The perceived scarcity of raptors (non-owl raptors) when birding Costa Rica is a recurring topic of conversation between birders whom I guide and myself. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the following questions and observations: “We haven’t seen many raptors other than Black and Turkey Vultures”. “We have seen motmots, lots [...]
Continue reading about Where are the raptors when birding Costa Rica?
While I was standing at a bus stop last week and wishing that I could spontaneously fabricate wormholes suitable for quick and easy transport up into the much more birdy mountains, the “seet” call of a migrant warbler caught my attention Like a secret whisper in the darkness, it was saying, “Here I am. Once [...]
Continue reading about Migrants are on their way back to Costa Rica
Birders from up north who associate falcons with aerodynamically shaped, fast-flying awesome birds of regal appearance and open areas come to the neotropics and wonder, “What exactly is a forest falcon? I mean they don’t have the falcon shape and look more like accipiters (according to their illustrations because they are either extinct or don’t [...]
Continue reading about How to see forest falcons when birding Costa Rica
No, I’m not doing it. I have spent a fair amount of time in the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru but hardly ever left the trail. I ventured off the track once in Tambopata, Peru to get excellent looks at a dark morph Crested Eagle being harassed by Casqued Oropendolas (they are apparently fearless because [...]
With so much excellent birding to be had in Costa Rica, it’s always tempting to make statements such as “that site has some of the best birding in Costa Rica”, or “you have got to visit such and such site”! I am careful about giving out those accolades but I can tell you that I [...]
Continue reading about Heliconias Lodge: some of the best birding in Costa Rica
During much of the year in Costa Rica, the song of the Striped Cuckoo is a common part of the auditory scenery. I hear them near my house singing from scrubby fields around the coffee plantations. I hear them call from the tangled second growth of deforested areas in the humid lowlands of the Caribbean [...]
Continue reading about Striped Cuckoos are common in Costa Rica but where’s the Pheasant?
Michigan “has” the Kirtland’s Warbler, we thought that Arkansas had the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (who knows-maybe it still does), and Texas is the easiest place to see endangered Whooping Cranes. So what does Costa Rica “have”? Which birds are easier to see in its rainforests, cloud forests, montane oak forests, mangroves, and edge habitats than elsewhere? [...]
Continue reading about A Dozen Birds to watch for when Birding Costa Rica part one
Up north in the temperate zone, black birds are a common part of the avian landscape. In North America, American Crows and Common Grackles are some of the most frequently seen bird species in many areas. Birders in Europe can hardly miss seeing Rooks, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, and Blackbirds (a thrush). In Costa Rica, there [...]
Continue reading about Four Common Black Birds of Costa Rica
If you are a birder from North America coming to Costa Rica for birding, you are probably familiar with at least one of the Melanerpes species. Don’t worry, this isn’t some fun, new disease, it’s the name of the woodpecker genus that includes species such as the Red-bellied, Red-headed, and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers. Medium-sized woodpeckers with [...]
Continue reading about Melanerpes genus woodpeckers of Costa Rica
Recent conversations and inquiries about snakes (especially the venomous ones) followed up by a close encounter with a Fer-de-Lance has prompted me to finally write “the snake post”. Like many birders, although I focus on the feathered, I am also interested in many other aspects of nature (I almost said, “the natural world” but how could [...]
