Active and attractive warbler of highlands and foothills. Sexes look alike: head and upperparts slaty gray with blacker face and small rusty cap. Belly is red in Mexico, orange-red in northern Central America, and yellow from Costa Rica to South America. White-tipped tail is usually fanned and flapped side-to-side. Favors evergreen and pine-oak forest and edge, and cloud forest in the Andes. Usually in pairs, foraging mainly at low to middle levels, at times even on the ground. Frequently joins mixed-species feeding flocks.