KnowKi

Learn the wildlife of any country

Learn the wildlife of Costa Rica

North & Central America

19,621 species have research-grade observations in Costa Rica on iNaturalist. KnowKi turns the most recorded into short lessons with real photos, so you can learn a country's wildlife from home.

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Āki the kiwi, KnowKi's guide

Most recorded here

The species with the most research-grade observations on iNaturalist, and how many each has. Most recorded doesn't mean native.

Birds

  1. Scarlet-rumped Tanager Ramphocelus passerinii9,079
  2. Yellow-throated Toucan Ramphastos ambiguus7,774
  3. Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus7,234
  4. Scarlet Macaw Ara macao6,144
  5. Clay-colored Thrush Turdus grayi5,832
  6. Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus5,782
  7. Black Vulture Coragyps atratus5,689
  8. Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus5,656
  9. Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl5,587
  10. Bare-throated Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma mexicanum5,397

Plants

  1. Red Ginger Alpinia purpurata1,663
  2. Beehive ginger Zingiber spectabile1,612
  3. Expanded Lobsterclaw Heliconia latispatha1,537
  4. Coconut palm Cocos nucifera1,459
  5. Torch ginger Etlingera elatior1,399
  6. Pink Banana Musa velutina1,399
  7. Parrot's Beak Heliconia psittacorum1,338
  8. Poor man's umbrella Gunnera insignis1,295
  9. Hanging Lobster Claw Heliconia Heliconia rostrata1,282
  10. Hot Lips Palicourea elata1,252

Mammals

  1. Central American White-faced Capuchin Cebus imitator10,861
  2. Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata10,851
  3. White-nosed Coati Nasua narica9,954
  4. Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth Bradypus variegatus6,679
  5. Central American Agouti Dasyprocta punctata6,385
  6. Variegated Squirrel Sciurus variegatoides5,741
  7. Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth Choloepus hoffmanni5,473
  8. Central American Spider Monkey Ateles geoffroyi5,087
  9. Central American Squirrel Monkey Saimiri oerstedii3,148
  10. Common Raccoon Procyon lotor2,952

Insects

  1. Banded Peacock Anartia fatima5,345
  2. Hairy-headed leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes2,437
  3. Common Morpho Morpho helenor2,277
  4. Giant red-winged grasshopper Tropidacris cristata2,192
  5. Bullet Ant Paraponera clavata2,125
  6. Malachite Siproeta stelenes2,090
  7. White Peacock Anartia jatrophae1,922
  8. Julia Heliconian Dryas iulia1,802
  9. Reticulate lubber grasshopper Romalea reticulata1,763
  10. Shimmering Golden Sugar ant Camponotus sericeiventris1,718

Spiders and kin

  1. Golden Silk Spider Trichonephila clavipes7,026
  2. Spinybacked Orbweaver Gasteracantha cancriformis2,288
  3. Red-thighed Bromeliad Spider Cupiennius coccineus1,793
  4. Costa Rican Redleg Tarantula Abdomegaphobema mesomelas1,590
  5. Spot-legged Bromeliad Spider Cupiennius getazi1,556
  6. Silver Garden Orbweaver Argiope argentata1,053
  7. Phoneutria depilata1,043
  8. Argiope submaronica1,008
  9. Micrathena sexspinosa922
  10. Edward's Bark Scorpion Centruroides edwardsii727

Reptiles

  1. Black Spiny-tailed Iguana Ctenosaura similis15,382
  2. Green Iguana Iguana iguana10,147
  3. Central American Eyelash-Viper Bothriechis nigroadspersus6,868
  4. American Crocodile Crocodylus acutus6,807
  5. Common Basilisk Basiliscus basiliscus6,508
  6. Green Basilisk Basiliscus plumifrons5,606
  7. Border Anole Anolis limifrons4,797
  8. Middle American Ameiva Holcosus festivus4,675
  9. Terciopelo Bothrops asper4,239
  10. Spectacled Caiman Caiman crocodilus4,212

Amphibians

  1. Red-eyed Tree Frog Agalychnis callidryas9,227
  2. Strawberry Poison Dart Frog Oophaga pumilio8,771
  3. Giant Toad Rhinella horribilis7,172
  4. Green-and-black Poison Dart Frog Dendrobates auratus5,813
  5. Savage's Thin-toed Frog Leptodactylus savagei4,371
  6. Masked Tree Frog Smilisca phaeota3,942
  7. Brilliant Forest Frog Lithobates warszewitschii2,698
  8. Leaf Litter Toad Rhaebo haematiticus2,602
  9. Fitzinger's Robber Frog Craugastor fitzingeri2,597
  10. Harlequin Treefrog Dendropsophus ebraccatus2,570

Fish

  1. Panamic Sergeant Major Abudefduf troschelii559
  2. Guineafowl Puffer Arothron meleagris539
  3. Cortez Rainbow Wrasse Thalassoma lucasanum496
  4. Acapulco Major Stegastes acapulcoensis496

How a trip works

A trip has its own trail of lessons: meet six species, match them to new photos, then practice with four choices. Species you learn go into your Fieldbook, and starting a trip earns its Passport stamp. Your home place stays as it is.

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Species lists and counts from research-grade observations on iNaturalist, as of October 2026. Free, with no ads, no account and no purchases.