Birders' Paradise

Costa Rica is called a Birders Paradise with good reason.

I've been paging through the field guide Birds of Central America for weeks now, marvelling at the colour, diversity and names of all the different kinds we might see on our trip to Costa Rica. Birds may not respect borders, but they do favour different habitat, and the guide is great for identifying which areas play host to different species: lowland, cloud forest, beach, mangroves, woodland, savannah, understory/midstory humid forest, ravines, streamsides....

Of the 338 different kinds of hummingbirds in the world, 52 are found in Costa Rica. 

White-necked jacobin

... and so are these exotically named creatures...

Cotingas

Crakes

Flycatchers

Frigates

Kingfishers

Laughing Falcon

Macaw (scarlet Macaw being the largest parrot in the world)

Mangos ( a kind of hummingbird)

Quetzals (one of ten trogan species)

Manakins

Motmot

Oropendola

Parakeets

Rails and Wood -Rails

Spoonbill

Toucan & Toucancillo

Tropicbirds

Resplendant Quetzal

Keel-billed toucan (one of eight toucan species seen in CR)

Interestingly, the National bird is a Clay-coloured thrush. Very nondescript and certainly not a stand-out by colour or size, but given the designation as a tribute to its powerful and melodious song that accompanies the onset of the rainy season.

Here's an online Guide to the Most Popular Birds in Costa Rica.

There are 16 owl species in Costa Rica, all of which are coloured in shades of brown. These chiefly nocturnal animals are known for their ability to hunt in the night. Some of the most wide-spread owls include the striped owl, crested owl, spectacled owl, mottled owl, and black-and-white owl.

Spectacled Owl

Here's a video showing 129 of the 900 possible species we'll see.