Two Days and Two Mornings of Birding in Costa Rica = 254 Species
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
3d ago
Birding in Costa Rica means a lot of birds. I often say something along those lines but hey, good news is worth repeating. But seriously, there really are a heck of a lot of birds in Costa Rica! Thankfully, a lot of places are home to lots of birds too but what makes Costa Rica stand out is the number of bird species you can see in a short amount of time. During a week of birding in Costa Rica, you could easily see more than 300 species, maybe even 400. Heck, even during a few days of birding, you can see an impressive number of birds. You have to go to the right places, put in the time, and i ..read more
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Quail-Dove Identification in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
2w ago
Quail-doves seem to herald from the realm of birding dreams. The plump birds aren’t quails but you could be excused for believing it. They are indeed doves but are a far cry from those everyday, easy-peasy Mournings. Instead of sitting in the open or easing on down the middle of a road, quail-doves lurk in the shadows. Shy by nature, quail-doves are careful. I can’t blame them. I mean if I had to walk the same forest floor as hungry Ocelots, boas, and other animals that couldn’t wait to devour me, I’d be pretty darn timid too! Most forest floor birds are careful but quail-doves take it to anot ..read more
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Quality Costa Rica Birding at Irazu Volcano
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
1M ago
Costa Rica birding covers a wide range of avian experiences. There are dry lowlands with Turquoise-browed Motmots and Double-striped Thick-Knees, backyard Blue-gray Tanagers, and toucans yelping from the tree tops. This is a thick-knee. I know, what an odd, orthopedic sounding name for a bird! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a whole lot of birds up in here, even uncommon species or ones that are hard to find no matter where you bring the binos. That’s what this post is about and although I’ve written a similar thing or two about birding on Irazu Volcano, here we go again. Irazu ..read more
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Highlights from a Day of Birding in Costa Rica: Lowlands to the Highlands
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
1M ago
Birding in Costa Rica can be a pretty hotel garden with easy-going saltators and chattering flocks of parakeets. It can also be focused birding in lowland rainforests as you search for dancing manakins and hidden woodcreepers. Oh yeah, and birding in Costa Rica can certainly be watching mixed flocks and fluttering quetzals in cloud forest. Yes, fluttering quetzals. Fancy that! The male avian deity messengers do their iridescent fluttering while cackling and displaying above the forest. If a big, shining emerald and red velvet bird fluttering and calling in plain sight sounds like too much to ..read more
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Birding in Costa Rica at Ceiba de Orotina and Tarcoles- Highlights and Tips
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
1M ago
This past Sunday, my partner and I did a quick morning trip to the Pacific lowlands. That would mean sites just to the west of the Central Valley, hot places down the continental slope. It’s a pretty easy trip and it’s always tempting because this route promises birds. You should see this one. To be honest, that’s par for the course in birdy Costa Rica. However, at Ceiba de Orotina, some of those birds might also be rare and unexpected species for Costa Rica. Ever since I guided someone in the Ceiba de Orotina area and saw a bunch of Grasshopper Sparrows, I’ve been thinking about that place. W ..read more
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Birding in Costa Rica = High Value Birding
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
2M ago
All birding has value. Watching a Downy Woodpecker hitch its way up a backyard oak. Relaxing to the lazy serenades of Cedar Waxwings. It’s all good and it’s all appreciated. Connection with birds is connection with nature, and the experience is priceless. And yet, most of us see far more woodpeckers than the shadow of a Gyrfalcon. Lots of birds are much easier to see than others, and to see most species, you gotta buy some plane tickets. Emerald Tanager- yeah, you’ll need a plane ride or some adventurous travel for this beauty. Species that are rare or very difficult to see also require far mo ..read more
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2024- Starting Another Year of Birding in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
3M ago
It’s early January, a good time to be birding in Costa Rica! At times, windy weather can be a challenge but when the gusts calm down, the kiskadees are calling, and parakeets are flying overhead. Crimson-fronted Parakeets are pretty common. Oh, and there isn’t any freezing weather either. None of that breaking ice off the windshield or other regular January morning chores I used to do in WNY. Here in the tropics, it’s all sun and warmth. The birds know it too; it’s why Baltimore Orioles, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and other migrants are calling and chipping from the mango trees. They share their ..read more
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Highlights from Two Days of Birding in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
4M ago
What can you see in two days of birding in Costa Rica? Like anywhere, experience is a function of location. In the birding way of things, we also need to factor in weather, time, and local birding knowledge. Beyond that, what we see depends on how those birds want to roll. In Costa Rica, how the birds roll is where a mixed flock happens to move (will it cross your path?), if birds feed within your field of view, and if the skulkers opt to come out and play. During the past seven days, I was birding in the Poas and Cinchona area one day and at sites near San Ramon the next. There was some overl ..read more
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5 Things Learned from Chasing American Avocets in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
4M ago
Recently, there have a few twitchworthy birds in Costa Rica. Lesser Black-backed Gull in Tarcoles- second country record, first chasable bird! American Avocet at Ensenada- a very rare vagrant scything the brine for several days! White-eyed Vireo also at Ensenada- rare vagrant, good bird to see in Costa Rica! All present for more than one day, tempting for the Costa Rica birder, and all very twitchworthy. This past Thursday, temptation had its way and we found ourselves driving to Ensenada Wildlife Refuge. The plan was to see the avocet, maybe even visit the shorebird hotspot at Punta Morales ..read more
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Recommendations for Birding Costa Rica- December, 2023
Costa Rica Living and Birding
by admin
4M ago
Will you be birding Costa Rica soon? Need some recommendations? Here’s my take on birding Costa Rica in the final month of the year. These suggestions probably work for every December. In any case, I hope they help with your upcoming trip. Expect Rain in the Mountains and on the Caribbean Slope “It’s raining again…” It’ll will be raining…but it won’t be that bad. Well, at least not on the Pacific slope! Yeah, in December, the dry season does kick into gear but not everywhere in Costa Rica. This country might be small but it sits at a major junction, one called the continental divide. Put your ..read more
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