Turquoise Cotinga

Turquoise Cotinga

Cotinga ridgwayi

Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic

LCNTVUVulnerableENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Carara National Park

In 3 days <5%

12 Verified sightings at Carara National Park From 2019 to 2026
557 In all 5 parks
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Turquoise Cotinga

The turquoise cotinga or Ridgway's cotinga (Cotinga ridgwayi) is a Vulnerable species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The turquoise cotinga is monotypic. It, the lovely cotinga (C. amabilis), and the blue cotinga (C. nattererii) form a superspecies. The plum-throated (C. maynana), purple-breasted (C. cotinga), and banded (C. maculata) cotingas may also be part of that clade.

The turquoise cotinga is 17 to 18.5 cm (6.7 to 7.3 in) long and weighs about 51 to 66 g (1.8 to 2.3 oz). The sexes are dramatically dimorphic. Adult males have deep turquoise-blue upperparts. Their wings are black with thin to moderately wide blue edges on most feathers. Their tail is black; their turquoise-blue uppertail coverts are long and cover much of the tail. Their chin and throat and separately their breast and upper belly are purple. Adult females are larger than males. They have mostly dark brown upperparts with buffish white feather tips that produce a scalloped appearance. Their wings are mostly dusky brown with buffish white scallops on most coverts and cinnamon edges on the tertials. Their tail is dusky brown.... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:07

Costa Rica · 2020

© Johan Chaves · XC548236 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flight call0:05

Costa Rica · 2010

© Oscar Herrera · XC113314 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Recording0:12

Costa Rica · 2018

© Andrés Espinoza Fonseca · XC438104 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Corcovado National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
2 Piedras Blancas National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
3 Marino Ballena National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
4 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
5 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Turquoise Cotinga in Carara National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Turquoise Cotinga sighting in Carara National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 383rd most-seen of the 414 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Turquoise Cotinga in Carara National Park?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Turquoise Cotinga in Carara National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Turquoise Cotinga?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Turquoise Cotinga sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Turquoise Cotinga live in Carara National Park?

Same family: Cotingidae

The closest relatives of the Turquoise Cotinga that you can see in Carara National Park (family Cotingidae, Cotingas) are Rose-throated Becard (about 20%), Rufous Piha (about 10%) and White-winged Becard (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Turquoise Cotinga sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Turquoise Cotinga is recorded against all the birds logged in Carara National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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