One other 12 months of birding in Costa Rica has come to an finish, one other one begins. What is going to the brand new 12 months carry? I guess some tanager flocks will probably be within the playing cards; birding in Costa Rica tends to ship. There ought to be a great variety of hummingbirds and quetzals are ready within the mountains. It’s 2023 already and I’ve already began this 12 months of birding. No quetzal journeys but however a great begin nonetheless. First birds got here within the type of migrants and resident species that stay in an oasis of precious green space close to residence.
An Ovenbird chipping from espresso bushes, a Mourning Warbler within the dense grass. A male American Redstart flashed its Halloween finery and different birds flitted into view. A flash of blue and pink, male Painted Bunting! Gradual motion within the foliage of a lime tree, there’s a Yellow-throated Vireo doing its deliberate factor. A squadron of Brown Jays flaps overhead and a White-tailed Kite hovers into view. I’ll take these first birds of the 12 months, I rejoice them and look ahead to extra. With these birds, I have already got some highlights for 2023. 2022 gave me a fair proportion of fantastic birds and birding experiences. Regardless of a good diploma of effort, I additionally had some sudden misses. These stored me under the 700 species threshhold however I received’t complain about 691 species. I discuss my “best” year birds at my blog.
These have been a number of the different many highlights of this previous birding 12 months.
48 Hummingbird Species
In Costa Rica, seeing 48 hummingbird species means seeing practically all the common ones. The one resident I missed was the Backyard Emerald. Primarily based on unwritten, invisible birding legal guidelines, this implies I’ll in all probability run into one tomorrow. However severely, my hummingbird whole is a reminder that for those who go birding sufficient in Costa Rica, you may have a good probability of seeing all anticipated hummingbirds.
Most Raptors
I additionally noticed a excessive share of the raptor species potential in Costa Rica. No, there weren’t any sightings of extremely mega Crested Eagle or lacking Solitary Eagle, or king Harpy Eagle on my half however I did join with a lot of the relaxation. Hawk-eagles flapping butterfly wings excessive above rainforest, a Tiny Hawk at a preferred feeding spot, cool Crane Hawks and Bicolored Hawk, and Hook-billed Kites and extra. Lacking was Nice Black-Hawk, lacking on account of not spending sufficient time trying in the precise locations and the species having undergone critical decline in Costa Rica over the previous 20 years.
I additionally did not see a Pearl Kite, possibly one in every of my greatest misses of the 12 months. The small shrike-kestrel dimension and demeanor of this stunning little raptor make it severely unobtrusive. I seemed in a number of the proper locations however failed to attach. Which additionally means I’ll see one quickly.
All Cotingas
The cotingas are particular, bizarre, and fantastic birds. In Costa Rica, a few of them are additionally uncommon and laborious to seek out. I don’t normally see all of them in a 12 months however in 2022, luck and being in the precise locations labored to present me the next cotinga sweep:
- Rufous Piha– Go birding in the precise lowland rainforest hotspots and also you’ll hear the loud wolf whistles of this hen, in all probability see it too. I normally hear and see it in Carara, I could have additionally heard it at one other one or two spots.
- Three-wattled Bellbird– One other vociferous hen a lot simpler to listen to than see. The problem to seeing it within the excessive season earlier than March is that the majority birds usually are not at Monteverde, most are in different, much less accessible areas. Fortunately, in one of the unforgettable birding experiences of my life, at Curi-Cancha, I shared fantastic scoped appears of a male bellbird with previous and new pals and birding mentors from Buffalo, NY.
- Turquoise Cotinga– Males at a patch of rainforest within the metropolis of Perez Zeledon additionally seen with people from Buffalo have been the one ones I noticed in 2022.
- Beautiful Cotinga– As soon as once more, the persevering with male at Rancho Naturalista was shared with the identical group from Buffalo. We had numerous glorious birds on that journey!
- Snowy Cotinga– Not seen that usually however go birding in the precise locations and you’ll in all probability join. I noticed this cool hen close to Limon, Sarapiqui, and at Cano Negro.
- Yellow-billed Cotinga– I had glorious appears of this surreal, endangered species at Cerro Lodge, and Rincon de Osa.
- Naked-necked Umbrellabird– Any view of this endangered species is a significant occasion. Admiring a feminine at Centro Manu with my accomplice was an ideal strategy to finish of a 12 months of birding in Costa Rica.
- Purple-throated Fruitcrow– Just like the Snowy Cotinga, for those who go birding in the precise locations and know learn how to search for them, it’s best to see fruitcrows. They appear to be doing particularly effectively in forests close to and south of Limon.
Updating “How you can See, Discover, and Establish Birds in Costa Rica”
An edited model of my bird finding ebook for Costa Rica was lengthy overdue. It took some time to replace it however I’m glad I did; since 2015, some locations have closed and lot extra locations have opened. This second model contains a lot of the new locations for birding in Costa Rica together with updates for all the older, basic locales.
Updating the Costa Rica Birds Subject Information app
I’m additionally glad to have helped replace the Costa Rica Birds Subject Information app with extra photos, new birds (a few birds are nonetheless added to the Costa Rica hen checklist yearly!), and extra data. To make the app as thorough as potential, greater than 60 further species that would happen are additionally included on this birding app for Costa Rica.
Sharing Birds
As all the time, the largest spotlight is having the prospect to share so many birds in Costa Rica with my accomplice and lots of different individuals. I hope you make it right here to expertise the unimaginable avian lifetime of this birdy nation. There’s lots of implausible birding occurring round right here!
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