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Where to see Motmots when Birding Costa Rica

There a bunch of super cool birds to see once you head south of the border. Since you are reading this blog, you are probably well aware of that statement but if you have yet to raise the bins below the Tropic of Cancer, let’s just say that yes, you are in for a heckuva treat! Biodiversity goes crazy south of the border and among all of those flycatchers, wrens, and other familiar families are several unfamiliar bunches of birds. One of those new avian groups is the Momotidae family. These are the motmots and they are just as exotic as their family name implies!

The Blue-crowned Motmot is a spectacular feeder bird.

Yep, these are must-see birds for sure so that is why I am writing this post. I want every birder to see motmots in Costa Rica (along with casual birders and the non-birding crowd). For the birder, these racket-tailed crazies are sweet as a coconut creme pie. For those who use tiny 10 x 20 binocs and people who say “seagull”, motmots have a fair chance at being a serious starter bird. I think they would work very well as birding starter ambassadors because they are sort of big, have beautiful colors, weird tails, a cool, black mask that gives them even more character, and usually sit still long enough for a photo or two. In other words, motmots are hard to ignore when you see them and they can even get noticed by non-birders. The best news for the brider, however, is that motmots are common!

Sure, two species in Costa Rica are tough but even those are regular in the right places. So, here is where you can see those two tough motmots ones along with the common ones:

  • Gardens and coffee farms in the Central Valley: Yes! Ok, so only the Blue-crowned is present but it is still a motmot and a fantastic looking one. Go birding in moist forest or any coffee farm in the morning or evening and you have a really good chance of seeing this cool backyard bird. I often espy them on roadside wires near the house just after dawn.

    Blue-crowned Motmots are pretty common on the Pacific slope.
  • Dry forest, even scrubby areas: This is where you see Turquoise-browed Motmot and once again, amazingly, this stunner is a common species. Cerro Lodge is a great place to watch this beautiful bird at your leisure but they are also common in most lowland Pacific Slope habitats from Tarcoles north to the border.

    The Turquoise-browed Motmot might be the most colorful resident species of dry forest habitats in Costa Rica.
  • Lowland and foothill rainforest: Bird the Caribbean slope in these habitats and you have a fair chance of seeing Broad-billed and Rufous Motmots. Both are fairly common wherever there is forest (even tall second growth) and embankments where they can nest. Sarapiqui, Laguna del Lagarto, and any lowland or foothill site with some forest usually has these beauties.
    Here is a Broad-billed Motmot in forest at Quebrada Gonzalez.
    A Broad-billed Motmot from La Selva.

    The similar but larger Rufous Motmot from the Nature Pavilion.
  • The northern volcanoes, Arenal Hanging  Bridges, and the Arenal Peninsula Road: Places like Heliconias Lodge, Celeste Mountain Lodge, Las Bromelias, and other forested sites on Rincon de la Vieja and Volcan Tenorio will put you in reach of Keel-billed Motmot. It never seems to be as common as Broad-billed and who knows how they partition habitat but these areas are the best place to find it. Except for around Arenal, these sites are also the place to find Tody Motmot, especially in moist forests on Rincon de la Vieja. It’s actually kind of common there! Listen and look for the Tody in the understory.

    I was very lucky to get super close looks and pictures of Keel-billed Motmot at Heliconias Lodge. Not so lucky with shots of Tody Motmot.
  • Riparian zones: All motmots seem to like riparian zones. Whether due to embankments that work well for nesting (they nest in tunnels), because there are bigger bugs in those places, or a combination of those factors, forested ravines and streams are often good places to find motmots.

I suppose the other key for seeing motmots in Costa Rica is looking for them right after dawn and at dusk, and knowing their songs. Motmots might show themselves in more open habitats at dawn and dusk but usually hide out in dark ravines at other times of the day.

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