This species-rich EBA extends over both Caribbean and Pacific slopes from the mountainous region of Costa Rica (the northern boundary abuts Lago de Nicaragua on the Nicaragua border) through western Panama to just west of the Panama Canal. Also part of the EBA but isolated from this main mountain chain is Cerro Hoya, at the southern tip of the Azuero peninsula. East of the Panama Canal, the continuation of the main Costa Rica–Panama mountains forms the Darién highlands (EBA 024).

The EBA is centred on the foothills and highlands above c.1,000 m with the upper altitudinal limit extending to the mountain-tops, which reach a maximum height of c.3,800 m. The region is dominated by montane evergreen forest, and at higher altitudes by cloud forest and elfin forest with páramo vegetation above the treeline on the highest mountains.

This EBA has a particularly distinct avifauna including eight endemic genera-Panterpe, Elvira, Phainoptila, Thryorchilus, Pezopetes, Pselliophorus, Acanthidops and Zeledonia.

Most of the EBA's restricted-range species are forest-dependent, with others occurring in secondary and forest-edge habitats, bamboo thickets and páramo. All the species have their centres of distribution above c.1,000 m, although a number occur below this, and therefore overlap altitudinally with the higher parts of the adjacent Central American Caribbean slope (EBA 019) and South Central American Pacific slope (EBA 021). With the vegetation zones being relatively compressed (and at lower altitudes) on the lower mountains of northern Costa Rica, the altitudinal ranges given in the 'Status and habitat' table may appear artificially large, but the zone of overlap with adjacent lowland and foothill EBA species is probably relatively small at any one locality during a particular season.

A number of species such as Selasphorus ardens and Pselliophorus luteoviridis have extremely small ranges even within the EBA, although the majority of birds are more widespread. Recent exploration of Cerro Hoya at the southern end of the Azuero peninsula resulted in the discovery of a new population of Selasphorus hummingbird, possibly representing a disjunct colony of S. ardens (Engleman 1994), and it seems likely that, with further work, more highland EBA species will be found there. Cephalopterus glabricollis breeds in this EBA, but outside the breeding season birds undertake an altitudinal migration downslope to the Central American Caribbean slope (EBA 019).

There has been widespread destruction of the highland forests in this region, primarily as a result of burning, logging and other conversion leading to intensive agricultural use (Dinerstein et al. 1995). With more than half of Costa Rica's forest having been destroyed since 1940, and a rate of deforestation currently running at 3% per year, it is anticipated that the majority of the remaining highland forest will eventually be found only within existing protected areas (Stiles and Skutch 1989). In Panama, to the east of Chiriquí province, only isolated patches of forest are left within the EBA, and it is likely that some of the restricted-range species formerly present there will now have disappeared from the area (W. J. Adsett . 1993).

Three of the restricted-range species are considered threatened: Cephalopterus glabricollis, principally because of its reliance on both lowland and highland forest at different times in its annual cycle; Pselliophorus luteoviridis, due to its minute range in an area lacking any formal protection (Collar et al. 1994); and Selasphorus ardens, also due to its minute range which, however, is now thought to include Cerro Hoya National Park (Wege and Long 1995). This EBA is the main breeding stronghold for the widespread, threatened (Vulnerable) Three-wattled Bellbird Procnias tricarunculata, and also for the Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno (Near Threatened).

In Costa Rica the remaining forest is now reasonably well protected within the existing protected-area system. However, apart from La Amistad International Park (and adjacent reserves), highland forest in Panama is afforded little protection. Nine Key Areas for threatened birds have been identified within the EBA (four in Costa Rica and five in Panama): Rincón de la Vieja National Park, Braulio Carillo National Park, Monteverde Biological Reserve, La Selva Protection Zone, La Amistad International Park, Volcán Barú National Park, Cerro Hoya National Park, La Fortuna Water Production Reserve and Fortuna Forest Reserve; six of these areas are formally protected (Wege and Long 1995).

Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Costa Rica and Panama highlands. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/18 on 02/01/2025.