The
predominant wildlife species in the rivers and marshes are the black-belliedtree
duck, Northern Jacana, white-nosed coati and the crocodile. The mangrove
swamp is home of the eastern kingbird, bronzed cowbird, the howler
monkey and the anteater. The swamp forest provides shelter for the
greenish elaenia, rufous-naped wren, the raccon and the ctenosaur.
Howler monkeys, white-tailed deer and the cinnamon hummingbird, the
white-lored gnatcatcher, the great crested flycatcher, the common
long-nosed armadillo and the collard peccary live in hillside mixed
forest. Palo Verde National Park is also where the only population of
scarlet macaws in the Dry Pacific can be found. But it is not only a
refuge for birds and other vertebrates, but also a scenic mosaic of
great beauty.
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Palo Verde
National Park ranges over 13,058 hectares of marshes, floodplains,
lagoons meandering channels, low limestone ridges and pools in the lower
basin of the Rivers Tempisque and Bebedero. The marshy lagoons provide
feeding, nesting and rest sites for species of waterfowl and wading
birds, especially during the dry season when there are concentrations of
up to 20,000 black-bellied tree ducks, 25,000 blue-winged teals, 4000
wood storks and 700 roseate spoonbills. It is estimated that there are
300 species of land birds and waterfowl and the largest colony of
black-crowned night herons in the country.
There are at least 12 and probably as many as 15 habitats within the
park, which range from the steep slopes of limestone mountainranges to
the banks of rivers Tempisque and Bebedero. These include freshwater
lagoons and marshes, mangrove swamps, swamp forest, evergreen forest,
deciduous savannah woodland, hillside mixed forest, grassland of
rough-leaf tree and riparian forest. The predominant swamp growth
consits of Palo Verde or horse bean, a shrub with green leaves and
branches that gives its name to the park, and typha, a grass with
loveley spikes that grows three meters high. Swollen-thorn acacia and
viscoyol abound in the thorny underbush and the most frequently found
species in the dry forests are spiny cedar, lemonwood, gumbo-limbo
lignum-vitae. |
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(Text and pictures on this page were
taken from a public domain source and modified by Michael Dodson and
Denny Genovese) |
The River
Tempisque is navigable for 36 kms as fas as the confluence with River
Bolsón. Sights along this strech of river include numerous tenosaurs
resting in the trees, nativ fishermen in their primitive watercraft near
Humo Harbor, the emergent limestone peaks, and the vast plains covered
with woods and grasses. |
