Hummingbirds of Costa Rica – Overview

Costa Rica is one of Central America’s hummingbird hotspots, with approximately 53 species recorded across a small, but remarkably diverse landscape. From the lowland Caribbean and Pacific forests to cloud forests, highland páramo, and dry tropical forests in the northwest, hummingbirds occupy a wide range of elevations and habitats in this compact country.

In Costa Rica, you can watch hermits working dim forest understories, tiny coquettes and emeralds hovering at flowering hedges and forest edges, and larger species visiting feeders and flowering trees in lodges and gardens. Steep elevation gradients and short travel distances allow for the observation of a high number of species in a single trip by combining lowlands, foothills, and highlands.

Endemic hummingbirds of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is home to two hummingbird species that are not found anywhere else in the world. The Coppery-headed Emerald (Microchera cupreiceps) is a highland species tied mainly to the middle and upper elevations of northern and central Costa Rica, where it uses forest edges, second growth, and flowering gardens for feeding and nesting. In contrast, the Mangrove Hummingbird (Chrysuronia boucardi) is restricted to Pacific-coast mangroves and nearby flowering trees, making it one of Costa Rica’s most localized and habitat-specific hummingbirds.

Threatened hummingbirds of Costa Rica

The Mangrove Hummingbird (Chrysuronia boucardi) is endemic to Costa Rica and classified as endangered, with a small population tied to a narrow band of Pacific-coast mangrove habitat. Ongoing loss and degradation of mangroves, changes in coastal land use, and pressure on key nectar plants affect the long-term prospects of this species. Encountering a Mangrove Hummingbird in the field highlights how coastal conservation in Costa Rica is directly linked to the future of one of its most specialized hummingbirds.

Anthony has photographed 50 of the roughly 53 hummingbird species recorded in Costa Rica, documenting birds from lowland rainforest and mangrove edges to middle-elevation cloud forests and highland ridges. The first section highlights the hummingbirds photographed in Costa Rica, and the second showcases additional Costa Rican species documented in neighboring countries, building a more complete picture of the country’s hummingbird fauna.

Major hummingbird habitats in Costa Rica

• Lowland Caribbean and Pacific forests: hermits, jacobins, and other hummingbirds using humid rainforest, forest edges, and river corridors.

• Foothills and cloud forests: a rich mix of mid-elevation hummingbirds at forest edges, flowering clearings, and gardens along the Caribbean and Pacific slopes.

• Highland forests and páramo are high-elevation species that use cool, wet forests, elfin woods, and páramo shrublands on Costa Rica’s main mountain ranges.

• Dry forests and mangroves – hummingbirds adapted to seasonal dry tropical forests in the northwest and Mangrove Hummingbird (Chrysuronia boucardi) along the Pacific-coast mangrove systems.

Planning a hummingbird trip

If you are interested in traveling with Anthony, joining a small-group hummingbird-focused tour, or reading detailed trip reports about the species and regions he has worked in, visit the Travel with Me page and the Hummingbird Expeditions section of the blog to explore current opportunities and past expeditions.

Hummingbird species Anthony photographed in Costa Rica

The hummingbirds listed in this section were photographed in Costa Rica during Anthony’s fieldwork. Together, they provide a first-hand look at the diversity of Costa Rica’s hummingbird community across different regions, elevations, and habitats.