The young bird is browner above, duller below, and has a weak buff eyestripe and wing bars.

This species is a resident breeder within the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama, where it occurs in the canopy, woodland edges, and clearings with trees typically from 2,100 m (6,900 ft) up to the timberline.

[2] The deep cup nest, always sheltered above by epiphytes or mosses, is built in a tree or on a low bank.

[2] The flame-throated warbler feeds on caterpillars, insects and spiders picked off the foliage with its sharp pointed bill.

It is territorial when breeding, but will join feeding flocks of insectivorous birds at other times.