Fall migration doesn’t really start in autumn. It happens as soon as birds feel like moving. Several shorebirds get that urge, not that long after arriving in the Arctic!
Despite flying thousands of miles north from their wintering grounds, as soon as Surfbirds, plovers, and various sandpipers nest, they turn right back around and migrate south.
It seems crazy but that’s just how things evolved, at least for those species. They aren’t the only ones either. Other “early” migrants leave their breeding grounds by late summer. By fall, some are hardly present in the north.
Autumn doesn’t really happen in Costa Rica but we still get hints of the changes in the north. The first ones come in the form of early “fall migrants”. Lately, birders in Costa Rica have been seeing some of those first fall birds, bearing witness to these ancient avian movements.
Here’s why we know fall is coming soon:
Flocks of Swallow-tailed Kites
Yesterday, while reviewing eBird sightings, I noticed one that sounds like a birding dream. Birders in the Caribbean lowlands saw well over 100 Swallow-tailed Kites, all soaring together as they made their way south.
I approved it and even if they didn’t have pictures, would have still confirmed that sighting. Now is when those elegant raptors move south through Costa Rica and yes, we can see flocks numbering in the hundreds!
It doesn’t happen for long but if you go birding in the Caribbean lowlands for the next month or so, you should see some on the move. I’ll have to keep an eye on the skies in the Central Valley, a few might fly this way too.

Louisiana Waterthrushes
Anyone who knows this cool bird won’t be surprised that a few have already arrived in Costa Rica. These stream-loving, eastern warblers get to their wintering grounds very early.
Mountainous Costa Rica provides them with an abundance of habitat. Seems like I see them on most highland streams and rocky rivers. I wonder how many actually winter here?
Yellow Warblers, Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, and Pewees
I haven’t seen or heard any of these early migrants yet but they should be arriving any day now. Yellow Warblers and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are especially common in Costa Rica. If you see a wintering Empid here, chances are it’s a Yellow-bellied.

Pewees will be moving through in numbers too, both Western and Eastern. I look forward to hearing them call; they bring me back to their breeding grounds; “pee o wees” in humid summer woods of maple and beech where American Redstarts flit and Great-crested Flycatchers “wheep!”
The hoarse calls of Westerns are perfect for their dry, mountainous homes. Seems like a call a bird should give that lives near cowboys, that flies out from sage and wild, western pinelands. I remember spectacular Colorado mountains and the beautiful woods of Washington state.
Voices of Summer Birds Have Gone Silent
Meanwhile, in Costa Rica, the constant voices of our summer birds have gone silent. Yeah, you might still hear an adventurous Piratic Flycatcher or a Yellow-green Vireo that can’t help itself but most are quiet.
The same goes for the other main summer resident, the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. These birds are like the migrant warblers and vireos of the north; only here to take advantage of a sudden, wet season boost of arthropods.

Once they’ve raised their young, there’s no more need to sing. Only time to eat, probably change feathers, and head back to the Amazon.
Shorebirds
And yes, some of the shorebirds are back! A few never left but most are migrants stopping or staying in Costa Rica after nesting in far northern wetlands.
Someone posted pictures of breeding plumage Surfbirds, some Spotties have been here for at least a month, and today, I noticed Least, Willet, and Whimbrels at Tarcoles.
This is just the beginning of fall migration but I’ll take it. I’ll be pleased to see those birds while looking forward to the big bird movement, the avian flow that rushes through Costa Rica in October.
Preparing for a birding trip to Costa Rica? Check out my Costa Rica bird finding guide! I hope to see you here!