Birds to See in Costa Rica in May
71 species listed for May · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
71 bird species on our list for Costa Rica are recorded regularly in May. Of these, the most often recorded are Turkey Vulture, White-winged Dove, Palm Tanager, Roadside Hawk and Cattle Egret. New this month: Hudsonian Godwit.
New in May1
Leaving after last month29
- Baltimore Oriole
- Tennessee Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Scarlet Tanager
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- American Redstart
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Dickcissel
- Painted Bunting
- Ovenbird
- Purple Martin
- Merlin
- Upland Sandpiper
- Western Kingbird
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Cape May Warbler
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Gray Catbird
- Blue-footed Booby
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Mallard
Residents
(28)Recorded all year
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes auraLC
Recorded all year
White-winged Dove
Zenaida asiaticaLC
Recorded all year
Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarumLC
Recorded all year
Roadside Hawk
Rupornis magnirostrisLC
Recorded all year
Cattle Egret
Ardea ibisLC
Recorded all year
Great White Egret
Ardea albaLC
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
Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschataLC
Recorded all year
House Sparrow
Passer domesticusLC
Recorded all year
Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorusLC
Recorded all year
Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year
Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
Glaucidium brasilianumLC
Recorded all year
Mottled Owl
Strix virgataLC
Recorded all year
Hairy Woodpecker
Leuconotopicus villosusLC
Recorded all year
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensisLC
Recorded all year
Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopusLC
Recorded all year
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticoraxLC
Recorded all year
Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensisLC
Recorded all year
Common Potoo
Nyctibius griseusLC
Recorded all year
Black Tern
Chlidonias nigerLC
Recorded all year
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macrouraLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaoctoLC
Recorded all year
Pied-billed Grebe
Podilymbus podicepsLC
Recorded all year
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna bicolorLC
Recorded all year
Arctic Jaeger
Stercorarius parasiticusLC
Regularly Sep–Jul
Winter visitors
(32)Present outside the breeding season
Swainson's Thrush
Catharus ustulatusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Empidonax flaviventrisLC
Regularly Sep–May
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rusticaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodiasLC
Recorded all year
Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Recorded all year
Willet
Tringa semipalmataLC
Recorded all year
Grey Plover
Pluvialis squatarolaLC
Recorded all year
Semipalmated Plover
Charadrius semipalmatusLC
Recorded all year
Lesser Yellowlegs
Tringa flavipesVU
Regularly Jul–May
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpresLC
Recorded all year
Least Sandpiper
Calidris minutillaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Northern Waterthrush
Parkesia noveboracensisLC
Regularly Sep–May
Willow Flycatcher
Empidonax trailliiLC
Regularly Aug–May
Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleucaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Western Sandpiper
Calidris mauriLC
Regularly Jul–May
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusillaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Franklin's Gull
Leucophaeus pipixcanLC
Regularly Oct–Jun
Short-billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus griseusVU
Regularly Jul–May
Mourning Warbler
Geothlypis philadelphiaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Stilt Sandpiper
Calidris himantopusNT
Regularly Aug–May
Marbled Godwit
Limosa fedoaVU
Regularly Jul–May
Sanderling
Calidris albaLC
Recorded all year
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Solitary Sandpiper
Tringa solitariaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellusLC
Recorded all year
Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Recorded all year
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon niloticaLC
Recorded all year
Least Flycatcher
Empidonax minimusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorumLC
Regularly Dec–May
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichasLC
Regularly Oct–May
Pomarine Jaeger
Stercorarius pomarinusLC
Regularly Oct–Jun
Magnolia Warbler
Setophaga magnoliaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Passage migrants
(11)Seen mainly in spring and autumn migration
Sand Martin
Riparia ripariaLC
Regularly Mar–Dec
Pectoral Sandpiper
Calidris melanotosLC
Regularly Aug–May
Alder Flycatcher
Empidonax alnorumLC
Regularly Apr–Oct
Wilson's Phalarope
Phalaropus tricolorLC
Regularly Aug–May
White-rumped Sandpiper
Calidris fuscicollisVU
Regularly Apr–Nov
Baird's Sandpiper
Calidris bairdiiLC
Regularly Apr–Nov
Hudsonian Godwit
Limosa haemasticaVU
Regularly May
Sabine's Gull
Xema sabiniLC
Regularly Apr–Dec
Black-billed Cuckoo
Coccyzus erythropthalmusLC
Regularly Apr–Nov
American Golden-Plover
Pluvialis dominicaLC
Regularly Oct–May
Leach's Storm-petrel
Hydrobates leucorhousVU
Regularly Mar–Jan
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