Vincent Losasso

First, find a beach along the Pacific coast and find yourself a comfy spot to sit. Next, you’re going to stare out over the expanse of sand and relax your eyes, looking at everything but not focusing on anything in particular, kind of like how you stared at those magic […]

Critically endangered species have dangerously few individuals remaining in the population which normally makes them nearly impossible for people to see. The yellow-naped amazon is critically endangered yet it’s not difficult to spot in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, you’re much more likely to see this large parrot in a bar or […]

‘What am I hearing?’ That will most likely be your initial reaction to your first Montezuma oropendola interaction. I can distinctly remember the first time I heard one. I was new to Costa Rica, and my wife and I were visiting new friends who had a house around Lake Arenal. […]

It’s been over a decade since my wife and I decided to ditch our regular lives and move to Costa Rica for ‘one year’ (sorry Mom). It’s been a decade of changes. I’ve changed. I can speak Spanish. I have an ever-deepening knowledge of Costa Rica’s wild creatures. I now […]

Let’s meet the margay. This sleek, spotted cat is one of Costa Rica’s six species of feline and the most arboreal of the group. The margay (Leopardus wiedii) is most frequently known as the caucel in Tico Spanish. I’ve also come across folks who call them tigrillos, but there’s another […]

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris): colorful, unmistakable. That’s exactly how one of my Costa Rica bird books describes the painted bunting in the little blurb next to the color photos, and I think they hit the nail on the head with that one. The painted bunting, or aptly named in Spanish […]

One of the great things about living in Costa Rica is that it feels like a bunch of different countries stuffed into one small country. You can sit under the blazing sun on a beach surrounded by dusty, mostly leafless trees in Guanacaste and then hop into your car, drive […]

With its oversized beak and incredible coloration, few species represent the natural beauty of Costa Rica like the keel-billed toucan. Let’s learn a little more about this tropical wonder. The keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) has a much better name in Spanish. I couldn’t find anything on why it’s called keel-billed. […]

Did you know that Costa Rica is home to two different species of raccoon? We’ve already covered the adorable trashcan-bandit, the northern raccoon. Well, its lesser-known family member, the crab-eating raccoon, also calls the land of pura vida home. The crab-eating raccoon’s scientific name is Procyon cancrivorus. Procyon means “doglike” […]

Some birds win the name game while others are saddled with less impressive monikers. The magnificent frigate bird and the resplendent quetzal are obvious winners. Those birds clearly have something special going on. The roadside hawk on the other hand, sounds a little more pedestrian (See what I did there?). […]