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Month: August 2025

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Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica planning for a birding trip to Costa Rica

Birding Updates- Poas and Cinchona

Poas and Cinchona are two of the better, closest birding areas to the San Jose area. Just an hour or so drive up into the nearby mountains, they offer a quick fix of highland endemics and a good bunch of other birds. I bird in that area often and yet, I’m always eager to return for more exploration. No matter how often you bring the bins, there’s always something new to discover, especially on side roads that reach into the buffer zone of the big Braulio Carrillo National Park.

This past week, I had a morning of guiding around Poas and Cinchona. Here’s some updates and information from that fun morning, especially birding the road to Poas, a site I hadn’t checked for some time:

Poas Volcano still Active, National Park Open

On my way to Poas I noticed a small white cloud that looked like it was coming right out of the mountain. That wasn’t an illusion. The cloud was vapor from the nearby bowels of the Earth and an easy, visual reminder that Poas Volcano was still very much active.

While the nearby volcano is still fired up, it has calmed down significantly, enough to reopen the national park. If you want to actually enter the national park, you’ll still have to buy tickets online and in advance but at least you can. Since we did not go into the park, I can’t say how the post eruption birding is on their trails but, you can have equal or better birding on the way there anyways.

The Road to Poas

On our way there, the birds seemed fairly similar to pre, major eruption days. We had views of several Yellow-thighed Brushfinches, chlorospinguses, and other common birds. It was also nice to hear Streak-breasted Treehunters, see a few Large-footed Finches, Fiery-throated and Volcano Hummingbirds, several Black and Yellow Silky-Flycatchers, and various other expected species.

One of the best was a Black Guan at close range near the park gate. Flame-throated Warbler was also nice as were heard only Barred Parakeets and great looks at Black-thighed Grosbeaks, all while groups of handsome Band-tailed Pigeons flew overhead.

Conspicuously absent were chlorophonias, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers, Sooty Thrush, and Resplendent Quetzal, while Mountain Elaenias and Mountain Thrushes were also low in number. I figure most of those species were no-shows because the fruiting trees they prefer were fruiting elsewhere, maybe at lower elevations.

Wrenthrush

Thankfully, one of the key species we did see was the one and only Wrenthrush. This odd, uni-family bird is regular on Poas but, it’s not always reliable. Some days, I hear several calling, other days, silence from the short-tailed wren-like warblerish things.

The day we visited, I was pleased to hear a few sound off, including near the Restaurant Volcan. We also had excellent looks at a juvenile near the park gate.

The San Rafael Varablanca Road

Hoping for quetzal, we paid a quick visit to this birdy road. Birding it during sunny weather at 9:30 and 10 was predictably quiet but we still managed to save the trip with Ruddy Treerunners, Costa Rican Warblers, and some other birds in a mixed flock.

Ruddy Treerunner.

Sadly, no quetzal and although I bet a full day on that road would eventually find one, I suspect most are feeding elsewhere these days.

Cinchona Was Pretty Quiet

Perhaps the most important update comes from the Hummingbird Cafe at Cinchona. The fruit feeders were very quiet and when I asked the servers about it, they said that it had been pretty quiet like that for at least a few months. I’m not sure if that’s because a tree had fallen down, more fruit being available in nearby habitats, or a combination of those factors but hopefully that will change.

We still saw some birds the feeders, best being a female Red-headed Barbet, but no Prong-billed Barbet nor toucanet. All we can do is keep checking it out and see if the situation improves. In the meantime, don’t rely on the spot for toucanets nor Prong-billed Barbet.

The hummingbird situation was better but Black-bellied and White-bellied Mountain-gems were no shows.

Although there was some quiet birding, those sites can vary from one day to the next and the birding is always good. To learn more about these and other birding sites in Costa Rica, check out my birding site guide for Costa Rica. I hope to see you here!

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Birding Costa Rica Costa Rica birding hotels

A Morning of Birding at Villa San Ignacio

I’ve written about Villa San Ignacio before, it’s easy to write about it again. For the visiting birder, this small hotel has more than nice rooms and great service. The place is a quick 15 to 20 minute drive from the airport and, even better, the hotel grounds are birdy habitat in their entirety.

Huge fig trees, mangos, and native “cedars” shade the gardens near the rooms while second growth covers a few short trails that approach a stream. Although you can’t reach the flowing water, you can get close enough to hear it. Bird there in the morning and you’ll also hear a good number of edge and moist forest species.

Today, I guided at Villa San Ignacio in the morning and it went a little something like this:

Five Wrens a Singing

In Costa Rica, wren diversity is up there. Bird any forested area at low or middle elevations and you’ll hear several of this vociferous bunch. Today at Villa San Ignacio, I had the usual five species that whistle from riparian zones and other vegetation in the Central Valley.

Rufous-backed Wren

Today, Rufous-and-white Wrens were singing the most and, unusually, we had good looks around the volleyball court. Rufous-breasteds also sang but, as per usual, kept to the dense vine tangles. Carolina looking Cabanis’s Wrens sang from the dense second growth while Southern House Wrens (fun to say that!) and played around buildings and Rufous-backed Wrens (also fun) did their babbleresque actions throughout the property.

Fair Hummingbird Action

Today, hummingbirds were alright especially considering the low number of suitable flowers. Porterweed bushes were the main nectar source along with a small number of additional flowering plants. Several Blue-venteds fed and chased each other at the Porterweed, especially around the volleyball court. By the main buildings, another Porterweed patch hosted a Cinnamon, and Rufous-taileds trilled and bounced around the rest of the property.

Cinnamon Hummingbird

In the dry season, flowering trees also attract Green-breasted Mango, Blue-throated Goldentail, and Plain-capped Starthroats. Fortunately, a couple of those starthroats were still around; we managed to see one on a high perch at the tail end of the morning.

No Manakins or Ground-Sparrows but a Yellow-billed Cacique

Despite plenty of whistling for manakins, I heard nary a response. Same goes for the ground-sparrows. Usually, I at least hear a White-eared but not today. I’m not sure where the Cabanis’s go either, hopefully just hiding back in the thick stuff.

I figure the manakins moved off to better feeding areas, I figure that was also why we didn’t see any tityras. The birds probably found better fruiting trees elsewhere but, they’ll surely be back. On a positive note, we did hear and see a Yellow-billed Cacique, a bird I rarely if ever see at Villa San Ignacio.

Lineated Woodpecker, Lesson’s Motmots, and other Common Birds

This morning also had a fair array of common edge and Central Valley species. We had nice looks at Hoffmann’s and Lineated Woodpeckers, Lesson’s Motmots, Boat-billed Flys, kiskadees, Blue-gray Tanagers, Chestnut-capped Warblers, Squirrel Cuckoo, saltators, Common Tody-Flys, and others.

We also enjoyed Gray-headed Chachalacas, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Brown Jays, and Barred Antshrike among others.

High Flying Raptors

Once it warmed up enough, vultures soared overhead and were joined by Gray and Short-tailed Hawks. Those are the usuals at Villa San Ignacio but it pays to keep looking up. On other birding days, I’ve often seen Zone-tailed Hawk and other things can occur, even birds like Double-toothed Kite, Swallow-tailed, Kite and the odd Hook-billed Kite!

It was a fine morning of birding at Villa San Ignacio. In common with so many birding sites in Costa Rica, you never really know what you’ll see. There’s some seasonal variation and forested riparian zones and other green space have various birds wandering in and out of the area. In other words, it’s always good and a great place to start and end your birding time in Costa Rica.

Here’s the eBird list from today and a link to my Costa Rica birding site guide. I hope to see you here!

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Twitchable Yellow-billed Tern in Costa Rica

This past week in Costa Rica, we’ve been nicely struck with good fortune by the birding powers that be. A Yellow-billed Tern somehow came here and, even better, it has stayed long enough for birders to see it in excellent conditions!

The road to the Yellow-billed Tern.

In other words, in birding terms, we’ve got a twitchable Yellow-billed Tern. If you haven’t heard the term “twitch” in birding lingo, it basically means going to specifically try and see a rare bird. While that is essentially true, in reality, twitching a bird has other implications, including:

  1. Getting excited with near subsequent anxious feelings that the bird will leave before you get there.
  2. Using Zen birding techniques in an attempt to calm yourself and lower expectations (not everyone does this).
  3. Deciding whether or not the distance, time investment, and neglecting other obligations and responsibilities make the twitch worth it.
  4. Rushing to the site ASAP.
  5. Breathing a sigh of relief if you see it and doing your best to be just as pleased with seeing other birds if you don’t.

A “twitchable” bird is one found in an accessible spot that stays long enough for a good number of people to see it. I’m not sure how long that has to be but do know that if a bird is only present for one day, it earns the forlorn “one day wonder” status. And that’s not all! Even within one day wonder parameters, we can have bird sightings ephemeral, you absolutely need be there when it happens.

A couple examples that come to mind are when Ned Brinkley identified a fricking White-tailed Eagle migrating north through upstate New York (it soared into view and kept on a going), when a friend of mine saw a Virginia’s Warbler in his garden in Buffalo, NY, and when birders see rare and crazy flybys at a seawatch. Those seabirds in particular are real one minute, living the moment twitches as they fly into view and then fly back out of view, straight into birding oblivion.

It’s why you gotta be observant all the time and go birding all the time too.

Ok, that’s undoubtedly extreme but, such once in a lifetime sightings are a good reminder to go birding as much as you can and on a regular basis. On a personal note, I’m reminded of when I saw a Black Bushbird at the Tambopata Research Center in Peru. Despite birding the same trail dozens of times, it’s the only one I saw and I never saw it again!

Fortunately, our recent Yellow-billed Tern has indeed been fantastically twitchable. I mean, you don’t even have to trudge through mud or get your car stuck! It also stayed in the same spot until the weekend; a vital factor that allowed me and Mary and many others to see it. Its weekend status gave us a chance to leave early enough to make the 3 hour drive to the site, have plenty of time to watch the bird, and then leisurely make our way home.

But why go through all that trouble to see a Yellow-billed Tern? Why not just fly to Amazonia to see one? Yeah, because that’s what you usually need to do. This South American bird represents the fourth record for Costa Rica and is the only twitchable one. Many thanks goes to the local guides and birders who checked the shrimp ponds near the Puente de Amistad on July 25th. Who know what else shows up at this and other underbirded spots? Interestingly enough, one of the other records for this species in Costa Rica is from early August but where it’s slightly more expected,on the Caribbean coast.

After getting our fill of the “non Least Tern”, we started our drive back, stopping in Puntarenas on the way. Noon isn’t the ideal seawatching time at Puntarenas but, since you never know what’s out there, I had to take a look. Whether because the time of day or algae blooms, there was almost no activity near shore, not even pelicans or Royal Terns. However, scoping revealed a fair number of birds flying well offshore. A ferry ride would have given close looks at flocks of Black Terns and maybe turned up another thing or two. I’ve gotta do some morning seawatching there soon, maybe take the ferry too.

Headed to Costa Rica? If you want to see the tern, check eBird for the location and latest sighting. If not, there’s always lots of other birds to see at tons of birding sites in Costa Rica!