White-throated Thrush

How to find it

Listen first for singing from a high perch in the forest canopy, through the morning and again in late afternoon. Then look lower, because it forages low and drops to the ground: watch the forest floor and low cover, not only the canopy. Fruiting fig trees are worth a stop, since they drew it in at Arenal in January. Coffee plantations, shrubby pastures and regrowth forest in the mid-elevation foothills are good places to scan. Outside the breeding season some birds move downslope into hedgerows and suburban gardens, especially where fruit is available.

How to recognise it

Start with the throat. It is white with dark streaks, and a white crescent sits just below it.

The eye-ring is yellow. The bill and feet are bold yellow.

This is a medium thrush, about 23 cm long. The breast is light gray to gray-brown and the back is dark gray to gray-brown.

Males and females look alike. The nominate form has a rusty brown head and upperparts, a detail that describes the species in general rather than Costa Rica in particular.

Seen well, the bold yellow eye-ring and the clear throat pattern make it distinctive.

What it sounds like

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

Behaviour and diet

This thrush usually feeds on or near the ground, though it will climb into fruiting trees. It forages low in the vegetation, drops to the ground and flips leaf litter aside with its bill to find food. It eats fruit, insects and other invertebrates such as worms.

Across its range, breeding appears to run from March to July. The nest is a cup and the eggs are mottled. Audubon calls it a shy forest thrush of tropical mountains.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this thrush lives roughly between 800 and 1,800 m above sea level. It breeds in the foothills and lower mountain slopes, and it is fairly common on the Pacific slope and very uncommon on the Caribbean slope.

Studies in Costa Rica suggest it likes a mix of habitats: coffee plantations, shrubby pastures and regrowth forest, as well as mature forest. It also uses palm groves.

Across its whole range it breeds in and near humid forest of foothills and mountains, up to about 3,000 m, from central and western Panama to Mexico.

When to see it

Singing is mostly heard from February to August, so these months are when listening for it works best. That timing comes from the whole range, not only Costa Rica.

Similar birds

The Clay-colored Thrush, Costa Rica's national bird, is plain brown and is the species this thrush is most often confused with. The White-throated Thrush has distinctive white streaking on the throat. The White-necked Thrush and Dagua Thrush also show a white crescent on the chest and were once treated as the same species, but they differ in genetics and in voice.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The usual name in Costa Rica is mirlo gorgiblanco. The official list also gives Yigüirro Collarejo and Yigüirro de Montaña. Outside Costa Rica, Spanish names include zorzal cuelliblanco, zorzal gorjiblanco and sensontle gorgiblanco.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican bird list gives it the status of resident (R), and the IUCN rates it Least Concern across its range.

Photography tips

Because it forages low, watch the forest floor and low cover, not only the canopy. Look for it dropping to the ground and flipping leaf litter aside with its bill. Fruiting trees can bring it into view, as the figs at Arenal did.