Page 122 - CARIBE TOURIST GUIDE

prey and vultures in Costa Rica
English name
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Hook-billed Kite Swallow-tailed Kite Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk Mississippi Kite Plumbeous Kite Snail Kite
Harris’s Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Short-tailed Hawk Swainson’s Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel Merlin Aplomado Falcon Peregrine Falcon
d. Tourism Planning and Development Camacho. Photos: Fundación Rapaces. H. Elizondo, Rodolfo Lizano and Rafael
l. (506) 2299-5800
esign: Floria Leiva.
122
Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus)
Mississippi Kite
(Ictinia mississippiensis)
Broad-winged Hawk
(Buteo platypterus)
Swainson Hawk
(Buteo swainsoni)
Migration of
birds of prey
Costa Rica is one of five global bird migration hotspots, areas that see the arrival of over a million birds per season. These sites are Kèköldi, our emblematic site in the Caribbean region, as well as Veracruz in Mexico, Eilat in Israel and Batumi in the Dominican Republic.
Currently, 74 species of raptors are known to inhabit Costa Rica:
Why is the Caribbean region of Costa Rica such an important region for the migration of diurnal birds of prey?
It is estimated that over sixteen species pass through Kèköldi, Costa Rica, on their journey to overwintering habitats. This is because of the unique natural conditions of the region, which form
a sort of funnel that concentrates and diverts the passage of birds of prey from North America, forcing them to pass through the narrow geographic strip.
Most migratory
birds of prey
require high
temperatures and
favorable winds to
minimize the use of
their energy reserves
during migration, which
means that they must fly over
warm land in coastal regions. The importance of the region is also due to the way solar radiation heats up the air on the plains during the day and causes it to rise in a swirling pattern called a thermal current. These currents are very useful for birds, which make use of them to rise up and advance with very little effort, like
sailboats pushed along by the wind on the open sea.
to Costa Rica
4
40 Accipitriformes (Eagles, Sparrowhawks and the White-tailed Kite)
Peregrine Falcon
Cathartiformes (New World Vultures)
Falco peregrinus
Photo: Pablo Camacho
In the Caribbean plains of Costa Rica, make sure to look skyward during the months of October and November. Soon, the impressive spectacle of the raptor migration will be visible up there, with over three million birds
of prey (hawks, kites, falcons, ospreys and turkey vultures) crossing through the country during the migration period in a phenomenon naturalists term the “rivers of birds”.
13 17
Merlin
Falconiformes (Falcons and the Crested Caracara)
Strigiformes (Owls and Barn Owls)
Falco columbarius
Photo: Pablo Camacho
MIGRATION OF
BIRDS OF PREY
COSTA RICA
Did you know that during the months of August to November, the central Caribbean coastal plains of Costa Rica become one of the world’s most important corridors for migratory birds? Or that during this unique natural spectacle, over 3 million birds of prey can be observed passing through the region, belonging to 17 species?
There are many migratory species of diurnal birds of prey, but those passing through our country are mainly the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus), the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) and Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni).
In Costa Rica, the Bribri indigenous people perform a dance in which dancers arrange themselves in a circle, representing a natural phenomenon that is repeated on the Caribbean coast every day during the migratory period: the circle that the hawks and vultures fly in when it is time to take to the skies once again.
Birds of prey are incredibly important for ecosystems due to their roles as apex predators. An absence of these birds is a sign of an unbalanced ecosystem.
Guide to Identifying Birds of Prey
L: 36-49 cm (14-19 in)
W: 100-110 cm (39-43 in) Reproduction zone: Long-distance migratory
Overwintering zone: Mexico, Central and South America
Average per season: 3000
English name: Peregrine Falcon
Long, pointed wings. Uniform dark slate gray color, except in the lower region (breast and throat). Powerful, rhythmic flapping. Glides, but most commonly obserrved flapping wings. When the tailfeathers are close together, appearance is different from the Mississippi kite due to its square-edged tail and more direct, steady flying.
L: 34-37 cm (13-15 in)
W: 84-94 cm (33-37 in) Reproduction zones: Southern US, from Florida to New Mexico Overwintering zones: Paraguay, eastern Bolivia, far west of Brazil Average per season: 112 145,4 English name: Mississippi Kite
Long, pointed wings, similar to a falcon. Light gray underside, dark gray mantle. Long, dark tail with a slight indentation. The easiest way to tell it from the Peregrine Falcon is by the shape of the tail (square in the case of the peregrine). Juveniles: Brown with a striped body.
L: 34-44 cm (13-17 in)
W: 81-100 cm (32-39 in) Reproduction zones: Eastern & central Canada and eastern US Overwintering zones: Southern Mexico to the Amazon
Average per season: 747772,6 Nombre en inglés: Broad-winged Hawk
Wings with a dark border along the edge. Light underside. The tail has white and black bands. Much smaller than the Turkey Vulture or the Swainson’s Hawk. Juveniles have a striped breast and narrow brown bands on the tail. The rare dark morph has dark coloration on its body and the front of its wings.
L: 48-56 cm (19-22 in)
W: 119-132 cm (47-52 in) Breeding region: Western Canada and US, northern Mexico Overwintering zones: Argentina Average per season: 324805 English name: Swainson’s Hawk
Light-colored body and front half of wings. Relatively long wings lifted in a dihedral shape. Half of the wings with a dark color along the edges. Dark necklace-like band on the breast, incomplete in juveniles, with stripes on the body. Dark morph: body and front half of the wings with a dark coloration.
o D
Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus)