10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2022

Today, along with teams in a few other parts of Costa Rica and elsewhere, I will be birding for a cause, watching birds to help one that only lives in Costa Rica, the Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. The Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow is a bird in trouble. Carman, and Luis Sandoval.

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Costa Rica Sparrows Raised Birds 236

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2021

Birding in the Caribbean is about islands, beautiful beaches, extra special endemics, rum, and smiles. It could also be much more, maybe less, it all depends on how you want to rock an international birding trip. Go to Costa Rica and you will be looking at other birds but you can still get in some Caribbean slope birding.

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Costa Rica Puerto Rico Birds Owls 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

On the birding side of life, winter birds were still around, there will still chances at finding some rare owl or getting binoculars on an undulating bunch of crossbills but mostly, I was tired of the cold and just counting the days until Spring. In Costa Rica, February is a different birding story. Great Curassow.

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Costa Rica Birds Panama Woodpeckers 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2021

In the birding realm, any quetzal is a little piece of heaven. This mega trogon truly does look like something out of your wildest birding dreams. That is one seriously crazy looking bird! Even better, this site near San Ramon, Costa Rica is almost too accessible.

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Costa Rica Birds Eagles America 262

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2020

In Costa Rica, official, enforced quarantine hasn’t happened yet. At the moment, thanks to the government getting serious about this darn thing earlier rather than later, the number of new cases per day in Costa Rica has been very much linear in nature. That said, they aren’t. Rufous-naped Wren.

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Costa Rica Birds Mississippi Woodpeckers 251

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2022

and I am taking my observation-sofa position next to a glass wall, overlooking bird feeders in the misty cloudforests of the Cordillera de Talamanca. I met Serge five years ago, when he invited me to a mad bird race all the way from the Caribbean to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is 6.40

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Costa Rica Panama Squirrels Nicaragua 225

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2020

Because where would we be without birds? You may need to bird with an open mind and watching eye but look close and even the pigeons flying through human-made canyons can be a source of inspiration, their swift flight transforming them into amazing creatures and taking us to other places. Like the Urban Birder says, “Look up!”

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Costa Rica Panama Arizona Protection 208

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2021

Birds are arriving in North America, flying from places far to the south. When birding in parks and woodlots of Ohio, Virginia, and Toronto, places with groves of maples and old craggy oaks, it can be hard to imagine that the Red-eyed Vireos of constant song were foraging for caterpillar larvae in rainforest just a few months earlier.

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Ohio Honduras 261

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2019

Bird migration! 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 do they eat?

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Birds Panama 260

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. Lots of birds, a lot of really cool birds! In Costa Rica, the Crimson-fronted Parakeet can nest in buildings and forages in a variety of fruiting trees.

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Costa Rica Birds Parrots Sparrows 194

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2021

In birding circles, Costa Rica is better known for protected areas, quetzal tours, and glittering displays of hummingbirds than the things that fly in urban spots. I mean, who comes to Costa Rica to bird on city streets? Today, in Costa Rica, I’m too far south for the Northern Bobwhite.

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Costa Rica Falcons Farming Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

For the early bird people yes but for those who relish some extra sleep, not really. The exhaustion of early starts and long hot walks adds up until the body demands an easy birding day in lieu of yet another exciting yet tiring birding marathon. This is the pre-dawn hour and for night birds, it might be the best.

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Costa Rica Owls Birds Protection 198

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2021

“Gamebirds” to some, cool, cryptic understory birds to the birding people, grouse crouch protected as unfettered winds sway the top of the tall prairie grass. Then there are the ones that live in PA , the state bird, “the grouse” that a great many non-birders are aware of, my Uncle Fred was one of them.

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Costa Rica Chickens Pennsylvania Litter 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2020

A month ago, I was helping fellow birders see their first Emerald Tanagers , their lifer Sunbittern , and wondering where Mary and I could go next, which birds we could chase during the upcoming weekends. As the pandemic suddenly gained speed and we saw our first cases in Costa Rica, we realized that we were in for some big changes.

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Costa Rica Birds Spain New York 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

However, no matter how one enjoys or takes in interest in the avian side of life, an official list of the birds for a given area is of vital importance. With the rise in birding tourism, bird lists for entire countries have also become increasingly important. Not every list has Great Tinamou on it.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. Aren’t all birds worth watching? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and watching every bird but there’s also nothing wrong about going to great efforts to see lifers only found in dreams.

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Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 202

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. Welcome back to the paradise of birding in the Arenal region of Costa Rica!

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Costa Rica San Jose Liberia Farming 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2018

December is a busy time in Costa Rica. It’s busy on the birding side of things as well. The counts act as our end of the year birding festivities and 2018 brings us more than ever. “Cangreja” means crab in Spanish and refers to the shape of the mid-sized peak at the center of the protected area.

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Falcons 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

Even if we couldn’t find time to raise the bins at a favorite patch, it only takes momentary glances into the sky and hearing chip notes from the trees to remind us that birds are on the move. Although this elegant raptor is regular in many parts of Costa Rica, it doesn’t usually visit the Central Valley.

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Costa Rica South America Tennessee 2019 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2019

Costa Rica is a small yet very birdy country (readers may have gotten that impression on previous posts I have written for 10,000 Birds, at least I hope that has been the case!). The biodiversity is extreme, the birding is typically action-packed, binocular raising happiness.

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Costa Rica Parrots Birds West Virginia 113

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. Our final turkey is a much-wanted bird on many a birder’s target list.

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Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 170

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2017

It was already dark in mid-October when we arrived to the Costa Rican birding mecca of Rancho Naturalista to have dinner on the veranda but then were interrupted with a call: There’s a Mottled Owl at the other side! Lisa Erb, the manager and owner, but also a former bird guide, perfectly understood her guests.

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Costa Rica Woodpeckers Farming Owls 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

Whether made of asphalt, gravel, or dirt, they help us reach more birding sites in less time. In Costa Rica, one of the best “end of the road” places for birding and getting crazy with biodiversity is the Osa Peninsula. As befits an end of the road destination, Luna Lodge is true wilderness birding.

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Costa Rica San Jose Sharks Monkeys 244

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Carara National Park isn’t just any old protected area. It’s one of the top birding hotspots in Costa Rica and Central America. That’s alright because given the wealth of bird species all over, you can begin with the binos wherever you want and always see a lot. But back to the birds.

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Costa Rica Birds Malaysia Protection 173

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2017

In Costa Rica, October is our May. Birds begin to filter down through this southern part of Central America by August but the biggest avian movement happens during the third and final weeks of October. Some of the Birding Club at Selva Bananito. or almost anything else, that’s the way the birding ball bounces.

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Costa Rica Birds Parrots Farming 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2019

In the birding world, May is the beautiful time. With birds bedecked in their breeding best and filling the air with song, this is migration at its loveliest. A wonderful variety of bird species are waiting to be seen and among them are many a birder’s favorite avian group, the wood-warblers. Habitat at Las Brisas.

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Costa Rica Species Belize New Jersey 180

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2017

At 10,000 Birds, readers who haven’t been here before might correctly surmise that this platform talks about anything bird-related. As for myself, since I live in Costa Rica, I usually put the focus on birding and/or birds in this small yet very bio-rich country.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls Tennessee 144

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2016

Costa Rica is situated right between two oceans. Over there on the Caribbean (that’s what we call the Atlantic Ocean in Costa Rica), the lowlands are supposed to be blanketed in lush, over-vegetated rainforests. To the north of this mountainous isthmus, we have the Atlantic. In the other direction, the Pacific.

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Costa Rica San Jose Panama Birds 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2017

Yet, as a team participating in a bird race, we had our schedule, to appear at the lodge at 6.30 That was my first ever beach on the Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica offered me so many easy ways out of that molesting question that I sometimes ask myself: When was the last time I did something for the first time?).

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Costa Rica Pelicans Owls Woodpeckers 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2017

Sort of like the mega birds, these aren’t your average worm-eating, seed-feeding, chirping guys with brightly colored plumage. In Costa Rica, we have more than our fair share. This basically means that it’s not easy being a raptor in Costa Rica. What birder doesn’t get excited about raptors?

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Costa Rica West Virginia Eagles Monkeys 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2020

Do you want to help endangered birds? How about helping with conservation of cool tropical birds by listening to innovative electronic music? The brainchild of music producer, bird lover, and environmentalist Robin Perkins, this digital album is his second guide to birdsong.

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Costa Rica Nicaragua Cuba Mexico 232

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2015

It’s the end of June and up north, the birds are busy with their young, and taking full advantage of the summer’s arthropod bounty. In Costa Rica, since winter doesn’t exist, June is kind of like every other month except that it rains more and the little summer of San Juan is right around the corner.

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Owls 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2020

Costa Rica is a country situated well south of the Tropic of Cancer and like most places without a winter, parrots are an essential part of the local avifauna. With 18 species of native Psittacids to choose from, birding in Costa Rica is always a thrill, especially for someone who grew up in parrotless Niagara Falls, New York!

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Parrots Costa Rica San Jose Endangered Species 268

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

When looking for birds in Costa Rica, the Central Valley isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Tongues and patches of green space host birds but most birders leave as soon as they can. Why linger when you can go where the birding is better? I can’t blame them, I would too.

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Costa Rica Sparrows Birds Rodents 253

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2011

Costa Rica enjoys an international reputation as an iconic birding location, bursting with epic Neotropical species and breathtaking natural attractions. Understandably, certain lodges have, over the years, come to be associated with the Costa Rican birding circuit.

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Costa Rica San Jose Sanctuary Protection 170

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”.

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Costa Rica San Jose Chinchillas Family 184

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2017

Want to know a good recipe for tons of different bird species? The end result is southern Central America and in terms of birds, we get a bonanza of literally hundreds of bird species in a pretty small place. It’s always exciting to go birding in foothill rainforest!

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Costa Rica San Jose Species America 137