Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush

The black-headed nightingale-thrush is 15 to 16.5 cm (5.9 to 6.5 in) long and weighs about 30 g (1.1 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies C. m. mexicanus have a black crown and a dark gray face with a bright orange eye-ring. Their upperparts are olive-brown. Their throat is white with faint dark streaks, their breast and flanks pale grayish brown, and their belly and vent white. Adult females are similar to males but have a browner head and breast. Subspecies C. m. cantator is slightly smaller than the nominate with a much grayer face and throat and an olive wash on the breast. C. m. yaegeri has a strong rufescent wash on the back. C. m. carrikeri has dark ruddy tones on their upperparts and the darkest gray underparts of all the subspecies. All subspecies have bright orange bills, legs, and feet.

The black-headed nightingale-thrush has a disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:

C. m. mexicanus: east-central Mexico from Tamaulipas to Veracruz and western Chiapas C. m. cantator: from Chiapas to eastern Guatemala C. m. yaegeri: Honduras C. m. carrikeri: from Nicaragua through Costa Rica into western Panama to Veraguas Province An individual of C. m. mexicanus spent much of 2004 in Hidalgo County, Texas. The black-headed nightingale-thrush primarily inhabits lowland and montane evergreen forest in the tropical and subtropical zones. In Guatemala and Honduras it also occurs in pine-oak forest. Sources differ on its overall elevational range. One states it as 600 to 1,800 m (2,000 to 5,900 ft) and another as 750 to 1,800 m (2,500 to 5,900 ft). The latter is stated as the species' elevational range in Guatemala and Honduras. A field guide to Costa Rican birds places it between 300 and 1,000 m (1,000 and 3,300 ft) on the Caribbean slope and between 700 and 1,300 m (2,300 and 4,300 ft) on the Pacific slope.

The black-headed nightingale-thrush feeds on insects such as beetles and caterpillars. It also eats much fruit; that of Psychotria and Cephaelis have been noted. It forages in the forest understory and on the ground, where it flips over leaf litter.