page_title: List of birds of Costa Rica
section_title: Crows, jays, and magpies
hierarchical_section_title: List of birds of Costa Rica / Crows, jays, and magpies
caption_attribution_description: Calocitta formosa (Swainson, 1827) English: White-throated Magpie-jay at Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
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: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae
  The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers, and ground jays. Corvids are above average in size among the Passeriformes, and some of the larger species show high levels of intelligence.
  Silvery-throated jay, Cyanolyca argentigula (E-R)
  Azure-hooded jay, Cyanolyca cucullata
  White-throated magpie-jay, Calocitta formosa
  Brown jay, Psilorhinus morio
  Black-chested jay, Cyanocorax affinis
caption: White-throated magpie-jay
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