Below are links to other websites that we think would be of interest to birders visiting Costa Rica and, in some cases, elsewhere in the world.

Asociación de Ornitologica de Costa Rica is an active, San Jose-based group of ornithologists and birders who make up the “Who’s Who” of birding in Costa Rica. This organization publishes an ornithological journal twice a year, called Zeledonia, and hosts monthly evening presentations for members as well as leading trips throughout the country. They maintain the official bird list of Costa Rica, available here.

www.xeno-canto.org is a website with open-source bird songs and calls from around the world. It is easy to use and can be an invaluable preparation for bird trips as well as a fun way to improve “birding by ear” skills.

BirdLife International, the world’s largest partnership of conservation organizations, is a global partnership working to conserve birds, their habitats and global diversity. Their website’s BirdLife Data Zone is a remarkable resource of bird species information, important Bird Areas, and other useful data.

The Internet Bird Collection. This non-profit has an excellent online audiovisual library of the world’s birds, with information, video and photos.

www.eBird.org is an international website run by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology where you can report bird sightings (it offers users many ways to keep personal lists current), search for information on where to find elusive birds, look at species’ populations, migration patterns and more. The SVBC uses eBird extensively for reporting its birding trip and walk lists.

Speaking of which, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology  (“Cornell Lab ) is a treasure trove of information on every bird topic imaginable. It is informative, up-to-date and user friendly.

The Organization for Tropical Studies is a US-based non-profit, educational consortium of colleges and universities with three biological stations in Costa Rica, all of which offer excellent birding sites. We work closely with the Las Cruces Station that incorporates the Wilson Botanical Garden.

Costa Rica Bird Observatories (CRBO) is a nationwide Costa Rican monitoring initiative created and managed through partnerships among the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio), US Forest Service, Klamath Bird Observatory, and many other collaborators (including the SVBC), both private and public. The Observatories’ primary objective includes the promotion of bird conservation and education in Costa Rica through scientific monitoring. The CRBO is now managing and continuing the avian monitoring project initiated by the SVBC.

The National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) of Costa Rica is a private research and biodiversity management center, established in 1989 to support efforts to gather knowledge on the country’s biological diversity and promote its sustainable use. In March 2015, INBio’s biodiversity collection and database was taken over by the state (and returned to the Natural History Museum, from which much of it was taken when INBio was founded), and its theme park converted to government operation. INBio is now operating as a “think tank” type institute with money raised from transfer of most of its assets to the government. But the INBio website continues to have a lot of useful information about Costa Rica’s natural world.

El Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, better known simply as CATIE (“KA-tee-yea”), is a tropical agricultural research and higher education center (affiliated with the University of Idaho) in beautiful Turrialba, Costa Rica. The botanical garden at CATIE offers excellent birding.

Partners in Flight is a collaboration of public and private organizations in North and South America, working together to achieve success in conserving bird populations in this hemisphere.

National Audubon Society has many chapters across the US and effectively lobbies for the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.

Environmentalscience.org–Interested in a career in Environmental Science?  This site is a resource for more information.