page_title: List of birds of Costa Rica
section_title: Herons, egrets, and bitterns
hierarchical_section_title: List of birds of Costa Rica / Herons, egrets, and bitterns
caption_attribution_description: English: Boat-billed Heron, Cochlearius cochlearius. Location: Jacksonville Zoo, Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
context_page_description: Although Costa Rica is a small country, it is in the bird-rich neotropical region and has a huge number of species for its area. The official bird list published by the Costa Rican Rare Birds and Records Committee of the Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica contained 922 species as of August 2019. This number is more than have been recorded in all of the 49 mainland United States and Canada combined. Of those species, seven are endemic, 69 are rare or accidental, and four have been introduced by humans. Another 73 are near-endemic with ranges that include only Costa Rica and Panama. Twenty-seven species, including five of the seven endemics, are globally vulnerable or endangered. Over an area of 51,100 km², an area smaller than West Virginia, this is the greatest density of bird species of any continental American country. About 600 species are resident, with most of the other regular visitors being winter migrants from North America.
  Costa Rica's geological formation played a large role in the diversification of avian species.
context_section_description: Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae
  The family Ardeidae contains the bitterns, herons, and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more wary. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises and spoonbills.
  Pinnated bittern, Botaurus pinnatus
  American bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus
  Least bittern, Ixobrychus exilis
  Rufescent tiger-heron, Tigrisoma lineatum
  Fasciated tiger-heron, Tigrisoma fasciatum
  Bare-throated tiger-heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum
  Great blue heron, Ardea herodias
  Great egret, Ardea alba
  Whistling heron, Syrigma sibilatrix (A) (R?)
  Snowy egret, Egretta thula
  Little blue heron, Egretta caerulea
  Tricolored heron, Egretta tricolor
  Reddish egret, Egretta rufescens
  Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
  Green heron, Butorides virescens
  Striated heron, Butorides striata (A)
  Agami heron, Agamia agami (vulnerable)
  Black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
  Yellow-crowned night-heron, Nyctanassa violacea
  Boat-billed heron, Cochlearius cochlearius
caption: Boat-billed heron
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