COSTA RICA ANIMALS

In a country only the size of West Virginia, there are about as many species of Costa Rica birds as in the entire United States.

To put things into perspective, there are about 1,000 kinds of birds in all of Europe--from the southern tip of Spain to the top of Scandinavia.

There are 925 bird species in the U.S. and some 900 (894 have actually been recorded) in Costa Rica, even though it is one of the smallest countries on the planet.

Bird expert Richard Garrigues identifies 882 Costa Rica birds here

UPDATE Five more species of birds, previously unrecorded in Costa Rica, were seen in 2009.

Of particular note is that one of these birds,the Christmas Shearwater, is a rare puffer distributed across numerous archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean including Hawaii. It is estimated that only some 5000 individuals of this specie exists in the wild.

Perhaps it is extending its range.

More species of butterflies here than on the entire African continent!

And, astoundingly, in a country that is only makes up only 1/10,000 of the world, ONE OUT OF EVERY 20 PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH IS FOUND HERE!

For many, a Costa Rica vacation is not complete without looking for the exotic quetzal, whale watching, or witnessing the nesting of green sea turtles.

Here's a sampling of Costa Rica animals you may come across when you travel Costa Rica.

Popular Costa Rica Animals

• Scarlet Macaws
  

• Resplendent Quetzals
  
• Motmots
  
• Hummingbirds
  
• Toucans
  
• Butterflies and Moths
  
• Humpback Whales
  
• Sperm Whales
  
• Wild Cats
  
• Whale Sharks
  

Sea Turtles



Most people don't know that, along with a few species of crocodiles, sea turtles are the oldest reptile on the planet.

They've been on earth since the dinosaurs.

Actually, they were on the planet tens of millions of years before the first dinosaur existed.

On your Costa Rica vacation, you'll have the opportunity to visit the largest green sea turtle wildlife reserve in the world at Tortuguero, on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast where sometimes there are 30,000 green sea turtles nesting.

Or, when you travel Costa Rica to its lovely Pacific Gold Coast, your Costa Rica vacation experience will include witnessing the spectacular arribadas of olive ridley sea turtles, one of the largest on earth.

We've devoted an entire section (many web pages) to these magnificent, now endangered, animals so click here to start learning about when and where to go when you travel to Costa Rica to find magnificent sea turtles

Songs of the Sea

From the largest whales to smallest fish and crustacean, the seas are alive with Whale sounds and more

Conservation and Preservation

• Sin of Shark Finning
  


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