Conservación de las aves acuáticas de Costa Rica

I present here the results of published literature review, expert bird lists, field dates about waterbirds and wetlands: diversity, distribution, important places, population estimates, threats, a list of threatened species at global, regional and national level and recommendations for conservation. Results reveals that Costa Rica has 165 waterbirds species that belong to 24 families and represent, 19, 4 % of the country birds species. Most of then are migratory species 60,0%; 33,0% are breeding-residents and 7,0 % are migratory-resident. Important places for Costa Rican waterbirds are: Palo Verde National Park, Tortuguero National Park, Cocos Island National Park, Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, some nesting islands and stop-over places during the migration. Four species are global threatened (UICN), 21 species are regional threatened (NAWCP), five are considered threatened at national level and one probably it is extinct. The main threats for the most important wetlands and waterbirds are: contamination, wetlands destruction, over exploitation of wetlands resources and tourism.