The Best Guide to Seeing Our 9 Favorite Hummingbirds in Costa Rica
The Magenta-throated Woodstar Hummingbird, (3.54 inches / 9cm and .11ounce or 3.3grams ) found only in Costa Rica and western Panama, can be identified by its particular bumble-bee-like flight pattern. Look for them in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve or Bosque de la Paz Biologica Reserve. Image: ©Cynthia Vargas Nature Photo
Roberta, editor and journey advisor.
Hummingbirds!
Glittering little jewels hovering in mid-air, seeking out the most beautiful blossoms, their delicate wings beating so impossibly fast that our human eyes see only a blur. Just thinking about hummingbirds makes me smile.
Even the names we have given them attest to how they pique our imagination: "Fairy," "wood-nymph," "charming," "mountain gem," "coquette," and "volcano." These tiny creatures inspire big passion!
Every one of the world's 349 hummingbird species (Cornell Ornithology Lab) is found only in the Americas. But hummingbirds are almost synonymous with one of my favorite destinations: Costa Rica! The small Central American country has a resounding 50+ species!
When something is so delicate, so exquisite, that it is named “fairy” how can we not love it? The Purple Crowned Fairy (3.7 inches / 9 to 9.5cm)is one about 60 hummingbirds found in Costa Rica, Greentique wildlife Refuge at Santa Juana and Greentique at Aquíla de Osa Image: ©Denise Johnson Shreve
Hummingbird Fun Fact: These Birds are Smart
✔︎ Trip Tips
Where: Costa Rica
When: Dec-April (dry) May-Nov. (rainy season, also great.)
Why: Birding! And Bird Photography
Who: Adults with some birding experience.
How: Using a guide is the best way to find (or photograph) hummingbirds and all of Costa Rica’s birds. Let us help you.
Hummingbirds have the largest brain proportionate to its weight of any bird (4.2%); by comparison, a human brain is only two percent of our weight.
All that brainpower allows a hummer to remember the exact place and plant with the best nectar from year-to-year, and season-to-season. They also seem to be able to calculate the time a plant needs to generate more nectar.
That's great news for hummer-watchers! Hummingbirds should be amongst the most predictable of avian species.
Fiery-throated and Lesser Violet-eared Hummingbirds share a flowering plant. Image: @Alfredo Irizarry.
Unfortunately, climate and other environmental changes, plus human encroachment affect habitat and wildlife behavior, including hummingbirds. For example, researchers discovered that in Costa Rica, as climate change causes rainfall to decrease and temperatures to rise, cloud forest species are moving up to higher elevations in search of more suitable habitats. Let us know where you find these extraordinary birds!
Costa Rica Regional and Sub-regionl breakdown. Thanks to Barrett Lawson. A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica
Best Places to Find Hummingbirds in Costa Rica
All of Costa Rica's principal regions have hummingbirds. And each region, the Caribbean Slope, the North Pacific Slope, the South Pacific Slope, The Mountains, the Coastline, and the Central Valley, have unique species worth searching out.
The following are some of Costa Rica’s rarer species and nine of my favorite hummers. Many are found only in a single specific area - and seeing each is a worthwhile endeavor.
1. Scintillant Hummingbird
How small is the Scintillant? If you are looking at this on your laptop, the image is larger than the actual bird. The Scintillant is recognizable by its bright orange throat - and big personality! Image: ©Raúl Vega
Why I Love Them:
One of the smallest of all hummingbirds, the scintillant is a good example of the old saying, “dynamite comes in small packages.” This feisty little bird chases away all other hummers – especially other scintillants or volcanos. All hummingbirds eat insects, but the Scintillant likes to catch its lunch on the wing – not sitting in foliage.
How to Identify a Scintillant Hummingbird:
Only 2.6 - 3.1 inches (6.5 - 8cm) including the bill. The adult male's fabulous orange throat (gorget) distinguishes him from all other hummingbirds in his range. The female has less boisterous coloring; her throat is speckled, she has orange on her flanks and a rufous tail.
The Best Places to Find Scintillant Hummingbird:
The Pacific Slope of Costa Rica. Look for them in open areas like gardens, coffee plantations, or forest edges.
Children's Eternal Reserve, Bosque de Paz Lodge, la Paz Waterfall Gardens.
Or in the Upper Mountains: San Gerardo de Dota and San Gerardo and Quinta Galleon, The Hummingbird Experience.
2. Coppery Headed Emerald Hummingbird
A good reason for a visit to Costa Rica. the Coopery- headed emerald hummingbird is found no where else on earth. E.J. Peiker Nature Photography
Why I Love Them:
Coppery-headed emerald hummingbirds are one of only two (or four depending on who is listing) hummingbirds endemic to Costa Rica.
How to Identify a Coppery-Headed Emerald:
Only 2.95 inches and .10 ounce or 7.5cm and 3 grams. The curved bill, black-tipped, white outer tail feathers, the copper crown, and the upper tail feathers of the male give him away, the rectrices (tail feathers that control flight) are white tipped in either grey or black. Note: if you are in the Cordillera de Guanacaste, you will see a purple spot in the center of the breast – this is the ONLY place where coppery-headed emeralds have this spot!
The Best Places to Find a Coppery-Headed Hummingbird:
The higher elevations of the Pacific Slope. Coppery-headed Emeralds like cool, wet climes; the highland forests are perfect for them. Also look in open spaces with trees. Search for males in the canopy and females in the understory. After the breeding season, look at lower elevations, too.
Lower Mountains: Greentique Cloud Forest Reserve Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Santa Elena Reserve, La Paz Waterfall Gardens
3. Volcano Hummingbird
The name of this little beauty always makes me smile: VOLCANO hummingbird! And it is like a powerful force of nature many times greater than its tiny self. Image: ©Alfredo Irizarry
Why I Love Them:
How can you not love a tiny piece of fluff named for one of the most powerful forces on earth?
How to Identify a Volcano Hummingbird:
The Volcano hummingbird, (2.9 to 3.2 inches / 7.5-8cm) is primarily green above. The males have a brilliant wine-colored gorget (bib), the females are dark-spotted under the chin.
Males and females have a white breast band, but the underparts of the male are greenish while the females are pale rufous. The forked tail of both sexes is more pronounced in the male.
The Best Places to Find Volcano Hummingbirds:
This mountain region bird is restricted to Costa Rica's highest elevations. Look for them in highland pastures, and open scrubby grasslands.
The Mountains, Upper Mountains, Volcán Poás National Park, Irazu Volcano Park, San Gerardo de Dota and San Gerardo, Quinta Galleon, The Hummingbird Experience
4. White-Throated Mountain Gem
Why I Love Them:
You have to be in the right place to find this bird. Its range is limited to the highlands in Costa Rica and Panama; however, it may be another Costa Rican endemic. The coloring of Costa Rican and Panamanian populations are slightly different fostering debate that they are separate species.
How to Identify a White-Throated Mountain Gem:
Medium-sized, (4.1inches / 10.5cm) with a long straight black bill. Males are primarily dark green with a white throat, blue forecrown, and grey tail. The postocular (area behind the eye) on both the male and female are white. The female's underparts are a pretty cinnamon shade.
The Best Places to Find a White-Throated Mountain Gem:
The upper mountains are the place to look for these little gems – and the males frequently forage in the canopy. Look for them in epiphytic flowers (air plants like orchids, tillandsias, and bromeliads). Females are more likely to feed in shrubs.
Upper Mountains: San Gerardo de Dota and San Gerardo and Quinta Galleon, The Hummingbird Experience
5. The Purple Throated Mountain Gem
Why I Love Them:
These are truly little gems with coloring so extraordinary they look as though they have been painted. They live in the montane cloud forests.
How to Identify a Purple Throated Mountain Gem:
Look for their bright green iridescent bodies. The males ( 4.1 inches / 10.5cm) have a purple gorget. The underside of the female is pale cinnamon or rufous. Look for the white strip right behind the eye.
The Best Places to Find a Purple Throated Mountain Gem:
Purple-throated Mountain Gems have populations on both the Caribbean slope (above 800m) and the Pacific Slope (Above 1000) and as high as 1200-2500m in central Costa Rica.
Lower Mountains: Greentique Cloud Forest Reserve, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Bosque de Paz Lodge, la Paz Waterfall Gardens, Tapanti National Park
Upper Mountains: Irazu Volcano Park
Deforestation is a big threat. The Purple-throated mountain gem is believed to be in decline.
6. Black-Crested Coquette
The Black-crested Coquette always looks ready for a fancy-dress ball! Image: ©Agustín Murillo Photography
Why I Love Them:
The Oxford dictionary defines "coquette" as "A woman who flirts," and indeed, these fancy-crowned hummingbirds seem to be doing just that. I love their flirty little crests, they remind me of the fun “fascinators” that British women sometimes wear.
How to Identify a Black Crested Coquette:
Only 2.4 to 3inches (6.3-7.7cm) and wearing a fancy "hat" with a wispy crest makes identification of the Black-crested coquette easy; however, only for the males – the females have a plain crown. Look for the green throat, a bronze breast band, and cheek feathers in black and buff colors. The narrow white rump band on both the males and females is typical of this species.
Best Places to Find The Black Crested Coquette:
This is a middle elevation bird found mainly on the Caribbean slope. Look for them at: Arenal Volcano National Park, Amistad National Park (UNESCO Heritage site) , Volcán Poás National Park, and Volcán Irazú National Park
7. Charming Hummingbird
How appropriate to name this lovely hummingbird, “Charming” Image by © Agustín Murillo Photography
Why I Love Them:
While there is a strong case to be made that all Hummingbirds are charming, this is the one that wears the name. Once considered a subspecies of the blue-crested hummingbird, researchers found the charming to be a distinct species. Note: you may find it identified by its old name: Beryl-crowned.
How to Identify a Charming Hummingbird:
(3.78 to 4.17 inches / 9.6-10.6cm and .17 ounce /4.75g ) The male's crown and malar area (the cheek area in front of its eye) are glittering green with a bluish tinge; its upper-parts and flanks are duller green or sometimes bronzy-green.
Look for the bronzy chin area and royal blue patch on its lower throat and breast. The female also has that beautiful green crown, but her throat patch has scattered turquoise or bluish feathers on white ground, and her belly is paler.
The Best Places to Find a Charming Hummingbird:
Most of the year, the males congregate in leks of up to 12 birds. Fortunately for us, they prefer open woodlands, coffee plantations, second growth, and gardens, rather than the forest interior.
South Pacific slope: Carara National Park , Greentique wildlife Refuge at Santa Juana and Greentique at Aquíla de Osa
South Pacific Lowlands: Oro Verde Biologica Reserve, and Corcovado National Park on the Osa peninsula.
Pacific Middle Ranges: Las Cruces Biological Station
8. Fiery Throated Hummingbird
This bird’s iridescent feathers and coppery throat make the Fiery-Throated hummingbird look almost unreal - seeing them is an unforgettable experience. Image: ©Lynn Donovan Photography
Why I Love Them:
You would have to be asleep to miss this flamboyantly feathered hummer.
How to Identify a Fiery Throated Hummingbird:
The males are a whopping 4.13 to 4.33 inch /10.5 – 11cm, while females are only about half that size!. Their iridescent plumage looks green with a blue tinge, and from certain angles, their throats glitter with a golden-coppery color. Look for their shining blue crown and a small white spot right behind their eye.
The Best Places to Find a Fiery Throated Hummingbird:
Fiery throated hummingbirds are montane forest and cloud forest dwellers. They like clearings and second-growth forests and highland pastures with trees and shrubs. Look for them feeding at epiphytes (air dwelling plants)
The Mountains: Upper Mountains, Volcán Poás National Park, Volcán Irazú National Park , San Gerardo de Dota and San Gerardo, Cerro da la Muerta
9. The Mangrove Hummingbird
Photographer ©Agustín Murillo felt that he was marked forever when the endangered Mangrove hummingbird looked him in the eye.
Why I Love Them:
Endemic, threatened, range-restricted, the Mango Hummingbird is Costa Rica's rarest and one of the rarest in the world. The words of photographer Augustin Murillo say everything:
Have you ever had the experience of a seriously threatened species seeing you straight in the eye?, it feels weird to be honest, you have so much happiness but in turn so much sadness, and even more so when this species is only in your country, the same thing that saw you being born. Natural history shows us that 90 % of animal species that has been on our planet are no longer, but that a species is threatened by man is unfair 😔 Today this boy looked me in the eye, 3 time in my life, well, I know (@agust_naturephotography) that I'm crazy about hummingbirds, but this was different, you feel the powerlessness of them adapted for thousands of years in a mangrove, watching their home fade little by little waiting for us to give them a break, today this boy marked me forever, sent me a direct message to the eyes that he will never leave. I hope you have one day that chance, and I hope you feel the same way I do.
How to identify A Mangrove Hummingbird:
(3.74 to 4.33inches / 9.5-11cm) Its throat and breast are glittering bluish-green, their belly is whitish with bronze-green on the sides. Their slightly-forked tail is bronzy-green with white undertail-coverts (between the belly and the tail, these feathers cover the tail-base and help to smooth airflow for flight)
The female is similar, but her underside is primarily white, with green spotting on the throat and sides. Her malar area (cheeks) has a distinctive green pattern offset by white.
The Best (Only) Place to Find a Mangrove Hummingbird:
The only place to find the Mangrove hummingbird is the mangroves
Monteverde, Braulio Carillo National Park, or the wonderful Cinchona Feeders and the Coastline: Osa’s Yellow-billed Cotinga Sanctuary and Greentique at Aquíla de Osa
Interested in Seeing the birds or wildlife of Costa Rica? Contact us
The tiny White-crested Coquette has a distinctive white spike in the middle of its forehead. Restricted to lowlands and foothills of Costa Rica and Panama, this little beauty is a 10th hummingbird reason to visit Costa Rica! Greentique wildlife Refuge at Santa Juana and Greentique at Aquíla de Osa Image: ©Agustín Murillo
