10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

12 species of cuckoos are on the Costa Rica bird list. Tortuguero- one of many excellent birding areas in Costa Rica. I can’t say the same for the other especially tough cuckoo in Costa Rica, the one and only Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo (or RVG as I like to call it). boat ride to Cocos Island.

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Costa Rica Panama Cats Washington 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2021

Groups them by family too and by their shape” His extra long arm extended and passed me that precious book. Fast forwarding to Costa Rica, to be honest, you won’t find any grouse around here. The easiest of the wood-quails in Costa Rica is the Spotted Wood-Quail. “Check it out!”

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Costa Rica Chickens Pennsylvania Litter 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2021

Birding in Costa Rica wouldn’t be complete without a fine cup of coffee (or two). Smooth, tasty, and rejuvenating, the beans grown in the volcanic soils of Costa Rica make some wonderful boost juice. The post Lesser Known Places for Birding in Costa Rica- Mi Cafecito appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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Costa Rica Birds Farming Woodpeckers 260

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. No tours means much less birding, especially on my part and with further restrictions to movement having been recently declared in Costa Rica, birding outside of the neighborhood has come to a full stop.

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Costa Rica Birds Thailand Farming 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2020

Given the ample distribution of this species in Costa Rica, I am sure that we have more than a few folks out there who know the Sunbittern well even if they don’t watch birds at all. This bird won’t really look like anything you have ever seen because it’s in a family all on its own. Is it a bittern?

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Costa Rica Cleveland Turkey Parrots 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2021

It takes a detour to reach Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica but oh how the trip is worth it. It was a treat to see several wintering members of the esteemed Parulidae family. An uncommon species in Costa Rica, it was in a brushy area that reminded me of its breeding grounds. Wintering Wood-warblers.

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Costa Rica Wildlife Tennessee Owls 203

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2022

These are the days of high quality birding and in Costa Rica, they tend to happen on Irazu Volcano. The 11,000 foot volcano isn’t the only place to connect with high quality birding in Costa Rica but it is one of the easier places to see a number of uncommon and rare species. Wrenthrush Zone.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls Geese 237

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2019

Costa Rica is well known for national parks and other protected areas than offer access to tropical ecosystems dripping with biodiversity. Our birding was particularly productive for the Central Valley but still gives an idea of what can be found in and near urban areas of Costa Rica. Have flowers in Costa Rica?

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Costa Rica Parrots Birds Blackbirds 184

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

If a list also shows the status for each species, birders on their way to Costa Rica would realize that they shouldn’t really expect vireos with white eyes nor blue heads (but would hopefully know that they should very much report those species on eBird so local birders can chase them!). Spot-bellied Bobwhite bites the dust.

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Costa Rica Owls South America Panama 192

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

Although it’s feasible and fairly easy to see Great Tinamou at some sites in Costa Rica, in most other places, the time investment needed to see one usually relegates it to the “heard only” category. In no particular order, these are my top 25 picks for target birds of Costa Rica. Why 25 and not ten?

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Costa Rica Panama Birds Nicaragua 199

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

” During migration, I also see Eastern Wood-Pewees in Costa Rica. Living in Costa Rica, June is just as warm as the rest of the year. June in Costa Rica is the half-way point; when I figure out what I need to do, where I need to go to attain birding goals for the rest of the year.

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Costa Rica Species Birds New York 191

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

A couple of the biggest of bird families are restricted to the Americas. Just about anywhere a birder ventures, the miniscule members of the latter family can be seen, and in most tropical locales, it’s not just one species. Costa Rica is no exception. Purple-throated Mountain-gem. Black-belllied Hummingbird.

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Panama Honduras 200

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2019

The two families of New World barbets, the Capitonidae and the Semnornithidae, are actually more related to toucans. Although most New World Barbets live in the tropical forests of South America (“the bird continent”), us birders in Costa Rica are fortunate to have two species to watch and listen to.

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Costa Rica Colombia Ecuador South America 153

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2014

The Woodpeckers are one of the more popular of the avian families. Those woodpeckers are some smart-looking birds, and Costa Rica has her fair share with 16 species that head-bang from the dry forests of the northwest to the high-elevation rainforests of the mountains. A Lineated Woodpecker looking for ants in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Woodpeckers Honduras Panama 188

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

In other words, millions of people got together with family and friends for a cozy day of mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, naps, football, and some serious turkeyliciousness. The turkeys I’m talking about up in here are three of the five members of the Cracidae family that occur in Costa Rica. Ain’t I great?

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Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

Like if a chickadee calls while a family member is making his or her wedding vows, the covert birder won’t even blink. In Costa Rica, instead of frogmouths, we have equally weird and wonderful potoos. I never stop birding no matter where I am, Costa Rica included. This one is photo friendly at several sites.

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Costa Rica Solomon Islands Wisconsin Farming 154

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Few if any species are as emblematic of the Neotropics as Ramphastidae, the family that includes the toucans, toucanets, and aracaris. On the trip to Costa Rica that I just returned from I was pleased to see both of those species as well as Black-mandibled Toucan and Keel-billed Toucan. Yeah, it was a heck of a trip.

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Costa Rica Horses Farming Collecting 219

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2015

In Costa Rica, when speaking English, we use a combination of words associated with both North American and UK birding communities. You almost only, ever, see one of those in Costa Rica so when someone mentions “jacamar”, it’s a Rufous-tailed. There are plenty of these in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Sparrows Birds Eagles 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2014

Costa Rica is one of those places that people visit to “see the rainforest” Although there’s no such thing as “the one and only rainforest”, Costa Rica is indeed a great place to check out this biodynamic habitat. A Sunbittern strolls through wet grass at Reserva La Marta, Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Tigers Chickens South America 170

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2017

Some birds are so familiar, even non-birders can’t help but know what they are, or at least what family they belong to. In Costa Rica, the Blue-gray Tanager is an ideal species for opening the door to everything birds. With a big fat ten species on the trogon list, Costa Rica is one of those choice places.

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Costa Rica Dominican Republic Kansas Guinea 115

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

In Costa Rica, whether I happen to be birding for fun or searching out target birds for others, I strive to combine birds with lunch. In Costa Rica, that’s easy enough to do. In Costa Rica, there are lots of little, family-owned diners like this one.

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Costa Rica Fowl Cooking Woodpeckers 199

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2018

Costa Rica is a fantastic place to watch hummingbirds. Imagine forty plus resident species of this esteemed family zipping around a place the size of a small state, many of which enjoy feeder juice, and you probably get the picture.

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Costa Rica 2018 Species Family 121

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2016

“Saltator” is another one of those “intriguing” names for certain bird species that live in Costa Rica and the Neotropical region. The other saltators in Costa Rica are more classic members of this odd family. Saltators, saltpotaters, salt n peppa, saltasaywhat?

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Costa Rica Kangaroos Rodents Species 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2015

A lot of birders who come to Costa Rica do indeed fear the flycatcher because they assume that the country’s 80 plus members of the Tyrannidae are going to be just as painful as the little beasts sporting the eye-ring/wing bar combination back home. Even the local Empids are much easier than the migrants.

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Costa Rica Panama Species Sparrows 183

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Costa Rica? Although Cocos Island is halfway between Costa Rica and the Galapagos, we are still talking about hundreds of kilometers of ocean between us and the place of the big tortoises. The Tico families laughing and talking. The Galapagos Islands? The guy sitting near me may have been sleeping.

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Costa Rica Tortoises Birds Rescue 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2015

There are lots of great birding sites in Costa Rica. Although most birders visiting Costa Rica hit pretty much the same sites, you could just as well go to a bunch of other, lesser known places with the same type of habitat and see most of the same birds. Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters are also common at Medio Queso.

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Costa Rica Chile Nicaragua San Jose 171

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Flying in to Costa Rica is accompanied by porthole views of the Central Valley and the mountains that flank it. I sample birding on Poas more often than at other sites in Costa Rica because it’s close to home and makes for a worthwhile guided day trip from the San Jose area. Which migrants use Poas?

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Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2017

As with peninsulas and places situated on an isthmus, Costa Rica has more than one coast. White-crowned Pigeon might be on the list, but that rare prize for Costa Rica is far from regular. In Costa Rica, even the super shy Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon is seen more often than the island pigeon with the snow-white cap.

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Costa Rica San Jose Tigers Bats 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2022

The kid would be thankful they had been found, and then they would head back home as one happy family. Warbler chips and sparrow seeps, Bobolink notes and faint yellowleg whistles. ” One of very many Eastern Wood-Pewees that fly through Costa Rica. It’s fall migration and I got birds to listen to. Fall migrants!

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Costa Rica Buffalo Sparrows Rights 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2022

In most places, the number of birds makes it a challenge to pick just one signature species, Costa Rica included. In Costa Rica, one such bird is the Crimson-fronted Parakeet. In a nutshell, that’s a lot of Costa Rica, that’s a lot of Crimson-fronted Parakeets.

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Costa Rica San Jose Asia Geese 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2015

You see, Myriam’s is located in what might be the Resplendent Quetzal capital of the world, the valley of San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica. Quetzal is THE beloved, sacred bird of Guatemala and they do live there (and in southern Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) BUT are more accessible in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua Honduras 150

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

” Although some doves get as much respect as the late Rodney Dangerfield, we shouldn’t let commonality cloud our view of this big, beautiful family. As luck would have it, the Maroon-chested Ground-Dove was removed from my target list after my second trip to Costa Rica in 1994. Trips Costa Rica doves'

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Costa Rica Bolivia Rats South America 174

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2018

If it’s high quality coffee, the trip is that much better (and yet another reason why Costa Rica is awesome)! If the families are the same, that might not be too much of a problem. Some other insider questions to think about before birding in Costa Rica include things like, “How can I avoid traffic in San Jose?”,

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Game 104

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2016

This big, happy family of Neotropical birds is high on the list of any birder on their way to Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica, and other places where literally dozens of glittering tanagers brighten the pages of the field guide.

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Costa Rica Ecuador Brazil Woodpeckers 103

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

Our trip to Costa Rica has come to an end, and sadly, it ended with one of the best weeks of birding in the entire year. There is no way this week could have been as excellent as it was without a huge amount of help from the Costa Rica Birders and their “network”. I am saving the quetzal story for the end of this posting.

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Costa Rica San Jose Chinchillas Family 171

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2017

I just finished three days of guiding in Costa Rica, each of which was a day trip from the Central Valley, every one a bonanza of new birds. After we had our scope fill of that one, we ventured into the forest to lay eyes on a family of Spectacled Owls !

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Costa Rica Owls Eagles Birds 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

The Arenal Observatory Lodge & Spa in La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica has a rich history as a birding-friendly eco-lodge. Family-owned since 1972, the property’s first guests were volcanologists from the Smithsonian Institute. Over time, the lodge grew into a haven for birders and naturalists alike.

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Costa Rica Reptiles Mammals Research 151