perches. Tour leaders advise knowing where to find them, understanding their behaviour, and being patient. A lek, where males return to the same display perches, is the natural place to apply that advice.