Spot-crowned Euphonia

Overview

The spot-crowned euphonia (Euphonia imitans) is a small bird in the family Fringillidae, found in Costa Rica and Panama. It is a year-round resident that is currently assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, although its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• Approximately 10 cm long and weighing about 14 g, it is a small euphonia with a stubby bill.
• Adult males feature a bright yellow forehead speckled with black, while the rest of the crown, face, and upperparts are steely blue-black; their underparts are bright yellow.
• Adult females have a rufous-chestnut forehead and dark olive-green upperparts with yellowish olive edges on the wings.
• Both sexes possess a dark brown iris, a blackish bill with a pale blue-gray base, and dark gray legs.
• The song consists of rolling, buzzy utterances, often repeating a note 5–8 times before shifting, or producing metallic calls like a rattled tr’r’r’r’r.

Habitat

Found on the Pacific slope from central Puntarenas and San José provinces in Costa Rica south to Panama's Chiriquí Province. It inhabits the interior, edges, and clearings of evergreen forest and mature secondary forest in the tropical and lower subtropical zones, up to elevations of approximately 1,350–1,400 m.

Diet

The species feeds primarily on small fruits, supplemented by smaller amounts of larger fruits, nectar, and insects. It forages mostly singly and in pairs, but regularly associates with mixed-species feeding flocks in the mid-level to the canopy of the forest.

Did you know?

Nests are constructed by both sexes as enclosed domes made from moss, rootlets, and ferns lined with fine plant fibers, typically placed in a clump of epiphytes on a branch between 2 and 7.5 m above the ground.