web analytics
Categories
Birding Costa Rica

Early Spring Migrants- On the Move in Costa Rica

Birds come and go with the seasons. When you get started in the ways of avian appreciation, it’s one of the first things you learn. As a kid, winter birding in Niagara was a freezing adventure where stark woodlands echoed with calling crows and the chattering of chickadees.

The rushing, ice-cold waters of the Niagara were a blizzard of gulls and diving ducks. There was a fortunate flock of January redpolls, maybe a few other things but where were the Baltimore Orioles? What about those pages of fancy warblers?

A lot were in Costa Rica of course but in my 80s universe, they were birds of distant summer months and wilder places than our street. Eventually, I learned how to catch up with them, to coincide May visits to old woods on Goat Island with waves of warblers and other migrating birds.

Birds in Costa Rica also come and go, not nearly as much as the northern places, but we do experience some avian changes. As far as seasons go, it’s mostly wet or dry but we have are times of transition too, weeks when birds pass through Costa Rica.

We have just started one of those transit periods, this is what’s happening now.

The First Raptors of the Spring River

The first of the raptors have begun to migrate through Costa Rica. Birders have been seeing whirling flocks of Turkey Vultures along with a scattering of Swainson’s Hawks. These birds are the initial trickles of a growing current in the biannual River of Raptors.

They flow north in spring, then back south in fall. It’s an absolute marvel, a wildlife spectacle that should be shown to all schoolchildren in its path.

“Look up! See all those flying birds? Get a closer look with these binoculars. Those vultures and hawks are flying to Pennsylvania, to Utah, and on to Canada. Where are those places? Here’s a map, look! Some will fly over Bison, others will hear the howls of wolves. Many will be watched by people in those places, even young people like you.”

Swallows

On one of my first sojourns in Costa Rica, back in 1995, I learned a word. I had probably read it somewhere but had never really said “Hirundines” out loud, had surely never deployed it in a sentence.

I learned (or relearned) the term from Steve, an English birder my friend Alec and I met while birding in Carara National Park, back when the River Trail was almost too birdy to believe and ended at an oxbow lake.

Dedicated Steve was carrying some heavy stuff, a scope and I don’t know what else but enough to generate waves of sweat. He was constantly wiping his glasses, cleaning off his personal coolant. That’s what he was doing when we asked Steve what he had been seeing.

“This and that, some Hirundines…”.

I thought, “What the heck is that bird?” and he surely noticed my confusion.

“You know, swallows. Martins.”

These days, the Hirundines are beginning to move back through Costa Rica, starting to fly back north to colonial nesting grounds for another season of bugs, mud nests, and youngster care.

I saw my first Cliffs of the year the other day, the pioneers of millions on the verge of flying over Costa Rica. A few Banks have arrived too while flocks of Purple Martins are already coursing along the Caribbean shore.

I hope I see some of those martins, am eager to scan the sky for Hirundines.

Prothonotary Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrushes are Leaving

Some birds are arriving to Costa Rica from wintering grounds in South America, others that wintered here are packing their bags. It’s no surprise that the early migrants of the north are birds that depart these mountains and mangroves first.

Recently, I watched Prothonotary Warblers in dry forest, away from their usual watery haunts. I suspect they were migrants soon to be joined by the ones that winter here. Like all nocturnal migrants, they make their departure in secret. No goodbyes, no final calls as they lift off and mark their way north.

A bunch in the mangroves one day, just a few the next, and then, before you know it, none at all. It’s the same for the Louisiana Waterthrush except that tail bobber departs from rushing mountain streams. You know, a lot like its nesting grounds but with cloud forest on the banks.

Costa Rica Summer Birds are Back!

Technically, our year round residents are summer birds too. Technically, we don’t really have a summer. And yet, we do have some birds that migrate to Costa Rica for the same months as baseball, fireworks, and other outdoor summer fun in the north.

Recent birding showed me that those birds are back. Yellow-green Vireos reminded me with constant caroling phrases. The first Piratic Flycatchers were whistling with anticipation for the upcoming breeding season, not to nest mind you, but to steal or pirate some other bird’s nest. I heard the squeak of my first 2024 Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher and have already been witnessing the elegant antics of Swallow-tailed Kites.

Wintering Birds Tuning up Vocal Chords

Another sign of spring in Costa Rica are the voices of wintering birds. We rarely hear warblers sing but, in March, a few can’t resist the urge. They haven’t sang for a while, the young birds haven’t sang at all. It shows when a Black-throated Green tries out a song or two, when a Wilson’s Warbler chatters or an Indigo Bunting lets loose with a bizarre mix of jumbling notes.

Their songs are weak and tend to be quiet, pretty much what you would expect from restarting the vocal chords.

Other birds can sing too, March and early April are the one time in Costa Rica when we might hear Chuck-will’s-Widows and Eastern Whip-Poor-Wills say their names. A few lucky birders have heard Chuck-will’s sing just before they leave, and I know a pair of very lucky birders who heard a Whip-poor-Will near Atenas.

That’s a rare bird for Costa Rica, we have no idea how many winter here but the number is surely low. They told me how, one April dawn, they heard the distinctive song of a Whip-poor-will, a species they were very familiar with. Their account makes me want to be out there around dawn these days, to be in green space and just listen as the day begins.

I want to see who sends their farewells, to see which birds are ready to fly back into the night sky and set the compass for the north.

Birds in Costa Rica are on the move. Migrants moving through the country, and Three-wattled Bellbirds and other resident species are tuning up too. Some are singing more to mark their territories. Whether you’re wondering where to see birds in Costa Rica for an upcoming trip, or are already here, it’s a good time to be birding in Costa Rica. Hope I see you here!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *