White-naped Brushfinch

How to find it

Go early in the morning, when the forest is quiet, which gives the best chance of a view. Listen first, since whistles and trills from dense shade often reveal it. Then scan weedy thickets, living fences, coffee plantings with weeds and garden hedges in the highlands. When you find a mixed group in the shady understory, check it for the white-striped black head. The high parts of the Central Valley are a good area to try.

How to recognise it

Adults have a black head with a white stripe running down the middle of the crown to the nape. The throat is bright yellow, though it can be hard to notice in poor light, so lean on the crown stripe first.

The body is slim with a long tail, the back is dark slate and the belly whitish. It is about 17 cm from bill tip to tail tip.

Juveniles are duller. The head is sooty black with a poorly defined brownish crown stripe, the throat is pale buff and the underparts are streaked.

It is also called Yellow-throated Brushfinch, a name you may meet in some field guides and apps.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

It usually moves in pairs or family groups, so when you see one, look for a second. A lodge blog in Costa Rica calls it shy, and says its whistles and trills often give it away from dense shade.

It is sometimes seen alongside another understory bird, the Chestnut-capped Brushfinch, and wrens and warblers join the same mixed groups in the shady understory.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in second growth, weedy open areas and forest edges, and it does not need deep forest interior. It mostly occurs between about 900 and 2,000 m elevation, and only rarely higher. Another description gives it as a common resident between 900 and 2,200 m, mostly on the Pacific side.

The Costa Rican subspecies, parvirostris, lives in the Cordillera de Guanacaste, Cordillera Central and Cordillera de Talamanca. It has spread into the Caribbean side as forest is cleared, especially in the central highlands.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica and Panama runs from April to July, and one Costa Rican source gives March to June.

Similar birds

The Chestnut-capped Brushfinch often shares the same understory, so look at the head pattern carefully. The black head with a white crown stripe and the bright yellow throat are the key marks. In poor light the yellow throat can look dull, so rely on the crown stripe.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans call it Saltón Gargantiamarilla on the official list. Local nicknames are Comepuntas and Purisco, though Comepuntas is also used for some saltators, which are different birds. One Costa Rican bird site lists it as Come puntas, purisco, with the older scientific name Embernagra albinucha.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list gives it resident status (R), the IUCN rates it Least Concern, and it is considered fairly common in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

It likes weedy thickets: coffee plantings with weeds, living fences, thickets in orchards and home gardens. Scanning these edges and garden hedges in the highlands is a sensible way to find it.