Family Ciconiidae
Jabiru
Jabiru mycteria
In Spanish: Jabirú (Galán Sin Ventura, Veterano)
- Resident
The Tempisque River at Palo Verde, from the boat. All year, easiest December to April.
No flying bird in Central or South America stands taller. From a boat on the Tempisque, the Jabiru is up to 140 cm of white body under a bare black head, with a bill as long as 35 cm.
At Palo Verde it is one of the big birds of the river, with the Wood Stork, the Roseate Spoonbill and the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. The dry season, December to April, is the easy time to be there.
Where to see it
- Hotspot page
- Named place
- Nearby lodge (numbers match the cards)
- Palo Verde National Park and the Tempisque Riverfrom the boat, one of the big birds of the Tempisque.
- Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge and the Río Fríoa wetland near the Nicaraguan border, birded from a boat on the Río Frío.Not on the map above: it sits too far away to show at this zoom.
Nearby lodges
Within 20 km of a place on the map, in the same zone.
- 1
Rancho Humo Estancia5.9 km from Palo Verde National ParkSee the lodge - 2
Caño Negro Natural Lodge1.7 km from Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge (off the map)See the lodge
How to recognise it
About 120 to 140 cm long, and the wings reach 2.3 to 2.8 m across, wider than a door is tall. The plumage is mostly white. The head and upper neck are bare and black, with a red patch of stretchable skin at the base. The bill settles it: 25 to 35 cm long, black, broad and slightly upturned. Male and female look alike, though the male is about a quarter larger. Watch it feed: it hunts by touch more than by sight, holding the open bill in the water at about 45 degrees.
Where it lives
Near rivers and ponds. In Costa Rica we take people to it on the Tempisque River at Palo Verde, where dry forest, mangrove and wetland meet in the Northern Pacific lowlands, and it is looked for from the boat as it works the river.
When to see it
All year, as a resident. At Palo Verde the dry season, December to April, gives the easiest birding.
Trips that find it
- Costa Rica Classic Birding, All Inclusive8 nightsSee the trip
- Birding in Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula11 nightsSee the trip
- Birding in Costa Rica's Northern Zone11 nightsSee the trip
- Dancing with Quetzals11 nightsSee the trip
- Costa Rica's Top Birding Spots11 nightsSee the trip
- Birding in Costa Rica's Top Three Destinations9 nightsSee the trip
Tell us when you are travelling and our team in Costa Rica builds the trip around the birds you want to see.
Plan my birding tripHow we know this 1 sources, each read on the date shown
- Wikipedia: Jabiru read 4 November 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabiru