Fauna in Costa Rica
Information to wildlife in Costa Rica
Here you will find a short description of some species you will see on your vacation in Costa Rica
Monkeys:
In the lush rainforests of Costa Rica are living four species of monkeys and they are easy to observe in many regions of Costa Rica. There are capuchin monkeys (white monkey), howler monkey (Congo, Alouatta), squirrel monkeys (Saimiri) and spider monkeys (Spider, Araña, Ateles) and the dense tree crowns are their home.
Birds:
The avifauna of Costa Rica, with over 850 species - more than twice as many as in Central Europe - exceptionally diverse. Here we present only a few.
The Quetzal
The Quetzal, with a scientific name "Pharomachrus mocinno" has bright red and green colors, very beautiful bird sighted. The springs are up to 80 centimeters long stately. From high-altitude trees it descends with its widely audible siren call, and then it swoops like a green flash to disappear in the canopy.
The Quetzal today only lives in the cloud forests of Central America, primarily in Costa Rica. He always prefers a moist environment fort it is nest, which he finds in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Especially the high altitudes in the rise of the "Cerro de la Muerte" are famous for the natural occurrence of the Quetzal. With San Gerardo de Dota as a center there has risen the National Park "El Quetzal".
National bird of Costa Rica
The Gilbdrossel (Turdus grayi) is a songbird of the thrush family. The Gilbdrossel is the national bird of Costa Rica, they are called here "yigüirro".
How is it that a rather inconspicuous animal, a "gray choke" is declared the national bird? The State Department said:
There are numerous reasons that Gilbdrossel was appointed national animal: it is widely used in all of Costa Rica, and thanks to her character she wants to be close to the people.
This is well known and popularly used in many traditional legends, folk songs and short stories mention. In addition, the distinctive singing of the males during the rutting season has contributed to the fame of the genus.
The Cormorant:
The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a species of bird, which is also well known in Europe. In Germany, he was declared the bird of the year 2010. The diet consists almost exclusively of fish. Cormorants are sociable during every season, the breeding colonies are located on rivers or other bodies of water. In Costa Rica you will find many of these species, for example, in the nature reserve of Caño Negro.
Hummingbirds:
In Costa Rica there are observed at least 55 different species of hummingbirds. One feature is the whirring flight which is reminiscent of a bumblebee. They are fueling their wings up to 80 times per second up and down (during courtship, the frequency can be increased to almost 200 wing beats per second).
The Scarlet Macaw
The Ara Macao, also called "Ara roja" is one of the flagship animals of Costa Rica.
This is a parrot of the genus authentic macaws and is one of the largest parrots in the world with a length of up to 85 cm.
The "Ara roja" is a very sociable bird which usually goes in groups of up to 20 animals to fly together. Only during the breeding season, they move away in pairs from the group. The animals are like (almost) all parrots strictly monogamous, till death do them part. The nesting season is during the dry season, the nests are built at high altitudes.
