White-vented Euphonia

How to find it

Start early in the morning, when the bird is most active. Look for small flocks in fruiting trees, especially mistletoe, and at forest edges and clearings with isolated trees. Because it often feeds high in the canopy, a canopy tower or an open edge gives you a better angle than a dark trail. Listen for the soft contact calls of a feeding flock to locate the group. Any forest edge with fruiting mistletoe may hold feeding flocks, and it is reported to remember where fruiting trees are from season to season, so a good tree is worth revisiting.

How to recognise it

This is the smallest euphonia in Costa Rica, only about 9 to 9.5 cm long. White undertail feathers set it apart from the other Costa Rican euphonias, and both sexes show them.

Males are blue-black above with a small yellow forehead patch and a blackish throat. The underparts are yellow except for a white lower belly and undertail. On a Costa Rican photo page the male is noted for yellow limited to the forehead.

Females are olive above with a grayish-white throat and an olive-yellow breast band and flanks. The belly and vent area is whitish, and the female is noted for distinctive white markings underneath.

What it sounds like

Recording: Niels Krabbe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 5 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It specializes in small fruits, especially mistletoe berries. Despite its tiny size, it can swallow berries nearly half as wide as its bill. It often feeds high in the canopy, which makes it hard to watch, and it is usually found in small flocks in fruiting trees. It almost constantly wags its tail while foraging, a useful clue when you finally find one among the leaves.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives from sea level up to about 1,200 m. It is most common below 700 m, mainly on the Caribbean slope from lowlands to middle elevations. Across its range it uses humid forest canopy and edges, secondary growth with fruiting trees, clearings with scattered trees holding mistletoe, gardens, plantations and riverside forest. One population is on the Caribbean slope. A second is on the Pacific slope, from central Puntarenas and San José provinces south to Panama.

When to see it

It is listed as present year-round, and easier to find when mistletoe is fruiting heavily. Early morning is given as the best viewing time. It apparently breeds from February to July in Costa Rica, and sometimes raises two broods.

Similar birds

Around Turrialba, the only other yellow and dark blue euphonia that can be confused with the common Yellow-throated and Yellow-crowned is this species. Check for white undertail feathers on both sexes of the White-vented to separate it from the Yellow-throated, and look for the grayish-white lower belly on the Yellow-throated. The Scrub Euphonia also has a dark throat and white undertail, but it has a yellow vent, and in Costa Rica it is found only in the dry northwest.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican name is Eufonia Menuda, with Finito Canario, Canarito, Canaria and Agüio also listed. Other Spanish names include Eufonia Culiblanca, Eufonia Ventriblanca and Fruterito Menudito.

Status and conservation

The AOCR lists it as a resident (R), the IUCN rates it Least Concern, and it is considered uncommon in Costa Rica, where some elevational wandering has been reported.

Photography tips

It often feeds high in the canopy, which makes it hard to watch. Look for small flocks in fruiting trees, especially mistletoe, and at forest edges and clearings with isolated trees, where the light and angle are kinder.