Costa Rica Natural History Resource Guide

Richard Garrigues & Robert Dean. The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide. Cornell University Press.

Richard Garrigues & Robert Dean (illustrator). The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide. Details. 416 pages. 166 color plates. Cornell University Press, April 2007. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Birds of Mexico and Central America (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) by Ber van Perlo. Princeton University Press.

Ber van Perlo. Birds of Mexico and Central America. The color plates in this new illustrated checklist are excellent and at least comparable in quality to the illustrations in Perlo's Birds of Western Africa. This small paperback can be carried at times and in places where birders might leave behind the detailed but heavier guides by Howell & Webb, Stiles and Ridgely. It's also a very convenient study guide and includes illustrations of migrants and hypothetical species. (2006). 336 pages. 98 color plates illustrating more than 1,500 species. Princeton University Press: US | CA || HarperCollins: US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Stiles, Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica

F. Gary Stiles, Alexander Skutch (contributor), Dana Gardner (illustrator). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press and Helm, 1991. US | UK

iJET Weekly Travel Intelligence Report - Costa Rica. (PDF download from Amazon.com.) US

Globetrotter Travel Map: Costa Rica. New Holland 2005. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Nigel Wheatley & David Brewer. Where to Watch Birds in Central America & the Caribbean. 432 pages. Helm & Princeton University Press. 2002. Pages 73-108 cover Costa Rica. US | UK

Daniel H. Janzen. Costa Rican Natural History. 816 pages. University of Chicago Press 1983. US | UK

Bret M. Whitney & David L. Ross, Jr. Voices of Costa Rica Birds: Caribbean Slope. 2 CDs. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. 1995. US

David L. Ross, Jr. Voices of the Cloud Forest. CD. Monteverde. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. 1992. US

Michael & Patricia Fogden. Hummingbirds of Costa Rica. 154 pages. Firefly Books 2006. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Philip J. DeVries. The Butterflies of Costa Rica & their natural history: Volume 1: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae. Princeton University Press, 1987. 456 pages. US | UK

Philip J. DeVries. The Butterflies of Costa Rica & their natural history: Volume 2 - Riodinidae (Metalmarks). Princeton University Press, 1997. 368 pages. US | UK

Jeffrey C. Miller, Daniel H. Janzen & Winifred Hallwachs. 100 Caterpillars: Portraits from the Tropical Forests of Costa Rica. 300 pages. Belknap Press 2006. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Fiona Reid. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America & Southeast Mexico. 334 pages. 48 fine color plates. Oxford University Press 1997. US | UK

Mark Wainwright. The Natural History of Costa Rican Mammals. 384 pages. Zona Tropical, 2002. US | UK

Craig Guyer & Maureen A. Donnelly. Amphibians and Reptiles of La Selva, Costa Rica and the Caribbean Slope: A comprehensive guide. University of California Press.

Craig Guyer & Maureen A. Donnelly. Amphibians and Reptiles of La Selva, Costa Rica and the Caribbean Slope: A comprehensive guide. 420 pages. University of California Press 2005. Hardcover: US | UK | DE | FR | CA
Paperback: US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Jay M. Savage. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A herptofauna between two seas. Photographs by Michael and Patricia Fogden. Covers the 178 amphibians and 218 reptiles known from Costa Rica. 1056 pages. 516 color plates, 335 line drawings, 396 maps. University of Chicago Press. 2002. US | UK

Twan Leenders. A Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. 305 pages. 86 color and 100 b/w plates. Zona Tropical 2001. US | UK

Willow Zuchowski. A Guide to Tropical Plants of Costa Rica. More than 540 photographs by Turid Forsyth. 529 pages. Zona Tropical 2005. US

Gordon W. Frankie, Alfonso Mata & S. Bradleigh Vinson (eds.) Biodiversity Conservation in Costa Rica: Learning the Lessons in a Seasonal Dry Forest. 341 pages. University of California Press, 2004. US | UK

Nalini M. Nadkarni & Nathaniel T. Wheelwright (eds.) Monteverde: Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest. (Costa Rica). 598 pages. Oxford University Press 2000. US | UK

Lucinda A. McDade, Kamaljit S. Bawa, Henry A. Hespenheide & Gary S. Hartshorn (eds.) La Selva: Ecology and Natural History of a Neotropical Rain Forest. (Costa Rica). 486 pages, 10 halftones, 17 maps, 69 line drawings, 79 tables. University of Chicago Press. 1993. US | UK

William Allen. Green Phoenix: Restoring the Tropical Forests of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. 336 pages. Oxford University Press. 2001. US | UK

Steffen Förster. The Dragonflies of Central America exclusive of Mexico and the West Indies. A Guide to their Identification. Covers 370 species. Numerous b/w illustrations. Gunnar Rehfeldt. 2nd edition, 2001. DE.

Aaron D. Sekerak. Travel & Site Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, with side trips to Panama. 256 pages. Lone Pine, 1996. US | UK

Dennis Rogers. Birding Site Guides - Costa Rica & Panama. Cinclus Publications 1996. US

Les D. Beletsky. Costa Rica: Travellers' Wildlife Guide. There's not much in this series for serious twitchers. 440 pages. Interlink 2004 (1998). US | UK

Carrol L. Henderson. Field Guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica. 560 pages. 375 color and 75 b/w photos. Table of contents. University of Texas Press, 2002. US | UK

Christopher P. Baker. Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica. A requirement for writing Lonely Planet, Moon, Footprint, etc. handbooks seems to be to know nothing about natural history. This one appears to be the best of the lot, but they're all excess baggage. 857 pages. Avalon. 5th ed. 2004. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Harry S. Pariser. Explore Costa Rica. 624 pages. Manatee Press 2006. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Beatrice Blake. The New Key to Costa Rica. Details. 560 pages. Ulysses Press (18th ed. 2006). US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Peter Hutchison. Footprint Costa Rica Handbook. 416 pages. Footprint 2004. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Anthony G. Coates (ed.) Central America: A Natural & Cultural History. The result of the Paseo Pantera Project. Coates is with STRI. 320 pages, 85 b/w & 58 color plates. Yale University Press, 1998. REVIEWS. Paperback. US | UK

Wildlife

Official List of the Birds of Costa Rica 2006 (pdf)

Finding Birds in Costa Rica by Richard Garrigues. Click on the link in the left nav column for the latest issue of his essential Gone Birding Newsletter.

Amphibia Web

Antplants of Costa Rica

Ants of Costa Rica

WorldTwitch Costa Rica Bird Reports and Birding Trip Reports

WorldTwitch Costa Rica Bird Links

Articles about birds in Costa Rica in The Condor.

Caterpillars and their adults of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste

Caterpillars & Parasitoids of a Costa Rican Tropical Wet Forest (La Selva Biological Station)

Dragonflies and Damselflies of La Selva, Costa Rica

EMBL Reptile Database

Endemic Birds

Great Green Macaw Research and Conservation - Lapa Verde

Friends of the Great Green Macaw

Interactive Key to the Katydids of La Selva, Costa Rica

Notes on the behaviour of Bare-necked Umbrellabird in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Costa Rica. By Michael P.L. Fogden and Patricia M. Fogden, Cotinga 8 (August 1997). Part I. || Part II.

The known Saturniidae fauna of Costa Rica

The known Sphingidae fauna of Costa Rica

Wild Herps

Birding Tour Operators

Adventure Camera

Alexander Villegas of Monteverde

Amazonian Adventures

American Birding Association

Audubon Naturalist Society

Audubon Society of New Hampshire

Avian Adventures

Best Adventures Travel

Bird Treks

Birdfinders

Birding Club of Costa Rica

Cheeseman's Ecology Safaris

Cinclus Tours

Cloud Forest Guide Center

Cloud Forest Tours

Condor Journeys

Connecticut Audubon Society

Focus on Nature Tours

Footprint Adventures

G.A.P. Adventures

Generous Adventures Travel Auctions

Horizontes Nature Tours

Jacamar Birding Tours

Dr. Humberto Jiménez-Saa

Lagamar Expeditions

LARC

Last Frontiers

Lifebird Nature Tours

Mark Smith Nature Tours

Okeanos Aggressor - Expensive dive trips to Cocos Island, which has three endemic species of birds: Cocos Cuckoo, Cocos Flycatcher and Cocos Finch. Birders can be landed on the island on a daily basis, weather permitting, with prior arrangements. (Wheatley & Brewer 2002).

Ornithology Expeditions

Outpostravel

Safaris Corobicí

Sawtelle Nature Tours

Schiffornis Bird Tours

The Traveling Naturalist

Tropical Birding

Undersea Hunter - Another dive ship that sails to Cocos Island.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours

Worldwide Holidays Direct

Parks & Nature Reserves

Butterfly Botanical Gardens - Manuel Antonio

Clickable Map with links to protected areas (Guias Costa Rica)

Cloudbridge Private Nature Reserve [Map showing acommodations]

Cocos Island

Los Cusingos Neotropical Bird Sanctuary

Richard Garrigues' National Parks page from Finding Birds in Costa Rica

Jardín Gaia - Closed

Herman Institute of Biological Studies - Playa Azul [Bird list]

The Monteverde Butterfly Garden

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

National Parks - Directory listing, as they don't seem to have an index page for parks.

Osa Natural

Own a Rainforest

Parques Nacionales (La Nación)

Plinio Park - Manuel Antonio

Private Wildlife Reserves - List with links

Douglas Robinson Marine Turtle Research Center - Ostional, but temporarily in San Pablo de Heredia after the center was destroyed by fire.

Save Rincon Rainforest - Important land purchase project in Guanacaste.

Tirimbina Rainforest Center - Sarapiquí

Tortuguero National Park [Bird Checklist]

Organizations

ADELA - Acción de Lucha Antipetrolera en Costa Rica

ASCOMOTI - Association for the Conservation of the Mono Titi - Subspecies of Squirrel Monkey on Pacific slope of Costa Rica, down to 1,500 from a population of 200,000 in 1983, caused in part by the construction of destructive resorts listed in this directory.

Asociación Conservacionista de Monteverde / Bosque Eterno de los Niños

Proyecto Campanario - Osa Peninsula

Caribbean Conservation Corporation

Corcovado Foundation

Costa Rica Tourist Board Certification of Sustainable Tourism - Utterly useless, government greenwash of mega-developments. See the following article for more information:

Comparing the ICT's Certificate of Sustainable Tourism and the New Key to Costa Rica's Sustainable Tourism Rating. By Beatrice Blake, August 2001.

Kids Saving the Rainforest

Las Nubes - Center for Neotropical Conservation and Research - Chirripó National Park

Organization for Tropical Studies

Own a Rainforest

Fundación Ríos Tropicales - fighting dams on the Pacuare and Reventazón Rivers.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - Long lining and shark finning are out of control in the waters around Cocos Island, with no opposition except from Sea Shepherd. UPDATE June 3, 2002: Costa Rican government brings bogus charges against Sea Shepherd captain to protect illegal fishing around Cocos Island.

Sea Turtle Restoration Project - The most important Eastern Pacific Leatherback Turtle nesting beach at Playa Grande is threatened by a luxury house development project called Playa Grande Estates. 22 August 2002.

Transparency International - International corruption rankings. In 2001, Costa Rica had a Corruption Perception Index of 4.5, about midway between Bangladesh (0.4) and Finland (9.9).

Tropical Science Center