Rare Birds in Costa Rica
Our list for Costa Rica has 66 rare birds recorded regularly there: 7 residents, 29 winter visitors, 27 passage migrants and 3 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in Costa Rica in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 66, most common first
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaWinter visitorRare33–42 cmRecorded all year
Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensisWinter visitorRare20–24 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeataWinter visitorRare44–51 cmRegularly Sep–Mar
Blue-footed BoobySula nebouxiiPassage migrantRare76–84 cmRegularly Mar–Jan
Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus variusWinter visitorRare19–22 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Red-necked PhalaropePhalaropus lobatusWinter visitorRare18–19 cmRegularly Aug–Apr
Black-throated Blue WarblerSetophaga caerulescensPassage migrantRare11–13 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podicepsResidentRare31–38 cmRecorded all year
Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorumWinter visitorRare15–18 cmRegularly Dec–May
Grey PhalaropePhalaropus fulicariusPassage migrantRare20–22 cmRegularly Nov–Jan
Pomarine JaegerStercorarius pomarinusWinter visitorRare46–51 cmRegularly Oct–Jun
Magnolia WarblerSetophaga magnoliaWinter visitorRare11–13 cmRegularly Sep–May
Fulvous Whistling-DuckDendrocygna bicolorResidentRare45–53 cmRecorded all year
RuffCalidris pugnaxScarceRare20–32 cmRegularly Nov
Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichasWinter visitorRare11–13 cmRegularly Oct–May
White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisPassage migrantRare15–18 cmRegularly Apr–Nov
Lark SparrowChondestes grammacusPassage migrantRare15–17 cmRegularly Nov
Pacific Golden-PloverPluvialis fulvaScarceRare23–26 cm
Northern PintailAnas acutaWinter visitorRare59–76 cmRegularly Dec–Feb
Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceusPassage migrantRare27–30 cmRegularly Oct–Dec
Cinnamon TealSpatula cyanopteraWinter visitorRare36–43 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Red KnotCalidris canutusWinter visitorRare23–26 cmRegularly Aug–Feb
Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaoctoResidentRare30–32 cmRecorded all year
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