The
Beautiful colors of the
Rainforest
Birds
A lot
of people try to collect rainforest birds
because of their look.They are the most beautiful in the world and you
can find them at some pet stores at very high prices. Also, their
habitat is being deforested in many places due to city growth. The
result of such actions is the danger of extinction that many species
are facing today.
Their
home is being taken away from them and they
are given a cage for home! This is sad.
But
I have good news! Some
countries are taking good care
of their nature and have well protected conservation areas. They
respect the
lives of those wild animals. That's where they belong, their
home is in the wild!
When
you enter the dense tropical forests of Costa, Rica and Panama a wide
range of colors can be seen flying through the trees, the ones that can
only be seen at the zoo. This is an experience that you'll never
forget.
Rainforest
Birds range from small to large ones and from regular to
exotic. Costa Rica has recorded approximately 850 bird
species that make bird
watching a very pleasant activity. Some of these birds reside in the
rainforest of Costa
Rica and others fly in to get away from winter.
Some
of the
birds face extinction due to deforestation like the Quetzal and the
Scarlet Macaw; still commonly seen in protected reserves, but Costa
Rica is doing a great job to preserve the lives of these species.
Even
thou Costa Rica have many exotic birds the national bird is the
Yiguirro. The Yiguirro is clay-colored Robin with brick-red eyes. Not a
colorful-log tailed bird. The male sings during the breeding season
(March-May). The campesino folklore believes he is “calling the rains”.
 You
can appreciate the rainforest birds of Costa
Rica at four major regions the Caribbean lowlands, the northern
Pacific
lowlands,
the interior highlands and the southern
Pacific
lowlands.
In
the northern
Pacific lowlands, Guanacaste’s dry habitats, compared
with other parts of the country, shares relatively few species, but the
Tempisque Basin for its lagoons, swamps and estuaries offers the
richest freshwater avifauna in all Central America with Palo Verde
National Park located at the mount of Tempisque is a bird watcher’s
Mecca.
Now,
if you want to find the parrots, the jacamars and other
neotropical species to
the
southern
Pacific lowlands you need to go.
Now
the air in the rainforests
is cool because
is dense but
the sound of the birds keep
the
rainforest alive.
To
have a great experience watching the rainforest birds of Costa Rica
or any other place, I recommend you not to just go in the
rainforest alone (well, I guess you won’t do it if you don’t know it.
You might get lost), the country is well set up with mountain lodges
that specialize in bird- watching programs. They will guide you where
you can see the birds. If you go to the very heart of the forest, you
might be able to see…no birds, because of the disorganized patterns and
the complexity of the area.
Rainforest
Birds that you
will find in Costa Rica
Anhingas
(pato aguja)
Cormorants
(cormorán)
Aracaris
(tucancillos)
• collared
aracari
•
fiery-billed aracari
Toucans
(six toucan species in Costa Rica)
•
keel-billed toucan (tucan pico iris)
•
chestnut-mandibled toucan. (Ticos call it “Dios te dé”, “may God give
you”, because of the sound it makes)
• emerald
toucanet
•
yellow-eared toucanet
Birds
of Prey
(50 raptor species)
• common
black hawk (gavilán cangrejero, or "crab-hunting hawk")
• osprey
(“aguila pescadora” - "fishing eagle")
• laughing
falcon (Ticos call it the “guaco” for the "wah-co" sound it makes)
Eagles
• harpy
eagle (águila arpía) It may already be locally extinct.
• crested
caracara
•
yellow-headed caracara
Hawks
and
Kites
• roadside
hawk (gavilán chapulinero
•
broad-winged hawk
•
black-shouldered kite
•
black-chested hawk
• white
hawk (gavilán blanco
•
double-toothed hawk
• American
swallow-tailed kite
Owls
(17 species)
•
spectacled owl (buho de anteojos”)
Doves
and
Pigeons
(“Palomas” at least 25 species)
•
band-tailed pigeon
•
red-billed pigeon
• ruddy
pigeon
• ruddy
ground-dove
Egrets,
Herons, and Relatives (Some 25 found in Costa
Rica)
• cattle
egret
• snowy
egret
• great
egret
• tiger
herons (3 species “garza tigre”)
1. brown herons
2. bare-throated tiger heron
3. little blue heron
•
green-backed heron
•
yellow-crowned night heron
•
boat-billed heron
• jabiru
• wood
stork
• roseate
spoonbill (espátula rosada)
•
white ibis
• green
ibis
Back to top
Hummingbirds
(51 species)
•
green-crowned brilliant
•
purple-throated mountaingem
• Buffon's
plummeteer
•
fiery-throated hummingbird
Motmots
(6 species)
•
blue-crowned motmot
•
turquoise-bowed motmot
Parrots
(16 of the world's 330 or so species )
•
parakeets (6 species)
• macaws
(2 species)
1. scarlet macaw (lapa roja)
2. buffon's macaw (lapa verde)
Seabirds
and
Shorebirds
• laughing
gull (gaviota reidora)
•
sanderling
• brown
pelican (pelicano)
• Boobies
• storm
petrels
• jaegers
the beautiful
•
oystercatchers
• whimbrels
•
sandpipers
• Frigate
birds,
Tanagers
and
Other Passerines
(50 species) tanagers
• summer
tanager
•
scarlet-rumped tanager
•
blue-gray tanager
•
silver-throated tanager
Passerines
("perching birds")
1. sparrows
2. robins
3. finches
4. antbirds (30 species)
5. blackbirds (20 species)
6. flycatchers (78 species)
7. warblers (52 species)
8. wrens (22 species)
9. blue-hooded euphonia
10. golden-bowed chlorophonia
11. red-capped manakin.
Trogons
(10 of the 40 species of trogons)
•
orange-bellied trogon
• quetzal
Waterfowl
•
blue-winged teals
• shoveler
ducks
•
black-bellied whistling duck
• Muscovy
ducks
•
Gruiformes
1. Rails
2. Bitterns
3. purple gallinule
4. charcoal-gray, white-billed American
coot and sunbittern
5. gray-necked wood rail
(rascón)
6. yellow-beaked northern jacana
7. sungrebe
Vultures
(“zopilotes” 4 species)
• turkey
vulture
• black
vulture
• lesser
yellow-headed vulture
• king
vulture
Other
Notable
Birds
•
three-wattled bellbird
•
Montezuma oropendolas
•
chestnut-headed oropendola
•
white-throated magpie jay
• curassow
• ringed
kingfisher
• belted
kingfisher
• Amazon
kingfisher
• green
kingfisher
• common
pauraque (or cuyeo)
• great
potoo (nictibio grande)
• common
potoo
•
woodpeckers (16 species)
• cuckoos
• swifts
(any of 11 species)
• tinamou
•
scarlet-thighed dacnis
•
violaceous trogons
• tody
motmots
•
laneolated monlets
• lineated
foliage-gleaners
•
black-capped pygmy tyrants
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Rica
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