On a 4 day trip to Redwood Beach Resort, including visits to the estuary (adjacent to Padre Ramos) and Cosiguina volcano, late December (27-31) 2010, I identified the following 82 species. I was especially amazed at the number of birds in the small (curvy) river just next to the resort. One morning at 6.15 it was crowded with 6 types of heron (little blue, great blue, green, tricolored and snowy and great egret), two white ibis, a group of about 14 black-necked stilts, a willet, a few blue-winged teals and several smaller waders. On the dead tree above all this was an osprey watching, while a ringed kingfisher flew in, all this accompanied by a concert of flocks of orange-chinned parakeets and great-tailed grackles that were bathing around the corner. Further up the river were many other birds taking their morning bath or drinking from the river, such as painted buntings, a mangrove cuckoo and a northern waterthrush. From the top of Cosiguina we saw a pair of scarlet macaws. Great birding!
I added two particularly interesting species that I did not see this time but that were there during our visit in November 2009: Roseate Spoonbills and the Rufous-browed Peppershrike. Please
1. Magificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)
2. Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula)
3. Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)
4. Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
5. Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja)
6. White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)
7. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
8. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias),
9. Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)
10. Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
11. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
12. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
13. Great Egret (Casmaerodius albus)
14. Green-backed (Green) Heron (Butorides s. virescens)
15. Northern Jacana (Jacana sinosa)
16. Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
17. Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
18. Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
19. Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
20. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) (most likely; could also have been greater..)
21. Wilson's Plover (Charadrius wilsonia)
22. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
23. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia)
24. Sanderling (Calidris alba),
25. Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
26. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
27. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
28. Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)
29. Crested Caracara (Polyborus plancus)
30. Mangrove Black Hawk (Buteogallus subtilis)
31. Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii)
32. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
33. Large white raptor (in flight) with black wing tips and black tail band. Probably white-tailed hawk
34. Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
35. Red-billed or Pale-vented Pigeon (in the distance on treetops)
36. Short-billed Pigeon (Columba nigrirostris)
37. Ruddy Ground-Dove (Columbina talpacoti)
38. Common Ground-Dove (Columbina passerina)
39. Blue Ground-Dove (Claravis pretiosa)
40. Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
41. Inca Dove (Columbina inca)
42. White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
43. White-tipped Dove (Leptotila verreauxi)
44. Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) (a pair in flight at Cosiguina Volcano)
45. Yellow-naped Parrot (Amazona auropalliata) (=Donguito, the pet-parrot)
46. Orange-chinned Parakeet (Brotogeris jugularis)
47. Pacific Parakeet (Aratinga holochlora)
48. Mangrove Cuckoo (Coccycus minor)
49. Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana)
50. Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila)
51. Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris)
52. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
53. Northern Rough-winged Swallow, (Stelgidopteryx serripennis),
54. Mangrove Swallow (Tachycinete albilinea)
55. Slaty-tailed Trogon (Trogon Massena)
56. Black-headed Trogon (Trogon melanocephalus),
57. Ringed Kingfisher (Ceryle torquata)
58. Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)
59. American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chloroceryle aenea)
60. Hoffman's Woodpecker (Melanerpes Hoffmannii)
61. Nutting's Flyccatcher (Myiarchus nuttingi)
62. Brown-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus tyrannulus)
63. Rose-throated Becard (Pachyramphus aglaiae)
64. Tropical Kingbird (Tyrrannus melancholicus)
65. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrrannus forficatus)
66. Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarhynchus pitangua)
67. Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus)
68. Social Flycatcher (Myiozetetes similes)
69. Rufous-naped Wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha)
70. Banded Wren (Thryothorus pleurostictus)
71. Clay-colored Robin (Turdus grayi)
72. White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta Formosa)
73. Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cyclarhis gujanensis)
74. Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
75. Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)
76. Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis)
77. Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina)
78. Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)
79. Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)
80. Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives)
81. Northern/Baltimore Oriole (Icterus g. galbula)
82. Orange-headed oriole seen from the front/distance only; either Altamira or Streak-backed Oriole
83. Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)
84. Stripe-headed Sparrow (Aimophila ruficauda)
Books used:
-Stiles and Skutch, 1989, 'A guide to the Birds of Costa Rica';
- Garrigues en Dean, 2007, 'The Birds of Costa Rica, a field guide' and
- Ridgely and Gwynne, 1989, 'A Guide to the birds of Panama with Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras'