Birds of Costa Rica

List of Common Birds Found in Costa Rica

Birds of Prey

• Common Black Hawk
• Crested Caracara
• Grey Hawk
• Harpy Eagle
• Laughing Falcon
• Ornate Hawk-eagle
• Osprey
• Roadside Hawk
• Short-tailed Hawk
• White Hawk

Water Birds

• American White Ibis
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• Boat-billed Heron
• Cattle Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Little Blue Heron
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Snowy Egret
• Tricolored Heron

Ground Birds

• Crested Guan
• Gray-headed Chachalaca
• Great Curassow
• Plain Chachalaca
• Purplish-backed Quail-dove
• Ruddy Ground-dove
• Ruddy Quail-dove
• Scaled Pigeon
• Spotted Wood-quail
• White-tipped Dove

Coastal Birds

• American Oystercatcher
• Black-bellied Plover
• Black Skimmer
• Brown Pelican
• Laughing Gull
• Least Tern
• Magnificent Frigatebird
• Royal Tern
• Sandwich Tern
• Wilson’s Plover

Shore Birds

• Least Sandpiper
• Marbled Godwit
• Red Knot
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Sanderling
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Western Sandpiper
• Whimbrel
• Willet

Forest Birds

• Black-faced Solitaire
• Blue-crowned Motmot
• Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
• Clay-colored Thrush
• Collared Aracari
• Golden-hooded Tanager
• Keel-billed Toucan
• Resplendent Quetzal
• Scarlet Macaw
• Sunbittern

Hummingbirds

• Crowned Woodnymph
• Green-crowned Brilliant
• Green Hermit
• Long-billed Hermit
• Purple-throated Mountain-gem
• Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
• Scintillant Hummingbird
• Snowcap
• Violet Sabrewing
• White-necked Jacobin

Wading Birds

• American Flamingo
• Bare-throated Tiger Heron
• Boat-billed Heron
• Great Egret
• Jabiru
• Little Egret
• Muscovy Duck
• White Ibis
• Wood Stork
• Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Rainforest Birds

• Black-cheeked Ant-tanager
• Black-faced Grosbeak
• Black-throated Trogon
• Blue-gray Tanager
• Chestnut-backed Antbird
• Golden-crowned Spadebill
• Orange-billed Nightingale-thrush
• Red-capped Manakin
• Red-legged Honeycreeper
• White-whiskered Puffbird

Highland Birds

• Barred Becard
• Black Guan
• Collared Redstart
• Fiery-throated Hummingbird
• Flame-throated Warbler
• Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher
• Ruddy Treerunner
• Slaty-backed Nightingale-thrush
• Volcano Junco

Nocturnal Birds

• Bare-shanked Screech Owl
• Black-and-white Owl
• Black-banded Owl
• Common Pauraque
• Crested Owl
• Great Potoo
• Mottled Owl
• Northern Potoo
• Spectacled Owl
• Tropical Screech Owl

Endemic Birds of Costa Rica

• Black-cheeked Ant-tanager
• Cabanis’ Ground-sparrow
• Cocos Cuckoo
• Cocos Finch
• Cocos Flycatcher
• Coppery-headed Emerald
• Mangrove Hummingbird

Common Costa Rican Birds by Color

Red Birds

• Crimson-fronted Parakeet
• Red-crowned Ant-Tanager
• Red-legged Honeycreeper
• Scarlet Macaw
• Vermilion Flycatcher

Orange Birds

• Baltimore Oriole
• Fiery-billed Aracari
• Montezuma Oropendola
• Orange-bellied Trogon
• Orange-chinned Parakeet

Yellow Birds

• Yellow-bellied Elaenia
• Yellow-crowned Euphonia
• Yellow-throated Euphonia
• Yellow-throated Toucan
• Yellow Warbler

Green Birds

• Green Hermit
• Green Honeycreeper
• Green Thorntail
• Green Violetear
• Keel-billed Toucan

Blue Birds

• Blue-black Grassquit
• Blue-crowned Motmot
• Blue Dacnis
• Blue-gray Tanager
• Blue-headed Parrot

Purple Birds

• Purple-crowned Fairy
• Purple Gallinule
• Purple Honeycreeper
• Purple Martin
• Purple-throated Mountain-gem

Black Birds

• Black-and-white Owl
• Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
• Black-cowled Oriole
• Black Vulture
• Great-tailed Grackle

White Birds

• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• White-collared Manakin
• White Ibis
• White-tailed Kite

Gray Birds

• Gray-breasted Martin
• Gray-capped Flycatcher
• Gray Hawk
• Gray-headed Chachalaca
• Gray-necked Wood-Rail

Brown Birds

• Brown Jay
• Chestnut-backed Antbird
• Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
• Chestnut-sided Warbler
• Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Costa Rica is a renowned destination for birdwatching, thanks to its incredible biodiversity and numerous protected areas. Some notable places to go birding include Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Tortuguero National Park, and Arenal Volcano National Park. The peak season for birding is in the dry season, from December to April.