Costa Rica Ramsar wetland
Coco Island
111 bird species recorded; the most in April and in September.
The TerraMar Project · CC BY-SA 2.0
This month here
37 species in January.44 species in February.53 species in March.68 species in April.43 species in May.26 species in June.18 species in July.7 species in August.71 species in September.62 species in October.64 species in November.41 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
VU
VU
VU
NTVU
VUVU
VU
VUVU
NTVUVU
NTVU
VUNTVUVU
NTNT
NTNTVU
NTNTNTVUVUVU
VUVUVU
VU
NTNT- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
111 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 111Speciesrecorded more than once
- 50Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 7ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 11,169Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 263 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 2Raptors
- 25Waders
- 28Gulls & seabirds
- 2Ducks & geese
- 12Herons, ibises & grebes
- 37Songbirds
- 5Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 111 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Waders25 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
- Wandering (Alaskan) TattlerTringa incana
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Least SandpiperCalidris minutillaNT
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferusNT
- Wilson's PhalaropePhalaropus tricolor
- Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
- Pectoral SandpiperCalidris melanotos
- Semipalmated SandpiperCalidris pusillaNT
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseusVU
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdii
- Solitary SandpiperTringa solitaria
- Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleucaNT
- White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisVU
- Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopusNT
- American golden ploverPluvialis dominica
- WilletTringa semipalmata
- Bartram's SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Hudsonian WhimbrelNumenius hudsonicus
Gulls & seabirds28 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Red-footed BoobySula sula
- Great FrigatebirdFregata minor
- Angel TernGygis alba
- Anous stolidusAnous stolidus
- Masked BoobySula dactylatra
- Magnificent FrigatebirdFregata magnificens
- Nazca boobySula granti
- Laughing GullLeucophaeus atricilla
- Wedge-rumped Storm-petrelOceanodroma tethys
- Anous minutusAnous minutus
- Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcan
- Brown BoobySula leucogaster
- Hydrobates melaniaHydrobates melania
- Wedge-tailed ShearwaterPuffinus pacificus
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Phaethon aethereusPhaethon aethereus
- Band-rumped Storm PetrelOceanodroma castro
- Leach's Storm PetrelOceanodroma leucorhoaVU
- Swallow-tailed GullCreagrus furcatus
- Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
- Wilson's Storm-PetrelOceanites oceanicus
- Pomarine SkuaStercorarius pomarinus
- Arctic TernSterna paradisaea
- Galapagos ShearwaterPuffinus subalaris
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Christmas ShearwaterPuffinus nativitatis
- Pink-footed ShearwaterPuffinus creatopus
- Royal TernThalasseus maximus
Ducks & geese2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Blue-winged TealSpatula discors
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
Herons, ibises & grebes12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Yellow-crowned Night-HeronNyctanassa violacea
- Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Reddish EgretEgretta rufescensNT
- Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis
Songbirds37 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Cocos Island FinchPinaroloxias inornata
- Cocos FlycatcherNesotriccus ridgwayiVU
- Mangrove WarblerSetophaga petechia
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Northern WaterthrushParkesia noveboracensis
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- American Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorusNT
- Sand MartinRiparia riparia
- Palm WarblerSetophaga palmarum
- Connecticut WarblerOporornis agilis
- Myrtle WarblerSetophaga coronata
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Black-and-white WarblerMniotilta varia
- Tennessee WarblerLeiothlypis peregrina
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Red-eyed VireoVireo olivaceus
- Cape May WarblerSetophaga tigrina
- Bay-breasted WarblerSetophaga castanea
- Blackburnian WarblerSetophaga fusca
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Swainson's ThrushCatharus ustulatus
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Blackpoll WarblerSetophaga striataNT
- Louisiana WaterthrushParkesia motacilla
- Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Black-throated Green WarblerSetophaga virens
- Yellow-headed BlackbirdXanthocephalus xanthocephalus
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Spot-breasted OrioleIcterus pectoralis
Other birds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Cocos CuckooCoccyzus ferrugineusVU
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- American CootFulica americana
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in April and in September.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan27°/26°169 mm
- Feb28°/27°126 mm
- Mar28°/28°156 mm
- Apr28°/28°256 mm
- May28°/27°350 mm
- Jun27°/27°301 mm
- Jul27°/26°333 mm
- Aug27°/26°295 mm
- Sep27°/26°243 mm
- Oct26°/26°182 mm
- Nov26°/26°158 mm
- Dec27°/26°162 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Coco Island.
Island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica
Coco Island is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Costa Rica, 263 m above the sea.
111 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 11,169 open records.
The most recorded are the Red-footed Booby, the Great Frigatebird and the Cocos Island Finch.
11 species come for the summer, 30 for the winter and 9 only pass through.
7 are threatened worldwide, including Cocos Flycatcher, Cocos Cuckoo and Short-billed Dowitcher.
The most species are recorded in April and in September.
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Coco Island.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas1 mountains within 25 kmCerro Yglesias · 1.7 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q215081) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 11,169 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Darkskyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit