Tanagers are a very large New World family of birds with more than forty species in Costa Rica. Although tanagers come in many colors and patterns, there are only two species with all red males. Unlike the much rarer Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava), the Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) has a light-colored bill. Summer Tanagers can be found all over Costa Rica, except in the highest elevations.
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During breeding season, male Red-legged Honeycreepers (Cyanerpes cyaneus) are fairly easy to spot with their bright red legs, sapphire blue body, and turquoise crown. In the off season, however, they look more like the olive green females of the species, but keep their black wings and tails.
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Resplendent Quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno) are part of the trogon family, and while the females of this dimorphic species do look like other trogons, male Resplendent Quetzals are, well, quite resplendent! I’ve always thought they looked more like elaborate women’s hats than birds, with their frizzy heads, extra long upper-tail coverts, and fancy shoulders. Resplendent Quetzals live in limited regions of the central highlands, and I’ve only seen them in one area near the upper Savegre River valley where these dandies were photographed.
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The author of my fiercely scientific guidebook about amphibians and reptiles in Costa Rica doesn’t believe in common names. “Poison Frogs of the Genus Phyllobates” is about as close to a vernacular description as I can find in the text for this shiny little gem. This particular specimen (Phyllobates vittatus) was found in a tiny mud cave in the Corcovado National Park by expert guide, Nito. The species is endemic to the area near the Osa Peninsula and the Golfo Dulce, and so I’ve assigned it the not-very-scientific appellation “Golfo Dulce Poison Frog.”
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Female Black-throated Trogons (Trogon rufus) are colored differently than the males of the species. Instead of a green hood and a black throat, the females are a lovely brown. Although pairs of these wide-eyed birds are never far apart, I’ve rarely seen them sitting together.
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With the discipline of a yogi, this Bare-throated Tiger Heron holds its pose and warms its wings in the evening sunlight near Tortuguero.
Bare-throated Tiger Herons (Tigrisoma mexicanum) are distinguished from other tiger herons by the yellow skin below their long beaks. These striped birds are common in the low wetlands, marshes, and mangroves, of Costa Rica, especially on the Caribbean side.
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Central American Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) are found mostly in Costa Rica’s protected areas of primary rain forest. Their arms are longer than their legs, and they have no thumbs on their hands, which makes it possible for them to brachiate, or swing branch to branch with only their arms. They have an incredibly strong prehensile tail with a palm-like pad on the end. When these primates maneuver through the forest canopy looking for ripe fruit, they often get all five limbs in action, and truly look like spiders in a web of branches.
This Central American Spider Monkey demonstrates its full arachnid-like range, using arms, legs, and tail to travel through among the slender branches of the rainforest canopy.
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Eight manakin species live in Costa Rica, but within somewhat separate and limited territories. Red-capped Manakins (Pipra mentalis) are perhaps the most common, located on much of the Caribbean slope as well as the southern Pacific region, where this one was photographed. A dimorphic species, the males have shiny black bodies, bright red hoods, and yellow thigh feathers, while the females are olive green. These little woodland birds with stout beaks are primarily frugivorous, meaning they mostly eat fruit.
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