Endemic birds in Costa Rica
Costa Rica not only is blessed by its high biodiversity concentrated in a relatively small area with more birds species per square kilometer than any other country in the world, it also has a enormous amount of endemic species or species with a limited distribution range
Focus on endemic bird species
When birding in Costa Rica the amount of birds you will be able to see is overwhelming. Common species like Great Kiskadees, Black Vultures, Tropical Kingbirds, Blue-gray Tanagers and Great -tailed Grackles are beautiful birds but if you want to get the maximum out of your birding experience during a Costa Rica tour it is wise to know which species are unique and can only be seen in Costa Rica (and surroundings countries) and nowhere else on the world. It is a good idea to give enough attention to these species and include the areas where they occur in your itinerary.
Here we will give an overview of which of the Costa Rica birds are endemic and what are the areas in Costa Rica with endemism.
We can distinguish 2 categories of endemic bird species:
Endemic bird species restricted to Costa Rica:
In Costa Rica there are 7 strict-endemic species limited to the territory of Costa Rica:
- 3 occur on Cocos Island, a completely uninhabited island except for a small Costa Rican ranger station 550 km (340 miles) southwest of the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica: Cocos Flycatcher, Cocos Cuckoo and Cocos Finch
- 5 occur in mainland Costa Rica: Coppery-headed Emerald, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager*, Mangrove Hummingbird* and the Cabani’s Ground Sparrow
*Both Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager and Mangrove Hummingbird have been recently seen in Panama
very close to the border
Regional endemic bird species:
In Costa Rica we can differentiate 3 types of regional endemics:
- Highland endemics restricted to highlands of Costa Rica and Western Panama: examples are: Black Guan, Dusky Nightjar, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Volcano Hummingbird, White-tailed Emerald, Ruddy Treerunner, Dark Peewee, Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Sooty-capped Chlorospingus, Yellow-winged Vireo, Golden-browed Chlorophonia,…
- Lowland endemics restricted to Southern Costa Rica and Western Panama: examples are: Fiery-billed Aracari, Baird’s Trogon, Golden-naped Woodpecker, Black-hooded Antshrike, Orange-collared Manakin, Turquoise Cotinga, Yellow-billed Cotinga, Riverside Wren, Spot-crowned Euphonia,…
- Caribean slope endemics with varying ranges from Honduras to Panama: examples include: Snowcap, White-bellied Mountain-gem, Lattice-tailed Trogon, Streak-crowned Antvireo, Snowy Cotinga, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Blue-and-gold Tanager, Nicaraguan Seed-finch
Here is a complete list of the endemic and regional endemic birds of Costa Rica
Interested in including endemic bird species in your Costa Rica bird tour ? check out the Costa Rica endemics tour especially designed for this purpose.
