Are you going birding in Costa Rica? If you’ve never been, I hope you visit soon. If you’ve already been, you already know what to expect and I also hope you visit soon. No time to wait to bring the binos to this birdy place!
Whether your birding time in Costa Rica is nigh or in a few months, this information may help:
The wet season was rough but it seems over
We’re on the cusp of the high season and the birds are happening. That’s not really news, birds are always happening in Costa Rica but since some folks wonder if you can see birds in Costa Rica at other times of the year, well…yes you can.
Lots.
However, if you were birding Costa Rica this past November, you would have been watching them with an umbrella. Maybe a boat too. The rains were torrential, several lowland areas experienced flooding, and, tragically, a number of people lost homes and belongings. It was so bad, I’m guessing that quite a few roads in lowland areas now have large holes and other damage.
The good news is that the rains have ended, at least for the Pacific slope. It’ll probably still be pouring in the mountains and on the Caribbean slope but that’s normal from now to February. Be ready for it but you should also still be ready to see lots of birds.
Highland birds down low
In Costa Rica, we get a lot of altitudinal migration, especially during the winter months. These days, there’s been quite a few birds lower then usual, even species like Northern Emerald Toucanet. It makes me wonder what choice birds might be frequenting the foothill rainforests at Quebrada Gonzalez? I’m eager to check it out!
If you are birding lowland areas, give any fruiting trees a good check. There could be a rare Lovely Cotinga or two in the Sarapiqui region along with other species more typical of middle elevations.
Lowland owls high
Over the past ten years or so, owls more typically associated with warm, tropical forests have been appearing at much higher elevations. Spectacled Owl and Black-and-white Owl have been found as high as Irazu and the Dota Valley, and Middle American Screech-Owl has occurred at the Observatory Lodge.
Who knows what sort of effects these range expansions might have on Bare-shanked Screech-Owls and various other highland biota? In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you find these large owls at high elevations and if so, please eBird them!
Redhead in Guanacaste, Snowy Plover in Tarcoles, what else is out there?
Tis the season for rare birds too, at least for birders who reside in Costa Rica. Recently, a male Redhead was found at Hacienda Vieja Wetlands in Guanacaste, and a Snowy Plover was seen at the Tarcoles River mouth.
The Redhead is a major rarity in Costa Rica. I hope it’s a sign of other odd ducks on the horizon (might I wish for a country first Gadwall?). We’ll know soon enough as more local birders look for them.
The Snowy Plover is rare but much more regular than the Redhead. It has appeared at the Tarcoles River on other occasions but this year, it’s a lot more difficult to see. The river mouth has moved quite a bit and sadly, the best spots are only accessible by boat. Some good areas can also be viewed from near the end of the Guacalillo Road but it’s kind of a long and rather desolate drive.
With luck, that plover and other good birds will appear on the beach at Tarcoles, especially at the mouth of the small Tarcolitos River (more like a stream easily accessed from Tarcoles).
There have also been a scattering of sightings of rare warblers for Costa Rica and I’m sure there’s some other very rare stuff that has touched down on these birdy shores. I hope to find some.
A whole lot of traffic going on
Whether visiting Costa Rica now or soon, traffic is the current reality. All we can do is know when and where it’s worst and avoid those situations. Anywhere in the Central Valley is bad; if you are on the road from 6 to 9 and from 4 to 6, it won’t be pretty.
It’s also gotten steadily worse in other places, especially parts of the Pacific, mostly on roads to and from beach areas. If you can, do not drive up to the Central Valley on Sunday afternoon. If so, you’ll be wasting time in an ongoing, slow-moving parking lot. The same goes for driving down to the Pacific on Friday.
Bringing US Dollars? Make sure the bills are in perfect condition
Yes, the currency in Costa Rica is the Colon but pretty much all places will also accept US dollars. However, they might not give the best exchange rate and, now, more places probably won’t accept bills unless they are in perfect condition.
That’s sort of been happening for a while now but expect it to get worse. Recently, when I tried to deposit US bills into my bank account, the teller handed several right back to me! These bills weren’t dirty or defaced or anything, all they had were minute tears and one had a bit of writing on it. Nope, wouldn’t accept them. So, I don’t know if other banks act the same or how stores will act but I never had my bank refuse bills before.
I suspect it’s tied to announcements that big stores and banks can no longer accept damaged bills in the USA but whatever the reason, if you do have to bring dollars to Costa Rica, make sure they are in perfect shape. Of course, the easiest solution is paying everything with cards. That’s what locals mostly do, so much so, it’s gotten to the point where small places usually lack change.
The Costa Rica Birds Field Guide App is updated
Have you noticed that eBird now uses “Northern House Wren”, “American Barn Owl” and that Cooper’s Hawk has lost its Accipiter status? There’s been a bunch of taxonomic changes happening and several birds in Costa Rica have been affected. One of the happy changes was splitting Brown Booby into two species. See one of the Pacific? That’s a Cocos Booby my friend! Scan one from a Caribbean shore? You got Brown Booby on your Costa Rica list!
To keep up with those changes, in November, I helped update the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app. In addition to new bird names, the app also has a bunch more photos including several birds in flight, vocalizations for at least 870 species, some other edits, and now includes 1021 species and subspecies. It’s got a bunch more than the actual bird list because I wanted to also include various species that could show up in Costa Rica.
As always, I could say a lot more about the birding in Costa Rica. I’ll just mention that there’s always lots of birds to see, most are accessible, and get ready to have fun because this country is like a birding and bio wonderland! I hope to see you here!
To learn more about birding places mentioned in this post and hundreds of other sites to see birds in Costa Rica, support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.