CreatureData

Sharpbill

Oxyruncus cristatus Swainson, 1821

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus) is a species in the family Oxyruncidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 41.8 g to 42 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus)
Photo: Rick elis.simpson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the sharpbill

Weight
42 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the sharpbill live?

Not recorded

What is the sharpbill?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus) is a small passerine bird that is placed in its own family Oxyruncidae. It was formerly placed in the family Tityridae. Its range is from the mountainous areas of tropical South America and southern Central America (Panama and Costa Rica).

It inhabits the canopy of wet forest and feeds on fruit and some invertebrates. It has an orange erectile crest, black-spotted yellowish underparts and scaling on the head and neck. As its name implies, it has a straight, pointed beak, which gives its common name.

Sharpbills are most commonly found in tall dense forests but occasionally venture to the forest edge. Their diet consists of primarily of fruit, but they will also take insects, hanging upside down in from twigs to obtain insect larvae. They will also travel in mixed-species feeding flocks with ovenbirds, tanagers, woodpeckers and cotingas. The breeding system employed by this species is polygamous with closely grouped males displaying in from a lek. The nest of the sharpbill is built by the female and is a small cup built on a slender branch. Chicks are fed by regurgitation.

From the Wikipedia article “Sharpbill” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sharpbill&oldid=1378612211), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the sharpbill endangered?

The sharpbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the sharpbill classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyOxyruncidae
  6. genusOxyruncus
  7. SpeciesOxyruncus cristatus Swainson, 1821

Synonyms Oxyrhamphus flammiceps paraguayensis, Oxyrhynchus cristatus, Oxyrhynchus flammiceps, Oxyrhynchus serratus, Oxyrhyncus cristatus

Other names and names in other languages (30)
  • cotinga bec-esmolatCatalan
  • ostrozobka ohnivotemennáCzech
  • meinbigWelsh
  • SpidsnæbDanish
  • FlammenkopfbekardeGerman
  • FlammenkopfGerman
  • FlammenkopfkotingaGerman
  • Akrabeka birdoEsperanto
  • pintbeka oksirunkoEsperanto
  • PicoagudoSpanish
  • oranokkaFinnish
  • Oxyrhynque huppéFrench
  • oštrokljuni satirCroatian
  • élescsőrű madárHungarian
  • Becco aguzzoItalian
  • Testa di fiammaItalian
  • トガリハシJapanese
  • ugniagalvisLithuanian
  • ScherpsnavelDutch
  • skarpnebbNorwegian
  • ostrodzióbPolish
  • bico-aguçadoPortuguese
  • araponga-do-hortoPortuguese
  • ОстроклювRussian
  • ohňohlavec chochlatýSlovak
  • vassnäbbSwedish
  • Sivri Gagalı KotingaTurkish
  • пікоагудоUkrainian
  • 尖喙鳥Chinese
  • 尖喙霸鹟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the sharpbill

Other species in the same order Passeriformes.

CompareSharpbill vs House sparrowSharpbill vs Common ravenSharpbill vs Eurasian magpieSharpbill vs Common blackbird

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the sharpbill?

An adult sharpbill weighs 42 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the sharpbill endangered?

The sharpbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the sharpbill?

The sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus) belongs to the family Oxyruncidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sharpbill

MLA

“Sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sharpbill.

BibTeX
@misc{sharpbill_2026,
  title = {Sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sharpbill},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}