The holiday season has been unleashed and Costa Rica is no exception. Arrays of blinking and flashing Christmas lights, inflatable Santas and reindeers, candy cane and nutcracker themed decor…my neighborhood’s got it all. Christmas carol tracks are also on replay in supermarkets hawking everything from pseudo fruitcakes to panettones imported from Verona.
Growing up in Niagara, I don’t recall panetonnes (a fun, sort of brioche-like bread with mini chocolate chunks and candied fruit), but we did exchange tins of Christmas cookies. Those home-made treasure boxes featured a fine assortment of sugar-butter creations, even cucidati, Italian wedding cookies, mini brownies, pizzelle, you know, the good stuff!
In Costa Rica, people exchange tamales. They belong to a heftier food category than a flat, lightweight pizzelle but the kind, gift giving feelings are the same. Tamales aren’t bad either; if you’re in Costa Rica in December, make sure you try one accompanied by a fine cup of locally grown and roasted coffee.
Something else to enjoy in Costa Rica these days are umbrellabirds. Tis the season for these rare crow-like cotingas, especially at Centro Manu. After breeding in remote cloud forests, Bare-necked Umbrellabirds move to lower elevations, sort of “wintering” there until they head back uphill in February and March.
Alas, umbrellabirds can’t spend post breeding season in any old place. These special birds need mature rainforests that provide them with plenty of their preferred tamales and cucidati; local tropical fruit, small lizards, and a fine assortment of big bugs. Sadly, unlike toucans, they won’t go for bananas and would rarely if ever visit a fruit feeder. Nor will they hang out in second growth or forest edge; those places just don’t have the stuff that umbrellabirds need.
Based on their extra large eyes, I also wonder if they might be better adapted to the dim conditions of the forest interior, and thus avoid brightly lit areas. Given their penchant to forage in the upper understory of wonderfully shaded forest made even dimmer by frequent cloudy conditions, I would not be surprised.
That’s what yesterday’s umbrellabird at Centro Manu was up to. The subadult male would perch on a branch about 12 feet above the ground and peer this way and that, looking around until it swooped to snatch some bug, or move to another branch. On occasion, the mega bird also swooped to snatch a small “wild avocado” fruit in flight, gulping it down after regaining a perch. I’m not kidding about the swooping either, this species flies a bit like a woodpecker.
Yep, all of that show and right in front of us, for extended photo sessions, and walkaway views. That’s what’s going on at Centro Manu right now, you might want to visit! However, I’d be lying if I said it was simple as pie. It probably won’t be. We had to walk to the back part of the trail and still get lucky to cross paths with the bird. That trail is also famously muddy and has some slippery roots and rocks, and the forest is pretty humid and features a healthy population of mosquitos.
Even so, as long as you can walk fairly well and have repellent, you’ll be alright. You’ll still need some luck to run into an umbrellabird (that endangered status ain’t for nothing) but, you also have a fair chance at Centro Manu, especially right now. Heck, their guide Kenneth has also recently seen one in the early morning right above the office!
I don’t know how many umbrellabirds are hanging out at Centro Manu but I bet there’s more than one. When you aren’t looking for this serious mega, there’s also lots of other stuff to search for too. We also saw White-crowned Manakin, Black-crowned Antshrike, Spotted Antbird, the roosting Great Potoo, and Rufous-winged Tanager among other 90 plus bird species. You might also want to check out the fruiting figs near the hummingbird garden, they’re bound to attract some uncommon birds, maybe even a Lovely Cotinga or Red-fronted Parrotlet? Those would be a couple of additional mega birds indeed but, since they also partake in the Costa Rican altitudinal shuffle, it’s not out of the question.
Want a guided trip for umbrellabirds and other species at Centro Manu? Let me know! I hope to see you here!
Learn how to look for this bird and find information for dozens of other birding sites in Costa Rica in my Costa Rica bird finding ebook (buying it also supports this blog).