Since 2004 · Licensed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT)

Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa)Turquoise-browed Motmot
Photo: er-birds, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

Costa Rica bird species · Motmots, kingfishers, jacamars and puffbirds

Motmots, kingfishers, jacamars and puffbirds in Costa Rica: all 19 species

19 species, 6 motmots among them, and the one that swings its tail like a clock pendulum.

Costa Rica's official list has 19 birds in this group, in 4 families, about one bird in every 50 on it: 6 motmots, 6 kingfishers, 5 puffbirds and 2 jacamars. The one to start with is the Turquoise-browed Motmot, about 34 cm, on a fence post by a Guanacaste road swinging its long tail from side to side like a clock pendulum. Male and female both carry the racket-tipped tail and wag it the same way, and locally it is the pájaro bobo, the foolish bird.

In the Monteverde cloud forest the voice comes first: Lesson’s Motmot, low and soft like an owl, ooo-doot, often heard before it is seen, and it sits so still that it is hard to pick out even though it is big. At Rancho Naturalista we name two others, the Rufous Motmot and the Lanceolated Monklet, which is a puffbird, and the monklet again in the Río Tuis valley below it.

None of the 19 is a regional endemic, so this page has no endemics list. What it has is the odd corners of the family: the Great Jacamar at La Selva and Selva Verde, the White-whiskered Puffbird at Gandoca-Manzanillo, and 6 kingfishers on the list below that no hotspot table of ours names yet. Only 2 of the 19 have a page of ours so far.

Where to see them

The dry northwest has the Turquoise-browed Motmot, the Monteverde cloud forest has Lesson’s, and the Caribbean side holds the Rufous Motmot, the jacamar and the puffbirds we name. These are the places where we name them.

Map of Costa Rica with the 14 places where we name motmots, kingfishers, jacamars and puffbirds, numbered, over the five birding zones
Rancho Naturalista's reserve, above TurrialbaLa Selva Biological Station, SarapiquíGandoca-Manzanillo and the Keköldi ridgeCurú Wildlife Refuge and the Río PochoteRincón de la Vieja National ParkCarara National Park
© Mapbox © OpenStreetMap
  • Place where we name them
  • Highlands
  • Caribbean Foothills
  • Caribbean Lowlands
  • Northern Pacific Lowlands
  • Central and Southern Pacific Lowlands
  1. 1Monteverde Cloud Forest ReserveHighlandsLesson’s Motmot
  2. 2Curi-Cancha Reserve, MonteverdeHighlandsLesson’s Motmot
  3. 3Rancho Naturalista's reserve, above TurrialbaCaribbean FoothillsRufous Motmot, Lanceolated Monklet
  4. 4The Río Tuis valley, below Rancho NaturalistaCaribbean FoothillsLanceolated Monklet
  5. 5Arenal Volcano National ParkCaribbean LowlandsKeel-billed Motmot
  6. 6Selva Verde, on the Sarapiquí RiverCaribbean LowlandsGreat Jacamar
  7. 7La Selva Biological Station, SarapiquíCaribbean LowlandsPied Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Great Jacamar
  8. 8Gandoca-Manzanillo and the Keköldi ridgeCaribbean LowlandsWhite-whiskered Puffbird
  9. 9Palo Verde National Park and the Tempisque RiverNorthern Pacific LowlandsTurquoise-browed Motmot
  10. 10Curú Wildlife Refuge and the Río PochoteNorthern Pacific LowlandsTurquoise-browed Motmot
  11. 11Rincón de la Vieja National ParkNorthern Pacific LowlandsTurquoise-browed Motmot
  12. 12Santa Rosa and Guanacaste National ParksNorthern Pacific LowlandsTurquoise-browed Motmot
  13. 13Carara National ParkCentral and Southern Pacific LowlandsRinged Kingfisher, White-whiskered Puffbird
  14. 14The Tárcoles River mangroves, by boatCentral and Southern Pacific LowlandsRinged Kingfisher, Belted Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher

All 19 motmots, kingfishers, jacamars and puffbirds on the list

The full group as Costa Rica's official list has it, in the list's own order. Tick them off on the printable checklist.

Names and status: AOCR Lista Oficial 2025-2026, June 2026 update.

Trips that find them

Most of our trips cross a motmot. These name at least two of the 19 on the way.

Is this bird on your list?

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