Costa Rica’s birds include everything from majestic macaws to surreal Snowcaps and Ornate Hawk-Eagles. These and hundreds of other bird species exist in the diverse habitats of Costa Rica but the ones you see most often are the common species.
By definition, common birds such as Blue-gray Tanager, saltator, and kiskadee-type flycatcher are the familiar ones. There is nothing wrong with seeing those birds, watching them is also good for the soul and if this is your first trip to the tropics, they are in the important lifer category.
However, we can also see widely distributed birds in other areas, some of them even in southern Texas, many in hundreds of hotel grounds in a very large area. It’s not that such birds aren’t special (they are) but if you only see a few birds in any area, those are the ones to target.
Even if you say, “As long as I see birds, I don’t care which ones I see”, you should still really go after those target birds. Who knows, maybe in the future, you’ll wish you had seen the Coppery-headed Emerald in Costa Rica. Maybe you wish you spent more time looking for Wrenthrush than focusing on another flying flowerpiercer?
It’s like visiting Rome without seeing the Trevi Fountain, going to New York without visiting the Bronx Zoo or eating a serious slice of pizza (the main reason for visiting NYC of course). It should go without saying. when birding in Costa Rica, “make an effort to see those endemics”. After all, you won’t find them anywhere else.
However, I will take it a step further and say that you should not only focus on endemic countries and regions, you should also keep an eye on future endemics.
Those are the birds that can be split, the cryptic taxa that have a good chance of “achieving” species-level status. Howell and Dyer’s “new” field guide does a fair job of bringing many cases to light. In the Costa Rica Field Guide app, I also tried to pay attention to such birds (although I had to edit the text for a few more), and lists of endemics and possible future divisions are also included on “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” (although I need to edit that too!). Some of these taxa are also mentioned or indicated in eBird but not all of them.
In any case, I thought it would be useful to have a list of countries and regional endemics, as well as good candidate birds for those categories. Hope these lists help!
List of Bird Species Endemic to Costa Rica
8 endemics of the country, three of which are limited to Cocos Island.
Mangrove Hummingbird and Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager may have been seen recently in Panama, very close to the border. Likewise, the Guanacaste Hummingbird is a mystery species awaiting rediscovery.
Cocos Cuckoo (Cocos Island)
Emerald with a copper head
Mangrove Hummingbird
Cocos Flycatcher (Cocos Island)
Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager
Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow
Cocos Finch (Cocos Island)
Guanacaste Hummingbird (also known as Alfaro’s Hummingbird and known only from one specimen)
List of Bird Species Found Only in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (as well as the Darien border in Colombia).
These are 110 bird species and likely species which only occurs in the countries listed above. Many are easier to see in Costa Rica because the habitats where they occur tend to be more accessible.
Black Guan
Black-breasted Wood-Quail
Black-eared Wood-Quail
Chiriquí Quail-Dove
Purplish-backed Quail-Dove
Buff-fronted Quail-Dove
Middle American Screech-Owl (birds that live in northwestern Costa Rica)
Dusky Nightjar
Costa Rican Swift
Veraguan Handle
White-crested Coquette
Talamanca Hummingbird
Hummingbird burning throat
White-bellied Mountain-gem
Purple-throated Mountain-gem
White-throated Mountain-gem
Magenta-throated Woodstar
Volcano Hummingbird (three distinct subspecies in Costa Rica, maybe two or three species involved?)
Glowing Hummingbird
Garden Emerald
Snowcap
White-tailed Emerald
Black-bellied Hummingbird
Blue-vented Hummingbird
Blue-tailed Hummingbird
Charming Hummingbird
Hummingbird with snow
Bare-shanked Screech-Owl
Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl
“Puntarenas” Screech-Owl- the undescribed Megascops that lives in southern Costa Rica and adjacent western Panama.
Baird’s Trogon
Collared Trogon (Orange-bellied Trogon)
Lattice-tailed Trogon
Northern Black-throated Trogon
Prong-billed Barbet
Aracari was on fire
Golden-naped Woodpecker
Hoffmann’s woodpecker
Rufous-winged Woodpecker
Sulphur-winged parakeet
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Red-fronted Parrotlet
Orange-collared Manakin
Velvet Manakin
Turquoise coating
Yellow-billed Cotinga
Snow Coatinga
Umbrellabird without a neck
Three-wattled Bellbird
Piprites with gray heads
Olive-streaked Flycatcher
Tawny-chested Flycatcher
Dark Pewee
Ochraceous Pewee
Black-capped Flycatcher
Antshike with a black hood
Streak-crowned Antvireo
Dull-mantled Antbird
Streak-chested Antpitta (probably two species involved- one from Honduras to the Carribean slope of Costa Rica and Panama, and another from southern Costa Rica to western Ecuador).
Thick Antpitta (probably at least two species involved- one in Costa Rica and western Panama, and another from Darien to western Ecuador)
Black-headed Antthrush (probably at least two species involved- one in Costa Rica and western Panama, and another from Darien to western Ecuador)
Black crowned Antpitta
Tapaculo is already silver
Spot-crowned Woodcreeper (the taxon in Costa Rica and Panama is probably a valid species)
Ruddy Treerunner
Buffy Tuftedcheek
Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner
Streak-breasted Treehunter
Yellow-winged Vireo
Jay is silvery-throated
Azure-hooded Jay (studies have shown it is likely to split soon)
Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatcher
Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher
Wren is black-throated
Riverside Wren
Stripe-breasted Wren
Ochraceous Wren
Timberline Wren
Isthmus Wren
Canebrake Wren
Black face Solitaire
Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush (studies have shown that it tends to split soon)
Sooty Robin
Yellow-crowned Euphonia
Spot-crowned Euphonia
Chlorophonia with golden eyebrows
Tawny-capped Euphonia
Flame-throated Warbler
Sooty-capped Chlorospingus
Junco Volcano
Sooty-faced Finch
Yellow-legged Brushfinch
Big footed Finch
Costa Rican Brushfinch
Wrenthrush
Nicaraguan Grackle
Collared Redstart
Black-cheeked Warbler
Costa Rican Warbler
Black-legged grosbeak
Carmiol’s Tanager
Blue-and-gold Tanager
Black-and-yellow Tanager
White-throated Shrike-Tanager
Tanager with sulfur
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
Nicaraguan Seed-Finch
Peg-billed Finch
Slaty Flowerpiercer
Isolated Subspecies Living in Costa Rica and Panama that may or may not be separate species
They are different bird species with isolated populations in Costa Rica and Panama. Studies can divide some. Always good to see in any case!
Highland Tinamou
Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge
Marbled Wood-Quail
Spotted Wood-Quail
Band-tailed Pigeon
Middle American Screech-Owl (birds that live in northwestern Costa Rica)
Hairy Woodpecker
Resplendent Quetzal
Northern Emerald Toucanet
Manakin with the white crown
Sharpbill
Mountain Elaenia (Central American birds sound different from South American birds)
Nutting’s Flycatcher
Black-crowned Antpitta (the subspecies that occur in Costa Rica and western Panama look and sound quite different from the birds in central-west Panama)
Antpitta with ocher chest
Grey-throated Leaftosser
Black-banded Woodcreeper
Strong Woodcreeper
Streaked Xenops
Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner
Brown-throated parakeet
Rosy Thrush-Tanager
White-eared Ground-Sparrow
Green Shrike-Vireo (different subspecies on each side of the mountains)
Scally-breasted Wren
Black-bellied Wren
Bay Wren
White-breasted Wood-Wren
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (the taxon from southern Costa Rica and western Panama)
Crowned Olive (Chiriqui) Yellowthroat
Ashy-throated Chlorospingus
Orange-billed Sparrow (subspecies on each side of the mountains sing differently)
Cherries’s (Scarlet-rumped) Tanager
Variable Seedeater
To make birding in Costa Rica even more exciting, some species in the cloud forests of northern Costa Rica are unique subspecies that may even lead to warranted species status!
Among those are subspecies of Silvery-throated Tapaculo, Fiery-throated Hummingbird*, Black-and-Yellow Silky-Flycatcher, and other birds. It seems that the more we look, the more biodiverse our planet is.
So, there’s a great list of birds to think about when you’re birding in Costa Rica! Sounds overwhelming? You will not be alone. With over 900 species to note, bird watching in Costa Rica is naturally insane.
However, it’s always good to know about endemics, and birds to look for. While looking for them, you will also find many. Happy birding, hope to see you here!
Learn about the best places to see these birds in my birding guide for Costa Rica. To find out about itineraries that may target these birds, contact me at [email protected].
*Thanks to local birder Tyler Wenzel for reminding me of that.
Here is a downloadable PDF version of these lists:
