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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Costa Rica Birding Expectations for the Final Quarter

birding Costa Rica

Fall is happening, the year’s final fourth. In Costa Rica, look around and you’ll find a scattering of pumpkin spice and occasional Halloween decor but no changing of leaves, cool nights, or cold weather precursors.

We do have hints of winter but they don’t come knocking with frosty fingers, chilled air, and tail-flashing juncos. Instead, we get the boreal summer birds; Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers and waterthrushes dipping tails over puddles and mangrove roots. Go birding in Costa Rica these final quarter days and you’ll see our winter arrivals. You’ll also see the northern nesters sharing space with resident species like Blue-gray Tanagers, motmots, and other neotropical beauties.

A common beauty.

It’s not the high season but the birds are still here, more than enough to watch. Here’s some of what to expect in these latter months of 2025.

Urban birding

Try as you will to get into the real nitty gritty of Costa Rica birding, you’ll probably still find yourself doing some urban birding. I’m talking hotel gardens and patches of habitat in the people zone. It’s alright, there’s always more around than you think, always more to see and always good (especially at hotels like Villa San Ignacio, Robledal, the Bougainvillea, and others that host and cherish green space).

Don’t spend too much time away from the birdier forests but don’t not bird around your hotel either. As encouragement, here’s some of what I’ve been recently seeing and hearing in the tiny bits of habitat (especially a small neighboring farm) near home, in the middle of a city:

-Short-tailed and Gray Hawks are daily, yesterday morning, a kiskadee was dive bombing a perched, dark morph Short-tailed Hawk.

-White-fronted Parrots, and Orange-chinned and Crimson-fronted Parakeets do daily morning and evening flyovers, sometimes, critically endangered Yellow-naped Parrots too.

-Tropical Mockingbirds sipping from orange flowers, Rufous-tailed and Cinnamon Hummingbirds at flowering bushes, occasional Green-breasted Mango on a high perch.

-Brown Jays creeping and getting scolded by Rufous-backed Wren and various other small birds.

Rufous-backed Wren

-Speaking of small birds, there are common flycatchers like Tropical Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, and Common Tody-Flycatcher. Lately, I’ve also been seeing migrant pewees, Baltimore Orioles, and wintering Yellow Warblers among small numbers of migrating Red-eyed Vireos, Blackburnian, Black and white, and Chestnut-sided Warblers.

-Migrating swallows a la Barn, Bank, and Cliff. I also got lucky with a lone male Purple Martin. I keep looking up, hoping for a random shorebird or lost nighthawk, maybe win a birding lottery Cave or Violet-green Swallow.

-Tropical Screech-Owl calling from the farm next door. I don’t hear it every night and I wonder, is it just moving through or, does it live there all year long? With luck, it will roost from a viewable spot.

-Handsome Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers, our local version of the Red-bellied or Gila or other common woodpecker. Today, I also heard a Lineated laughing from the riparian zone.

-There’s more, always more to make hotel garden birding worthwhile.

No hurricanes but more than enough rain

In Costa Rica, we don’t usually get smashed by hurricanes but, we still get that rain. Lately, a heck of a lot of it. A hurricane happens somewhere in the Caribbean and droves of rain happen here. A tropical storm system takes place and we can get hammered with road smashing precipitation.

These days, it’s been a bit too much; buckets and waves of falling water that overflow creeks, race down roads, and precipitate landslides. Unfortunately, the main road from San Ramon to Puntarenas got washed out. I’m not sure when it will be fixed but surely before the high season. In the meantime, we’ll probably see even more traffic on the main road to the Pacific Coast, Route 27.

This link sums up roads affected and closed by heavy rains. There will surely be more, if driving from now until December, check Waze to see what’s open, think twice before driving in heavy rain on mountain roads, and don’t drive through flooded areas.

Altitudinal migrants

Heavy rains happen but the birds are still here. Several species also react to the weather. When birding lower elevations, keep an eye out for altitudinal migrants like White-ruffed Manakin, Olive-streaked Flycatcher, Black-faced Solitaire, and others.

Male White-ruffed Manakin.

Umbrellabirds have also arrived to lower elevations (rare and mostly in mature rainforest in the foothills and adjacent lowlands), rare Lovely Cotingas and bellbirds can show up at lower elevations along with some hummingbirds and other interesting birds.

Year List

On a personal note, despite getting sidetracked by necessary (and thankfully successful) surgery, my year list is coming along alright. I’m at 648 species in Costa Rica for 2025, some of which I’ve added from nocturnal flight calls in the backyard (the usual way I record Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush). There’s still time to see more, hopefully, I’ll get to the right places soon.

I hope you get out birding soon too, especially in Costa Rica. A lot to see down here and, birds are more active before and after the rains.

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

News and Tips from Recent Birding in Costa Rica

A few days ago, I returned from a week of birding in Costa Rica. This wasn’t any old week of excellent birding at commonly visited hotspots like Arenal, Sarapiqui, and Cano Negro. No, this was a target road trip, a custom birding voyage structured around “the missing”. Those hallowed species would be any birds not seen on previous trips to Costa Rica.

As such, they could only be encountered at scattered locations, typically, places too far flung to visit on previous trips. But, we had already birded the close spots, had already seen most of what could be seen relatively nearby (and even then, not all!). Reaching the far off places had become necessary, at least if we wanted to see funny sounding birds like Stub-tailed Spadebill, Elegant Trogon, and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper.

In a birding nutshell, we went from the Sarapiqui lowlands to cloud forest in the central highlands, on to Liberia in northwestern Costa Rica, and then way south to the gateway to the Osa and Ciudad Neily (and then back, as well as a day trip to Centro Manu). The following reflects some of the highlights and tips from this custom birding journey, more or less following the timeframe of the trip.

Cerulean Warblers and some other migrants

I was hoping to catch up with the annual fall passage of mini sky-blue beauties. The height of their movements coincided with our birding days, I figured we’d probably see a few but, since this is birding, you just never know!

Fortunately, it all worked out, birding probability paid off in three places. There were the brief glimpses of pleasant greenish backed females and a neatly breast banded male in Centro Manu (where they consort with Lesser Greenlets- scandalous), the bold female that uncharacteristically showed in eye level vegetation at Tirimbina, and the fantastic, very welcome male that gave perfect views at Cinchona.

Although not quite so glamorous, other migrants were around too; a handful of Red-eyed Vireos, Blackburnians, Black and white Warblers, pewees, and a few others. In southern Costa Rica, there was also a bunch of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers. It was pretty cool and birder dreamy to see a dozen doing their hefty flycatcher thing in one special tree!

Tirimbina- still great for Great Tinamou and antbirds

We spent a morning at Tirimbina to look for various fairly challenging lowland birds. Luckily, some made an appearance. One of the best was one of the birds that this private refuge is often good for- yee friendly whistling Great Tinamou. After a juvenile had flushed, we were pleased to see an adult doing us a favor by sticking around for great views.

Other nice target birds included antwrens, antvireos, and seriously lucking out with Ocellated Antbird. In roughly the same spot where I had encountered an antswarm nearly a year before, lo and behold, I see a couple streams of Army Ants trying to sneak by!

After careful investigation and whistling like an Ocellated, thankfully, two of the wonderfully spotted, blue-faced birds appeared for some fine looks.

Fair birding on the San Rafael de Varablanca road

The cloud forest next to Braulio Carrillo National Park weren’t quite as birdy as I would have liked but, then again, I probably expect too much. No quetzal but we did have excellent views of Black-breasted Wood-Quail, had a nice mixed flock, and heard White-fronted Tyrannulet.

This site always turns up some good stuff, I cover it and lots of other places in my Costa Rica bird finding ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.

Visiting Santa Rosa National Park

Santa Rosa National Park is an excellent, big area of tropical dry forest in northern Costa Rica. It’s around 35 minutes north of Liberia and worth the visit!

We went there hoping for several dry forest species and indeed, lucked out with Thicket Tinamou on the main road, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, and Stub-tailed Spadebill among other birds. Although it was overall fairly birdy everywhere, some of the best spots were the old growth dry forest on the drive in, and the loop trail near the Casona.

You can stop on the main road but be very careful of speeding vehicles. Also, although the entrance road doesn’t have a gate, you still need to make reservations in advance and pay the fee at the park entrance (only with cards and only from 8 to 330). Reservations were easy enough and the park rangers were also very friendly and helpful.

Las Trancas- not as accessible, not as good

Las Trancas is the name for a farming area on the road from Liberia and the airport to the Playa Hermosa area. In the past, rice fields there have been excellent for Jabiru, rails, and more. Unfortunately, as I saw from this recent sojourn, most of the rice has been converted to unbirdy sugar cane and the side roads are gated.

Needless to say, we didn’t have much there. However, the other part of the farm that still has rice fields and birds can still be visited albeit with a local guide. We paid a brief visit and managed distant Jabiru and a few other birds. To check this great area out and maybe see Spotted Rail, contact local guide Javier Perez Chaves.

BONUS SNOWY PLOVER AT CALDERA!

As befits the find, this subtitle gets the big letters. During low tide, a sand bar forms in the lagoon at Mata de Limon (aka Caldera). Sometimes it has several birds, other times no but it’s always worth checking. On September 9th, that checking paid off with a very rare for Costa Rica Snowy Plover.

The bird was distant and the sun was hot but carefully scoping that bunch of Semi Plovs was worth the sweat and staring. Ghost pale, think dark beak and gray legs…year bird success!

I doubt it will stick around that spot but you never know. I hope it turns up again, might be in Tarcoles.

Cotingas at Rincon de Osa

In Costa Rica birding circles, Rincon de Osa is known as the place to be for Yellow-billed Cotinga. Thanks to two fruiting figs, it most definitely was on our visit. Belying their scarce and possibly critically endangered status, the surreal white birds swooped back and forth, sometimes near eye level. Most were males, I only saw one, maybe two females at most.

Turquoise Cotinga was also present but, amazingly, we missed it by an inch! As we watched the white birds, another birder was taking pictures of the blue one on the other side of the tree. He assumed we had seen it and, sadly, the birds snuck off and never came back, not even on the following morning.

Quiet birding at Rincon de Osa

On another note, overall, the forest birding at Rincon was pretty quiet. Yes, we still saw Crane Hawk, Gray-lined Hawk, and some other good birds but it was pretty quiet. I only hope that’s related to season and not fewer birds but, I worry. On past visits, I have easily recorded 100 plus species in a few hours.

An absence of owls and other night birds

In general, we had every few nocturnal birds. If we would have looked more, we probably would have found some but, checking a couple nights turned up nothing, not even a Pauraque.

Ciudad Neily rocks and birding rolls

This small city in southern Costa Rica was birdy as ever. The “hospital road” had Savannah Hawk and other regulars but no dice with Paint-billed Crake (maybe too wet to concentrate them?). Unfortunately, the Coto area was too flooded and muddy to access but the birding just outside of town was good.

Parrots and other birds flew over town at dawn and dusk and roadside birding in forest just outside of town was productive for a good number of rainforest species. As a bonus, we also had great looks at Central American Squirrel Monkeys!

After Ciudad Neily birding, we made the long drive back to San Jose, thankfully, with nary an incident. Speaking of incidents, lately heavy rains have caused local flooding near Fortuna and other places, and landslides on the Route 32 San Jose-Guapiles highway. Be careful and make sure you get your birding in during the sunny morning! By 1 or 2, the weather takes a drastic turn and pours down buckets.

Happy birding, I hope to see you here! Here’s a trip report to whet the appetite.

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Birding Costa Rica migration

Reminders of Bird Migration in Costa Rica

A lot of birds winter in Costa Rica. Go birding from late October to early March and you should run into Summer Tanagers, orioles, Philadelphia Vireos and a warbler parade of winter plumaged Chestnut-sided, Black and white, Tennessee, Wilson’s, Black-throated Green, and Yellow Warblers among other species.

There’ll also be Barn Swallows zipping low over open fields, a healthy array of shorebirds probing mud flats, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers chipping from the woods. At the moment, most of those winter birds have yet to arrive. For the most part, there’ll still entertaining birders and ravaging caterpillar populations up north. They don’t usually get their fill until later this month, making it here in bulk by early October.

Barn Swallow living it up in Costa Rica.

However, we don’t have to wait until the month of pumpkin spice to see migrants. A fair number are already here, most making a stop on their route to South America. They can sneak through and the numbers are much smaller than the October avian rush but the birds are out there, available for birders taking a closer look.

This past week saw a nice little push of transient migrants and early arrivals. These were some of the reminders that migration is happening in Costa Rica, that birds are on the move through Quetzalandia.

Pewees on perches

Lately, I’ve been checking my local patch of urban green space, hoping to notice hints of the northern migrant vanguard. If I was birding in better habitat, I’m sure I’d see more but, you’ve got to work with what you got. Around here, that means a small bit of trees on a riparian zone, and a nearby patch of a park.

At least that’s what I’ve got within walking distance. There are better vegetated spots a bit further afield (and I do hope to visit them too) but they require more time and effort than easy, early morning strolls.

During those strolls, I have noticed a few migrants but wondered where the pewees were. Those semi-crested, easy-plumaged flycatchers pass through Costa Rica in substantial numbers. I suppose it’s a tad early, most aren’t here yet but I did see my first of three migrant Contopus this past week.

Around Varablanca, an out of place thingee on the tip top of a tall snag turned into an expected Olive-sided Flycatcher. I always like seeing those conifer birds, as a kid, they were one of the “good ones” to see, one of the uncommon flycatchers. I saw my first perched on a typical tip of a snag during a summer visit to Algonquin Provincial Park, sometime 80s. A while ago now but burned into the memory banks by additional sightings from that same boggy spot; otters playing, a pair of lifer White-winged Crossbills, and a glimpse of a distant Black Bear crossing the track far ahead.

I see Olive-sideds here in Costa Rica, the tip top birds that demand three beers elsewhere, and wonder what they saw on their wild and beautiful breeding grounds. I wondered the same for the other pewees also seen this week; a Western Wood-Pewee (WEWP there it is…) on the snag in front of Cinchona, and an Eastern on the end of a stick yesterday evening.

Did they see bears too? Imagine the glittering tanager parties they’ll see once they reach the Andes!

Dickcissel whispers

Now is the time to hear Dickcissels. I heard my first of the fall yesterday morning and it was par for the course; a slight buzzy call from somewhere above, an afterthought above zinc-roofed homes, Green-breasted Mango feeding from orange flowers topping a lone tree, and White-winged Dove quickening over concrete.

Once in a while, a Dickcissel even lands around here, no doubt much to its chagrin. It won’t find food on these cinder block walls, no rice or weedy fields to visit. Most whisper and keep moving, keep flying south and east until they find suitably marshy spots to their liking.

A handful of warblers

I figured my first warbler would be aYellow Warbler. That’s usually the case although Black and whites are pretty early too. I have had a few of those but no Yellow yet. Should be one nearby, at least any day now.

The other scant early bird warblers I have seen are American Redstart, a cool female Canada Warbler in the local park, Blackburnian in cloud forest, and expected Louisiana Waterthrush near a mountain stream.

Other local birders have noticed a few other warblers, the best of the bunch being a possible Yellow-throated. Now that would be a nice find, it’s a rare bird in Costa Rica.

A push of Ceruleans

At the moment, we are in the heart of Cerulean Warbler migration. That’s one of the main birds I’m hoping to find in my neighborhood, my biggest hope while scanning fully foliaged trees. No luck yet but a few have been seen nearby, there’s probably one or more within a few miles as I write.

However, the best places to see these special birds are where other birders have been reporting them; forested middle elevations and the Caribbean slope. I might get there soon, really hope I see one.

Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Least Terns, and other coastal birds

The biggest migration news was a flock of 17 Buff-breasted Sandpipers from Chomes. Although that happens every year, you still gotta be lucky to coincide your visit to Chomes with their’s. Those seriously long distance migrants are here one day, gone the next, and there’s not a heck of a lot of them.

Least Terns are also moving through, now is a great time to see them on the Pacific coast along with other coastal migrants, shorebirds for the most part. However, if you do some seawatching, you might also get lucky and see a Sabine’s.

Swallows and other species

The first of droves of Hirundines have also shown up. I’ve seen Barns and some Cliffs, as usual, for whatever reason, flying from west to east, often low over the neighborhood houses.

I also saw one other swallow, unfortunately, a kick myself bird. It came in so low, I didn’t notice it until it was too close for binos (or I was just too early morning lazy to raise them). At first glance, I also foolishly took it to be a common and expected Blue and white Swallow. However, when it flew overhead, I realized it didn’t have a darn vent so I figured, oh, my first Bank Swallow.

BUT, while looking for the dark breast band, I realized it didn’t have one and was all white below. Um, around here, a migrant swallow like that is either a Tree or a Violet-green, both rare species for Costa Rica. Sadly, I couldn’t see anything more revealing before it flew directly into the sun and out of my life. I suspect it was a Violet-green, a major migrant prize and year bird but, I was too lackadaisical with the binos (proceeds to kick self).

Other species have included my first Eastern Kingbird of the fall (which was insisting on hanging with a pari of Tropical Kingbirds that kept chasing it away), and others have seen flocks of Swallow-tailed Kites and some other birds.

Migration is definitely happening in Costa Rica, what else is out there? I hope I get the chance to find out.

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Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica planning for a birding trip to Costa Rica

Birding Updates- Poas and Cinchona

Poas and Cinchona are two of the better, closest birding areas to the San Jose area. Just an hour or so drive up into the nearby mountains, they offer a quick fix of highland endemics and a good bunch of other birds. I bird in that area often and yet, I’m always eager to return for more exploration. No matter how often you bring the bins, there’s always something new to discover, especially on side roads that reach into the buffer zone of the big Braulio Carrillo National Park.

This past week, I had a morning of guiding around Poas and Cinchona. Here’s some updates and information from that fun morning, especially birding the road to Poas, a site I hadn’t checked for some time:

Poas Volcano still Active, National Park Open

On my way to Poas I noticed a small white cloud that looked like it was coming right out of the mountain. That wasn’t an illusion. The cloud was vapor from the nearby bowels of the Earth and an easy, visual reminder that Poas Volcano was still very much active.

While the nearby volcano is still fired up, it has calmed down significantly, enough to reopen the national park. If you want to actually enter the national park, you’ll still have to buy tickets online and in advance but at least you can. Since we did not go into the park, I can’t say how the post eruption birding is on their trails but, you can have equal or better birding on the way there anyways.

The Road to Poas

On our way there, the birds seemed fairly similar to pre, major eruption days. We had views of several Yellow-thighed Brushfinches, chlorospinguses, and other common birds. It was also nice to hear Streak-breasted Treehunters, see a few Large-footed Finches, Fiery-throated and Volcano Hummingbirds, several Black and Yellow Silky-Flycatchers, and various other expected species.

One of the best was a Black Guan at close range near the park gate. Flame-throated Warbler was also nice as were heard only Barred Parakeets and great looks at Black-thighed Grosbeaks, all while groups of handsome Band-tailed Pigeons flew overhead.

Conspicuously absent were chlorophonias, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers, Sooty Thrush, and Resplendent Quetzal, while Mountain Elaenias and Mountain Thrushes were also low in number. I figure most of those species were no-shows because the fruiting trees they prefer were fruiting elsewhere, maybe at lower elevations.

Wrenthrush

Thankfully, one of the key species we did see was the one and only Wrenthrush. This odd, uni-family bird is regular on Poas but, it’s not always reliable. Some days, I hear several calling, other days, silence from the short-tailed wren-like warblerish things.

The day we visited, I was pleased to hear a few sound off, including near the Restaurant Volcan. We also had excellent looks at a juvenile near the park gate.

The San Rafael Varablanca Road

Hoping for quetzal, we paid a quick visit to this birdy road. Birding it during sunny weather at 9:30 and 10 was predictably quiet but we still managed to save the trip with Ruddy Treerunners, Costa Rican Warblers, and some other birds in a mixed flock.

Ruddy Treerunner.

Sadly, no quetzal and although I bet a full day on that road would eventually find one, I suspect most are feeding elsewhere these days.

Cinchona Was Pretty Quiet

Perhaps the most important update comes from the Hummingbird Cafe at Cinchona. The fruit feeders were very quiet and when I asked the servers about it, they said that it had been pretty quiet like that for at least a few months. I’m not sure if that’s because a tree had fallen down, more fruit being available in nearby habitats, or a combination of those factors but hopefully that will change.

We still saw some birds the feeders, best being a female Red-headed Barbet, but no Prong-billed Barbet nor toucanet. All we can do is keep checking it out and see if the situation improves. In the meantime, don’t rely on the spot for toucanets nor Prong-billed Barbet.

The hummingbird situation was better but Black-bellied and White-bellied Mountain-gems were no shows.

Although there was some quiet birding, those sites can vary from one day to the next and the birding is always good. To learn more about these and other birding sites in Costa Rica, check out my birding site guide for Costa Rica. I hope to see you here!

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Twitchable Yellow-billed Tern in Costa Rica

This past week in Costa Rica, we’ve been nicely struck with good fortune by the birding powers that be. A Yellow-billed Tern somehow came here and, even better, it has stayed long enough for birders to see it in excellent conditions!

The road to the Yellow-billed Tern.

In other words, in birding terms, we’ve got a twitchable Yellow-billed Tern. If you haven’t heard the term “twitch” in birding lingo, it basically means going to specifically try and see a rare bird. While that is essentially true, in reality, twitching a bird has other implications, including:

  1. Getting excited with near subsequent anxious feelings that the bird will leave before you get there.
  2. Using Zen birding techniques in an attempt to calm yourself and lower expectations (not everyone does this).
  3. Deciding whether or not the distance, time investment, and neglecting other obligations and responsibilities make the twitch worth it.
  4. Rushing to the site ASAP.
  5. Breathing a sigh of relief if you see it and doing your best to be just as pleased with seeing other birds if you don’t.

A “twitchable” bird is one found in an accessible spot that stays long enough for a good number of people to see it. I’m not sure how long that has to be but do know that if a bird is only present for one day, it earns the forlorn “one day wonder” status. And that’s not all! Even within one day wonder parameters, we can have bird sightings ephemeral, you absolutely need be there when it happens.

A couple examples that come to mind are when Ned Brinkley identified a fricking White-tailed Eagle migrating north through upstate New York (it soared into view and kept on a going), when a friend of mine saw a Virginia’s Warbler in his garden in Buffalo, NY, and when birders see rare and crazy flybys at a seawatch. Those seabirds in particular are real one minute, living the moment twitches as they fly into view and then fly back out of view, straight into birding oblivion.

It’s why you gotta be observant all the time and go birding all the time too.

Ok, that’s undoubtedly extreme but, such once in a lifetime sightings are a good reminder to go birding as much as you can and on a regular basis. On a personal note, I’m reminded of when I saw a Black Bushbird at the Tambopata Research Center in Peru. Despite birding the same trail dozens of times, it’s the only one I saw and I never saw it again!

Fortunately, our recent Yellow-billed Tern has indeed been fantastically twitchable. I mean, you don’t even have to trudge through mud or get your car stuck! It also stayed in the same spot until the weekend; a vital factor that allowed me and Mary and many others to see it. Its weekend status gave us a chance to leave early enough to make the 3 hour drive to the site, have plenty of time to watch the bird, and then leisurely make our way home.

But why go through all that trouble to see a Yellow-billed Tern? Why not just fly to Amazonia to see one? Yeah, because that’s what you usually need to do. This South American bird represents the fourth record for Costa Rica and is the only twitchable one. Many thanks goes to the local guides and birders who checked the shrimp ponds near the Puente de Amistad on July 25th. Who know what else shows up at this and other underbirded spots? Interestingly enough, one of the other records for this species in Costa Rica is from early August but where it’s slightly more expected,on the Caribbean coast.

After getting our fill of the “non Least Tern”, we started our drive back, stopping in Puntarenas on the way. Noon isn’t the ideal seawatching time at Puntarenas but, since you never know what’s out there, I had to take a look. Whether because the time of day or algae blooms, there was almost no activity near shore, not even pelicans or Royal Terns. However, scoping revealed a fair number of birds flying well offshore. A ferry ride would have given close looks at flocks of Black Terns and maybe turned up another thing or two. I’ve gotta do some morning seawatching there soon, maybe take the ferry too.

Headed to Costa Rica? If you want to see the tern, check eBird for the location and latest sighting. If not, there’s always lots of other birds to see at tons of birding sites in Costa Rica!

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Costa Rica Birding News, July, 2025

July birding in Costa Rica- is that a thing? Yes, it sort of is! Although the 7th month doesn’t see as many birders in Costa Rica as the winter months, it’s still an important month for birding in the nation of quetzals, Large-footed Finches, and hundreds of other species.

The finch with the large feet doing its foraging thing in the leaf litter.

To take advantage of the brief break in rainy weather, many a birding tour agency has scheduled a July trip to Costa Rica. It can still rain but it’s usually not near as much as other months in the rainy season. Although you won’t see many wintering birds, July is also still a great time to see our cool resident species. I don’t have a lot to report but here’s a bit of July birding news to whet the appetite.

Weather is a Bit Better

This July, we haven’t had as much of a break in the rains than other years but, recently, it has been drier. Given the saturated soils and localized flooding, any drier weather is a major bonus!

I’m not sure how long it will last but the birding will still be good. Keep in mind that the birds and ecosystems in Costa Rica are very much adapted to heavy and frequent rains. Not to mention, having adapted to overabundant moisture for thousands of years, they need it.

Time your birding right and be prepared for the rains and you’ll still see a heck of a lot.

Parrots in the Central Valley

The Central Valley (aka San Jose) is fairly impacted by people and urbanized but it’s still got parrots. Most days, even when not specifically birding, I usually hear three or four species from my concrete-abundant surroundings. The birds travel to and from riparian zones and patches of precious green space. They make do feeding on remnant trees and some roost in tall Eucalyptus.

Lately, I’ve been seeing more parrots, especially White-fronted Parrots but have also noticed more Brown-hoodeds flying through parts of the valley just uphill from the main urbanized areas. I’m not sure if these are post-breeding groups or what but there are pretty nice to see!

Could they be taking advantage of higher fruit abundance from earlier, heavy rains? Perhaps but, whatever the reason, I’m seeing more than usual. There could also be small groups of rare Red-fronted Parrotlets foraging in the valley. Keep an eye out for them, especially at big, fruiting figs.

Spot-fronted Swift Nest in Monteverde

One of the recent Monteverde highlights has been a viewable Spot-fronted swift nest. They might not be there for much longer but if you’re visiting the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve these days and want to give it a try, check the cascade on the waterfall Trail.

This species nests behind waterfalls, often just a nest or two behind small, mossy cascades. I wouldn’t say the bird is exactly rare in Costa Rica but it can be very easy to miss. On sunny days, it probably flies too high to notice and we know nothing about its movements (if it even makes any).

What I can say is that if you don’t see one at a nest, you might get lucky to see them fly low enough for identification during the early morning hours in Sarapiqui and other lowland forest areas. During the wet season (especially the early part of it and in front of storms), you can also see them courting, flying low, and calling over the Central Valley.

All the Usual Great Birding

As I was mentioning above, the same great birding is still happening in Costa Rica. Excellent mixed flocks at foothill forest sites, hawk-eagles in the more forested areas, Long-tailed Manakins whistling “Toledo”, there’s a wealth of birds waiting to be seen. If you are wondering exactly where to watch birds in Costa Rica, check out my Costa Rica birding site guide.

I’ll also mention that, at Cinchona, they modified the fruit feeder set-up so it has more natural perches and more light. On a recent visit, I saw the quail-dove sneaking around below the feeder, and all expected hummingbirds (including Black-bellied, White-bellied Mountain-gem, and Green Thorntail). I did not see as many fruit feeding birds but that might be related to more fruit being seasonably available in the forest.

618 Year Birds and Counting

On a personal note, my current year list has 618 or so species. I am pleased, I always hope to break 600 over a year of birding in Costa Rica! I’m not done yet and it will be tricky but, hopefully, I’ll hit 700 by the end of the year. Those totals hint at the sheer number of birds you can see in Costa Rica. Happy birding, I hope to see you here!

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Three Days of Quality Birds and Rain in Costa Rica

These days, May in the north is a time for cocoa-cappuccino Bay-breasted Warblers, chatty Wilson’s Warblers, and other latter May day migrants. Listen for the high-pitched calls, look in that general location and you might find breeding colors peeking through fresh green foliage. Warbler neck, profuse peering, and glimpsing warbler bits abounds but there’s also a heck of a lot to see. Keep up the watching and you might discover a background cuckoo here, a leaf-imitating Acadian Flycatcher there.

That sweet and tantalizing May birding is a lot like birding in tropical forest, a lot like birding in the lush habitats of Costa Rica. And lush they are, especially with all that rain going on. It’s expected, it’s needed, but it can also close roads and create sudden, surprising lakes in unwelcome places. You can still go birding but it would be wise to plan your excursions, sage to take the heavy rains into account.

Last week, I was doing that while guiding three day trips. Yes, it rained in the afternoon and, at Cope’s, even in the morning, but we still saw a lot. Know where to watch birds in Costa Rica and that’s how the birding ball rolls. These were some of the quality birds we saw.

Great Green Macaws and More at Cope’s

Like I was saying, yeah, we had some heavy morning rains but we also saw birds. Lately, Great Green Macaws have been visiting sites near Cope’s. One of Costa Rica’s avian stars, it’s not uncommon to see these majestic mega birds in flight. However, on account of their flying far and wide to forage, you never really know where you’ll see them perched (maybe outside of Tortuguero and the Boca Tapada area).

It was a treat to see and photograph these fantastic birds near Cope’s. Shortly after, the rain caught up to us but it didn’t hinder us from seeing a pair of Cope’s roosting Crested Owls, and some plush toy inspiring Honduran White Bats.

After waiting for the rain to subside, we also made a short hike to a roosting Spectacled Owl and then drove to a nesting Great Potoo! We had various other expected species there too although it was sobering to hear Cope’s tales of the place when he was a kid. He related how, back in the 70s, way back when I was watching Saturday morning cartoons and learning to play baseball with my friends, the entire pasture with the Great Potoo was primary rainforest. There was a lot more forest in the area and he said the trees were absolutely immense. Before immediate needs convinced people to cut it all down, there were also Red-throated Caracaras in the area; a social, wasp-specialist raptor that has mostly disappeared from Costa Rica.

Could be bring them back? Only if we let lots of forest grow back first, let it grow and thrive for a century.

Quetzals and More Around Varablanca

With Poas still blowing its top (according to the news, it shot a kilometer of ash into a pre-dawn sky this very morning), my quetzal searches have been happening near Varablanca. That’s alright, the birds are there and I usually find them. Find a lot of other birds too.

There were calling, fluttering Resplendent Quetzals, chippering Spangle-cheeked Tanagers, cheerful Collared Redstarts and the other usual cloud forest birds. It’s always good, I often get flyover Barred Parakeets too and other things can appear.

One of the best was this non-bird, a Banded Giant canopy Anole! This little known and rarely seen lizard ran off the road next to a patch of forest. A lifer lizard for me and a reminder of the immense biodiversity hiding and creeping and existing in Costa Rican cloud forest.

On another bright note, the Porterweed bushes at Corso are slowly growing back and hosting hummingbirds again. We had a couple Volcanos, a couple Scintillants, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, and Lesser Violetear. We also found several Scintillants at the “Restaurante Tipico de Varablanca”. This place is more easily recognized by its statues of a giant quetzal, Baird’s Tapir and other classic Costa Rican avifauna. Check the Porterweed, when we were there, it was buzzing with Scintillant joy.

Ceiba de Orotina Birding

This road through dry forest and open habitats always rocks the birds. It’s an easy and welcome way to get your fill of Rollerish, fancy Turquoise-browed Motmots, watch Gartered and Black-headed Trogons, see Double-striped Thick-knees, White-throated Magpie-Jays, and lots of other birds.

The other day, one of our stand outs was a pair of Crane Hawks. Although this species is present in the area, you sure don’t see them very often (at least I don’t). We had two soar into warm morning skies on the seasonally marshy part of the road around Cascajal.

On other days, watch those soaring skies and you might pick up Hook-billed Kite, Zone-tailed Hawk, Pearl Kite, and Harriss’s Hawk among the regular trio of small, common buteonines (Short-tailed, Roadside, and Gray Hawks).

Those were the main places we visited but, as a bonus, we also had good looks at White-eared Ground-Sparrow and a few other birds at Freddo Fresas, Yellow-naped Parrots perched next to a busy road at dawn, and, while charging my car near Orotina, I spied with my little eye, a couple of big, air-slicing Black Swifts foraging up above a busy, truck blaring highway. Birds are always there, the Urban Birder is right when he says to, “Look up”!

What’s next on the Costa Rica birding agenda? Hard to say, so much to always explore and see. No matter where I go, I know I’ll see some good stuff. I hope you do too, wherever you may be birding.

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Birding Costa Rica

May Birding Expectations from Costa Rica

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

Pretty sure this is a White-chinned Swift. I had labeled the image as such.

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!

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birding news

Recent Highlights from Birding Costa Rica, Late April, 2025

The rains are happening in Costa Rica. It’s all good, expected, and the forests need it. The water is just getting started and it doesn’t affect birding all that much anyways. Head out early, it’ll probably be dry and the birds will be singing. If it stays cloudy, the birds will also stay active and when the rains stop, you could find yourself in a mini birding frenzy. Hopefully.

Lately, I’ve been birding in a few different areas, here’s some of the highlights:

Great Potoo in Los Chiles

Great Potoo

Recently, I stayed at the CyC Hotel in Los Chiles and once again, was entertained by a Great Potoo, right above the parking lot. It’s amazing how this huge nocturnal bug catcher feels right at home on a fairly busy street. Although it doesn’t show up there every night, if you check the top of the telephone pole, you’ll have a fair chance of witnessing this cool bird’s haunting calls and antics.

Common Potoo Nesting on the Cerro Lodge Road

Los Chiles is also a good area to see Common Potoo but if you happen to be birding on the other side of the mountains, you’re still in luck! The Common Potoo that has been hanging out on the Cerro Lodge road wasn’t just sitting around and doing nothing. It was incubating an egg, one that has hatched into a cute, white fuzzball baby potoo!

Since this bird is right next to the road, I just hope that photographers stay at a safe distance when taking photos.

Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl Near Varablanca

Owls are always cool and some are more difficult to see than others. One of those is the Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl. Similar to the Northern Pygmy-Owl, this highland endemic also occurs in low density populations. It doesn’t always call nor respond to its call either.

Those factors and its penchant to hide in plain sight make this special bird an easy one to miss. Although the best areas for it seem to be high elevation forests on Irazu Volcano and the Talamancas (Cerro de la Muerte), Costa Rican Pygmy-Owls also occur on Poas and in other high elevation forests. While the current explosive nature of Poas keeps the area off limits at the moment, you can see them near Varablanca. I have only found one pair in that area but lately, one of those birds has been calling and showing nicely.

As a bonus, its vocalizations attract a host of other birds, including Black-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, and Yellow-winged Vireo.

Black-bellied Hummingbird

Quetzal Action also Near Varablanca

That same San Rafael de Varablanca road can also be good for ye olde Resplendent Quetzal. Although they seemed to be on hiatus a month ago, the birds are definitely back!

I’ve been seeing and hearing two pairs (or more) at a few spots there. Since the males have been pretty territorial and doing display flights, I can’t help but wonder if they will nest again (or are just nesting very late in the season?). Maybe so because there are a few Lauraceous trees up there full of quetzal food.

The Usual Good Birds at Medio Queso

Down at the Medio Queso marsh, the usual good species have been showing. These include several Pinnated Bitterns, nice looks at the beautiful Least Bittern, nesting Nicaraguan Grackles, and good numbers of singing Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters.

The Yellow-breasted Crakes have also been showing well and the site has also been good for Snail Kite.

Blue and Gold Tanager at San Luis Adventure Center

This news isn’t new but it’s still worth a mention. This uncommon tanager continues to visit the fruit feeders as well as feed in nearby trees. It might also be nesting near the feeder. Although this and other birds haven’t been frequenting the feeder as much, wait long enough and they’ll eventually pay a visit.

When birding in Costa Rica, there’s always more highlights, birds I saw over the past few days like Double-striped Thick-knee, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Laughing Falcon and other raptors, parrots, two macaw species, and so on and so on. One thing’s for sure; come birding in Costa Rica and you’ll see a lot! I hope to see you here.

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Birding in Costa Rica- Recent Sightings of Interest

In Costa Rica, we just finished another Holy Week. As banal as that may sound, those who reside in Costa Rica are well aware of the weight that statement carries. It means traffic is back in the Central Valley, that the beaches and ways to and from the coast have suddenly become much less crowded, and that whatever places closed for the holidays have opened back up.

On the birding front, the end of Holy Week also translates to Spring’s final movements of Scarlet Tanagers, Eastern Kingbirds, and many other birds flying steadily north. Some will still be around for a bit; Canada Warblers in the woods and northward bound wood-pewees sallying from perches but, for the most part, migration will be petering off.

The one exception is shorebirds. Right now is a darn good time to go shorebirding in Costa Rica, a time when the last push of thousands of birds pass through the country. Sadly, other duties may keep me from having a chance to look for them but who knows, maybe I’ll still be able to get out there and scan some wet fields, deftly slap mosquitoes while scoping coastal salt ponds and mud flats.

In any case, there’s always other birds, always lots to look at and look for in Costa Rica. I thought the following were some of the more interesting recent sightings in Birdlandia.

Black-eared Wood-Quail Seen at Laguna del Lagarto

Although I’m pretty sure this elusive and handsome forest chicken has been recorded at and near Laguna del Lagarto in the past, there weren’t any eBird records for it. That finally changed when birding guide Henri Sandi Amador found one!

This is an excellent sighting and I don’t know if the bird will stick around but it’s a reminder of what can appear in areas with extensive, little explored forest.

Snowcaps and More at Centro Manu

Can’t make it to Rancho or El Copal? Luckily, Centro Manu continues to be a good spot for Snowcap. Last week, during a wet morning visit, we had at least three females and one male. Most were in the aptly named hummingbird garden but they also visit small flowers in shortish, bushy trees next to the parking area and in front of the office.

Great Potoo is still there too although it’s been using a less obvious perch and we did not manage to see it. The rain diminished the birding in general but we still managed to see Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer and some other birds in addition to the Snowcap. Local guide Kenneth also mentioned that they are still seeing Central America Pygmy-Owl by a nearby stream as well as other expected species for the area (which are many and always good).

Flowering Ingas in the Caribbean Foothills

Lately, while driving downhill from Cinchona, visiting Centro Manu, and passing through Sarapiqui, I noticed good numbers of flowering Ingas. This is great news for hummingbirds and us birders hoping to see them! The wispy white flowers produced by these guava relatives are some of the best natural feeders around and one of the better ways to see coquettes and Green Thorntails.

If you notice a bushy tree with wispy white flowers, stop and watch it for a while, you should eventually see some hummingbirds. With luck, you might also find something uber rare.

Ruddy-breasted Seedeater in Tarcoles

In Costa Rica, Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters can be unpredictable. For example, although I usually see them in the Cano Negro area, I had no such luck last month. They are also regular in grassy fields in the southern Pacific zone but even there, they can be common one year and seemingly absent the next.

If you’re taking any boat rides on the Tarcoles River soon, you might get lucky with this pretty little finchy bird. Lately, they have been regular from the boat, maybe there’s also some frequenting rice fields around Jaco? You might also see the rare Slate-colored Seedeater. From the boat, there has been a recent sighting or two of this nomadic, uncommon bird!

Seeding Bamboo in Montserrat de Coronado?

Slate-colored Seedeaters have also been spotted around Montserrat de Coronado; an excellent highland site at the end of a rough road in the upper reaches of the northeastern Central Valley.

I’m not sure if observers saw the seedeaters at Locos Por El Bosque or near there nor if bamboo is seeding but their presence is a fair indicator. Another good indicator is the presence of Barred Parakeets. Folks have also been seeing good numbers of those and even getting rare pictures of perched birds! That’s a major bonus because although I hear and often see them in flight, 99% of my looks are small parakeet silhouettes buzzing overhead.

Montserrat de Coronado isn’t on the main birding tour routes but it’s an excellent area to explore on your own or with a local guide. It’s also one of many lesser known sites covered in my bird finding guide to Costa Rica. If the bamboo is seeding up that way, it’s probably also attracting tough birds like Slaty Finch and Blue Seedeater too!

As always, I could mention more sightings, birds like the Palm Warbler near La Gamba, Turquoise and Yellow-billed Cotingas, and others. There’s always a lot more to say about birds in Costa Rica, the best thing to do is visit, get into habitat and watch them. I hope to see you here!