Rainforest books and wildlife field guides to enjoy Costa Rica nature

Rainforest books and Wildlife Field Guides are a must if you are willing to enjoy the Costa Rica nature. They will enlighten you and help you to enjoy the life around your lodge or your walking trail thoroughly.

There are many, some of the rainforest books and wildlife field guides are excellent, but some of them are a mere commercial effort to get to the massive tourism arriving in our coasts and airport. My advice as a nature tour guide (And regarding the Costa Rica wildlife field guides) is to get the ones with drawings instead of pictures and to get some of the plastic ones to take on the trails.

And yes, trust me on this: you may find some for your tablet and phones. However, remember it is a rainforest, it rains. Sometimes it pours. Get the paperback, and get a transparent plastic bag and enjoy identifying what you see.

You may also find these page size laminated wildlife field guides. They only have the image and names of the animals, flowers or butterflies, and no natural history on them. If you are the type of person that likes to know about natural history to get the most out of it, also buy the guides and let these to work in the field.

Some of the best Costa Rica wildlife field guides are:

The Wildlife of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) by Fiona A. Reid (Author), Twan Leenders (Author), Jim Zook (Author), Robert Dean (Author)

Travelers’ Wildlife Guides Costa Rica Paperback – October 31, 2004, by Les Beletsky (Author), Priscilla Barrett (Illustrator), David Beadle (Illustrator), David Dennis (Illustrator), John Myers (Illustrator)

by Les Beletsky (Author), Priscilla Barrett (Illustrator), David Beadle (Illustrator), David Dennis (Illustrator), John Myers (Illustrator)

The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) by Richard Garrigues (Author), Robert Dean (Illustrator)

The Mammals of Costa Rica: A Natural History and Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) by Mark Wainwright

: The Mammals of Costa Rica

: Wildlife Field Guide of Costa Rica

: The Birds of Costa Rica

And the most classic rainforest book for serious bird watchers:

A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica Paperback – September 22, 1989, by Gary Stiles (Author), Alexander F. Skutch (Author), Dana Gardner (Illustrator)

Birds of Costa Rica

Laminated wildlife field guides:

Laminated wildlife field guides are ideal for the trails! They are light and water resistant and super easy to use while you are walking. However, if you like to know more about the natural history of what you are seeing, get the book, and the laminated guides. Yes, both.

You can find them on Amazon, at the airport, and you can find them all over Costa Rica (Probably cheaper).

My advice on this is to get the general wildlife and, as an optional, some for specific things you may be interested in:

Costa Rica Wildlife Guide (Laminated Foldout Pocket Field Guide) (English and Spanish Edition) Pamphlet – 2010 by Rainforest Publications (Author), Mark Wainwright (Illustrator), Robert Dean (Illustrator), Jannah Brown (Illustrator), Enrique Leal (Illustrator)

Laminated wildlife guide

Laminated Costa Rica wildlife field guides:

Costa Rica Butterflies Wildlife Guide (Laminated Foldout Pocket Field Guide) (English and Spanish Edition) Pamphlet – January 1, 2014, by Rainforest Publications (Author), Jannah Brown (Illustrator)

: Laminated guide on flowers

: Laminated flowers inside

: Laminated Birds of CR

On the rainforest books

There are a bunch of books about the rainforest that are wrote in such dynamic ways that, indeed, you will not want to put them down.

The rainforest books are meant for readers to enjoy the surrounding nature, but beyond that, rainforest books are a way to awe. To a mouth open, to a breathtaking that does not end. The beauty of the rainforest, its perfect relations, how the organized system works will touch you forever.

As a naturalist, I thoughtfully thank the authors fo these books for the time they spent researching; they opened my eyes to the magnificent of tropical nature. And I live here. I am supposed to know it… No. Read as many rainforest books as possible, before your trip and while you are here. They will make your Costa Rica Vacation an unforgettable experience!

The list is long but my favorite rainforest books are:

: Life above the jungle floor

: Tropical Nature

: A Neotropical Companion

A Neotropical Companion by John Kricher

Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America by Adrian Forsyth

Life Above the Jungle Floor by Perry, Donald

Life Above the Jungle Floor is funny, entertaining and quite addictive, and, it is the story of how rainforest ziplining tours started in Costa Rica first, and then in the World.