White-lined Tanager

How to find it

Look for a black male paired with a rufous female. They move through the undergrowth of clearings and edges, often near water. Listen as well as look, because the pair keeps in touch with contact calls. Scan dense young second growth and scrub, and check the surroundings of rural houses. The species is shy and seldom sits in the open for long, so expect brief views and give an edge or garden some patience.

How to recognise it

The White-lined Tanager is about 17 cm long. The male is glossy black, with a small white patch on the upperwing and white underwing linings. These show mostly in flight, which is why he flashes white when he flies.

The female and young birds are rufous all over, a little paler below. Young birds look like the adult female but duller, and the grey bases of their belly feathers give them a mottled look. Young males reach full adult plumage before their first breeding season.

The female can be told from other rufous birds by her tanager bill, her habitat and her voice.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

It forages low. It eats many fruits and mashes them to swallow the pulp, and it also takes insects from foliage and drops from a low perch onto insects on the ground.

Pairs stay together all year and generally do not join mixed-species flocks. Elsewhere in its range it sometimes feeds at army ant swarms, perching just above the ground and pouncing on insects the ants flush out. In courtship, across its range, the male opens and closes his wings in front of the female to show off the white spots under the wing.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it ranges from the lowlands up to about 1400 m. It uses dense young second growth, scrub and open forest, and sometimes the surroundings of rural houses.

The Caribbean slope is the core of its range. It has not yet been reported west of the Río Frío, and it is sporadic farther west in the Central Valley. It has also spread into the lowlands around Golfo Dulce over the last 25 to 30 years.

When to see it

A Costa Rican natural history account says it breeds from April to July.

Similar birds

The female can be told from other rufous birds by her tanager bill, her habitat and her voice. A rufous bird and a black bird together in scrub is a good clue that you have a pair. Young birds resemble the female but are duller and mottled on the belly.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican list name is Tangara Forriblanca, with the nickname Fraile (friar). Other countries use different Spanish names, such as Parlotero Malcasado in Colombia and Frutero Chocolatero in Venezuela.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list, updated in June 2026, gives it status R, meaning resident, and the species is rated Least Concern with a very large range and a stable-looking population.

Photography tips

The bird is shy, stays low and rarely perches in the open for long. Patience at a forest edge or garden, or at a fruit feeder, is the likely approach.