When you arrive in Costa Rica, if there’s enough daylight to check out your surroundings, you’ll see mountains just about every which way you look. They don’t call it the Central Valley for nothing; this well populated and heavily urbanized area of Costa Rica is a draining ground for at least three mountain ranges.
If it’s not too cloudy, look to the north and you’ll see a volcanic range dominated by Poas and Barva Volcanoes. Turn around and the view to the south takes in the steep slopes of the Escazu Mountains. Look to the east and you’ll see the high Talamancas on your right and a big, obvious, towering mountain on the left, Irazu Volcano. On a clear day, take a closer look and you might also spot the antennas that crown it; transmission reaches far at 11,000 feet.
From the airport, optics can’t quite resolve birds foraging near those antennas but, if they could, you would spot European Blackbird looking Sooty Thrushes,
Rufous-collared Sparrows,
and might see a grayish, sparrow-like bird with a fierce gaze.
Volcano Juncos have a right to look sparrow-savage; they live in harsh, high mountains conditions where windy, rainy weather is a given. It’s constant March or late October and amazing that insects can live in those conditions but some do and the juncos feed on them. Seeds and berries too but I wonder if the lack of insect prey and competition over them factor into their low density occurrence.
It seems weird that even though the juncos only occur on top of a handful of mountains in Costa Rica and Panama, they are still pretty uncommon but, that’s the way nature rolls. A species doesn’t need to be super common or prolific in its limited habitat. Although that helps, the bird or plant or other life form only has to be able to maintain a sustainable population until it can’t. Volcano Juncos are still present on Irazu Volcano and other paramo sites in Costa Rica but, we really have no idea how many are out there. We have no idea if they are “doing well” or being affected by their October realm shifting to a warmer September.
Since they seem to be harder to find and the fact that the climate is warming at a faster rate than maybe any time ever, I suspect they probably aren’t doing so well. In the meantime though, you can still see them on Irazu Volcano. It took us a little while but we eventually did and our sightings included a pair visiting a nest! We also saw another three birds, one of which was likely a juvenile along with Timberline Wrens and a few other species.
We saw these and other birds on a day trip to Irazu from the San Jose area. Although Irazu seems close, that’s only really true for soaring birds. For people, birding Irazu in a day comes with some challenges.
Traffic Issues
Visiting Irazu for a day from San Jose? You better leave by 5 or earlier. As in 5 in the morning and even then you can expect some trucks and other traffic but, you’ll probably get up there early enough for good birding.
It’s worth restating that traffic has become a significant issue around San Jose. If you aren’t driving on Sunday, expect stressful, time eating traffic jams and related situations, especially during rush hour times of 6 to 8:30 a.m., and 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
These facts make it sort of easy to get there but topped with traffic on the drive back through San Jose to reach your hotel. To deal with this, I have typically done morning visits to Irazu where we start driving back around noon. However, since that’s no longer working out so easy, you may want to try one of the solutions mentioned below.
Rough, Flippant Weather
Visit Irazu and you’ll meet with that junco worthy March/October climate. Hey, it might be sunny but, even then, get busy with the sun block and, you should still expect eventual mist or rain. It can also drop to 9 degrees (48 to 50) or even lower but, at least if you prepare yourself for it, you’ll be alright.
If you don’t see the birds, well, that will truly suck but that’s birding for you. Gotta roll with the punches. Gotta bring some chocolate or other treat to enjoy as the wind and rain blows against the side of the car. If you feel tempted to put on an angry junco face, remember that the junco’s not really mad. The fierce glare is probably an adaptation to protect its pale eyes from high UV rays.
Few Places for Dining
Irazu is patched with a number of farms and there are people who live way up there. Even so, there aren’t a heck of a lot of dining options. Very few actually, especially in the night because heck, sure people live up there but they aren’t stupid- like, who wants to keep a restaurant open in the cold and windy, customer-less dark?
If you want to eat out for dinner, you’ll probably have to descend to Grandpa’s (trust me, you’ll see the sign) or, go to the Bruma’s Hotel restaurant. However, for lunch, you can eat at the Noche Buena or the Suenos de Irazu on the other side of the road.
Some Birds are Always Tough
Irazu has some “good birds” but they aren’t always easy. In fact, some are pretty darn tough. Take the Maroon-chested Ground-Dove for instance. This challenging species occurs on Irazu, especially at the Noche Buena but, if it isn’t calling you’ll probably wonder where the birds are. I was wondering that yesterday as I hiked, (trudgd) up their trails. Have the doves moved to another spot with better foraging (I saw very few Mourning Doves)? Were they just skulking under dense vegetation in the dim forest?
I hoped the latter was the case and, I suppose it was in part because I did glimpse a female. No calling birds and she never responded and scurried off into darkness like a mousy quail-dove but, at least I know one dove was there. I bet more were too, just off skulking or feeding in some part of the property.
Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridges were also tougher than usual but that was probably due to the rough weather. Seeing them varies but, usually, if you spend enough time looking for them, you’ll see them. They aren’t rare up there, they just follow the usual, chicken-like bird scheme.
Other constantly challenging birds up there include Slaty Finch and Blue Seedeater and, Ochraceous Pewee and Silvery-throated Jay son’t seem present in most accessible spots.
However, despite any challenges above, there are solutions to reap the benefits of birding this hotspot.
Stay Until Night
One idea is birding Irazu until night. Yes, it makes for a long day but it’ll be a damn good birding day and, it deals with the traffic issue. Come with dinner, be dressed for the cold, and you can search for Unspotted Saw-whet Owls!
Before you get your hopes too high, know that that species is a tough one too but, at least while looking for it, you’ll have a good chance of seeing Bare-shanked Screech-Owl and Dusky Nightjar too.
Take a Day Trip from the Cartago Area
Another option is visiting Irazu while staying in the general Cartago area. The high elevations are a quick 20-30 minute drive from Cartago and further from birding lodges like Hotel Quelitales or Rancho Naturalista but, at least you”ll be staying in nice, birdy places and won’t have to deal with San Jose traffic.
Visit the Noche Buena Cafe and Trails
One of the main benefits is visiting the Noche Buena. This is the main spot with trails and is the best place to look for the ground-dove. The property also offers chances at lots of other birds even if the trails can be hard to maintain.
This spot is also an excellent place to have lunch and, who knows, you might also be able to coordinate having dinner there. The owners are wonderful people who support birding and are aware of and proud of the rare species on their property. It just costs 2,000 colones to bird the property, stay and have a coffee with home made pecan or lemon merengue pie.
High Quality Birds
Best of all, Irazu hosts several high quality species. In addition to the tough ones mentioned above (dove, owl, finch, and seedeater), we’re also talking Wrenthrush, quetzal, Buffy Tufted cheek, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, White-fronted Tyrannulet, the wood-partridge, and other birds! It’s worth a visit, just make sure you’re prepared and don’t get stuck in traffic.
To learn more about birding Irazu, hundreds of other sites (including many “hotspots” not mentioned in eBird), and how to make the most of your birding trip to Costa Rica, support this blog by purchasing “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. I hope to see you here!