Which is the Best Month for Birding in Costa Rica?

When to go birding in Costa Rica? What's the best time of year? These are a couple of the most frequent questions birders ask and with good reason. No matter where we go birding, we all want to visit when we can see the most birds. It's a vital consideration for every birding trip, a key factor to figure when to visit, especially if you hope to do several long-distance birding trips per year.

In Costa Rica, we're lucky to have fantastic birding all year long. Really! No matter when you go birding in Costa Rica, go with the best local guides and you'll have a very good chance of seeing Great Green Macaws, Scarlet Macaws and other parrots, beautiful manakins, trogons and Resplendent Quetzal, lots of tanagers and hummingbirds, and many other species.

So, if Costa Rica is always great for birding, why do so many birders visit from January to March? There's a quick answer; rain and snow.

Visit Costa Rica in the winter and you can expect lots of sunny, dry weather. Maybe not in every part of the country but definitely on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. During the winter months, it can still rain in the mountains and on the Caribbean side but, overall, it rains much less than other times of the year.

As far as snow goes, you won't need to worry about that, at least if you go birding in Costa Rica! It means we'll never see a Snowy Owl, Pine Grosbeaks, or other beautiful birds of the far north but 900 plus tropical bird species might be a fair trade!

Including Red-headed Barbets!

With that in mind, which is the best month for birding in Costa Rica? The answer depends on what your bird targets are and how you want to watch birds. Certainly, to take advantage of dry season weather, the months of January, February, and March are the most popular. This is the major high season and yes, it is wonderful birding.

However, if you don't mind visiting Costa Rica in fall, September and October can also be fantastic. Both these months see lots of migrants moving through the country, it tends to be drier on the Caribbean slope, and cloudy weather can make for exciting avian activity.

These months can be great but there's still a chance of heavy rains. It's impossible to predict but there might be some nice weather or major rain, especially in the mountains and on the Pacific slope.

Another good month is April. This month is when many birds start nesting and more may be singing. It's also a great time for migration, especially during the first two weeks. April gets some rain but not usually as much as some other months.

If I had to pick one month to visit Costa Rica for birding, I would probably go with April but honestly, it's going to be fantastic no matter when you visit. All the resident birds will be here! Just remember that the high season is hot and dry but there are a lot of tourists.

Keel-billed Motmot is a pretty nice resident!

If you want to visit Costa Rica in winter, it's a good idea to plan your trip several months or even a year in advance. Come to Costa Rica in other months and you'll run into some rain at least, especially in May, June, much of July, August, and especially November. December can be rainy too, especially on the Caribbean slope but it tends to be a transition between the wet and dry seasons.

Need help planning your trip? How about joining a birding tour to Costa Rica to cut costs? Contact us at sharpbill@lifertours.com - we love talking birds!