The Birds of Costa Rica are Astonishing, Amazing and Colorful, they come in sizes from a small as your finger to standing taller than some children. And of Course a wide range of bird calls. For the birders among us, Costa Rica is possibly the best country in the world to visit.  

The Resplendent Quetzal belongs to the Trogan Family and its bright colored feathers and long tail can be seen in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica. It is one of Costa Rica’s many treasures and treat for birders to see. 

Costa Rica has four species of monkeys including The Squirrel Monkey, Howler monkeys, Spider monkeys and lastly the capuchin monkeys. You will also find these guys all over the country but mainly in the Coastal areas. The howlers are by far the loudest with a deep-throated call at 5 in the morning. And the Squirrel Monkey is the smallest. With the other two species being average size. What an amazing part of the Costa Rica Animals.

Sloths are located all over Costa Rica. If you have an eye for spotting things look to the trees. You might just find one taking a nap a slowly making his way to the tasty leaves they prefer. There are two species of Sloths in Costa Rica the Brown-Toed Sloth and the Three-Toed Sloth. 

The elusive Jaguar is Costa Rica’s largest cat. A very hard sight to see as their numbers have drastically diminished over the past years. Although, if you are fortunate enough to find one you will both in awe and scared for your life. They reside mainly in protected areas such as Corcovado National Park.

The Agouti is a tropical rodent that lives in both dry and wet rainforests. It looks like a combination of a squirrel and a rabbit, or a large guinea big. In Costa Rica you can find them in Corcovado National Park, Santa Rosa National Park and the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Agoutis are active during the day and are important seed dispersers for tropical rainforest plants. They bury seeds and only come back to them if they are unable to find fruit to eat. The seeds left behind grow and provide even more food the Agouti. 

 Territorio de Zaguates or in English land of Stray Dogs. This is an amazing territory located in the mountains of Heredia. Directly north of San Jose, you will find a large farm full of stray dogs.

There are many, many, snakes in Costa Rica. You will find them in trees under rocks, in places that you didn’t know they could fit. Although generally if you’re not bugging them they will leave you alone. One of the most aggressive and well-known snakes here is the Fer-de-lance. It isn’t the most venomous but still is very dangerous. They are aggressive and widespread throughout the country making them the leader of snake attacks. Other snakes you find here include the Eyelash viper, Coral snakes, and Boa constrictors also much more. 

The American Crocodile or in this case the Costa Rican Crocodile. They are our biggest reptiles and notably so. Crocodiles range in sizes of 3-4 meters in length and larger one reaching 5 or more meters. Crocodiles are found in Costa Rica waterways. Particularly you will find many at the Tarcoles bridge. heading toward the Pacific from San Jose. 

One of the most beautiful parts of the insect world is butterflies. They range in all shapes, sizes and color patterns here. The biggest and most popular among these is the Morpho Butterfly they grow up to 15 centimeters in width. The Morpho are found deep in the rainforest and love to come out during the day they bask in the sunlight and snack on nearby flowers. 

Mosquitos, also known as ‘zancudos’, are found no matter where you go in the world. They may be the most annoying bug of them all. Especially recently you have to watch how much you get bitten because of the Zika virus. Before you come to Costa Rica make sure to bring bug repellant in whatever form you can find.

You will not be disappointed by the abundance of fresh and saltwater fish in Costa Rica. Fishers have a great time trying to catch the wahoo, machaca, snook and the famous rainbow bass (also known as the guapote). If you are more interested in snorkeling or scuba diving in Costa Rica you can see spotted eagle rays, starfish, eels, sea turtles, dolphins, angel fish, sea horses and octopus!

Dolphins are a very excited and playful species and love jumping out of the water for you to see them alongside boats. You will find these delightful guys in most of Costa Rica’s waters, especially along the Golfo Dulce. Whale watching and Dolphin tours are a great way to see them.

Also among our marine friend are sea turtles. Firstly found crawling towards the open ocean when just hatched. You will find these guys on both the Caribbean side mainly in Tortuguero and the Pacific side. As adults, they come back to their starting point to lay eggs. Ones that come to Costa Rica are the Olive Ridley, the leatherback sea turtle, green, and hawksbill. In Las Baulas National Marine Park and Ostional Wildlife Refuge, you can see hundreds of turtles nesting and baby turtles making their way to the ocean in the morning.

These frogs are also referred to as Arrow Frogs. There are currently 8 known species in Costa Rica. The name sounds quite intimidating. That is why it is commonly believe that upon touching them, you will get poisoned and die. However, the poison is not potent enough to penetrate through our unbroken skin. This doesn’t mean you should go around and touching frogs, though. Perhaps an unknown cut will cause some trouble! 

Also referred to as the gaudy leaf frog or red – eyes leaf frog, it is easily recognized because of its hypnotic red eyes. You can spot these frogs throughout most of the country and once you are familiar with their distinctive call, you can even track them!

Rather than impressing us with dazzling colors, this frog mesmerizes us with its translucent qualities and unique looking eyes. The Glass Frogs are a little bit harder to spot so make sure to book an expert guide to help you. Does this little frog look familiar? That might be because Kermit the Frog is based on it!

Lemur Leaf Frogs have sadly been dropping in population. The likely explanation for this is that like some other frog species, they have been exposed to a fungus that caused infectious diseases. Fortunately, measures are being taken to conserve them. It would be a shame to lose such a beautiful creature with silvery eyes and piercing green skin!

The Atelopus, otherwise known as the Harlequin Toad, are small and brightly colored amphibians found from; Costa Rica even all the way to Bolivia. There is a high number of Harlequin Toad species and they have all been badly affected by the amphibian declines. Some of them are endangered where others have sadly become extinct.

The Cane Toad is pretty recognizable because of its size. They are generally very large with a maximum length leading up to 24 centimeters! You can spot the Cane Toad on the Central American mainland. If you want to see the larger ones, you should make way to less populated areas.