Costa Rica Bird Gallery

Check out what Zoo Ave and Costa Rica have to offer bird enthusiasts. Costa Rica is home to over 850 species of birds (a fact made available at Zoo Ave), which is more than the United States and Canada provide, combined. At the zoo you can find everything from parrots and toucans, to the beautiful and elusive resplendant quetzal. Anyway, I will include the pictures of the birds below with any relevant explanation as provided by the displays at Zoo Ave. Enjoy!

Buffon's Macaw. The Buffon's Macaw is one of the rarest and most elusive birds in Costa Rica. It inhabits the canopies of lowland forests of Costa Rica and feeds on leguminous plants. It has become increasingly scarce because of deforestation, which obviously causes a loss of habitat. Through the help of organizations like Zoo Ave, there is still hope to save this species from extinction through protection of feeding and nesting sites.

Hybrid Macaw. The Hybrid Macaw is the result of crossbreeding between the Great Green Macaw and the Scarlet Macaw back in the 1980's. Let it be known that Zoo Ave does not condone the crossbreeding of these wild animals because such a practice can potentially lead to undesirable behavioral effects.

Scarlet Macaw. The Scarlet Macaw is a beautiful bird that once roamed both dry and rainforests all over Costa Rica. They now largely reside in the Osa Peninsula, with some 2000 birds there. Due largely to efforts from Zoo Ave, there is hope for this species. The organization has had a lot of success breeding the scarlet macaw in captivity and releasing them into the wild.

Blue and Gold Macaw. The Blue and Gold Macaw is native to tropical South America. These birds fly in pairs and remain monogamous throughout their lifetimes.

Blue-headed Pionus Parrot. This parrot inhabits humid forests in lowland areas. Its habitat ranges from South America up to Costa Rica in the north.

Spectacled Owl. The spectacled owl inhabits dense forests and usually hunts around its edges. It most often hunts during the night, but it is also known to hunt during the day--during which it is often attacked by groups of jays.

Whit-crowned Pionus Parrot. The white-crowned pionus parrot feeds on seeds of various trees, including guaba, palm, and pejibaye.

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. Pygmy Owls can be found in both deciduous and evergreen forests, as well as in cities that have tall trees for nesting. They hunt mostly at dusk

Common Barn Owl. Prefers open country, as well as urban and suburban areas. Barn owls differ from typical owls in that they have heart-shaped rather than round facial discs. Barn owls often nest in deserted buildings and church steeples. This bird hunts only at night for rats mice bats, sleeping birds and large insects. The barn owl is one of the few birds that live throughout the entire world.

Mealy Parrot. The mealy parrot is Costa Rica's largest Amazon parrot. It inhabits wooded areas, staying mostly in the canopy. The mealy parrot eats fruit, seeeds, buds, flowers, and tree bark, and it has preference for the fruit of certain palm trees and guaba trees. It nests in natural cavities of dead trees and the population decreases in direct proportion with deforesataion. It is also threatened by poaching for the pet trade.

Albino Parrot.

Aztec Conure (Parakeet). This parakeet lives mainly in the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica. It prefers to inhabit wooded areas, especially along river banks, where it can be observed eating Ficus fruit, guaba, jícaros, and jabillo. They nest in old termite nests where they dig a hole and lay 3 to 4 eggs a year during the dry season and early rainy season. They are highly social and fly very fast in well-coordinated groups of up to 30 birds. It is considered an endangered species because of deforestaion and the effects to its habitat.

Silver Pheasant. The Silver Pheasant is a bird from the pheasant faimly Phasianidae and can be found in eastern Burma, southwestern Cambodia, southwestern China, the island of Hainan, northern Laos, sourth Thailand, and southern Vietnam. Needless to say, you can't find this in Costa Rica, except at Zoo Ave.

Chestnut Mandibled Toucan. This is Costa Rica's largest toucan. This toucan can often be seen calling from atop the canopy. It can be found in the same Caribbean lowland areas as the keel-billed toucan, which include Cahuita and Tortuguero National Parks. You can also find it in the southern Pacific lowlands.

Keel-Billed Toucan. Unfortunately, these beautiful toucans are often kept as pets and are fed protein-deficient diest of only fruit.

Great Currasow (female). The great currasow, often called "pavón" (or large turkey) by the locals because its resemblance to a turkey, is highly threatened because of habitat destruction and hunting. It doesn't help matters that it has a very low reproductive rate.

Great Currasow (male).