10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2022

I may be in tropical Central America, but at 2100 m / 7000 ft a.s.l. The Talamanca Mountains that lie along the continental divide in the southern half of Costa Rica encompass a variety of habitats, including montane cloudforest and páramo, and contain the highest peaks of the country.

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Costa Rica Panama Squirrels Nicaragua 240

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2020

In Costa Rica, the tenth month is when birds pass through in droves. but there are other birds, many stopping to stay, many others moving to South America. In Costa Rica, a lot of those birds fly right overhead. In Costa Rica, a lot of those birds fly right overhead. Cuckoos are up There.

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Costa Rica South America Colombia Paraguay 274

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

After moving to Costa Rica in 2007, my fall migration took on a different approach. But it happened nonetheless and if you go birding in Costa Rica in September, especially during October, you can’t help but notice. Just as in the north, fall migration in Costa Rica doesn’t happen for two or three short weeks.

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Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 330

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2022

Having lived in Costa Rica for several years, I recall those glorious August days in the 80s and can say that yes, it is rather like August, all year long. Differences exist but August in Niagara is much closer to Costa Rica than a Niagara November. Go birding in Costa Rica in August and you will find shorebirds.

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Costa Rica Eagles West Virginia Albatross 202

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

It was eventually accepted as a separate species after genetic studies also revealed large differences (over 8%) between birds from central Panama to northern South America and birds from western Panama north to Mexico. Because it might also occur in southern Costa Rica. So, does Choco Screech-Owl occur in southern Costa Rica?

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Costa Rica Owls Panama Argentina 208

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Some odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) are included in Costa Rica nature guides, but there are hundreds of these beautiful creatures flying around the diverse habitats of Costa Rican and there has not been a guide devoted just to them till now. Still, I have been stuck trying to identify a dragonfly I photographed in 2010.

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Costa Rica North America Family America 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2021

They covered so much water so quickly, so effortlessly, I understood how they could wander from Hawaii to Costa Rica, make steady constant progress over countless kilometers of waves and deep blue water. An expected offshore bird in Costa Rica, the small bicolored shearwater was one of many targets during our 7 hour sojourn.

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Costa Rica Dolphins Sea Turtles Turtles 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2021

Of the 6 species of quetzal, the one that lives in the cloud forests of Central America usually gets the “most spectacular” badge. Even better, this site near San Ramon, Costa Rica is almost too accessible. The post Costa Rica Birding in Quetzal Valley appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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Costa Rica Birds Eagles America 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2020

In Costa Rica, Thanksgiving isn’t an official holiday but on account of the many people from the USA who live there, a birder can enjoy turkey, mashed potatoes and authentic stuffing at any number of places. Even so, I rarely celebrated this special holiday in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Turkey Iceland Eagles 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2021

Birds are arriving in North America, flying from places far to the south. Many come from Central America, a good number fly much further. A male Turquoise Cotinga from southern Costa Rica. As they make their incredible, biannual winged trek, they also pass through Costa Rica. Literally in the millions.

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Ohio Honduras 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2021

Plumaged like various other small female hummingbirds from North America, the lady Snowcap is pale gray below, pale glittering green above, and with a tail that flashes bits of white. She also makes a mark with her small size, one of the smallest birds in Costa Rica. Check out these very good reasons to visit: Easy Access.

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Farming 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2020

Those wishes came true with the inauguration of the October GBD and just as we had hoped, in Costa Rica, we saw many of the migrants that tend to leave our shores by May. In the meantime, these are some of the highlights from Costa Rica: Good Coverage. Agami Heron, Red-fronted Parrotlet , and various other species.

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Costa Rica 2020 Birds Morals 220

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

White-tailed Kite in action- a classic airport species in Costa Rica. Although Costa Rica is noted for tropical forests and their subsequent wealth of birds and biodiversity, us local birders also have our own, out of the way habitat hotspots. They also fly south- have some flown over Costa Rica?

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Costa Rica Ecuador North America Peru 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2022

December birding in Costa Rica is a time of transition. In Costa Rica, the big 7 hundred is always a doable year birding goal but it’s also one that requires a certain degree of effort. Even if we don’t meet any of the haughty goals, it’s still gonna be good, this is birding in Costa Rica after all.

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Costa Rica Birds Panama North America 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2019

In October, it’s what’s happening in Costa Rica. Our big month of bird movements in Costa Rica, the 10th month of the year, is when most of the swallows, Scarlet Tanagers , thrushes, and other species on the South American express push through. What Scarlet Tanagers look like in October Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Birds Panama 264

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 Birds Owls South America 202

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2022

In Costa Rica, we have a couple resident redstart species (that actually show white in the tail) but I can see them on any visit to montane habitats. In Costa Rica, I don’t see nearly as many but there are always a few, here and there. Maybe that’s why they are often in mangroves?

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Costa Rica North America New York Farming 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

I think this is one of the reasons why so many people visiting Costa Rica want to see the bird with the big banana bill, some ask if you have seen “the toucan” Photos and field guides have shown them that these fantastic cartoonish birds do indeed exist and they have heard that a lot of visitors to Costa Rica see toucans.

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Costa Rica Panama Eating Eggs South America 186

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2019

Personally, I love the day because I know that while I am out listening for owls and watching mixed flocks in Costa Rica, countless other members of the birding tribe are doing the same over there in the windswept plains of Rajastan, in the dripping cloud forests of Peru, in birdy New York’s Central Park, and so many other special places.

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Costa Rica Species West Virginia New York 221

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2019

The tropical habitats of Costa Rica are home to a surprising number of raptor species. In Costa Rica, this is the case for many raptors and is why fewer than expected are found during an average birding trip. As with many areas in Latin America that boast humid tropical forest, Costa Rica has three species of hawk-eagles.

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Costa Rica Eagles West Virginia Opossums 191

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 Eagles 203

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

A couple of the biggest of bird families are restricted to the Americas. Costa Rica is no exception. Even better, several are only found in and near Costa Rica, including these species: White-throated Mountain-gem. The high mountains in southern Costa Rica are the realm of this sprite.

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Panama Honduras 224

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

It’s an exciting time for birding in Costa Rica. Migration is happening in Costa Rica and the avian movements are fierce. Large groups of nighthawks have been seen flying during the day, and other birds that winter in South America are just starting to move through in huge numbers. Such a lovely sight.

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Costa Rica South America Panama Morals 150

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019

In Costa Rica, sandpipers are locally known as “correlimos”, which to me sounds something along the lines of “little runners” and that sounds about right. A rare turf farm in Costa Rica, one of the places where grasspipers have been seen in the past.

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Costa Rica Farming Texas Cattle 158

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2017

I have just returned from Costa Rica, the country about which I knew very little, despite it coming under my radar all the way back in 1999 when the “Africa – Birds & Birding” magazine published some of John Graham’s experiences from his visit in 1993. Costa Rica, here I come! With its 920 species, Costa Rica has 2.6

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Costa Rica San Jose Serbia Europe 190

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2019

However, as DNA and morphological studies have indicated, despite the barbets of Asia and Africa looking quite like the ones in the Americas, they aren’t closely related to each other. Its yodeling song is a typical aspect of the cloud forest soundscape in Costa Rica and western Panama, a region to which it is endemic.

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Costa Rica Colombia South America Ecuador 178

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2019

Wood Thrushe s are already singing in some places, although not in Costa Rica. . Some of those migrants don’t have far to go but the majority of species are winging their way in from Mexico, Central America, and South America. Several come to Costa Rica and a lot of those are, right at this moment, on the move.

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Costa Rica South America Tennessee Philadelphia 146

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2019

Presuming that you want to bird Costa Rica, you would book a southbound flight (from N. America) or westbound (from Europe). With its 810 birds, Guyana is located at the northern coast of South America. Costa Rica is a good place to stop, to settle down. Yet, for most people, birders are all eccentric.

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Costa Rica Sri Lanka Rwanda Papua New Guinea 199

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2018

It’s warm as always in Costa Rica but I know there’s a change of seasons up north. In Costa Rica, the seasons are changing as well, nothing like the drastic turn up north but changes nonetheless. One of many beautiful Baltimore Orioles in Costa Rica for the winter. Gulls on the Niagara.

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Costa Rica Baltimore Tennessee Parrots 148

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

In Costa Rica, it’s also happening, not as in full force mode as the temperate north but that will change in a month when we see thousands of Eastern Wood-pewees , flocks of Eastern Kingbirds , and other species hurrying their way to South America. Millions of Cliff Swallows pass through Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica South America Tennessee 2019 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

Birders head to Costa Rica to see stunners like Resplendent Quetzal , Three-wattled Bellbird , Orange-collared Manakin , fancy hummingbirds , tanagers, and literally hundreds of other birds. A species that lives in both Costa Rica and South America but might be two separate species. (3). One of them quetzals.

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Costa Rica Species South America America 223

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2018

Central America is much smaller than the land encompassed within the borders of Canada and the USA. Given such limited geographical dimensions, one might be tempted to assume that Central America is pretty much the same, that the region is fairly homogenous in a number of ways. The Rufous-collared Robin is one of those birds.

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Costa Rica Guatemala Birds Nicaragua 120

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

21%: Costa Rica. The high position of Costa Rica comes as no surprise and yet, with more than one fifth of the total votes, I was a bit surprised how strong its 1st place is. Interestingly, the respondents felt no need to further elaborate why, presuming that everyone knows why they should bird Costa Rica.

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Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

In Costa Rica, although I did spend a memorable one years ago in the Osa Peninsula where flocks of parrots flew into the mangroves while we feasted on turkey, pie, and the works, we have no actual Wild Turkeys , nor an official Thanksgiving. That last little bit is also why we call it “Turkey Day”! Ain’t I great?

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Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 180

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2016

Go birding in Costa Rica to get these avian examples of cuteness on the life list: Collared Redstart – cute and common in the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Green Thorntail – like I said, all hummingbirds are cute (except maybe the Giant Hummingbird of South America.

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Costa Rica Emotional South America Birds 184

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2015

When people find out that I moved to Costa Rica from Niagara Falls, New York, one of the first things they ask is if I miss much from the City of the Cataracts. I don’t have a Goat Island in Costa Rica but I do have plenty of places where I can see hundreds of bird species.

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Costa Rica Goats South America New York 194

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2018

I’m sure we also saw some cool birds although the memories of his birthday species are understandably eclipsed by that of America’s biggest cat. Although you would be very lucky to glimpse the spotted feline with the large head in Costa Rica, giving the birding birthday hypothesis a try is always worth a shot.

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Costa Rica Birds Sparrows Ecuador 129