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Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica high elevations Introduction

Bird Photos from a Quick Trip to the Barva Highlands

Barva Volcano is the top of Braulio Carrillo National Park and the nearest, quality highland habitat to my place of residence. I can see the ruffled jade top of the mountain from the window and the lighter green pastures that creep up the slopes. There is a narrow road that reaches 2,200 meters before turning into a horribly rough and rocky track. That roughness goes 3 kilometers more to the gate of the national park but I rarely use it because I don’t bird from the back of a four wheeler. Nor do I have a birding mule. Cardio workout aside, I feel don’t feel like hiking uphill from that point either. Instead, I stick to birding along the side of the road, especially in riparian zones near the highland settlements of Sacramento and Porrosati.

Scenery on the road to Barva. No migrants there.
Rufous-capped Warbler- not a migrant but always nice to see. A common species in coffee and habitats on much of the road.

The other day, I ended up doing a bit of birding along that road to Barva Volcano. I hoped to find migrants and maybe take a few pictures of whatever birds I found. While I did come across a few warblers and one Red-eyed Vireo, there were very few migrants around. Either they haven’t come through in numbers, or their numbers are lower than they should be. Given the long northern breeding season, I suspect it’s a case of late migration. At least that’s my hope. Of the migrants I saw, Black and White Warblers were the most common.

Black and white Warbler using whatever habitat it finds.

On an interesting note, I heard more than one Black and white give sort of weak versions of their squeeky wheel song. It makes me wonder. Do some of these birds sing to delineate territories on their wintering grounds?

At one birdy riparian zone, I had great looks at Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens. It was nice to watch a pair of this common cloud forest singer forage in the open because they can be tough to see.

Face to face with a Gray-breasted Wood-Wren.
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren.

Spotted Barbtail also gave its sharp call note ( a bit like that of a leaftosser) but didn’t really cooperate for the camera.

This was the best I could do for the Spotted Barbtail.

A few Flame-throated Warblers were also in the house. Always nice to watch this smart-looking regional endemic.

Flame-throated Warbler.

As per usual, there were a few Mountain Elaenias around. Get to know this bird if you are coming to Costa Rica for birding because it’s really common in semi-open, highland habitats.

Mountain Elaenia- yep, one of those not so obvious flycatchers.

A pair of Brown-capped Vireos were also present. They sound a lot like a Warbling Vireo but look better.

Brown-capped Vireo

Of course, Common Bush Tanagers were also around. Oh, excuse me, “Common Chlorospinguses”.

Common Bush Tanager

Nary a Blue Seedeater replied to playback (I have had them there a couple of times in the past) but it was still nice to see some common highland species just 20 minutes by car from the house. This weekend, I hope to be in for some exciting birding in the Arenal area. To add to the excitement, the other day, a mega Crested Eagle was seen and photographed by the main birding guide at SkyTrek. I will be there for a day so hopefully, we will get lucky! If not, we will still have a chance at lots of other uncommon birds.

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