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Learn the wildlife of national parks

Learn the wildlife of Guanacaste National Park

Costa Rica

568 species have research-grade observations inside Guanacaste National Park on iNaturalist. KnowKi turns the most recorded into short lessons with real photos, so you know what you're looking at before you go.

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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. Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor87
  2. Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea73
  3. Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea66
  4. Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius49
  5. Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis47
  6. Hudsonian Whimbrel Numenius hudsonicus46
  7. White-throated Magpie-Jay Cyanocorax formosus46
  8. Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus45
  9. Common Black Hawk Buteogallus anthracinus44
  10. White Ibis Eudocimus albus41

Plants

  1. Red mangrove Rhizophora mangle15
  2. Beach Morning Glory Ipomoea pes-caprae14
  3. Nickernut Guilandina bonduc12
  4. Green Buttonwood Conocarpus erectus9
  5. Triangle cactus Acanthocereus tetragonus9
  6. Sea Almond Terminalia catappa6
  7. Sea purslane Sesuvium portulacastrum5
  8. Beach Bean Canavalia rosea5
  9. Coconut palm Cocos nucifera4
  10. Yellow trumpet flower Tecoma stans3

Mammals

  1. Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata65
  2. Variegated Squirrel Sciurus variegatoides32
  3. Common Raccoon Procyon lotor18
  4. Proboscis Bat Rhynchonycteris naso7
  5. White-nosed Coati Nasua narica5
  6. Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Stenella attenuata4
  7. Common Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus2
  8. Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae2
  9. Northern Tamandua Tamandua mexicana2
  10. Greater Sac-winged Bat Saccopteryx bilineata1

Insects

  1. Great Pondhawk Erythemis vesiculosa12
  2. Opilidia macrocnema10
  3. Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens9
  4. Giant red-winged grasshopper Tropidacris cristata9
  5. Elf Butterfly Microtia elva6
  6. Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera5
  7. Philophyllia guttulata5
  8. Soldier Danaus eresimus4
  9. Black Witch Ascalapha odorata4
  10. Black-winged Dragonlet Erythrodiplax funerea4

Spiders and kin

  1. Gray Wall Jumping Spider Menemerus bivittatus4
  2. Spinybacked Orbweaver Gasteracantha cancriformis2
  3. Edward's Bark Scorpion Centruroides edwardsii2
  4. Arrow-shaped Orbweaver Micrathena sagittata1
  5. Black-edged Bark Scorpion Centruroides limbatus1
  6. Paraphrynus laevifrons1
  7. Paraphidippus fartilis1
  8. Frigga pratensis1

Reptiles

  1. Black Spiny-tailed Iguana Ctenosaura similis140
  2. Southern Rose-bellied Lizard Sceloporus olloporus51
  3. Blackbelly Racerunner Aspidoscelis deppii18
  4. Green Iguana Iguana iguana17
  5. Yellow-bellied Sea Snake Hydrophis platurus15
  6. Asian House Gecko Hemidactylus frenatus6
  7. Central American Lyresnake Trimorphodon quadruplex3
  8. Yellow-headed Gecko Gonatodes albogularis2
  9. Copper Anole Anolis cupreus2
  10. Charles Myers Anole Anolis charlesmyersi2

Amphibians

  1. Giant Toad Rhinella horribilis5
  2. Mexican Treefrog Smilisca baudinii4
  3. Milk Frog Trachycephalus macrotis4
  4. Sabinal Frog Leptodactylus melanonotus1
  5. Stauffer's Tree Frog Scinax staufferi1
  6. Yellow Toad Incilius luetkenii1

Fish

  1. Acapulco Major Stegastes acapulcoensis15
  2. Southern Blenny Malacoctenus sudensis15
  3. Dusky Sergeant Abudefduf concolor5
  4. Panamic Frillfin Bathygobius ramosus5
  5. Banded Wrasse Halichoeres notospilus4
  6. Three-banded Butterflyfish Chaetodon humeralis4
  7. Panamic Sergeant Major Abudefduf troschelii4
  8. Foureye Rockskipper Dialommus macrocephalus4
  9. White-eye Oxyzygonectes dovii4
  10. Cortez Rainbow Wrasse Thalassoma lucasanum3

Mollusks

  1. White-mouth Turritella Caviturritella leucostoma77
  2. Nicaragua sea hare Dolabrifera nicaraguana63
  3. Diomedes' Sapsucker Elysia diomedea62
  4. Panamic Comb Venus Hysteroconcha lupanaria18
  5. Cardites tricolor18
  6. Stokes's Chiton Chiton stokesii16
  7. Giant False Limpet Siphonaria gigas15
  8. Uvanilla buschii13
  9. Short-tooth Thorn Drupe Acanthais brevidentata12
  10. Jenner's cowry Jenneria pustulata11

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. Parks outside the U.S. are from the World Database on Protected Areas (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, Protected Planet). KnowKi is not affiliated with the National Park Service or any park's managers. Free, with no ads, no account, and no purchases.