A Birdwatcher’s Paradise
Morning birding on the UGA Costa Rica Campus.
A little less than twelve hours later, you find yourself back at the porch. The puffy white clouds are dispersed throughout the clear blue sky. The moon fades in the distance, but still remains in sight. You put on a pair of binoculars hoping to spot the bellbird, the vibrant colors of the quetzal, the enormous lightly-colored bill of the toucan, or even one of the fifty different types of hummingbirds.
With just about 850 different species of birds, Costa Rica is often referred to as a birdwatcher’s paradise. 600 of these bird species call Costa Rica their permanent home year-round, while the remaining 200 are migratory. The birds and the plants have an established symbiotic relationship. The plants within Costa Rica offer the birds an abundance of fruits and flowers. In turn, the birds pollinate the flowers and disperse the seeds.
You might be wondering what factors contributed to the accumulation of this incredible amount of diversity. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were prevalent early on in the Earth’s history. When the continents became one, Central America, became the bridge between two lands. New species migrated into the region from both the north and the south.
The group doesn’t have to venture too far from the porch to see one of three vultures soaring across the sky. The other two large birds characterized by their hooked bills and bald heads remain cooped up in the tree over-head. One of the group members spots a brown bird with a yellow-belly and a mohican.
“This is a tody. Researchers have highlighted what appears in these regions and what doesn’t in order to help birdwatchers distinguish among the various kinds of flycatchers,” Louise explains.
The group traces not only the motion of the birds’ flight, but the sounds they produce. “Pia-Pia” echoes throughout the area. Unlike the English names, the Spanish names of birds will often reflect the birds’ natural sounds.
As numerous birds continue to migrate from tree to tree, we stop to admire the Baltimore oriole and its black head and orange belly. Meanwhile, Jaydin snaps a photo of the colorful patterns on the head and feathers of the turquoise-blue Mot-Mot that that stands perched high upon the tree. The tropical king bird’s yellow belly and grey head captivates our attention even as it sits still in an upright position.The chlorophonia, another brightly colored bird with a greenish color, blends in among the green leaves of the trees, while the yellow-throated euphonia stands out with the bright yellow patch on its forehead.
The clay-colored thrush, Costa Rica’s national bird, also flies by. This bird, which is found throughout almost all of the regions in Costa Rica, changes its call during mating season. The mating season aligns with the green season, which is important for the agriculture within the nation. Farmers will track the changes in the mating calls to determine the onset of the rain.
The sound of the woodpecker pervades in the background as the guide points out the long-tailed mannequin. Louise explains that the two male long-tailed mannequins dance and sing together instead of looking for a female on their own. Each male sets off in search of a partner who will act as his wing man and help him attract a female even though the female will only mate with the alpha male in the end. The group also spots the small head and the long neck of the chachalaca, which closely resembles a turkey.
At the end of the morning birding, Theodora is pleased with the ideal weather conditions that have made it possible for the group to see a significant number of birds within a short span of time.
“I’ve never seen so many birds in an hour — it’s either raining or misty in the morning,” she says.
The bird watching allows for the observers to see the birds in their natural habitat without holding these creatures captive within a confined space. Changes in bird populations can be indicators of fluctuations in the environmental conditions. The knowledge we gain about birds as well as other species can help us track the organisms’ responses to changes in the environment. In turn, we can become better equipped to establish a more sustainable relationship with nature,
“advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge we acquire” (Earth Charter, Principle 8).
