Costa
Rica Birds
during FONT Birding
& Nature Tours
1991 thru 2008
(during the months
of January,
February, March, April, July, December)
A Costa Rica bird list compiled by Armas Hill
with photos
681 species of birds have
cumulatively been found
during 27 FONT birding & nature tours in Costa Rica..
The number, in
the right-most column, indicates the
number of tours during which
the bird has been found
(out of 27). Not all tours have been to
the same areas, so individual tour-lists have varied.
In the following list, the latest taxonomy is incorporated noting subspecies in
Costa Rica.
Codes:
(t): a globally threatened or
rare species, designated by Birdlife International
(t1): critical
(t2): endangered
(t3): vulnerable
(nt): a near-threatened species
globally
(i): introduced species
(CRe): endemic in Costa Rica
(CRr): rare in Costa Rica
N: Northern CR
Birding Tours (in February, March, April, July, December-January)
S: Southern CR
Birding Tours (in January, February, March, July)
H: Holiday
Birding Tours (in late-December & early-January)
P: in Panama (adjacent to southern Costa Rica)
Links:
Mammals
during FONT Tours in Central America
Butterflies
in Central America
Previous
Costa Rica Tour Highlights
Upcoming
FONT Birding & Nature Tours in Central America

Birds:
- Great Tinamou ______ N S H 23
Tinamus major fuscipennis
- Highland Tinamou ______ N 3
Nothocercus bonapartei frantzii
- Slaty-breasted Tinamou ______ N 2 (another name has been
"Boucard's Tinamou")
Crypturellus boucardi costaricensis
- Little Tinamou ______ N S H 12
Crypturellus soui modestus
- Thicket Tinamou ______ N H 5
(another name has been
"Rufescent Tinamou")
Crypturellus cinnamomeus praepes
- Gray-headed Chachalaca ______ N S H 15
Ortalis cinereiceps (monotypic)
- Crested Guan ______ N S H 16
Penelope purpurascens aequatorialis
- Black Guan (nt) ______ N S H 11 (total range limited
to Costa Rica & western Panama)
Chamaepetes unicolor (monotypic)
- Great Curassow (nt) ______ N S 7
Crax r. rubra
- Buffy-crowned Wood Partridge ______ N 1
(another name has been Buff-fronted Wood Partridge)
Dendrotyx leucophrys hypospodius
- Spot-bellied Bobwhite ______ N H 13 (was
conspecific with Crested Bobwhite, Colinus cristatus, of northern South America &
southern Central America)
Colinus leucopogon dickeyi
- Spotted Wood Quail ______ S 3
Odontophorus guttatus
- Marbled Wood Quail ______ S 6
Odontophorus gujanensis
- Black-eared Wood Quail ______ N 3
(was conspecific with the Rufous-fronted Wood-Quail of South America)
Odontophorus m. melanotis
- Black-breasted Wood Quail (nt) ______ N
3 (total
range limited to Costa Rica & western Panama)
Odontophorus leucolaemus
(monotypic)
- Black-bellied Whistling Duck ______ N S H
15
Dendrocygna a. autumnalis
- Fulvous Whistling Duck ______ N 2
Dendrocygna bicolor (monotypic)
- Muscovy Duck ______ N H 13
Cairina moschata
(monotypic, and single member of its genus)
- Blue-winged Teal ______ N S H 18
Anas discors
(monotypic)
- Ring-necked Duck ______ S 1
Aythya collaris
(monotypic)
- Masked Duck ______ S 5
Nomoyx dominicus
(monotypic, and the single member of its
genus)
- Sooty Shearwater ______ N 1
Puffinus griseus (monotypic)
- Pied-billed Grebe ______ N H P 8
Podilymbus p. podiceps
- Least Grebe ______ N S H 12
Tachybaptus (formerly Podiceps) dominicus brachypterus
- Wood Stork ______ N S H 18
Myceteria americana
(monotypic)
- Jabiru (CRr) ______ N H 5
Jabiru mycteria
(monotypic, and the single member of its genus)

A Jabiru photographed during a
FONT tour
- Green Ibis ______ N H 10
Mesembrinibis cayennensis
(monotypic, and the single member of its
genus)
- White Ibis ______ N S H 21
Eudocimus albus
(monotypic)
- Glossy Ibis ______ N H 3
Plegadis falcinellus
(has been called monotypic)
- Roseate Spoonbill ______ N H 18
Platalea (formerly Ajaia) ajaja
(monotypic)
- Cattle Egret ______ N S H P 27
Bublcus i. ibis
- Green Heron ______ N S H 27
(was at one time
considered conspecific with the nearly cosmopolitan Striated Heron,
and
was then called Green-backed Heron)
Butorides v. virescens
- Little Blue Heron ______ N S H 27
Egretta caerulea (monotypic)
- Tricolored Heron ______ N S H 21 (a former name was
Louisiana Heron)
Egretta tricolor ruficollis
- Reddish Egret ______ N H 1
Egretta r. rufescens
- Snowy Egret ______ N S H 26
Egretta t. thula
- Great Egret ______ N S H P 27
Ardea (formerly Casmerodius or Egretta) alba egretta
- Great Blue Heron ______ N S H 22
Ardea h. herodias
- Agami Heron (nt) (CRr) ______ N 3 (another name has been
Chestnut-bellied Heron)
Agamia agami (monotypic, and the single member of its genus)
- Rufescent Tiger Heron ______ N H 1
Tigrisoma l. lineatum
- Fasciated Tiger Heron (nt) ______ N 3
Tigrisoma fasiatum salmoni
- Bare-throated Tiger-Heron ______ N S H 16
Tigrisoma mexicanum (monotypic)
- Black-crowned Night-Heron ______ N S H 12
Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron ______ N
H 14
Nyctanassa v. violacea (the single member of its genus)
- Boat-billed Heron ______ N S H 18
Cochlearius cochlearius
(the single member of its genus) (2 subspecies
in Costa Rica)
Cochlearius cochlearius phillipsi (north CR)
Cochlearius cochlearius panamensis (south CR)
- Magnificent Frigatebird ______ N S H 25
Fregata magnificens
(now said to be monotypic)
- Brown Pelican ______ N S H 25
Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis
- Brown Booby ______ N S 6
Sula l. leucogaster
- Neotropic Cormorant ______ N S H 23 (was called Olivaceous Cormorant)
Phalacrocorax brasilianus (2 subspecies in Costa Rica)
Phalacrocorax brasilianus mexicanus (north CR)
Phalacrocorax b. brasilianus (south CR)
- Anhinga ______ N H 14
Anhinga anhinga leucogaster
- Turkey Vulture ______ N S H P 27
Cathartes a. aura (another subspecies, C. a. meridionalis, from
central North America, migrates
thru Costa Rica, sometimes in large flocks)