Costa Rica

[thcia]

I am planning on going to Costa Rica in the next few months for some bird related research. I am interested in Tanagers, Toucans, Icterids, and other wildlife. Does anyone have any recommendations?

[Rotarran]

I like this new tool on ebird that lets you check out birding hotspots across the world.  So zero in on the location where you'll be doing most of your birding and do some research.  If you're still undecided, the hotspot explorer is still a good tool to help you pick the perfect location for birding: http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots

And then I would use their other tool, the point map, to see the frequency and how recently certain species were seen: http://ebird.org/ebird/map/

[Brian Bailey]

I've only been to Costa Rica once, so I can't offer much in the way of tips, but I second the idea of using eBird.  The new hotspot tool can be quite useful, but there are a couple of older methods I've used to prepare for trips as well:  search for a common species in the area you will be visiting, click on the points, and then open up some checklists.  The hotspot tool has mostly replaced this method, but it can still help if there aren't many identified hotspots where you're going.  

The other good tool is the email alerts.  Sign up for daily rare bird summaries for the area.

Wherever you go there, you are bound to see some great birds!

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Sent from my birdroid using Tapatalk.

[BetCrooks]

I found a site by a local birder that describes some of his trip to Costa Rica if you want to take a look just for fun.
http://justhereforthebird.blogspot.ca/2 ... chive.html

[Paul O'Toole]

An external fill flash may be handy in your in dark jungle areas.

[Brian Bailey]

There's now another eBird tool: Explore a Location.  For Costa Rica, you may have to do it by state rather than city or town, but you have the ability to drill down to the checklists to see exactly where each species was most recently seen.  I just tried it for Limón, where so far this year there are 179 species recorded on just 13 checklists.

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