This little bird is one of the first I ever spotted, photographed, and identified, in Costa Rica on my own in 2002. It took me quite awhile to page through my bird book, comparing color, markings, size, and beak shape, before I finally concluded that this is a Bananaquit. Today, the guidebook I consulted did not indicate that Bananaquits can be found in the central mountains, but I’m quite sure I photographed this one near Monteverde.
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A Mangrove Swallow roosts on the ruins of an old dock in Tortuguero.
Mangrove Swallows are handsome little birds that fly fast. They flit and swoop over water, nabbing bugs that frequent rivers, marshes, and creeks, on both the Caribbean and Pacific sides of Costa Rica.
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A Great Kiskadee pauses in the morning sun along the Tortuguero River.
At around 23 cm, the Great Kiskadee is one the biggest members of the large Flycatcher, or Tyrannidae, family in Costa Rica. These strikingly handsome birds frequent the open, brushy areas of the Pacific forests and the Caribbean lowlands, where they eat insects and small vertebrates. I took both of these photographs during my first visit to Tortuguero in 2004.
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Two scarlet macaws fly overhead at the beach near Carate on the Osa Peninsula.
It’s been a year since I finished daily sketches, a project to draw and post a picture every day in 2011. The best part about that blog was the unexpected way that it connected me to friends and family. While I won’t have time to make a sketch every day in 2013, I think I will have a few minutes to post a photograph, video, or drawing, about the wilderness of Costa Rica. I’ve visited Costa Rica more than half a dozen times over the last decade, and I hope you will enjoy these daily glimpses into the abundant wildlife that lives there.
Scarlet Macaws, also known as Lapas Rojas or Lapas Coloradas are my favorite bird in Costa Rica. It is common to see them and hear their loud squawks in the rainforest, ranchland, and beaches of the Osa Peninsula. Like great friends and family, they stick together for life!
A pair of scarlet macaws in a tree along the road near Puerto Jimenez.
All media is copyright costaricawildlife.net, 2013.
