Yellow-winged Tanager

How to find it

Look in northern lowland farmland and garden areas, such as the Los Chiles and Boca Tapada area. Feeders there have been the viewing spot so far, so settle in and watch one. Scan the middle and upper levels of trees, and check any wires nearby. Do not count on it showing quickly, since one guide waited an hour without a sighting. Check every blue-gray tanager for the yellow wing patch.

How to recognise it

Look for mostly bluish to dusky plumage with a bright yellow patch at the base of the flight feathers. That patch makes it easy to identify.

Adults are about 15 to 17 cm long. The head and neck are pale purplish and the body is a dull olive. Wings and tail are blackish, set off by the bright yellow wing patches. The bill and legs are black.

Young birds lack the blue and purple tones and look olive green instead. These descriptions apply to the species across its range, not only to birds in Costa Rica.

What it sounds like

Recording: Arturo Benavides Mendoza, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a sociable bird, and flocks of 50 or more are sometimes reported across its range. It eats fruit, insects and nectar.

It usually feeds in the upper and middle parts of trees, sometimes mixed in with other tanagers, honeycreepers and warblers. In Mexico it also searches for food from utility and phone wires in towns.

Away from Costa Rica the species does well in cities, towns, yards and parks.

Where it lives

Across its range it lives at forest edges and in semi-open areas. It is found mostly in disturbed habitats such as gardens, orchards and farmland with scattered trees. The range reaches about 1800 m.

In Costa Rica it is known only from the far north, in the northern lowlands. Records come from Los Chiles in Alajuela and from Boca Tapada in San Carlos. The first published Costa Rican sighting was far to the south and east, at CATIE in Turrialba, in January 1986.

Similar birds

Palm Tanager and Blue-gray Tanager (Viuda) shared the Los Chiles feeder with it, and both look similar. They are its closest relatives in the same genus. The yellow wing patch separates it from both, so check each bird for it.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica and Honduras the usual Spanish name is tangara aliamarilla. Other names are tángara ala amarilla in Mexico, carbonero in Honduras, and azulejo buscahigo.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it R?, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, locally common in its range and apparently expanding.

Photography tips

Visits to the Los Chiles feeder were brief, about 40 seconds in one case. Have the camera ready and watch the feeder, since the bird may not stay long.