Birds of Costa Rica - taking a walk on the caribbean side!

Costa Rica is a dream for anyone that likes nature and wildlife. It's amazing how this country alone has around 5% of Earth's biodiversity! I got reaaaly lucky on my wildlife observations while travelling, and altough costa rican fauna will very likely be the star on many of the future posts (as is the case here) this post is for sharing some of the birds I've been able to see (and photograph!) there, specifically in the Refugio Nacional Gandoca-Manzanillo, on the caribbean side.

^{Black vulture - Coragyps atratus}

This is one of the most common vultures here, they were all over the place. They tend to stand upright as this one, have a short tail and black head and body.

There is a similar species, Cathartes aura, but those have a red head.

---

Entering the park, one of the common ones too was perching near a stream:

^{Great kiskadee / Bem te vi (PT) - Pitangus sulphuratus}

Relatively large bird, can easy be recognized by its striking colours and calling. Once you hear it a couple of times, you wont mistake it ;)

---

Already in the Refugio, a member of the Cuckoos family! It was hard to take a photo as he didn't stop still and was hiding in the foliage, but finally he decided to pose for the photo.

^{Squirrel cuckoo / Cuco esquilo (PT) - Piaya cayana}

There are several cuckoos in Costa Rica, this one can be recognized by his brown head and grey abdomen, and the large tail with the white tip on the tail feathers.

---

There would be a lot more photos to place here, but for the finale... it's not a great photo, but has a special taste for me: the first wild toucan I saw in my life!

^{Collared aracari / Aracari de pescoço preto (PT) - Pteroglossus torquatus}

There are six species of toucans in the country; aracaris are medium sized toucans, belonging to Pteroglossus genus, and only 2 exist here. This one is probably the most common, and can only be mistaken with the other present aracari, Pteroglossus frantzii; the latter has a broader and red band across the chest.

---

Photos taken with Canon SX50 HS