The black-eared warbler or Costa Rican warbler (''Basileuterus melanotis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Parulidae The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds that make up the family Parulidae and are restricted to the New World. They are not closely related to Old World warblers or Australian warblers. Most ...

. It was previously considered conspecific with the

three-striped warbler The three-striped warbler (''Basileuterus tristriatus'') is a species of bird in the family Parulidae. It was previously considered conspecific with the Tacarcuna warbler and the black-eared warbler. This bird is found in South America from Ven ...

and the

Tacarcuna warbler The Tacarcuna warbler (''Basileuterus tacarcunae'') is a species of bird in the family Parulidae. It was previously considered conspecific with the three-striped warbler, and the black-eared warbler. Description The Tacarcuna warbler measures ...

Description

The black-eared warbler measures in length. It is mostly olive-brown with a buffy belly and underparts. It has distinct black and white striping on the head and a dark cheek. Male and female three-striped warblers have similar plumages. Their song is a rapid series of squeaky chirps.

Distribution and habitat

It is found from

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

to western

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s and heavily degraded former forest. The black-eared warbler typically forages on the ground, especially near riparian areas.

References

*Donegan, T.M. 2014. Geographical variation in morphology and voice of Three-striped Warbler Basileuterus tristriatus. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 134: 79–109. *Gutiérrez-Pinto, N., A.M. Cuervo, J. Miranda, J.L. Pérez-Emán, R.T. Brumfield, and C.D. Cadena. 2012. Non-monophyly and deep genetic differentiation across low-elevation barriers in a Neotropical montane bird (Basileuterus tristriatus; Aves: Parulidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64: 156–165. black-eared warbler Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama black-eared warbler {{Parulidae-stub