Nine new species add to the official birds of Costa Rica
December 3rd, 2012 (InsideCostaRica.com) Nine new species form part of the official 2012 list of bird species in Costa Rica, which has been published for the 10th year in a row by the Costa Rican Ornithology Association (AOCR, in Spanish).
The new species consist of several ducks, two tropicbirds, and a hawk.
The first of the species is the Aythya Valisineria, a Canvasback, which is one of the largest North American diving ducks. This type of duck is a diver in open waters, such as lakes, rivers, and coasts. According to the report, the duck was spotted swimming in the Cachi dam, in Cartago.
Canvasback (Aythya Valisineria)
Later, two Redheads, or Aythya Americana, were observed swimming and diving at Finca Langostinos, in Guanacaste.
Redhead Duck (Aythya Americana)
The third addition was the Hooded Merganser or Lophodytes cucullatus, a small duck with a crest on the back of its head which can be expanded or contracted. A young male with a reddish crest was found in Tortuguero, Limon and is now in the Zoology department of the University of Costa Rica.
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
The Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), a medium size shearwater was the 5th addition to the list.
Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)
The 7th and 8th additions were the White-tailed Tropicbird and the Red-tailed Tropicbird. Both travel widely across the oceans when not breeding, and sometimes wander quite far. They feed on fish and squid, caught by surface plunging. Both were spotted in the Coco Island National Park.
Finally, the 9th new bird is the Buteo plagiatus, also known as the Grey Hawk, a common bird in South America, which is just recently arriving in Costa Rica.
Grey Hawk (Buteo plagiatus)
Scientists also agreed to incorporate 12 new species to the official bird list of Coco Island, among them, the Tropicbirds previously mentioned.
As well, for the first time in 10 years, common names in Spanish were added for all the species.
The new proofs were filed in the Natural History Department of the Costa Rican National Museum.
ATTENTION: If you are seeing this message,
