Birds to See in Costa Rica in December
103 species listed for December · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
103 bird species on our list for Costa Rica are recorded regularly in December. Of these, the most often recorded are Turkey Vulture, Baltimore Oriole, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Tennessee Warbler and Palm Tanager. New this month: Cedar Waxwing, Northern Pintail, Forster's Tern and American Golden-Plover and 4 more.
New in December8
Residents
(28)Recorded all year
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes auraLC
Recorded all year
Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarumLC
Recorded all year
White-winged Dove
Zenaida asiaticaLC
Recorded all year
Cattle Egret
Ardea ibisLC
Recorded all year
Great White Egret
Ardea albaLC
Recorded all year
Roadside Hawk
Rupornis magnirostrisLC
Recorded all year
Scarlet Macaw
Ara macaoLC
Recorded all year
Lineated Woodpecker
Dryocopus lineatusLC
Recorded all year
Great Curassow
Crax rubraVU
Recorded all year
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceusLC
Recorded all year
Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopusLC
Recorded all year
Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschataLC
Recorded all year
Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year
Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorusLC
Recorded all year
Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
Glaucidium brasilianumLC
Recorded all year
House Sparrow
Passer domesticusLC
Recorded all year
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensisLC
Recorded all year
Mottled Owl
Strix virgataLC
Recorded all year
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticoraxLC
Recorded all year
Hairy Woodpecker
Leuconotopicus villosusLC
Recorded all year
Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensisLC
Recorded all year
Common Potoo
Nyctibius griseusLC
Recorded all year
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macrouraLC
Recorded all year
Black Tern
Chlidonias nigerLC
Recorded all year
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna bicolorLC
Recorded all year
Pied-billed Grebe
Podilymbus podicepsLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaoctoLC
Recorded all year
Arctic Jaeger
Stercorarius parasiticusLC
Regularly Sep–Jul
Winter visitors
(65)Present outside the breeding season
Baltimore Oriole
Icterus galbulaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Setophaga pensylvanicaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Tennessee Warbler
Leiothlypis peregrinaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Broad-winged Hawk
Buteo platypterusLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Philadelphia Vireo
Vireo philadelphicusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Northern Waterthrush
Parkesia noveboracensisLC
Regularly Sep–May
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Empidonax flaviventrisLC
Regularly Sep–May
Great Crested Flycatcher
Myiarchus crinitusLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodiasLC
Recorded all year
Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Recorded all year
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rusticaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubrisLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Black-throated Green Warbler
Setophaga virensLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Prothonotary Warbler
Protonotaria citreaLC
Regularly Aug–Mar
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Tyrannus forficatusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Willet
Tringa semipalmataLC
Recorded all year
Swainson's Thrush
Catharus ustulatusLC
Regularly Sep–May
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticillaLC
Regularly Aug–Apr
Mourning Warbler
Geothlypis philadelphiaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Least Sandpiper
Calidris minutillaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Semipalmated Plover
Charadrius semipalmatusLC
Recorded all year
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpresLC
Recorded all year
Solitary Sandpiper
Tringa solitariaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Bay-breasted Warbler
Setophaga castaneaLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Painted Bunting
Passerina cirisLC
Regularly Nov–Apr
Lesser Yellowlegs
Tringa flavipesVU
Regularly Jul–May
Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleucaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Grey Plover
Pluvialis squatarolaLC
Recorded all year
Sanderling
Calidris albaLC
Recorded all year
Ovenbird
Seiurus aurocapillaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellusLC
Recorded all year
Western Sandpiper
Calidris mauriLC
Regularly Jul–May
Franklin's Gull
Leucophaeus pipixcanLC
Regularly Oct–Jun
Short-billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus griseusVU
Regularly Jul–May
Western Kingbird
Tyrannus verticalisLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusillaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Merlin
Falco columbariusLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronataLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Dickcissel
Spiza americanaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Cape May Warbler
Setophaga tigrinaLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Northern Shoveler
Spatula clypeataLC
Regularly Sep–Mar
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Sphyrapicus variusLC
Regularly Oct–Mar
Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensisLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Marbled Godwit
Limosa fedoaVU
Regularly Jul–May
Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Recorded all year
Magnolia Warbler
Setophaga magnoliaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Least Flycatcher
Empidonax minimusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon niloticaLC
Recorded all year
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichasLC
Regularly Oct–May
Stilt Sandpiper
Calidris himantopusNT
Regularly Aug–May
Pomarine Jaeger
Stercorarius pomarinusLC
Regularly Oct–Jun
Willow Flycatcher
Empidonax trailliiLC
Regularly Aug–May
Northern Pintail
Anas acutaLC
Regularly Dec–Feb
Palm Warbler
Setophaga palmarumLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Blue-headed Vireo
Vireo solitariusLC
Regularly Oct–Mar
Eurasian Teal
Anas creccaLC
Regularly Dec–Mar
Cinnamon Teal
Spatula cyanopteraLC
Regularly Oct–Mar
Red-necked Phalarope
Phalaropus lobatusLC
Regularly Aug–Apr
Long-tailed Jaeger
Stercorarius longicaudusLC
Regularly Dec–Feb
Blackpoll Warbler
Setophaga striataNT
Regularly Oct–Mar
Red Knot
Calidris canutusNT
Regularly Aug–Feb
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorumLC
Regularly Dec–May
Passage migrants
(10)Seen mainly in spring and autumn migration
Sand Martin
Riparia ripariaLC
Regularly Mar–Dec
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Setophaga caerulescensLC
Regularly Nov–Apr
Sabine's Gull
Xema sabiniLC
Regularly Apr–Dec
Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteriLC
Regularly Dec–Jan
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphiaLC
Regularly Dec
Blue-footed Booby
Sula nebouxiiLC
Regularly Mar–Jan
Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensisLC
Regularly Dec
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchosLC
Regularly Aug–Apr
Long-billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus scolopaceusNT
Regularly Oct–Dec
American Golden-Plover
Pluvialis dominicaLC
Regularly Oct–May
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made