Breeding

In Costa Rica, breeding occurs from March through to October (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Wolfe et al. 2009), while in Panama the breeding season appears to be slightly more protracted, with young hatchlings noted in March and nest-building recorded in November (Kroodsma and Brewer 2005). The species breeds from January to August in Colombia (Kroodsma and Brewer 2005).

In general, its nest, which is built by both members of a pair (Kroodsma and Brewer 2005), is described as being elbow-shaped with a short entrance tube, in total c.25 cm long and 8-13 cm in diameter at the larger end, constructed with plant stems, grass, rootlets, leaf skeletons, and strips of Heliconia leaves, perhaps sparsely decorated with green moss and vine tendrils, and lined with leaf skeletons and fine grass stems (Wetmore et al. 1984 and references therein, Stiles and Skutch 1989). It may be placed 1.6-5 m above the ground in the join of an upright or nodding branch (Wetmore et al. 1984 and references therein, Stiles and Skutch 1989). In contrast, the nest of the subspecies on Escudo de Veraguas Island, Panama (C. n. odicus) was described by Wetmore et al. (1984) as a rounded ball, ca 200 mm in diameter, made of palm leaves and other fibres, and placed at the end of a slender branch. Similarly, in Panama a nest of C. n. reditus seen in 1961 was described as an untidy ball of yellowish white fibers, as large as a coconut, placed on the end of a dead branch projecting a few meters into the open from dense undergrowth on the bank of the río Pequení, Panamá province (Wetmore et al. 1984).

The species lays 2-3 eggs, which are white with reddish-brown or cinnamon-brown speckling over the whole surface, more intensely speckled at the larger end; one egg measured 23×16 mm, 25×16.5 mm, and 24×17 mm (Wetmore et al. 1984 and references therein, Stiles and Skutch 1989).