(A few) Birds of Costa Rica

Written By John Erik
 

Scarlet Macaws - Osa Peninsula

 

You cannot travel to Costa Rica and not notice the birds.  This small country has an abundance of bird species – over 900 in total – due to its diverse and protected ecology.  No wonder bird spotting brings so many tourists to Costa Rica.  You can spot beautiful birds almost everywhere and there are plenty of experienced guides to help – particularly if you are after specific species.  But, you don’t necessarily need guides, just walking or hiking on your own reveals a rich birdlife wherever in the country you are.

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron - Tortuguero

Silver-throated Tanager - Sarapiqui

I have managed to photograph 155 different species of Costa Rican birds (so there are plenty more to go after!).  See more on the Costa Rica gallery on this website.  I only count those photos where it is possible to identify the bird species, and I don’t count any birds I’ve seen but not been able to photograph.  Any basic photo is a ‘reference’ shot.  The objective and challenge is clearly to take better photos than a reference shot, in good lighting, close enough, and preferably with some form of action, behaviour or environmental context.

A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on the Gandoca Lagoon

On my first trip I was determined to get a shot of a Toucan.  A fabulous and colourful bird with an insane beak.  I ended up with the shot below taken on the Osa peninsula.  The photo was taken on the third day of quite persistent efforts of photographing the Yellow-throated Toucan.  They tend to perch high up, and that creates challenges in terms of photography:  Distance, Angle (you catch them from below), and Light (often bright sky behind or through branches causing metering difficulties and highly distracting backgrounds).  As always, patience is key, as is a bit of luck if you are in a location for only a few days and it is not easy to return.  Observing their behaviour over a few days allowed me to detect a pattern in their visit to certain trees.  I could then find a position to avoid sky in the background, obtain the right angle and optimise the light.  The shot below is helped by the warm late afternoon glow … and clearly the Toucan obliged by turning towards me for a second or so.  A bit of luck goes with patience and persistence.

Yellow-throated Toucan - Osa Peninsula

Snowy Egret with a tasty breakfast - Puerto Viejo, Limon

Whilst we stayed on the Caribbean coast, I spent three mornings getting up before sunrise and walking down to the local beach to photograph seabirds.  Birds are more active in the morning and the light is often beautiful at this time.  I was rewarded by many shots of waders eating fish and crustaceans in glorious light whilst most people were still in bed.

Whimbrel - Puerto Viejo, Limon

Ruddy Turnstone - Puerto Viejo, Limon

Amazon Kingfisher - Tortuguero

I do have a soft spot for Kingfishers, and taking to boats on the rivers in Tortuguero and Sarapiqui, and also on the Gandoca lagoon, provided many opportunities to catch these special birds.  These boat trips also allow for photography of many other birds from good angles and with a different perspective from land-based photography, including many types of Heron, Egret, Ibis, Anhinga, Swallows, Ospreys, and many more.

Mangrove Swallow - Sarapiqui

Anhinga - Sarapiqui

No trip to Costa Rica should be had without attempting to photograph the Hummingbirds.  These gorgeous and colourful small creatures are fun to observe and shoot as they dart quickly from flower to flower.  Again, patience pays off.  The below shot is also from Osa.  I found a bush rich in flowers and noticed a Hummingbird darting around.  They are hard to track, so I focused on one specific group of flowers with a relatively clear background and waited … 90 mins handholding the 500mm lens and standing still in the afternoon sun was eventually rewarded when the charming bird decided to choose ‘my’ flowers.  I deserved my cold beer after that 😉

Charming Hummingbird - Osa Peninsula

I can go on and on … there are so many beautiful birds – it is just incredible.  Below is the list of all the species I have photographed and managed to identify.  At the bottom is one which I have not yet been able to place … so if you know what it is please leave a comment!  155 is less than 20% of the over 900 species of birds in Costa Rica so there is plenty more scope for photography of new species as well as achieving better photos of many of the species on this list.

Lineated Woodpecker - Tortuguero

The full list …

  • Amazon Kingfisher

  • American Golden-Plover

  • Anhinga

  • Baltimore Oriole

  • Bananaquit

  • Bare-shanked Screech Owl

  • Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

  • Bay Wren

  • Bay-headed Tanager

  • Black Guan

  • Black Phoebe

  • Black Vulture

  • Black-cheeked Woodpecker

  • Black-crowned Antshrike

  • Blackfaced Solitaire

  • Black-hooded Antshrike

  • Black-throated Trogon

  • Blue Crowned Motmot

  • Blue Heron

  • Blue-black Grassquit

  • Blue-Gray Tanager

  • Boat-billed Flycatcher

  • Boat-billed Heron

  • Broad-winged Hawk

  • Brown Booby

  • Brown Jay

  • Brown Pelican

  • Buff-throated Salator

  • Charming Hummingbird

  • Chestnut-coloured Woodpecker

  • Chestnut-headed Oropendola

  • Chestnut-sided Warbler

  • Cinnamon Becard

  • Clay-coloured Thrush

  • Cocoa Woodcreeper

  • Collared Aracari

  • Collared Plover

  • Common Black Hawk

  • Common Potoo

  • Common Tody-Flycatcher

  • Costa Rican (black eared) Warbler

  • Crane Hawk

  • Crested Caracara

  • Crested Guan

  • Crimson-collared Tanager

  • Double-toothed Kite

  • Dusky-capped Flycatcher

  • Emerald Toucanet

  • Fasciated Tiger-Heron

  • Fiery-billed Aracari

  • Golden-hooded Tanager

  • Gray-necked Wood-Rail

  • Great Curassow

  • Great Green Macaw

  • Great Kiskadee

  • Great-tailed Grackle

  • Green Heron

  • Green Honeycreeper

  • Green Ibis

  • Green Kingfisher

  • Green Violetear

  • Green-crowned Brilliant

  • Grey-headed Tanager

  • Groove-billed Ani

  • Hepatic Tanager

  • Hoffman's Woodpecker

  • House Wren

  • Indigo Bunting

  • Keel-billed Toucan

  • King Vulture

  • Least Flycatcher

  • Least Sandpiper

  • Lineated Woodpecker

  • Little Blue Heron

  • Long-billed Hermit

  • Long-tailed Manakin

  • Long-tailed Tyrant

  • Magnificent Frigatebird

  • Magnificent Hummingbird

  • Mangrove Swallow

  • Masked Tityra

  • Montezuma Oropendola

  • Neothropic Cormorant

  • Northern Jacana

  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow

  • Olive-backed Euphonia

  • Orange-bellied Trogon

  • Orange-billed Sparrow

  • Orange-chinned Parakeet

  • Ornate Hawk-Eagle

  • Osprey

  • Pale-billed Woodpecker

  • Palm Tanager

  • Plain Xenops

  • Prong-billed Barbet

  • Prothonotary Warbler

  • Purple Gallinule

  • Red-breasted Meadowlark

  • Red-capped Manakin

  • Red-crowned Woodpecker

  • Red-headed Barbet

  • Red-legged Honeycreeper

  • Red-lored Parrot

  • Red-throated Ant Tanager

  • Resplendent Quetzal

  • Ringed Kingfisher

  • Roadside Hawk

  • Royal Tern

  • Ruby Throated Hummingbird

  • Ruddy Ground-Dove

  • Ruddy Turnstone

  • Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

  • Sanderling

  • Sandwich Tern

  • Scarlet Macaw

  • Scarlet-rumped Cacique

  • Scarlet-rumped Tanager

  • Semipalmated Plover

  • Semipalmated Sandpiper

  • Shining Honeycreeper

  • Silver-throated Tanager

  • Slate-throated Redstart

  • Slaty-tailed Trogon

  • Snowy Egret

  • Southern Lapwing

  • Spectacle Owl

  • Spotted Sandpiper

  • Streak-headed Woodcreeper

  • Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

  • Summer Tanager

  • Sungrebe

  • Swallow-tailed Kite

  • Tawny-crested Tanager

  • Tennessee Warbler

  • Thick-billed Euphonia

  • Thick-billed Seed-Finch

  • Three-Wattled Bellbird

  • Tricolored Heron

  • Tropical Kingbird

  • Tropical Mockingbird

  • Turkey Vulture

  • Violet Sabrewing

  • Whimbrel

  • White Hawk

  • White Ibis

  • White-collared Seedeater (Morelet's)

  • White-shouldered Tanager

  • Willet

  • Wood Thrush

  • Yellow Warbler

  • Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher

  • Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

  • Yellow-headed Caracara

  • Yellow-throated Euphonia

  • Yellow-throated Toucan

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird in its tiny nest - Sarapiqui

American Golden Plover - Tortuguero

A holy grail for many twitchers or bird photographers is the Resplendent Quetzal.  This magnificent creature is worth pursuing.  I have only managed to get an opportunistic and very poor quality shot of the Quetzal whilst hiking in Monteverde.  We came across a bird guide and his party and they were all looking through the scopes and binoculars up at the sky – and yes – far away a small dark blob was the Quetzal – against a bright sky.  Photography was tricky – but I got a ‘reference’ shot.  Not a quality shot in any way – but proof I’ve seen it.  It is not enough, thought, I need to go back and get a better photo of this beautiful bird.  Next time I visit Costa Rica I will plan for it and make it a project.  A targeted mission to shoot the Quetzal!

Long-billed Hermit - Manzanillo

A young Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - Gandoca

… and this little fella I have not yet been able to identify … possibly a juvenile … but of what species?

Update 26 March: I now know what the little bird above is … namely a female Red-capped Manakin. Thank you to Dennis Fernandez, a wildlife photographer based in Costa Rica. You can follow him on Instagram: geoexpeditioncr_. He has an excellent portfolio and he is an exceptional guide. Pura Vida, Dennis!

John Erik
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