The Animals of Costa Rica

The birds and butterflies of Costa Rica paint a natural portrait of beauty as they set sail through the Costa Rica Glasshouse. If you see a sudden brilliant blue flash, it’s probably color reflected off the scales of the blue morpho butterfly. Or, it could be a violet-blue red-legged honeycreeper swooping past.  Either way, keep your eyes to the sky to catch a glimpse of all these beautiful creatures in flight. You might even see the red-eyed tree frog hidden amongst the treetops.

Costa Rica has plenty of interesting animals on the ground as well. The emerald swift lizard forages for insects in the morning and will move to a burrow or under a rock or log if it gets too hot.

You can also get an up-close look at leafcutter ants building a nest. Amazingly, these nests can house up to 5 million worker ants. With so many ants in action, it’s not a surprise that leafcutter ants cut and carry up to one-sixth of the leaves a forest produces.

Learn more about the animals in Costa Rica with our Glasshouse Field Guide.

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