Bird Watching in Costa Rica

The primary attractions for many naturalists are the birds, of which some 850 species have been recorder. This is far more species than found in any one of the continents of North America, Australia or Europe.

It is not only the diversity which makes Costa Rica attractive to the bird watcher. The birds are spectacular, an if you know where to go, surprisingly easy to see.

A favorite destination for birders is the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Here you can see birds such as the resplendent quetzal, perhaps one of the most dazzling birds of the tropical rainforest.

A member of the trogons family, the male resplendent quetzal lives up to its name with a glittering green plumage set off by a crimson belly, and white tail feathers contrasting with bight green tail coverts streaming over 60 cm. beyond the bird's body.

For many visitors the hummingbirds are the most delightful birds to observe. Over 50 species has been recorded in Costa Rica and their beauty is matched by extravagant names, such a purple-throated mountain gem, white-crested coquette, and red-footed pkumeleteer, to name a few.

The most enigmatic birds is the indigo-capped hummingbird, which lives and breeds in the hinge mountain valleys of Colombia and has never been found outside Colombia except once, a single female was collected high in Volcano Miracles in Cordillera de Guanacaste. Hummingbirds can beat their wings up to 80 times a second, thus producing the typical hum for which they are named.

Other exciting birds include brightly colored scarlet macaws and 15 other parrot species; six different toucans, their incredibly large and hollow bills; the huge and very happy eagle, which is capable of snatching monkeys and sloths off branches as it flies past; and large array of other tropical birds such as flycatcher (75 species), tangers (45 species), antbirds (29 species) and cotingas (19 species).

Costa Rica's national birds is the clay-colored robin, locally called yigüirro. This birds rarely sings, excepts during the breeding season. This coincides with the onset of the rainy season, and early colonizers used to say that the yigüirro song brought the rains, the most important event of the agricultural year.

The bird is relative drab-looking but the popular folk-tale of "rain-bringing" led to the clay-colored robin's standing as the national birds.