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Yellow-crowned Euphonia | Euphonia luteicapilla
Geelkruinorganist | Eufonia coroniamarilla
The Yellow-crowned Euphonia is a small euphonia of forest edges, secondary forest and semi-open country in southern Central America. The male is the only euphonia in the guide area with an entirely yellow crown above a black throat. It feeds on mistletoe berries and other small fruits and often visits gardens and plantations.
Voice
A clear, often repeated two-note whistle, such as bee-bee or pee-pee, sometimes in a series. The song is a rapid series of twittering and whistled notes.
Recording: GABRIEL LEITE — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
9–10 cm. The male is glossy blue-black above, with a black throat and a yellow crown that extends from the forehead to the hindcrown. Breast and belly are bright yellow. The female is plain olive-green above and yellowish olive below, without obvious features. Bill short and thick.
Confusion species
In Scrub Euphonia Euphonia affinis and White-vented Euphonia Euphonia minuta the yellow on the male's head is restricted to the forehead; White-vented Euphonia also has a white lower belly. Yellow-throated Euphonia Euphonia hirundinacea and Thick-billed Euphonia Euphonia laniirostris have a yellow throat. Females of these species are very similar; that of Yellow-crowned is fairly uniform olive-green and lacks the grey nape of Scrub Euphonia and the greyish-white belly of White-vented Euphonia.
Habitat
Forest edges, secondary forest, clearings with scattered trees, shade coffee, cacao plantations, gardens and parks; mainly in humid lowlands and foothills, up to about 1500 m. It avoids the interior of closed forest. It eats mainly mistletoe berries and other small fruits, usually in pairs or small groups.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Caribbean slope of eastern Nicaragua, Costa Rica (mainly the Caribbean slope and the Central Valley) and Panama, where it occurs on both slopes. Does not occur outside the guide area.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Common in gardens and at forest edges, for example at La Selva in Costa Rica and around the Panama Canal. The clear two-note whistle from a treetop often indicates the species.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). Common and tolerates heavily modified country with trees.
Scientific name
Euphonia luteicapilla | (Cabanis, 1861)
Cabanis described the species in 1861 as Phonasca luteicapilla; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Euphonia was introduced in 1806 by Desmarest, A-G. Euphonia is Greek, from eu 'good' and phōnē 'sound': 'sweet-voiced', after the pleasing calls. luteicapilla is Latin, from luteus 'yellow' and capillus 'hair of the head', after the male's all-yellow crown. The specimen the first description was based on came from Costa Rica.