My photograph of a red-eyed tree frog near Boca Tapada leads the gallery for MSN’s “13 Fascinating and Unusual Animal Adaptations,” published July 3, 2026. The image opens the entire gallery as the lead photograph.
The frog was photographed in a controlled setting during a wildlife photography workshop near Boca Tapada in the San Carlos canton of Alajuela province, Costa Rica, on June 27, 2026.
Red-Eyed Tree Frog Near Boca Tapada: One of Nature’s Most Remarkable Adaptations
The red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) is one of the most recognizable amphibians in the world and a textbook example of animal adaptation. Its defense strategy is called startle coloration, and it is the reason the species appears in an MSN gallery dedicated to the most fascinating adaptations in the animal kingdom.
The frog is not venomous. During the day it sleeps motionless on the underside of a leaf, eyes closed, bright blue flanks hidden beneath tucked legs, vivid orange feet folded under its belly. To a passing predator it is nearly invisible, blending into the surrounding greenery. But when disturbed, it opens its enormous red eyes suddenly. The flash of unexpected color startles the predator, disrupting its attack reflex long enough for the frog to escape. The same flash reveals the bright blue-and-yellow flanks and orange webbed feet, compounding the visual shock. The entire display lasts a fraction of a second.
This is not toxicity signaling. Most brightly colored frogs advertise poison through their coloration. The red-eyed tree frog does the opposite: it hides its colors until the last possible moment, then weaponizes the surprise.
Photographing the Red-Eyed Tree Frog Near Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
The red-eyed tree frog near Boca Tapada was photographed in the San Carlos canton of Alajuela province, in the northern lowlands of Costa Rica. Boca Tapada sits adjacent to the Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge, which protects more than 518 square kilometers of tropical rainforest, wetlands, and riverine habitat.
The photograph was made in a controlled setting during a wildlife photography workshop. The frog was collected from its natural habitat, photographed, and returned to the exact location where it was found. This approach allows for precise composition and lighting control while minimizing stress to the animal.
Red-eyed tree frogs are common in the Boca Tapada area, particularly near the ponds and slow-moving streams where they breed. Night walks in the forest during the rainy season, which runs from May through November in this part of Costa Rica, reliably produce encounters with multiple individuals.
Costa Rica: One of the Most Biodiverse Countries on Earth
The MSN caption for this image includes a fact worth repeating. Costa Rica covers just 0.03 percent of Earth’s landmass yet harbors nearly 5 percent of all species estimated to exist on the planet, making it one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.
That statistic is not an abstraction. It is visible in the field every day. On a single night walk near Boca Tapada during this workshop, the diversity of amphibians, reptiles, insects, and other invertebrates encountered within a few hundred meters of the lodge was extraordinary by any global standard.
The red-eyed tree frog near Boca Tapada is one of hundreds of amphibian species found in Costa Rica. The country is home to approximately 160 amphibian species, 220 reptiles, 850 birds, and more than 200 mammals. The northern lowlands of San Carlos, where Boca Tapada is located, represent some of the most intact and productive habitat remaining in the country.
Part of an Ongoing Costa Rica Publication Series
This MSN publication is the third major media feature in less than a week from my late June 2026 Costa Rica workshop. A red-eyed tree frog photograph from the same workshop was published in The Guardian’s News Photos of the Day on June 30, 2026. A keel-billed toucan image from the same trip appeared in The Guardian’s Week in Wildlife on July 3, 2026.
Read about the Guardian News Photos of the Day feature.
Read about the Guardian Week in Wildlife keel-billed toucan feature.
I lead small-group and private wildlife photography workshops in Costa Rica and across Florida. For workshop dates and availability, visit the workshops page or contact me directly.
View upcoming wildlife photography workshops.
Ronen Tivony is a wildlife photojournalist, Florida Master Naturalist, and photography workshop leader based in Florida. His images have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, National Geographic, BBC, TIME, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post, among others.
To book a workshop or inquire about private photography instruction, contact Ronen here or call/text 786-540-9194.