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Category: seabirding in Costa Rica

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Costa Rica Birding News- September, 2026

We have arrived to September, year of the Super El Nino (2026) and here in Costa Rica, the weather has lived up to the meteorological predictions; heavy, flooding, landsliding rains where it should be drier, and very little rain where it should be awash with precipitation. It’s like someone flipped a tripswitch to push the Pacific rains over to the Caribbean, and that someone in question is the Pacific Ocean. Way too warm, something’s gotta give, something already gave and it’s gonna keep on giving, the weather sages say into 2027.

It’s a flipped deal from the expected, one that makes me wonder how it’ll affect the local avian scene.

In Costa Rica, lots of birds take advantage of the wet season to raise young, especially on the Pacific slope and Central Valley. The same goes for the Caribbean slope but it’s much more pronounced on the west side of the mountains. Evolution has keyed the birds into this rain regimen for thousands of years; nest when the rains start, higher productivity means more food and a better chance at raising broods. It’s why the Yellow-green Vireos show up in spring en masse, singing from every park and foliaged area of green space on the Pacific side.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers come here for the wet season too.

Swallow-tailed Kites are another species that arrives for the rains, perhaps in part, benefitting by depredating nests that resident species build. But what happens if the rains don’t arrive like they should? What happens if it rains early and goes back to a pseudo dry season deal replete with moisture wicking winds and hour after hour of the natural sun lamp beating down from the blue?

The same goes for Piratic Flycatchers, the latter here to commandeer the bird nests other species are building so they can raise young of their own (!).

How’s that for some weird cuckooish bird vagabond activity? If fewer birds nested, the naturally “lazy” Piratics must have had fewer broods but, it looks like a fair number of birds successfully nested after all. I doubt as many as normal but, I do know quite a few seemed to nest early. Like, they got the memo, knew something we didn’t- unsurprising for birds far more in cue with the happenings of their natural surroundings than most people are.

Back in February, it seemed like the early rains triggered a nesting response; hopefully those species succeeded in raising young. I can’t imagine many birds nesting later on did as well.

With migration kicking into gear, I can’t help but likewise wonder if the change in rainfall affects food availability for migrants. I would think so for the Pacific slope but maybe those birds that land on the dry side of the mountains can somehow move over to the wetter side? I hope so and it’s not out of the question, those wetter forests are pretty close. In the meantime, at least it has been raining a bit more on the Pacific, hopefully that trend will continue to give resident and migrants birds some respite. Here’s some other news from Costa Rica:

Umbrellabirds at Centro Manu and a Way to Help this Endangered Species

The Bare-necked Umbrellabirds are back at Centro Manu! Although these crow-sized megas aren’t exactly abundant, at least you can know that a few are frequenting the forests of Centro Manu. In keeping with the timing of their elevational migrations, there are probably more in nearby, similar areas but Centro Manu is one of the most accessible spots.

Once in a while, one shows up right around the cabins or parking area but usually, you need to hike into the back part of the forest to see them. That means wearing rubber boots and being careful because it’s a wet, muddy trail with roots and other slippery factors but, if you can handle that and hang out in the back part long enough, you have a fair chance of seeing this special bird.

You’ll see lots of other good birds too, maybe Snowcap, manakins and more. This spot is possible as a day trip from the La Selva and San Jose area, if interested in a guided day trip, contact me at information@birdingcraft.com

A few of my eBird lists from guiding clients at Centro Manu:

September

December

January

One of the main reasons it’s so hard to see Bare-necked Umbrellabird is because the big cotinga is endangered. Their populations need more foothill and adjacent lowland rainforest than is available, about all we can do is reforest as much as possible. That and support this organization: the aptly name Umbrellabird Conservation Action Network (UCAN). This NGO has been doing more to help this rare species than anyone, check out their site and please consider lending your support. They have some great inside information about umbrellabirds in Costa Rica and can also arrange an ethical visit to the only known lek!

Migrants Have Arrived in Costa Rica

What I mean to say is that the first wave of songbird migrants has arrived. It seemed to happen on August 31th, after a couple days of rainy weather. I had been checking the tiny areas of green space in my urban Central Valley neighborhood for some days before then but had few birds. One day, there was a movement of swallows including a locally uncommon Purple Martin (most move through the Caribbean lowlands) and one or two Red-eyed Vireos but nothing else.

That changed this past Monday when my morning walk revealed several migrants foraging in a small riparian zone. I hadn’t expected them, before reaching that spot, I hadn’t seen any pewees nor any other migrants. However as I approached the streamside vegetation, I heard a chip and saw a small flash of yellow. The first Northern Yellow Warbler of fall migration! Then I saw a second and wondered if there might be another bird or two around.

Waiting by the mix of tall trees and low, thick vegetation, I began to notice some movement in the leaves and saw a small bird zip by. Oh yes, some birds were there alright! Most turned out to be Red-eyed Vireos but there was also an American Redstart and, when two small warblers flipped into view, I quickly realized i hit the jackpot with close views of female Cerulean Warblers! I had hoped to connect with that bird, knew that they were moving through but seeing them in the Central Valley is always hit or miss. Luckily, that morning, I was in the right place and enjoyed watching them forage down low for some time. I suspect three were actually present but can’t say for sure.

I took that as a cue to stay put and keep watching and although no cuckoos popped into my field of view, I did see quite a few REVIs, one Blackburnian, and a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher along with Cliff Swallows flying overhead and three more Purple Martins. More birds should be on the way with each coming day.

Puntarenas Birding Pays Off

The port of Puntarenas is off the regular beaten birding track but, go with a scope and seawatching often pays off. On Sunday, we took a morning trip there and even though the warmer than usual waters looked like they had a bit of a red tide going on, I still saw birds.

It was a bit weird but I guess that’s normal for less than normal conditions. There weren’t as many pelicans nor frigatebirds as I usually see, nor as many Royal Terns but, some other birds were passing by. I had hoped to catch Least Terns as they pass through Costa Rica and, sure enough, it didn’t take long to see some flying towards the inner gulf. Over the course of an hour and a half, I might have had a dozen along with a scattering of Black Terns, and some Elegant Terns too.

Most were fairly far out but, as is typical for this spot, several flew in from the sea to fly fairly close to the point. I could see a feeding flock way out on the horizon, looked like most birds were in the outer gulf but, I also picked up a not so common, Common Tern, had one of each of Cocos Booby and Blue-footed Booby and, as I was on the verge of leaving, noticed the best bird of the day.

It’s hard t leave Puntarenas because birds can occur at any time, flying in off the ocean. Sunday was no exception as my last binocular scan picked up a pale bird that looked slightly different. I put the scope on it and was pretty sure it had flashing black and white wings. After some playing with the zoom, I was able to follow it long enough to know I was seeing two Sabine’s Gulls!

Although this high Arctic species is regular in pelagic waters, you have to be lucky to find them from shore, even in the Gulf of Nicoya. Even better, one of those same birds or another one ended up flying rather close to the point. It was a pleasure to get such good views of this beautifully patterned gull, one normally associated with ice, eternal summer days, and the high seas.

Book Rooms Now for the High Season

On the future birding front, just a reminder to book your stay in Costa Rica now before it’s too late. For a lot of the most visited places, it might be too late already, don’t wait any longer. If you can’t stay at a preferred lodge, at least there’s other options along with a plethora of excellent birding sites to choose from.

“How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” 2026 is Available!

Speaking of those birding sites, you’ll find nearly 300 of them in my bird finding guide for Costa Rica. Recently updated for 2026, here’s some reasons why this 1,000 page ebook will enrich any birding trip to Costa Rica:

-Unlike a recent AI “written” itinerary guide I’ve seen, my ebook wasn’t crafted from random and erroneous information online.

-I wrote it based on decades of experience and studying birds in the field, and what I’d like to see in a bird finding guide including accurate information that stems from firsthand knowledge.

-Updated and edited accounts for nearly 300 sites, many of which aren’t on eBird. However, there are also links to eBird hotspots.

-Tips and ideas to help you find unfamiliar birds like puffbirds, tinamous, and antthrushes along with information about and honest chances at the rarest species in Costa Rica.

-Identification tips for woodcreepers and everything else.

Not to mention, purchasing this book also helps support this blog.

Birding Apps and Field Guides to Enrich the Upcoming High Season

A field guide is another essential for any upcoming birding trip to Costa Rica. Yes, you could get the free Merlin app and that’s great (although it’s vocalization ID is still limited for Costa Rica) but, there are other publications with more in depth information written by local birding experts.

The main app to get is the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app by Birding Field Guides. This digital field guide includes:

-All the birds on the Costa Rica list and a bunch more that could turn up (more than 1,000 species total).

-Many images for most species including birds in flight and others to help with identification.

-Vocalizations for most species.

-Field maps and detailed information including tips for seeing each species in Costa Rica.

-Information about habitats, regions, and other aspects of Costa Rica.

-Free updates and works offline.

-Can be customized to show target birds, birds from certain regions, habitats, family, and more.

As far as field guide books go, come October, you’ll also want to get the new edition of the Garrigues and Dean “The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide“. Having seen some of the new illustrations and other features, I can’t wait to get this book! From what I’ve seen, it promises to be a must have field guide and addition to every birder’s library. I know how much they’ve been diligently working on this book, it’s going to be top notch.

To help local birding initiatives, especially ones to teach young people, I also recommend donating “Aves de Costa Rica” published by Ensifera to organizations that promote birding in Costa Rica. This small illustrated book acts as a good teaching device and gateway for Ticos to get interested in birds; I’m sure it will work well for this purpose because a friend of mine, David Rodriguez, was involved with creating this book and works at connecting young people with nature and reforestation alongside his spouse, Lily Briggs, the founder of the Finca Cantaros Environmental Association. This excellent NGO helps engage local people with nature and birds through reforestation and other means around San Vito area and possibly other areas as well. To help them promote birding and nature engagement in Costa Rica, please contact Lilly or David at this email or here.

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Seawatching at Puntarenas- September 20, 2025

Costa Rica is flanked by two oceans; drive quick enough, get lucky with traffic and weather and you can visit both in a day. Not stopping to look at any of the hundreds of bird species in between would be an incredible birding shame but, if you were so marine inclined, you could do it.

Or, you could do better at managing your birding time and go seawatching! Sure, in Costa Rica, you could certainly seawatch on both coasts. You might not see much but there’s always a certain degree of therapeutic benefits associated with oggling the waves. The funny thing about seawatching is that although you can technically watch for birds on any coast, not all coasts have the birds, at least not near shore, or in enough numbers to breach birding appeal.

Take Costa Rica for example, we’ve got many wonderful spots to watch those tropical waves but few of them really bring the birds. Yeah, no matter where you look, you’ll probably see something with feathers but, more variety calls for strategic spots at strategic times (just like any seawatching hotspot).

One of the best spots for seawatching in Costa Rica is an old port city situated on a narrow peninsula that points into the Gulf of Nicoya, just about where the inner and outer parts of the gulf meet. It’s a sort of a tropical headland at a joining of waters and an estuary replete with sand bars. Now if those sand bars were closer Puntarenas would be a major shorebird watching hotspot. Alas, the birds are a bit too far to properly observe them but, the port is still good for scanning the water, for getting in some good old fashioned seawatching.

Knowing that Least Terns should still be moving through and, dearly wanting to see some of those dainty birds as they make their annual journey south, yesterday, we paid a morning visit to the Puntarenas lighthouse. The drive to the coast was slowed a bit by truck traffic but we still got there by 7 a.m., still early enough to catch some of the morning seabird action.

These are some highlights and thoughts from this birding sojourn.

Take a closer look

Upon arrival, I looked at the water and saw nary a Royal Tern. Those birds are a given, not seeing them did not bode well. “At least there was the ocean” I thought, “maybe something will fly by or I’ll see a fish”.

After exiting the car and briefly conversing with the car watcher guy (aka “watcheemon”) to yes, assure that I as aware he was watching over my vehicle, despite my low bar hopes, I set up the scope and started scanning with binos. Lo and behold, the birds were there, they were just mostly horizon birds, mostly things flying way out there over distant water.

But there were a lot, they looked like innumerable gnats on the horizon.

The ferry would have been pretty darn good

Upon seeing that lots of birds were out there, I realized it would have been a good day to take the ferry. Why hadn’t I thought of that? That’s right, it was because we would have had to leave the house by 3 and weren’t too keen on going back and forth across the gulf. But, if only we had!

The birds were out there and some. It looked promising and was more or less the same time of year when I had my best birding ferry ride some years ago.

Least Terns

It didn’t take long before a few Least Terns flew by; tiny terns with quick wingbeats, all in dapper white winter plumage brushed with bits of black. Throughout my 90 minutes of seawatching, small groups flew past and foraged by the distant sand bar. Even at a distance, it was easy to pick out their distinctive, repetitive quick dive foraging.

I put down 50 for the list but there was probably more. It was fun to compare them with the most abundant bird on the scene, another small tern often found in the Gulf of Nicoya. It’s a bird that nests in northern marshes, one that brings back visions of smart-looking birds hovering and swooping over the Tonawanda wetlands.

Clouds of Black Terns

A typical feeding flock of Black Terns in the gulf.

Like I was saying, the Black Tern was the big bird on the scene, the one that ruled my seawatching day. Small numbers constantly flew past, most fairly far off shore. The largest numbers were way out there, clouds of them. In one such cloud, at a wavery 60 X magnification, as much as I tried to pick out another species, all I could see was a massive Brown Pelican plowing through the Black Tern ranks to feast on the same unseen sardine banquet.

A few other groups foraged a bit closer and in better light and those were the ones to focus on. Those were the flocks that would have been exciting to watch from the ferry deck. Although such flocks can be solely composed of Black Terns, they are also the situations that attract other, less common species, including the ones mentioned below.

I should also mention putting down 1,000 Black Terns on my eBird list. That was a pretty conservative estimate, there were probably a lot more.

A few distant pelagic birds

A Brown Noddy from another day shares a piece of driftwood with a Black Tern.

Fortunately, the scanning paid off, the seawatching revealed some of the seabird bounty from the Gulf of Nicoya. Try as I did to pick up a storm-petrel or two, no luck there. However, staring at the Black Terns and carefully panning the waves did turn up a couple Bridled Terns (!). The distant looks ruled out divining their age but that’s alright, I’m fine with ageless Bridled Terns, smiling with picking out larger, longer winged, gray backed terns that sliced through the tern flocks.

I was also alright with a Brown Noddy doing the same; a larger, dark brown bird foraging with the smaller migrants from the north. The third pelagic bird species was hardly a glimpse but I couldn’t unsee it, couldn’t deny noticing the fluttering flight and banking of another regular in these estuarine waters; a Galapagos Shearwater.

It was less than a second but it was enough to know I saw it. I bet more were out there and who knows what else? I hadn’t picked up any Sabine’s or phalaropes or jaegers but those are moving through too, might have been some visible from the ferry.

No ferry for me but the seawatching was still good, still therapeutic and highlighted with a jumping stingray and a pair of surfacing Bottlenose Dolphins. It was good stuff, I am grateful.

To learn more about birding Puntarenas and hundreds of other sites in Costa Rica, please support this blog by purchasing my Costa Rica birding site guide. I hope to see you here!

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The El Niño Birds Have Arrived in Costa Rica

It’s official, 2023 is an El Niño year. In other words, the waters of the central Pacific Ocean are warmer than usual and will affect weather in various places. Some regions will be wetter, others will be hot and begging for rain. We don’t know yet how long it will last but the peak might not happen until December.

In birding terms, this weather cycle means that some birds may take advantage of the rains but others will suffer. Sadly, seabirds have a rough time, especially species adapted to cold water, especially the ones that live in the Humboldt Current. Those cold waters off the coast of Peru and Chile are a true marine bio bonanza. I can easily picture the first time I witnessed their avian abundance.

Some years ago, I was traveling by bus in Peru, somewhere along the coast north of Lima, maybe near Lomas de Lachay, an important reserve protecting arid vegetation sustained by coastal fog. The land was incredibly dry and barren but offshore, there were flocks and flocks of birds. Hundreds of Belcher’s and Gray Gulls, wintering Franklin’s Gulls, Inca Terns, Peruvian Boobies, pelicans, and cormorants.

The contrast between life in the desert and in the cold gray waves was astounding. On a trip to the Paracas Peninsula, I got a closer look at the incredible amounts of life supported by the cold currents. As the boat made its way to view cormorant and penguin colonies, I noticed dark areas in the water, long, dark lines below the surface. Looking closer, I could see that they were fish!

There were literally millions of anchovies or some other baitfish, massive numbers of small lead-colored fish that formed living rivers beneath the waves.

These were the building blocks of the huge cormorant colonies offshore, the life support system for penguins, pelicans, larger fish, and, I suppose, most everything out there.

A scene from the Paracas Peninsula in Peru.

But those small fish need cold water and birds can only dive so deep. If the ocean warms up, I’m guessing the anchovies go deeper, head to the cool depths because it’s do that or die. Since this is such a big change to their regular ways, I’m supposing that the fish don’t fare well. For the birds, it’s a disaster.

The boobies and other birds that depend on those and other cold water fish simply don’t have enough food, To cope, they do like the gnus, so like any mobile animal that can’t find enough to eat. They split, and keep on moving until they find enough food to survive.

That basic need brings them far north of their usual range, this year, some as far as 1,586 miles (2 552 kms) to Costa Rica. That’s the distance from Lima to San Jose on a plane. For a bird, the trip is probably similar in length but instead of six boring hours of sudoku in a metal tube, they flap their way over countless waves, always pushing north, looking for cooler waters, joining the other birds of the oceans in their search for accessible baitfish.

Given the current El Nino situation and sightings of Peruvian Boobies from Panama, I figured the odds were good for this and other species reaching Costa Rica. A few days ago, that forecast came to pass when four Peruvian Boobies and a juvenile Inca Tern were found on rocks off of the Osa Peninsula. The arrival of Humboldt-related birds has also been happening in the form of Sooty Shearwaters.

Several of the dark shearwaters have been seen on recent pelagic trips, much more than usual. The sightings are notable but we’ve been hoping for rarer birds to appear on those trips. No dice, though, at least not yet.

With the recent Peruvian Booby sightings in mind, I figured today would be a good day to visit Puntarenas. The port city is the most accessible and reliable hotspot for vagrant seabirds in Costa Rica, all you gotta do it get there and start scanning from the lighthouse, right from the tip. Whether because of the mixing of inner and outer gulf waters or because it sticks straight into the ocean, or a blend of those and other factors, Puntarenas turns up the birds.

You might have to wait a while, you will be offered trips to watch dolphins by a guy a bike, and someone will probably try to sell you something but, if you are diligent, you will also see birds. Watch carefully too because you can see some seriously good birds!

Puntarenas is a place for the unexpected flying in with the usual. It’s all good and the longer you stay, the more you’ll see. This morning, we started our birding in Puntarenas at 7 a.m., scanning calm ocean waters. At first, it seemed dead. Where were the pelicans? What about all of the frigatebirds?! The seeming absence of birds was rather alarming but what could we do? The only thing to do was wait and keep watching and sure enough, the birds eventually showed.

One of the first ones we saw was a surprise young Elegant Tern. I expect the slender-billed birds in winter, not so much in summer. It flew past, we never saw it again and began to see more Royal Terns as other regulars flapped into view; small flocks of White Ibis and egrets flying across the gulf, Mangrove Swallows and Gray-breasted Martins zipping over the waves, and fish action.

Scanning the water, we could see dark patches here and there, baitfish being driven to the surface, some flying clear out of the water in their quest for immediate survival. Sometimes, an enticing larger fin would break the surface, a few Devil Rays jumped, and we had great views of the Bottlenose Dolphins that live in the Gulf of Nicoya.

With the baitfish happening, I still wondered, “Where were the birds?”. Scanning eventually revealed some terns and other birds flying inside the gulf and larger numbers as specks on the horizon. Some birds from the inner gulf flew towards us. A few Sulids….not dark enough to be a Brown Booby…dusky head, white tail….Blue-footed Booby!

A Blue-footed Booby from a few years ago.

We had at least four and that was sweet. I hadn’t seen any for a few years. Scan some more and wait…what’s that? Small black and white football of a bird fluttering and gliding low over the water. Yes! Galapagos Shearwater from shore!

It made its way to the inner gulf and that’s when I noticed a black and white bird floating way out there. I said, “Now that’s an interesting bird, I hope that comes closer!” From a distance, it looked black and white, a pattern sort of like a female frigatebird. The only thing that came to mind was one of those lost Peruvian Boobies but to clinch the identification of such a rarity for Costa Rica, closer looks were needed.

Thankfully, that suspicious black and white bird tired of sitting way out there, eventually took to the air, and made its way towards us. Closer it came and I wondered if it would keep coming and give us a super close, detailed flyby. No dice there but it did fly near enough to clearly see that it had a bright white head, dark back, and looked like some dark marking on the face or throat. No doubt about it, even trying to turn it into something else, I had to admit- Peruvian Booby!

I figured this would be a good year to find one at some point but it’s really nice when a hunch pays off. We watched this Costa Rica El Nino mega make shallow dives into the water and float way out there for at least half an hour but had to leave it to its floating ways so we could scan for other birds.

Heck, there might be a tropicbird nearby, there could be an Inca Tern flying way offshore or a storm-petrel or some other major bird. Further scanning failed to turn up any of those niceties and by 8:30, bird activity quieted down but I did manage to scope one more good bird to top off a memorable morning in Puntarenas. While scoping, I saw a dark shearwater flapping and then gliding but not like a small Galapagos Shearwater. This one was gliding in arcs, was bigger, and had a short tail. Sooty Shearwater!

If we had stayed longer, I bet more birds would have showed up. That’s how the birding in Puntarenas rolls but it would have also taken hours of watching, would have been a really long hot day.

We were happy to settle with four year birds, one of which was a major country tick, and at least three were lifers for Marilen. Back at home, I heard that an incredible 120 Blue-footed Boobies were seen from the ferry from Puntarenas along with two Peruvian Boobies. What’s next? I’m thinking Inca Tern and/or Guanay Cormorant. I can’t wait to go back, meditate on that ocean and see what I find!

Support this blog and get ready for your birding trip with my bird finding book for Costa Rica. I hope to see you here. If you do any seabirding, please tell us what you find!