Birding Hotspots: Costa Rica
Collared Anacari, Sarapiqui rain forest, Costa Rica, November 2025. Click on the image to go to the blog post on the anacari.
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My wife and I traveled to Costa Rica in November of 2025. We stayed several days in each of three separate regions of the country: Cano Negro to the north near the border with Nicaragua on rivers and wetlands, the Sarapiqui rainforest at low elevation toward the east, and the Talamanca cloud forest at 8-9,000 feet to the south of the continental divide.
The map to the right shows the three regions, along with small orange rectangles that show where photographs were captured. Upon arriving home I edited my collection of images and wrote five blog posts which are listed below with links to the posts. Click on the title or on the photograph to go to the post in a new window. |
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Just in from Costa Rica: The Resplendent Quetzal!
November 20, 2025
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The Resplendent Quetzal is a member of the Trogan Family, the only family in the order Trogonidae. All the photographs in this post were captured in the Talamanca cloud forest on the Pacific side of the continental divide.
The Resplenent Quetzal is a magnificent bird, with arresting irridescent coloration, and a long uppertail covert feather sported by the male in breeding season. The Resplendent Quetzal is a sacred symbol in many Mesoamerican cultures, representing freedom, divinity, and rebirth. The species was deeply revered by the Maya and Aztec peoples, a significance that endures today in Guatemala where it is the national bird appearing on the flag and the currency. |
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More from Costa Rica: Cano Negro, lots of rivers and wetlands . . .
December 22, 2025
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This post covers eight species spotted to the far north of Costa Rica on waterways that drain north into Nicaragua: the Sungrebe (really a finfoot, not a grebe!), the Anhinga, the Northern Jacana with chicks, the Southern Lapwing (a plover), the Black-collared Hawk (denizens of waterways from southern Mexico into South America), and three kingfishers: Amazon, American Pygmy, and Green.
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Hummingbirds of Costa Rica
January 15, 2026
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This post covers 10 species of hummingbird seen either in the rain forest or the cloud forest, at various times during our trip.
The hummingbirds are:
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Will the Real Tanager Please Raise Its Wings!
February 8, 2026
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This post is devoted to the Tanager family consisting of 392 species, less than half of which have tanager in their names! Of the birds named "Tanager", the ones in the U.S. are in fact members of the Cardinal family!
This post includes an abbreviated family tree of the Tanager family. Nineteen species are shown in this post, including the Bananaquit, a member of the tanager family, shown to the right, raising its wings! Yes, it is a true tanager! |
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Costa Rica Wrap-up: Big Birds, Small Birds, with Bursts of Color. . . .(Quick, go find your sunglasses . . . .)
March 12, 2026
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This final post on Costa Rica covers the Toucan family, showing the Keel-billed Toucan and the Collared Anacari (shown to the right), as well as a relative, the Red-headed Barbet, in the same Order as the Toucans.
Other birds in the post are the Chestnut-headed and the Montezuma Oropendola, the Crested Guan and the Gray-headed Chachalaca, and finally a Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher, a close relative of a familiar bird in SE Arizona, the Phainopepla. |
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