Costa Rica’s Migrant Wildlife Visitors

About 200 groups of birds pass through here; travel mostly at night. The arrival of turtles and whales promotes tourism in Costa Rica’s national parks and wild life refuges.

As Central America is the bridge between the northern and southern hemispheres, many different species whose life cycles are determined by the seasons pas through Costa Rica.

This is the case of neotropical migratory birds, which fly from north to south of the continent (September and October) and vice versa (March and April) when winter approaches.

The country has about 200 species of birds, mostly waterfowl but there are raptors, flycatchers, swallows and warblers, among others.

“Most spend the night, but yes raptors seen during the day,” said Julio Sanchez, Ornithologists’ Union, adding: “They use a strategy that take flight or thermal updrafts to gain altitude and plan to gain distance. That allows them to save 50% of energy. ”

Meanwhile, whales and sea turtles come to the country according to their reproductive cycles.

Humpback whales from the south and from the north are present in two seasons.

Thanks to their visit, there are tour operators dedicated to whale watching in Drake Bay and Ballena, in the South Pacific. According to a study Keto, tours generated a profit of $600,000 a year.

Meanwhile, six of the seven existing sea turtle species nest in Costa Rica, in Tortuguero, on the Caribbean, and Ostional Matapalo, in the North Pacific.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.