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

OCTOBER 2, 2021

Go to Costa Rica and you will be looking at other birds but you can still get in some Caribbean slope birding. Despite the Central American nation being occasionally confused with Puerto Rico, Costa Rica is not an island, it doesn’t really count as “Caribbean birding”, so what gives? Nice Migration!

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Costa Rica Puerto Rico Birds Owls 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2022

December is not the ideal month for bird counts, at least not in Costa Rica. However, in Costa Rica, despite being wonderfully warm in December, the birding isn’t as straightforward as one might expect. If you go birding in Costa Rica, you’ll see a lot around Arenal! Raptors and Swifts.

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Costa Rica Eagles Species Blackbirds 243

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2020

In Costa Rica, lately, I have been enjoying the class and elegance of bird poster art produced by CaraCara. A locally owned company started by Birding Experiences founder and guide Diego Quesada (with whom I have watched Buff-breasted Sandpipers among other birds), CaraCara offers poster art of bird families that occur in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Birds Species Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2021

One such surprising experience happened with grouse. In keeping with gamebird tradition, my first experience with grouse wasn’t one of a bird on a branch or something singing from a tree. Fast forwarding to Costa Rica, to be honest, you won’t find any grouse around here.

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Costa Rica Chickens Pennsylvania Litter 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2021

She also makes a mark with her small size, one of the smallest birds in Costa Rica. When you see a photo of a Snowcap, it’s easy to see why this species is a perennial top target for birding trips to Costa Rica. The post New Birding Site in Costa Rica: Snowcaps, Raptors and More!

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Farming 264

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. An uncommon species in Costa Rica, it was in a brushy area that reminded me of its breeding grounds. What can I say but go to Cano Negro when visiting Costa Rica. Agami Heron. 171 Species.

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Costa Rica Wildlife Tennessee Owls 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. I savor the timeless experience of scanning these tropical waves for storm-petrels and lost jaegers. Although this robin-sized raptor occurs in quite a few parts of Costa Rica, you would never ever know it.

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Costa Rica Birds Thailand Farming 213

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

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 199

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! Does a baby go goo?

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Costa Rica San Jose Serbia Europe 180

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2020

There would have been forest interior birding shortly thereafter followed by visits to wetlands, edge habitats, highland forests, and other places to finish off a grand Global Big Day in Costa Rica. Restrictions in Costa Rica keep us from driving on Saturday and that’s why we are doing all of our birding from home.

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Costa Rica Barn Owls Farming Owls 203

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2018

Costa Rica is one of those places. One of my favorite birding shirts from Costa Rica, this was from a Christmas Count near Sam Ramon and yes, Speckled Tanagers were seen. Fortunately, they were able to extract themselves to eventually get the highest total for the day in Costa Rica, 230 plus species.

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Costa Rica 2018 Colombia Collecting 163

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2019

This is also why so many of the birding tribe travel to watch birds, a good number of which eventually make it to Costa Rica. Like Resplendent Quetzals … A good number of birders who make it to Costa Rica visit a small, roadside diner located in the middle elevations of the Caribbean slope. I hope to see you there.

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Costa Rica Cooking Birds Chickens 206

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2020

Most of all, the time and effort is worth it when we see new birds, surpass our goals, and when we share those trying, challenging, exuberant and triumphant times with others because the birding party is always better, always stronger, when you you can enjoy the experience with like-minded souls.

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Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 260

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2023

Yes, I had local bird books, but only during my second tour of Costa Rica did I finally buy a mammal guide, and only after my trip to Colombian Amazon did I obtain a habitat guide. And understanding habitats in detail is essential to any birder who wants to get the most out of his experiences in the field.

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Costa Rica Cougars Mammals Madagascar 234

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 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2018

Northern Emerald Toucanets in Costa Rica are sometimes considered a separate species known as the Blue-throated Toucanet. I was reminded of that fact on June 23rd during the first official bird count at the Locos por el Bosque Reserve in Montserrat de Coronado, Costa Rica. This bad boy beauty isn’t even rare!

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Eagles 135

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2014

It rains a lot in Costa Rica. Yes, we do have a dry season but that only holds sway in certain parts of Costa Rica, and then there are those places that seem to be perpetually wet. Typical conditions when birding wet rainforest in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Birds Parrots Experience 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2018

These are the summer months of the northern hemisphere and yet this time of year in Costa Rica is known as the “invierno”, Spanish for “winter” However, no matter how adapted I become to the local culture, I just can’t use that word in Costa Rica. Sound nice?

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Costa Rica Birds Parrots Species 138

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2018

Whatever the case, there are some serious quality birds lurking in the wetlands and woodlands of Cano Negro, Costa Rica. Cano Negro is one of Costa Rica’s two largest wetlands. Different types of marshes form, different types of birds use them, and some of them are ones very hard to come by elsewhere in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Birds Chile Owls 100

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 212

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2017

In Costa Rica, October is our May. Most of them fly on the Caribbean side, especially along the coast south of Limon, and that’s why I guided the Birding Club of Costa Rica down that way this past weekend. Some of the Birding Club at Selva Bananito. Some were feeding on the ground. Black Swift!

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Costa Rica Birds Parrots Farming 158

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2014

Eddy Rabbitt sang about loving a rainy night but in Costa Rica, hummingbirds love a rainy day. Despite spending my fair share of soggy birding days in the tropics, I hadn’t realized just how much hummingbirds do love the rain until a recent experience at the Catarata del Toro , central Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Bears Shelters Experience 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2015

It was that way for my first Indigo Bunting (a male that absorbed all light and sang in morning wet forests of northeastern Pennsylvania in 1979), and my first Brown Noddy seen from a ferry in Costa Rica earlier this year. However, it was also one that I never expected to see in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Birds Pennsylvania North America 150

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2015

Yes, the time had come to see how many of Costa Rica’s hummingbird species we could find, and we had two days to work with. This oh so awesome endeavor was apparently somewhat inspired by a blog post I had written that toyed with the idea of doing a hummingbird big day in Costa Rica. Trips Costa Rica hummingbirds'

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Costa Rica San Jose Species Owls 204

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2015

“Costa Rica borders two oceans. There are no pelagic trips” That ironic pseudo-haiku almost sums up pelagic birding in Costa Rica. Not a bird that one would normally visit Costa Rica to see, we nevertheless were very anxious to lay eyes on this Humboldt Current species.

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Costa Rica Birds Dolphins Rescue 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2017

Although the bird in question wasn’t the major, mega target known as a Crested Eagle , Robert Dean, the illustrator and co-author of “The Birds of Costa Rica, A Field Guide” still shared my jubilation at seeing none other than a Ring-billed Gull. This comes from experience but a good guide also helps.

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Costa Rica Albuquerque Eagles Panama 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2017

I reside in Costa Rica, the country is roughly the same size as West Virginia, but I rarely make it to some parts of this birdy nation. It’s not just wonderful because there’s all sorts of species to look for, including a few for which distributions in Costa Rica are more or less restricted to that region.

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Costa Rica West Virginia Birds Panama 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

That might not sound like much but trust me, in Costa Rica, this is major. Some will also feast on a fruiting fig behind the feeder including Scarlet-thighed Dacnis (looks as good as it sounds), and the other day, a rare for Costa Rica Cedar Waxwing ! A Striped Owl from another site in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Owls Eagles Birds 122

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

The following examples are some of the birding experience that awaits on Poas Volcano, Costa Rica: The Voices of Understory Birds. As with everywhere in Costa Rica, hummingbirds are also part of the birding show on Poas. Just keep watching! Glittering Sprites. appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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Costa Rica Birds Cows Hunters 259

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. This also makes the Arenal Observatory Lodge an ideal location for wildlife observation in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Reptiles Research Industry 153

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

OCTOBER 27, 2018

This is why the Yellow Warblers and Baltimore Orioles of summer don’t linger to experience October 31st, and even late fall migrants like kinglets and sparrows move to slightly warmer regions. Many of them come to Costa Rica because even when it rains, it never really gets cold this far south of the Tropic of Cancer.

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Costa Rica Bats Birds Falcons 161

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”. Costa Rica species – 351.

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Costa Rica San Jose Chinchillas Family 185

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

It’s all good in the birding hood no matter where one raises the bins but in Costa Rica, it’s easy to get spoiled by diversity. Recently, while guiding ABA 2017 Big Year winner Yve Nagy Morrell in Costa Rica for a handful of days, we found ourselves trying for just a few more.

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Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 183

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

Though Corey arrived in Costa Rica Saturday afternoon he’s spent more time on the beach than he’s spent looking for birds. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Nonetheless, birds have found him, like the White-throated Magpie-Jays that insisted on sharing his breakfast.

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2019 Costa Rica Bald Eagle New York 125