May isn’t considered prime time for birding in Costa Rica. If anything, the 5th month is when the fewest birders bring their binoculars to this land of quetzals and many vociferous wrens. Most have already made their visit during the previous months, the suggested, drier time for visiting Costa Rica.
It is true that May is full of rain, deluges even but the birds are still here, you can still see them. Even so, it’s not easy visiting Costa Rica in May, especially for birders from North America. As every birder up north knows, May is the magic time, the annual live candy for eyes time when local haunts become decorated with warblers, tanagers, and other migrants. And they are singing and if your morning birding happens to coincide with a wave of arrivals, well, then you are in birder dreamland.
It still happens but, for birders who started watching birds within the past 10 or even 20 years, I’m very sorry but you are birding in the times of changed baselines. In general, there’s not as many birds as there used to be, not as many as there should be. I am one of many birders who recalls how thing used to be, who remember what the May woods should be like and therefore feel compelled to relate what that was like.
In May, I used to ride my bike a few blocks to the top of the Niagara Gorge and then onward to the tall woods at Goat Island. The first part of the ride passed by some second growth and scattered trees where Gray Catbirds meowed and Red-eyed Vireos sang. There could be a warbler here and there but the best area was the patch of rare mature deciduous forest and parkland right above the falls. Although the woods were surrounded by a constant line of sightseeing vehicles and hundreds of walking tourists, that didn’t stop migrant birds from using the forest as vital stopover habitat.
On average days back then, there were too many Bay-breasted Warblers to look at and it was easy to come across 15 warbler species along with other migrants. On good days, you could break 20 warbler species and so many were singing, it could be hard to distinguish them. That was mostly the fault of the dozens of Tennessee Warblers that snapped the air with their chippering, staccato songs. However, too many other warblers also added to the fantastic din; Chestnut-sideds, Magnolias, Nashvilles, a Yellow here and there, Blackburnians, Black-throated Blues and waterthrushes and redstarts and Canadas down low, Yellow-rumpeds, Black-throated Greens, Northern Parulas, Ovenbirds, Black and whites and more, many singing, all at once.
We would also check the open park areas and hedgerows for rarities like White-eyed Vireo along with Cape May, Wilson’s, Yellow-rumpeds and Palms. On good days, I might also see a few cuckoos and other uncommon birds. One such day, hearing a different song brought me to my lifer Cerulean; 4 o 5 birds that had ended up on Goat Island, reminding the woods of when the species probably bred there, way back when there was a lot more old growth forest.
We didn’t generally travel to Ohio or Point Pelee back then because it was already so darn good near home. Even so, I wish I would have visited those places during the 80s because if it was that good near home, it must have been ridiculously amazing at those hotspots. It certainly was the few times I visited Point Pelee in the late 90s (whoah nelly!)
Visit Costa Rica in May and you won’t see warbler migration but, the mixed flock birding might remind you of the May magic. These are some expectations inspired by recent birding in Costa Rica.
Better Views of Swifts
The first few months of the rainy season are especially good for swifts. Well, I mean they are good for actually getting nice views of swifts. The most aerial of birds are always here but many are probably foraging too high to actually see them.
Not in May! Just before starting this post, I heard either a Black Swift or a Spot-fronted Swift give a few chip notes above the house. I walked outside but they had already flown out of sight. No sweat, to see those uncommon swifts, I can head outside just before the afternoon rains, any day of the week. Apparently, it doesn’t matter that I’m in a mostly urban area, the birds still work the edge of the storm, even Spot-fronted flying low over the rooftops.
Watch those rains swifts long enough and you’ll probably find a White-chinned too, might learn how to parse them out from the many Chestnut-collared, falcon-like White-collareds, and itty bitty Vaux’s Swifts.
Birds Live in Habitat not Hotspots
Hotspots are where people have reported lots of birds and they are good but they aren’t the only places where birds occur. Last week, I took a few detours on side roads near San Ramon to look for a bird or two. The roads passed through moist forest, riparian zones, and second growth and they were chock full of birds.
I was surprised by the number of Gray-headed Chachalacas dino-flapping from one side of the road to the other, and entertained by everything from Brown Jays to five species of wrens, squeaking Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, White-crowned and White-fronted Parrots, and an exquisite male Long-tailed Manakin.
Perhaps most surprising was a streamside tree that hosted 12 Keel-billed Toucans. Yeah, they occur around there but I’d never seen that many in that area!
Yellow-green Vireos and Piratic Flycatchers Galore
Come birding in May and you’ll hear the accented voices of Red-eyed Vireos. They sing from every park and many a tree and although they sort of sound like Red-eyed Vireos, sort of doesn’t cut it for being the same species. Get a look and you’ll see a vireo with more yellow below and a bigger, paler beak. If you know Hippolais warblers, it might remind you more of one of them, the Yellow-green Vireo that is.
They migrate here to take advantage of the wet season and now, they sing all the time. Vying with the vireos for vocal dominance is another migrant from Amazonia, the Piratic Flycatcher. Visit now and you can’t help but hear them; they call probably hundreds of times per day from high in many a tree. Look long enough and you should see them too; a smart looking masked flycatcher, like a blend of a Social and Sulphur-bellied that’s gotta have its say.
Playful Plumbeous Kites
Now is also when the Plumbeous Kites are around. Yes, the rufous winged boys are back in town, returned from Amazonia to catch dragonflies high above rivers and mangroves and dry forest suddenly gone wet.
Being aerial birds, thankfully, they aren’t that hard to find. Watch the skies in the right places and you’ll probably see them. Last week, I had a dozen or so playing in the tropical breeze above Cerro Lodge and Tarcoles.
Fruiting Trees and Mixed Flocks
These two factors are present all year long but maybe there’s more fruit in May? Maybe this year there’s more? Kind of seems like it, I hope it helps our many tanagers raise healthy broods.
Find a fruiting tree or bush and hang out long enough, you’ll see birds. You can’t go wrong; it’s basically a natural feeder for flycatchers, tanagers, manakins, and more.
Many of those same birds also move in mixed flocks; a situation that might remind you of May birding in the northeast. Only this time, warbler substitutes come in the form of various tanagers, euphonias, woodcreepers, woodpeckers, and other small birds, maybe even a Purple-crowned Fairy. Good times!
Rain
Oh yeah, there is the rain thing. I almost forgot to mention that but really should. Yes, in May, the wet seasons starts in earnest. A day of birding on the Pacific and in the highlands usually means early birding with some clouds morphing into heavy clouds by noon and heavy rains after lunch. Sometimes, these are heavy rains that last for hours, sometimes into the night.
The birding will be good in the morning, maybe all morning long, but, you’ll want to be settled in at a sheltered spot for the afternoon. If you pick a spot where you can also see birds, when the rains let up, you’ll probably see a lot of bird action. Or, it might rain all afternoon. Either way, you should have a nice and birdy morning.
May birding is magic, even in Costa Rica. Visit now and it’ll be wet but you’ll still see a lot! To learn about where to go birding in Costa Rica as well as ID tips and how to look for tropical birds, support this blog by getting my 900 plus page bird finding guide to Costa Rica. I hope to see you here but if not, I hope you soak up that bird joy no matter where you are. Peace and birds!