March 7, 2005 [LINK]
Costa Rica (& Nicaragua) bird list
Whew! After many hours of squinting at photographs, I've managed to compile a preliminary list of the birds I saw in Costa Rica (and Nicaragua). There are a few uncertain cases (marked with "?") among the 117 species, and this list will be revised based on scrutiny of video images, input from experts, etc. Plus signs (+) denote the most abundant birds, though in some cases they are not found in all habitats. Asterisks (*) denote new life birds for me, of which I've counted 63 so far. "(ph)" denotes that I have photographs and/or video images; "(ph!!)" denotes the very best photos. The Blue-gray tanager pictured here may not be as colorful as some others, but it has a subtle beauty and was the one bird I saw almost every place I/we went in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and is therefore the most "representative" of all. (NOTE: Some photos have not yet been posted.) I plan to add one or more photo gallery pages with captions explaining the location and circumstances, but in the mean time you can see those photos individually by clicking HERE.
- Great-tailed grackle (ph) +
- Rufous-collared sparrow (ph) +
- White-winged dove
- Rock pigeons +
- Black vulture +
- Turkey vulture
- House sparrow
- House wren +
- Blue-gray tanager (ph!!) +
- Summer tanager (ph)
- Baltimore oriole (ph)
- Great kiskadee (ph!!)
- Tropical kingbird * (ph) +
- Clay-colored robin (ph) +
- Red-crowned ant-tanager *
- Rufous-tailed hummingbird * +
- Yellow warbler (ph)
- Ovenbird
- Hoffman's woodpecker * (ph)
- Cattle egret +
- Fiery-throated hummingbird *
- Sooty-capped bush-tanager *
- Sooty-faced finch *
- Black-cowled oriole * (ph)
- Scarlet-thighed dacnis * (ph)
- Gray-breasted wood wren * (ph)
- Green-breasted mango *
- Blue & white swallow
- Rose-breasted grosbeak (ph)
- Silver-throated tanager * (ph!!)
- Violet sabrewing * (ph!!)
- Green-crowned brilliant hummingbird * (ph!)
- Purple-throated mountain gem * (ph)
- Coppery-headed emerald hummingbird * (ph!)
- Tennessee warbler (ph)
- Roadside hawk * (?)
- Ruddy ground-dove * (ph!!)
- ? dove
- Scarlet-rumped tanager * (ph)
- Bananaquit (ph!!)
- Spotted sandpiper (ph)
- Magnificent frigatebird * (ph)
- Bank swallow
- Mangrove swallow *
- Brown pelican
- ? gull
- ? tern
- Red-crowned woodpecker *
- Belted kingfisher
- Amazon kingfisher * (ph)
- American pygmy kingfisher *
- Chestnut-backed antbird *
- Turquoise cotinga *
- Riverside wren *
- Chestnut-mandibled toucan * (ph!!)
- Streaked flycatcher ? * (ph)
- Philadelphia vireo *
- Palm tanager * (ph)
- Black-crowned tityra *
- Black-striped sparrow * (ph)
- Thick-billed seed finch *
- Crested caracara (ph)
- Bare-throated tiger-heron * (ph)
- White ibis (ph)
- Common black hawk * (ph)
- Green heron
- Great curassow * (ph)
- Scarlet macaw * (ph)
- Golden-naped woodpecker *
- Red-legged honeycreeper * (ph!!)
- Great blue heron (ph)
- Black-collared hawk (ph)
- (small, bluish, with green crown, yellow belly --- ???)
- ? parrot
- King vulture *
- Blue-black grassquit
- Yellow-bellied siskin *
- Groove-billed ani *
- Smooth-billed ani * (?)
- Great antshrike * (ph)
- Prevost's ground-sparrow *
- Blue-crowned motmot *
- Silvery-throated jay *
- Thicket tinamou *
- White-throated magpie-jay * (ph)
- Pacific screech owl * (ph!!)
- ? hawk * (ph)
- Inca dove (ph)
- Rufous-capped warbler (ph)
- Banded wren * (ph)
- Squirrel cuckoo * (ph)
- Yellow-throated vireo
- White-lored gnatcatcher * (ph)
- Olive sparrow * (ph)
- Striped-headed sparrow *
- Great crested flycatcher (ph)
- parrot * (ph)
- Elegant trogon * (ph)
- Scissor-tailed flycatcher
- Orchard oriole
- Broad-billed hummingbird (ph)
- ? swifts
- Great egret
- Olivaceous (neotropical) cormorant
- Purple gallinule
- Limpkin *
- Northern jacana * (ph)
- Montezuma oropendula (ph)
- Orange-chinned parakeet *
- Snowy egret
- Little blue heron
- Osprey
- Crimson-fronted parakeet *
- Nicaraguan grackle
- Social flycatcher ?
- Eastern meadowlark
- Indigo bunting
I used "A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica" by F. Gary Stiles and Alexander F. Skutch as a reference, and it was invaluable. If I had stayed in Costa Rica for one more week I could have heard Prof. Stiles give a lecture on hummingbirds and ecology at the University of Costa Rica. While at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, where we saw most of the hummingbirds, I had the pleasure to chat with Dr. Aaron Sekarak, the resident biologist and avian expert. I invite comments or challenges to my species identifications: please contact postmaster@andrewclem.com.