List of birds of Costa Rica

Although Costa Rica is a small country, it is in the bird-rich neotropical region and has a huge number of species for its area. The official bird list published by the Costa Rican Rare Birds and Records Committee of the Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica (AOCR) contained 948 species as of July 2023.^[1]

Of those species, seven are endemic (three of which are found only on Cocos Island), 90 are rare or accidental, and four have been introduced by humans. Another 73 are near-endemic with ranges that include only Costa Rica and Panama. Twenty-seven species, including five of the seven endemics, are globally vulnerable or endangered.^[2] Over an area of 51,100 km², an area smaller than West Virginia, this is the greatest density of bird species of any continental American country. About 600 species are resident, with most of the other regular visitors being winter migrants from North America.

Costa Rica's geological formation played a large role in the diversification of avian species. North America and South America were initially separate continents, but millions of years of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions eventually fused the two continents together. When this happened, species from the north and south poured into the land bridge that became Central America. Birds like the hummingbird came from the south, while birds like the jay came from the north.^[3]

Part of the diversity stems from the wide array of habitats, which include mangrove swamps along the Pacific coast, the wet Caribbean coastal plain in the northeast, dry northern Pacific lowlands, and multiple mountain chains that form the spine of the country and rise as high as 3,500 m. These mountain chains, the largest of which is the Cordillera de Talamanca, form a geographical barrier that has enabled closely related but different species to develop on either side of the chain. A good example of this speciation is the white-collared manakin of the Caribbean side, which is now distinct from the orange-collared manakin of the Pacific slope.

In the past, higher sea levels left the mountains as highlands, and isolation again led to distinct species developing, with over thirty now endemic to the mountains, especially the Talamanca range which extends from southern Costa Rica into Panama.

This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 63rd Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society (AOS).^[4] Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.

Unless otherwise noted, all species on the list are considered to occur regularly in Costa Rica as permanent residents, summer or winter visitors, or migrants. The following tags have been used to highlight certain categories of occurrence:

• (A) Accidental - a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Costa Rica
• (R?) Residence uncertain - a species which might be resident
• (E) Endemic - a species endemic to Costa Rica
• (E-R) Regional endemic - a species found only in Costa Rica and Panama
• (I) Introduced - a species introduced to Costa Rica as a consequence, direct or indirect, of human actions