Costa Rica
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Wildlife

Costa Rica supports an enormous variety of wildlife, due in large part to its geograpic position between the North and South American continents, its neotropical climate, and its wide variety of habitats. Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species, which represents nearly 4% of the total species estimated worldwide, making Costa Rica one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Of these 500,000 species, a little more than 300,000 are insects.
 
 
 
 

There are nearly 900 species (600 being resident and the remainder being migratory) including macaws, fiery billed and chestnut mandibled toucans, pelicans, frigates, cormorants, 5 species of kingfisher including the brilliant emerald amazon, woodpecker, motmots, woodcreepers and various vultures and hawks.
 
Costa Rica has 10 of the 40 species of trogons: brightly colored, long-tailed, short-beaked, pigeon-sized, forest-dwelling tropical birds, The beautiful, long tail, quetzal is easier heard than seen and is mostly in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. They tend to hang out high in the canopy, swooping down to human eye level on occasion – mostly when chasing a female.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Costa Rica’s butterfly species make up approximately 90% of all Central American butterflies, 66% of neo-tropical butterflies and 18% of the world’s total butterfly species.

Perhaps the most recognizable of Costa Rica’s huge butterfly population, the blue morpho is identified primarily by its electric blue and black wings,  with its brown and black underside and its lilting, casual flight. It is the most common morpho in Central America, and prefers habitats between sea level and 6,000 feet.
 
There are about 1,251 species of butterflies and at least 8,000 species of moths.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Costa Rica is home to around 175 amphibians, 85% of which are frogs and approximately 225 reptiles which includes over 60 species of lizard. There are about 120 species of snake of which 20 are poisonous.
 
We saw three types of iguanas – brown, green and orange and many lizards. The green basilisk lizard is nicknamed "Jesus Christ" because of its ability to 'walk on water' when fleeing predators. When the punk rocker-looking lizard feels threatened, it can splay out large fringes on its hind legs, increasing the surface area of its feet, and run across the surface of a river for 65 feet or so. There are also big-headed anoles, leaf litter geckos and many frogs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There are nearly 250 species of mammal of which nearly half are bats. White-faced capuchin, Spider, mantled howler and squirrel monkeys are present in most of the national parks. The capuchin and mantled howler can often be seen from the roadside in other areas too. Two and three-toed sloths, racoons, white-nosed coatis, agoutis, anteaters, peccaries (wild pigs) and tapir are other common mammals.

Costa Rica has six endangered members of the cat family - jaguar, jaguarundi, ocelot, oncilla, puma and margay, all of which are rarely seen.
 
 
 
 
  Birds  Butterflies  Reptiles & Amphibians  Mammals