web analytics

Category: birds to watch for in Costa Rica

Categories
birds to watch for in Costa Rica Costa Rica birding tour south pacific slope

Spots Open for Fantastic Southern Pacific Costa Rica Birding Tour

Black-bellied Hummingbird

Costa Rica is a small place. We’e talking the size of West Virginia or Wales. You’d think a nation that small would be pretty easy to bird, fairly easy to “clean up” after one birding trip.

For many places, it’d be normal to reach that conclusion but, while Costa Rica is small, this birdy nation also has a trick up its sleeve,; several factors that keep you coming back for more. Either because they love the place or, realize they still have lots more to see, many birders do repeat trips to Costa Rica.

They might want to see a White-tipped Sicklebill.

Basically, you can’t see all the birds in one trip to small Costa Rica because this southern Central American nation is a geographical biodiversity generator. Like a mini continent, Costa Rica borders two oceans, and has mountains running down the nation’s spine that separate dry forests in the northwest from the Caribbean slope rainforests in the east. Different life zones in those same mountains host their own avian suites and, on the Pacific side, south of the Tarcoles River, dry forests suddenly become wet forests, rare rainforests with a high level of endemism.

Throw in localized habitats like mountaintop paramo, wetlands, mangroves, and intermontane valleys and the result is an incredible wealth of biodiversity, more than 600 resident species birds included. Add the migrants and Costa Rica currently boasts a bird list topping 930 species.

It’s why, even though birders can enjoy a fantastic ten day or even two week trip to Costa Rica, they can’t see everything. It’s also why I have helped Hillstar Nature design a trip to connect with the wealth of birds that reside in southern Costa Rica; species many birders have not seen on the more regular Costa Rica birding circuit.

This tour runs from March 29 to April 9 and is aimed at seeing specialties like Rosy Thrush-Tanager, cotingas, Black-bellied Hummingbird (like the feature image), White-crested Coquette, and even Ocellated Crake. Tough birds indeed and seeing them does require some luck but, even more so, it requires birding in the right places with the right local guides. We’ll be doing that and some to connect with as many southern Pacific specialties as possible.

Check out this itinerary:

Day 1. Arrivals, night at Villa San Ignacio in Alajuela

Arrival days aren’t usually the best days for birding. Often, the plane touches down after dark and you are more concerned with getting a good night’s rest than spotlighting for owls. But, sometimes you do arrive in time for birding and that’s where Villa San Ignacio comes into play.

This friendly little place is just 15 minutes from the airport, has beautiful gardens crowned with huge figs, other vegetation that attracts a healthy variety of birds, and excellent service. It’s why I often recommend it as a great starting and/or ending point for any trip to Costa Rica.


Day 2. Transfer to the spectacular birding lodge, Hotel Quelitales

After some fine introduction birding to Costa Rica at Villa San Ignacio, you’ll eventually make your way to one of Costa Rica’s newest and best birding lodges; Hotel Quelitales.

Owned by a local birder, it’s no wonder this special place has become a fantastic hotspot. The hummingbird garden can bring in uncommon species like Black-bellied Hummingbird, White-bellied Mountain-gem, Green-fronted Lancebill while other spots may turn up Scaled Antpitta or even Black-breasted Wood-Quail.

White-bellied Mountain-gem

Many. many other birds are also possible, right outside your door.


Day 3. Tapanti National Park and night at Hotel Quelitales

Although Quelitales is fantastic birding on its own, a visit to the nearby Tapanti National Park makes it that much better!

The mossy, beautiful middle elevation rainforests of Tapanti are excellent for mixed flocks and a wide variety of cloud forest species, many of which are uncommon. Some of the many birds to look for include Black-faced Solitaire, woodcreepers, Brown-billed Scythebill, barbets, and much more. With luck, you might even see an Ochre-breasted Antpitta, Streaked Xenops, foliage-gleaners, and other shy, uncommon species.

In sunny weather, this site and nearby areas can also be good for hawk-eagles, Barred Hawk, and other raptors.


Day 4. Drive over the mountains to the Talari Lodge in Perez Zeledon

buff-fronted-quail-do

After a morning birding and breakfast at Quelitales, you drive up and over the nearby majestic Talamanca Mountains. Lunch will be at the wonderful Casa Tangara dowii; a special reserve dedicated to birding and birders.

With luck, the group will be treated to wonderful views of cloudforest species at the feeder. These can include Yellow-thighed Brushfinch, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Buff-fronted Quail-Dove, and, with luck, Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge!

Lunch will be followed by a scenic drive through and over beautiful high elevation forests and treeline habitats. You might make a few stops on the way or head straight to birdy lodging. Feeder action could host Speckled Tanager and other species and, at night, there might be Tropical Screech-Owl and Common Potoo.


Day 5. Morning birding and transfer to Mary Hotel in Buenos Aires

Today, you’ll explore the birdy forests at Talari and in the nearby General Valley. Specialties will include a first real taste of south Pacific birds, you may see Scaled Pigeon, Orange-collared Manakin, Streaked Saltator, Pearl Kite, White-crested Coquette, and even Turquoise Cotinga.

The General Valley can be especially good for this fantastic, uncommon cotinga and we will watch for it at our hotel as well as spots around Perez Zeledon. We will eventually make our way to the grass savannahs near Buenos Aires and end the day looking for the local White-tailed Nightjar.


Day 6. Morning search for specialties and drive to Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

After an early breakfast, we make our way to the savannah habitats of the General Valley where we will work with a local guide to look for uncommon and localized species like Ocellated Crake and Rosy Thrush-Tanager.

Eventually, we will make our way over the scenic coastal cordillera for some afternoon birding in wetland habitats near Ciudad Neily.

These open hábitats host several uncommon and local species for Costa Rica including Veraguan Mango, Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, Brown-throated Parakeet, Savannah Hawk, and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture among others. With luck, we might also see Paint-billed Crake.

On the drive to Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, we will keep an eye out for nocturnal species like Striped Owl and Common Potoo.

Dinner and night at Esquinas.


Day 7 and 8 Esquinas Rainforest Lodge and Rincon de Osa

This area is wonderful, a birdwatcher’s paradise in the South Pacific of Costa Rica!

Several endemic bird species like the Black-cheeked Ant-tanager, Charming Hummingbird, Yellow-billed, and Turquoise Cotinga occur along with many other species. Needless to say, this is an excellent place to enlarge a birder’s life list.

birding Costa Rica

During our stay at Esquinas, the lodge’s very birdy gardens, trails, and edge habitats should keep us entertained. A huge number of species are possible including various flycatchers, manakins, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, Baird’s Trogon, Golden-naped Woodpecker, raptors, and more.

Some of the other birds we will watch for include Blue-headed Parrot, Tiny Hawk, Spectacled Owl, and the uncommon undescribed “Puntarenas Screech-Owl”.

On our first full day at Esquinas, we will spend one full day birding around the lodge grounds. On our second day, we will pay an early morning visit to Rio Rincon to watch for the endangered Yellow-billed Cotinga, Turquoise Cotinga, and other specialties, and then spend the rest of the day back at Esquinas.

All meals and nights at Esquinas.


Day 9. Drive up the Pacific coast to Tarcoles Birding LodgeDay 9-10. Central Pacific (Night at Tarcoles Birding Lodge or similar)

After a final morning of early birding and breakfast, we will drive up the coast to Esquipulas Rainforest Lodge for lunch and chances at seeing birds like White-crested Coquette and other rainforest species.

After lunch, we continue moving north for a bit of late afternoon birding at our hotel, the Tarcoles Birding Lodge. True to its name, this spot has excellent birding, especially from a tower that overlooks patches of dry forest and wetlands in a river valley.

We could see Crane Hawk among other raptors.


Day 10. Carara NP in the AM, birding by boat in the afternoon. Night at Tarcoles Birding Lodge

While walking the easy trails in the rainforests of Carara National Park, we will watch for a healthy variety of lowland rainforest interior birds including the likes of Great Tinamou, Black-faced Antthrush, Streak-chested Antpitta, Rufous Piha, manakins, and more.

The boat trip is an excellent way to get leisurely views of waterbirds and many edge species. We will also have a chance at various raptors, and good chances of seeing Scarlet Macaws and many parrots in flight. We also hope to see at least 3 species of Kingfishers and will have more chances at mangrove specialties like Mangrove Vireo, Mangrove Yellow Hummingbird, and Mangrove Hummingbird.


Day 11. Final birding in the morning and drive to Villa san Ignacio near the airport

This morning, we hope to catch up on dry forest species we have yet to see. We’ll look for everything from Crane Hawk to Spot-bellied Bobwhite, the spectacular White-throated Magpie-Jay, and Black-headed Trogon.

birding Costa Rica
Black-headed Trogon.

Night and dinner at Villa San Ignacio.


Day 12. Flights back home

Transfer to the airport for the flight back home.

One of the best things about this fantastic tour is that room is still available! To experience this wealth of uncommon mega birds in Costa Rica, please contact me at information@birdingcraft.com or contact Hillstar Nature directly at info@hillstarnature.com

You can also see more information about this carefully designed birding tour at Hillstar Nature.

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica planning birding trip Costa Rica

Recent Mega Birds in Costa Rica

What’s a mega bird? Aren’t all birds intrinsically mega? Who invented the “mega” term anyways? Alas, as with much of the birding-associated lexicon, we’ll probably never know who that unintended mover and shaker was. Worse, we don’t know which bird species provoked them to coin the term nor, how they deployed it.

That doesn’t really matter but it would be nice to know. For those of us interested in birding history, we wouldn’t mind knowing if they said, “That Red-footed Falcon is a real mega”!, or if they were so beyond mind blown by focusing in on a choice elusive and unexpected species that they could utter nothing more than a hazy dazed and eye-glazed “Mega…”.

birding Costa Rica
This is my poor photo of a mega RVG Cuckoo. The blurry nature of the photo seems fitting for its highly elusive nature (at least that’s what I tell myself).

Whatever the case, we got the word and it must not be abused. Or, heck, birding is pretty much ruleless, use it however you want. This is your birding life after all, you bird how you do. However, if “we” were so inclined to define “mega”, in my opinion (decidedly not IMHO because that sounds too much like a dang pancake chain), I would say that the word refers to particularly unexpected, automatically rare, and/or especially elusive birds.

In other words, a surprise bird sighting to knock your birding socks off and give you a personal thrill. Megas would be birds like the Harpy Eagle, Yellow Rail, and the Bukidnon Woodcock (yeah, that’s real). On account of their elusive and ultra sneaky nature, the Neomorphus ground-cuckoos also fit the mega bill as do localized and ultra rare birds like the Cherry-throated Tanager (although that one might merit mega-mega or triple mega crown status, there’s like two dozen left).

The megaist of the mega birds would be species believed to be extinct, awaiting rediscovery, or that have never been previously seen. Kinglet Calyptura is a prime candidate along with maybe an unknown bird or two in remote parts of Bolivia.

As for Costa Rica, we got our own set of megas, a few of which have been recently seen.

Aplomado Falcon near Jaco

Although this lanky falcon isn’t rare on the global page, it’s always a mega for Costa Rica. We probably get a few each year and one or two might be briefly seen. They seem to be juveniles likely wandering in from the north and don’t usually stay long.

A few days ago, one of those choice cool falcons was found by Tina Van Dusen, a local birder in the Playa Hermosa, Jaco area. This isn’t the first mega she has found, we’re glad she keeps looking and reporting the birds she turns up around Playa Hermosa!

This falcon has been hanging out in the open fields near Mistico, a housing site near Playa Hermosa. Thankfully, a good number of local birders have seen it, I hope it sticks around long enough for me and Maryllen to see it too.

If you go, watch for it perched on posts, on top of lone trees, or flying around the fields. If you see a gaggle of birders, that might work too.

Crested Eagle at Pitilla Biological Station

Whoah! Yes! The just as difficult, slightly smaller version of the Harpy was seen by experienced local birders at Pitilla Biological Station. Although they don’t have a picture, their description is spot on and they have enough experience with other raptors to make the right call.

This isn’t just an automatic mega sighting by merit of the species involved, it’s also a fantastic mega sighting because we have no idea how many (few) Crested Eagles still occur in Costa Rica. One had never been seen in that area before but it’s the least bit surprising that they saw one where they did. Pitilla is one of the most remote, intact, accessible areas of lowland and foothill rainforest on the Caribbean slope. Not by coincidence, it’s also the only place where both Speckled Mourner and Ocellated Poorwill have been recently seen and not that far from a Harpy Eagle sighting in 2017.

All these species are indicators of healthy, intact habitat, the main question I have is where that Crested Eagle came from. Did it wander in from somewhere else? Are there a few hanging on in the remote forests of the northern volcanoes? Hopefully there are enough to maintain a small population.

Gray-headed Piprites at Rancho Naturalista

The piprites is another classic mega for Costa Rica. Although it used to be slightly more frequent, the mini pseudo manakin has never been common and is weirdly local. The reasons for its localization are surely not the slightest bit weird for the bird but they sure are evasive for us humans.

It has become very hard to predict where this bird might occur other than at its known and regular haunts. The best haunt seems to be a site near Turrialba where local guide Steven Montenegro regularly sees it. Other regular spots are in that same general region including one of the best known birding lodges in Costa Rica; good old Rancho Naturalista.

Yes, recently, one was seen there, hopefully, it will stick around for lots more birders to see it. If not, you could always contact Steven or try Vista Aves; the guide there also knows sites for this unassuming mega.

Migrating Swallows and other birds from the north

No, they don’t fit the mega definition but what can I say? Watching dozens of swallows fly over the house was a mega experience for me, especially after a short, successful hospital stay. I’m still alive and so are they; Cliff Swallows with deep chestnut throats, Bank Swallows looking svelte, and beautiful peach Barn Swallows zipping from the fields of Ohio straight on through Costa Rica.

Wood-pewees hawking bugs from perches, the first of many Baltimore Orioles and Summer Tanagers getting reaccustomed to their tropical side of life, and good numbers of cheerful chipping Yellow Warblers. In which forests did the flycatchers sing their lazy summer songs? Where did the orioles and tanagers flutter in June maples and oaks? Where did the warblers grace the northern willows?

I like to know but no matter right now. It only matters that they made it here and, if they stay, that they survive the winter in these tropical realms.

To learn more about birding at the sites mentioned in this post while supporting this blog, check out my bird finding guide for Costa Rica. I hope to see some mega birds with you here!

Categories
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!

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica

Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo Surprise

In the realm of birding, we love surprises! At least, we love the good ones; unexpected happiness in the form of a Swallow-tailed Kite floating into view over the shaded streets of Buffalo or other places north of their usual range. Vagrant birds, skulking birds on an open perch, a Great Black-backed Gull that does not go naturally psycho on a rare stint or naive first year Ross’s Gull; we love avian surprises like these and more.

In Costa Rica, we had one such an avian surprise this past June. Well, we had more than one but the surprise bird sighting that stands out was a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at the Horizontes Station in Guanacaste. To see why this was a big surprise, check out where the station is located on this map, and where the nearest Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo sightings are in eBird.

To summarize, Horizontes is in tropical dry forest while all other sightings of this elusive bird come from expected humid forested habitats. The bird ain’t where it’s supposed to be! And if it weren’t for the trail camera that clearly captured images of the bird, we would have never known about it.

birding Costa Rica
Elegant Trogon is a much more typical bird of Horizontes.

In Costa Rica and elsewhere, ground-cuckoos showing up on trail cams is nothing new. It’s how we found that the species occurs in Cangreja National Park (which was well outside of their known range), and how they have been detected in other parts of their range. It’s also why it would be nice to have some trail cams in different parts of Carara. The bird has been seen there too but only on two occasions that I know of. However, I suspect small numbers occur in the more humid and inaccessible parts of the park.

Like this forest.

However, note that Carara is humid rainforest, sort of where one might expect a Neomorphus while Horizontes is tropical dry forest. What gives? How the heck did it get there!?! There’s a couple of possibilities. One is that this species has always lived in that area and came from the taller, more humid dry forests of Santa Rosa National Park. Since there have been zero g-cuckoo sightings in Santa Rosa despite decades of research having been carried out there, I don’t think that’s the correct explanation.

The second option is that the bird (or birds) have wandered from known haunts on Rincon de la Vieja all the way into the lowland forest habitats of Horizontes. Even though this seems unlikely at first, there’s no other good explanation and, when we look into a few factors, we can see how it could happen. Check it out:

Distance not incredibly far– Although Horizontes is not adjacent to Rincon de la Vieja, it’s not all far, especially for a ground-cuckoo. In a straight line, Horizontes is 15 to 20 kilometers to the nearest ground-cuckoo habitat on Rincon de la Vieja.

These birds don’t like to fly but they cover a heck of a lot of ground on foot! They have big territories and perhaps disperse over large areas.

Connected habitat– Looking at a map, there’s not a lot of forest connections between Horizontes and the slopes of Rincon. However, look closer and you can see some riparian zones snaking down to meet Horizontes or other forests connected to that area. We can only assume that the bird used these green trails to reach its destination (even crossing the Pan-American highway in the process).

Tropical Dry Forest?– This habitat is definitely not prime living space for a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo. In Costa Rica and most of its range, they seem to only live in dense, primary rainforest that can supply the high variety of arthropods and other small creatures these apex understory predators feed on.

More typical RVG-Cuckoo habitat.

With that in mind, I have to wonder how long that bird is going to survive at Horizontes. Right now, with all that rain going on, it’s probably got plenty to eat but when the water stops and plants and bugs go into hibernation, it’ll be a challenge to survive.

However, it is worth mentioning that this species occurs in somewhat dry, intermontane valleys around Apolo Bolivia and may even be more common there than other sites in its range. Perhaps it’s a bit more adaptable than we realize? The bird surely still needs plenty of productive habitat to maintain a population but maybe there’s more of those smart and sneaky rainforest roadrunners than we think.

Coming back to option one– Could the bird have encountered Horizontes from the Santa Rosa area anyways? It could have and forest habitats are bigger and more connected from that direction but, if so, why wouldn’t it just stay where there’s more habitat? Like, why go all the way to Horizontes when you’ve already got more intact forested areas to play with? Could there actually be a small population in some part of Santa Rosa that we aren’t aware of?

Although that still seems unlikely, with this ultra sneaky bird, it seems like a lot more is possible than expected!

With that in mind, where else might ground-cuckoos occur in Costa Rica? At least one person hints at seeing one in the Osa and that would seem to make sense but what doesn’t jive is hundreds of other birders never seeing one there ever. Given that it occurs in Cangreja and Carara, might it also occur in some other parts of the Pacific slope?

Some places to look for it (which are also mostly underbirded) could be the Cambronero area and forests south of San Ramon, forests above Miramar, forests west of Monteverde, and maybe even habitats uphill from the Quepos area.

If you do some exploration birding in those areas, keep that in mind! Whether birding there or in dense rainforest (especially the foothills), if you think you hear some quiet clacks or snaps, or hear cowish/doveish vocalization, take a closer look. The understory might be hiding a mega avian prize.

To learn more about birding sites mentioned in this post while supporting this blog, get my 900 plus page birding site guide to Costa Rica. I try to keep it up to date and if I edit it soon, will also send you that recently edited version. I hope to see you in birdy Costa Rica!

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica

Tips for Birding Costa Rica Around Carara

During the past week, I had a long, fruitful day in the Carara area. No surprise there, that’s usually how the birding goes in that mega ecotone. While birding from Orotina to Tarcoles, near Villa Lapas, and on the Cerro Lodge entrance road, we identified 167 species. Check out the trip report!

And no, we did not enter Carara National Park; we’ll have to go birding in that fine forest another day. But how can you visit the Carara area and not bird in the national park? For the best of reasons- the area has way too many birds to see in just one day. Check out these tips to give the Carara area justice:

A Day is Great but Three Days are Always Better

We had great looks at Lesser Ground-Cuckoo on the Cerro Lodge road.

You can’t go wrong with a day of birding in the Carara area but you’re better off spending 2 or 3 nights. It’s often so hot, you might want to spend much of the afternoon in a pool anyways.

We could have easily birded the Ceiba de Orotina Road and the nearby Guacima-Bajamar area all day (with a leisurely break for lunch). Likewise, the Bijagual road has so many possibilities, you could spend two full days birding it and see 200 species. Carara National Park also merits a day or two, and you could also spend a morning or late afternoon birding by boat on the Tarcoles River (check out my Costa Rica bird finding guide and birding companion to learn more about these sites and strategies to adequately bird this area).

Spending at least two nights also makes it easier to look for the 9 species of owls and other night birds that live in the area!

The Bijagual Road is Good but Watch the Traffic

On the Bijagual Road, we had some quick and exciting birding just uphill from Villa Lapas. It was pretty hot but a bunch of birds eventually showed. However, there was also quite a bit of traffic. There’s usually some cars and trucks but there were more than usual the other day.

Make sure to park where other vehicles can go around you, especially at the few spots where you can sort of pull off the road.

Common Potoo and Pacific Screech-Owl on the Cerro Lodge Road

Last year, this pair of choice species entertained a good number of birders. This year, they are back! Actually, they never left but had changed their roosting sites. I can’t really describe exactly where they are but, if you bird there with a local guide, you should be able to see them in the day.

Bird there at night and you could see those as well as other species (Barn, Striped, Mottled, and Black and white Owls have all occurred there!).

Persistence Needed for Uncommon Mangrove Birds

Mangrove species were some of our many target birds. It took some looking but we eventually found some of them. The best were a couple of Mangrove Hummingbirds in the Bajamar mangroves. They weren’t on the main road through them (and the mangroves there didn’t look so great) but were in an area of tall mangroves with lots of arching, intertwined roots. This was on the coastal road that runs next to them.

We also found a few species in the mangroves on the road to Playa Azul. It took some looking but birds like Panama Flycatcher and Northern Scrub Flycatcher eventually showed. Although in Costa Rica, these and a few other species only occur in mangroves, ironically, they aren’t abundant. You’ll probably need to work to see them.

birding Costa Rica

The Carara area was birdy as always. No matter how much birding you do, there’s always more to see! My only regret is not being able bird each distinctive area at dawn but the solution’s a good one; take more birding trips to the area. Happy birding, I hope to see you here!

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica

Important Costa Rica Birding Updates- March, 2025

They can also do some cool antswarm acrobatics.

March is high time for birding in Costa Rica. For the most part, it’s still dry, birds are tuning up for the nesting season, raptor migration is happening, and Three-wattled Bellbirds are in the house! It’s a good time to be here. You could also run into umbrellabird, and maybe even one of those avian lottery winning antswarms.

It might have one of these.

If there’s any downside to March, it’s that temps tend to be hotter, most hotels are full, and there’s no Saint Patrick’s Day parades. Once again, I’ll miss the celebrations at the armory in Niagara Falls (have some beers for me!) but at least I’ll be seeing lots of cool birds. If you’ll be in Costa Rica these days, you’ll be seeing lots too. Check out these important local birding updates; they might help with your trip.

Sad Changes at Corso

If you drive to the La Paz waterfall Gardens or Cinchona, you’ll probably also pass by a sweet hummingbird hotspot known as “Corso“. The parking area for this dairy farm and their cafe has long been a regular hotspot for Scintillant Hummingbird and other glittering beauties.

However, after a recent visit, I think it’s going to be a while before we can see hummingbirds there again. Most of the Porterweed that had been growing in the parking lot has been removed. There’s a still a few plants and several might grow back but, for the moment, you’ll have to look for hummingbirds elsewhere. I can’t blame them for removing the plants, lately, they weren’t looking good and may have lived out their lifespan.

Less Parking, Fewer Hummingbirds at Cinchona

At Cinchona, there have also been a couple changes. For the most part, this hotspot still dishes up a beautiful selection of birds and there’s that sweet waterfall view. However, you might not see as many hummingbirds. Their numbers at Cinchona always vary and are probably related to flower prevalence in nearby areas as well as nesting behavior. Even so, I’ve never seen the feeders so quiet.

Hopefully that will change but, for the moment, you’ll need to curb your hummingbirding expectations. Another change at Cinchona involves parking. Overnight, the small corral across the street (and was housing for a donkey and a cow) became a tiny roadside diner. Yep, they are serving food out of there, right across the street from the Hummingbird Cafe. What that means for birders if that you can’t park across the street unless you are dining at the corral.

Poas Volcano is Acting Up

Poas Volcano has always been active but it doesn’t always erupt. Lately, though, it’s been doing some honest to goodness erupting. There hasn’t been any lava yet but there’s been plenty of ash and gases. The park is still open but that could change at any time.

Also, with all that erupting going on, I’m not so sure if the birding will be as good. For the moment, I’ve been staying away from the higher parts of the road to Poas. If you feel like you’d rather not visit that area, you’ll have to see the high elevation birds on the Irazu-Turrialba massif or on Cerro de la Muerte.

Umbrellabirds, Sharpbills, Oh My!

Challenging birds! Since the Sharpbills in Costa Rica and Panama might be an endemic species, that would be a particularly worthy bird to see. Local birders have been seeing these two gems and Yellow-eared Toucanet on the road to Manuel Brenes.

They have been attracted to the fruits of several Lauraceous trees about 1.2 kilometers in from the main road. I heard that those particular trees might not have fruit any more but maybe other ones in the area do. It’s worth checking, especially because this road can also turn up big mixed flocks, antbirds and the ground-cuckoo at ant swarms, Lattice-tailed Trogon, and many other species.

Cattle Tyrant on the Road to Cano Negro

Costa Rica’s first Cattle Tyrant turned up where we had expected it; around La Gamba, near the border with Panama. However, more have obviously been on the move because there’s at least one more at the opposite end of the country!

Yes, local birders have been twitching a Cattle Tyrant on the road to Cano Negro, in the San Emiliano wetland area. Since that bird is almost in Nicaragua, it seems there could easily be a few more hanging out with some of the many cows in other parts of Costa Rica. If you see a funny looking Tropical Kingbird foraging on the ground in a pasture, take a closer look.

Three-wattled Bellbirds near San Ramon

March is also a good time for bellbirds. Most are back on the breeding grounds and as long as males are calling, they are fairly easy to find. While Monteverde is the easiest place to see this fancy cotinga, some also occur in cloud forests near San Ramon.

They can still be hit and miss but you might find one by checking recent eBird sightings. Good areas to check include Quetzal Valley, the Bajo la Paz road to Catarata La Danta, and anywhere from Nectandra to the San Luis Canopy area. You might also find one on the road to Manuel Brenes but the easiest way to see one is to hire the Arias brothers. They live and guide in this area on a daily basis, and can bring you to bellbirds, nesting Ornate Hawk-Eagle, and quetzal (they even have one using a nest box).

Some of those birds might require some hiking but these guys can definitely help. Contact them at Ignacio Arias.

As always, there’s a lot more I could say but that’s all for now. I hope to see you here!

To support this blog and learn more about the birding sites mentioned in this post, get my 900 plus page birding site guide and ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“. Happy birding!

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica

Birding News from the San Luis Canopy, February, 2025

“Canopy” has more meanings than you think. I hear or see the word and envision the most evasive and alluring parts of a forest. Canopy is where tree crowns could be topped with silent and colorful cotingas, a tip top might be graced by an Olive-sided Flycatcher, and where eagles nest.

An Ornate Hawk-Eagle from near Virgen del Socorro.

The canopy is irony in full view because you can look up into it but, you hardly see it, at least not from the ground. To experience the canopy, you have to somehow get up there, high into the squirrel and monkey walkways. Aptly named canopy towers help but in Costa Rica, for whatever reason, we don’t have many. Instead, we rely on views of steep slopes cloaked in mature forest, or bird from suspension bridges that cross steep and deep ravines.

A canopy is also a type of roof, and, in Costa Rica, a synonym for “ziplining”. Yes, put on the helmet, harness up, and you can canopy through the canopy. It’s exhilarating and you might see a good bird or two but it’s not the best way to bird the canopy. As with all birding, seeing those high level birds requires time and patience, a lot more than a pseudo flight through the forest.

If birding with family who want to go ziplining (most do and with good reason), this presents one of those common vacation birding conundrums. Basically, how do you please everyone, the birding you included? The easiest solution is to go birding in a place where you can watch birds while the non-birding fam can get their zipline canopy kicks. Luckily, in those regards, several ziplining spots work but one spot is especially fantastic.

That spot is the San Luis Canopy (aka Parque Aventura San Luis) and if you need to mix fam. canopy with your type of canopy, this is the place to do it. Heck, even if you aren’t with family and want to experience excellent birding, you can go to San Luis and do that too!

I was there today, here’s some of the latest birding news from this birding hotspot:

Bare-necked Umbrellabird

San Luis continues to be a reliable spot for this mega, crow-sized cotinga. Although it rarely comes to the edge (where the feeders are), you might see one on their hanging bridges trail. Lately, workers have been seeing at least back in those fine woods. Maybe you’ll see it too?

Tanager Fest

Lots of tanagers are still visiting the fruit feeder area including a couple of Blue-and-Gold Tanagers. They are joined by lots of Silver-throateds, a few Emeralds, Bay-headed, Scarlet-rumped, Crimson-collared, Palm, and Blue-gray Tanagers.

Keep watching and you’ll also get super close views of beautiful Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Tawny-capped Euphonias, patriotic Clay-colored Thrushes, Chestnut-capped Brushfinch, and other species.

Keep watching the surrounding trees too, that’s where Black-and-yellow Tanagers occur along with White-ruffed Manakin, Tropical Parula, migrant warblers, and other birds.

Altitudinal Migrants

Some of those other birds may include Black-thighed Grosbeak, White-throated Thrushes, and Black-faced Solitaires. Lately, cool weather has driven these and some other species to lower, more food-rich environs. Might a Yellow-eared Toucanet show up? Maybe something else?

I heard one of these beauties today.

If you don’t see them at San Luis, head down the road and watch for fruiting trees, they might be there instead.

Scaled Antpitta, Purplish-backed Ground-Dove, and other Good Birds

Lately, the birder/workers at San Luis have also been seeing Scaled Antpitta. That’s not too surprising but they haven’t seen it before and it’s always a tough one to see. Interestingly enough, one of the birder workers related how a Scaled Antpitta seems to follow White-collared Peccaries.

He also mentioned that he has been seeing quite a few Purplish-backed Quail-Doves, and may have seen Strong-billed Woodcreeper in the back part of the forest. Although he hasn’t seen Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo lately, this site has been a good spot for that mega bird and it should show again, especially with Army Ants.

Speaking of Army Ants, they also regularly see Ruddy Woodcreeper along with other ant following birds. Sadly, one of the birds they have not seen lately is Ochre-breasted Antpitta. Although at least one was regular at the site for a while, they haven’t seen this species in a while. I wonder if it’s because of climate change driven warmer and drier weather.

Lattice-tailed Trogon

This toughest of Costa Rica trogons is also present although it seems to be restricted to the deepest part of the forest. It’s a bit of a walk but with umbrellabird, ground-cuckoo, and other species possible, yeah, it might be a good one to do!

Raptors

San Luis is also good for raptors. Today, they heard Ornate Hawk-Eagle calling just before we arrived and, just down the road, I had also glimpsed a soaring Black Hawk-Eagle!

Other regular raptors include Barred Hawk, Bicolored Hawk (although pretty uncommon), Double-toothed Kite, Barred Forest -Falcon sneaking around the forest, Short-tailed Hawk, and occasional Great Black Hawk. If you are extra lucky, you might even see Tiny Hawk.

birding Costa Rica
An elusive Tiny Hawk.

Yep, San Luis Canopy is rocking! In a month or two, Three-wattled Bellbird should also be around, they have seen at least one Keel-billed Motmot, and other cool birds are a short drive down the main road. One of those is Tody Motmot. Despite what range maps show, this super cool bird also occurs at sites a 30 minute drive from San Luis. Lots of other birds do too, to look for them, contact Maylor Herrera. He’s the birder and employee at San Luis who shared a wealth of birding information with me today, including the fact that he’s found several territories of Tody Motmot and spots for White-tipped Sicklebill.

To visit San Luis, tanager viewing costs $12 while their longer, hanging bridges trail may cost $25 to $30. They also have a nice little restaurant and a bunch of good souvenirs, local craft beer included. As always, I look forward to my next visit.

To learn more about hundreds of birding sites in Costa Rica, support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page Costa Rica bird finding ebook. I hope to see you here!

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica

Starting 2025 with Quality Birds in Costa Rica

This is 2025. This is the latest of the “new years” and you can bet that 1,000s of birders are already working on their year lists. Or just keeping track of the birds they identify, or traveling to see birds, or simply watching and enjoying birds. Pausing to focus on a cardinal’s red plumage punctuating a snowy landscape. Hearing the echoes of crow calls as a cold breeze sneaks through quiet and suspended winter woods.

In Costa Rica, I have been catching the voices of chattering parakeets flying from morning roosts, interrupted by the shouts of Great Kiskadees, and seen a few hundred other birds. Yes, a week into 2025 and already more than 300 species and if you do enough birding in Costa Rica, that’s more than normal. Bird enough for a week in the right places and 300 plus birds are expected.

birding Costa Rica

Thanks to guiding in some of the right places, I’ve also been fortunate to begin this year with several quality birds. All birds are good to see but, whether because of scarcity or anti-social behavior, some are more challenging or unexpected than others; such are the “quality birds”. Those are the pearls, emeralds, and aquamarines of our ongoing feathered treasure hunt and when you keep a year list, they are also the double and triple bonus birds. These are the some of the more polished avian gems I’ve seen during this first week of 2025. There won’t be many pictures but I’ll try and tell you what it was like to experience them.

Black-eared Wood-Quail

Misty, breezy mornings aren’t the best for birding but they’ll give you thought-provoking ambiance. I was doing my best to whistle in birds and eke them out of mossy cold front surroundings on the dead end road to Sensoria. Yeah, it might sound like a scene from a dystopian tale (especially with signs warning us of imminent volcanic danger) but no, literally, that’s what we were doing.

Such a road exists on the northern, forested flank of Rincon de la Vieja Volcano and, if you catch it right, you’ll have fantastic birding. “Right” being calm and dry weather, and us birding in waves of terrestrial clouds, the birding was rather challenging. However, we still saw and heard birds, uncommon ones too, birds like Black-eared Wood-Quail.

They never came close enough to see but it was rewarding to hear their voices rock and roll in our wonderfully forested surroundings. This is the rarest wood-quail in Costa Rica, one only seen in the more remote and intact rainforests of the Caribbean slope, especially foothill sites on the northern volcanoes.

Ornate Hawk-Eagle

An Ornate Hawk-Eagle from another year near Virgen del Socorro.

I saw this bird just yesterday, I can still see the heavy raptor flap its way along a ridge line above Cinchona. Yeah, the famous birding cafe with feeders and photographers and smiling people is home to a pair of Ornate Hawk-Eagles. They might not pay a visit, might prefer to freak out their fellow forest denizens away from people but you can bet they check it out, at least on occasion.

With so many Black Guans coming to the feeders these days, maybe one of the hawk-eagles will make a play for one? They do eat them you know, those and even macaws and small monkeys. I suppose that’s unsurprising for a hefty, monster goshawk, that’s sort of what an Ornate Hawk-Eagle is.

I saw that choice bird thanks to Niall Keogh. While birding in “Old Cinchona”, he spotted it soaring at a distance, a non vulture using the same thermals as a Black Vulture. If you are ever in Ireland and wouldn’t mind some guided birding, Niall will show you more than you think was possible.

Lesser Ground-Cuckoo

The easiest ground-cuckoo is common in Costa Rica but it’s always a quality bird. How not with those Egyptian flavored eyes?

Lesser Ground Cuckoo creeping away.

On January 1st, we had one while birding the Ceiba-Orotina road, more or less by accident. Stripe-headed Sparrows were high-pitch chipping from some brush. Common birds, easy to see but still nice to look at. Must have been why I automatically raised my bins.

I glimpsed a sparrow tail but found myself focusing in on the painted face of a ground-cuckoo! Happily, the bird stayed long enough for all of us to see it.

Bare-necked Umbrellabird

Whoah! Yes, that early in the year. Go to the right place for it, hang out long enough, and you might see one. At least that was my chance strategy. Unless you find the right fruiting tree in the right place, that really is about all you can do; I’m glad that birding gambit paid off!

Niall and had already been trudging through the mud-root trail at Centro Manu for a couple hours. We had heard and seen some manakins and a few other birds but not a whole lot else. I knew umbrellabird had to be in there but despite the bird’s silence and crow dimensions, it’s still a crapshoot. All you can do is stop every few steps, scan the forest and repeat, keep on and hope you notice something fly or a dark bird obscured by green that doesn’t end up being a toucan or an oropendola.

I had stopped and noticed palm nuts on the ground, food that can attract rodents and, in turn, snakes. I scanned the ground, wondering if I might discern a hidden serpent when I was interrupted by a large black shape flying past us at close range.

“Umbrellabird! There it is!”

Thankfully, this odd bird of birds perched nearby and stayed there, only 20 feet above the ground. It didn’t seem to be afraid of us as we watched it at leisure, watched the adult make Bare-necked Umbrellabird slowly turn its head back and forth, using its big obsidian eyes to peer into the forest.

We marveled in the rare moment and how much it resembled a goliath manakin topped with a pompadour, how its neck was touched with shining iridescence. A truly unreal bird, a reminder that our world, this natural place, is replete with living treasure.

The umbrellabird swooped to another perch to do the same forest scanning moves and then another, eventually moving out of sight although not before we saw it catch and eat a huge insect, one as big as a frog. I was reminded of Accipiters and owls that do the same act, moving from one perch to another, always stopping to carefully watch for prey.

We saw one umbrellabird but there’s more at Centro Manu. The local guide there, Kenneth, has also recently seen a female and immature (and Crested Owl and other birds). You might want to visit.

Snowy Cotinga

After the umbrellabird, we enjoyed lunch at Centro Manu and ventured onwards. Opting to look for lowland birds around La Selva, we enjoyed views of Chestnut-colored Woodpecker and some other key birds but no Snowy Cotinga.

Chestnut-colored Woodpcker is a quality, must-see bird too!

I figured we would check a spot near Chilamate where I have often seen the surreal things. That figuring paid off, that and maybe the luck of the cotinga because, amazingly, a male was waiting for us. As I pulled into the road, I noticed a bird perched on top of a bare tree. It looked small, it couldn’t be but, I had to of course check it.

It turns out it wasn’t as small as I had assumed. The perched thingee was a full white bird with the slightest hint of gray on its head, a short tail, funny shaped head and beady black eye. That’s what a male snowy Cotinga looks like, we hadn’t even stepped out of the car!

We had also arrived just in time, two minutes later it swooped off and away to hidden branches.

All motmots

Grainy Tody Motmot, near dark conditions.

Six motmot species reside in Costa Rica, not all of them are easy to see. As luck would have it, I was in the right places to see all six of them. Turquoise-browed was an easy, Rollerish and lapis, mosaic-pieced bird on wires near Orotina (more than one).

Broad-billed and Rufous were rainforest beauties in expected places. As per usual, the Rufous grandfather-clocked its tail back and forth, pausing before switching it back to the other side.

The tough ones were at Rincon de la Vieja, on that same mossy road where wood-quail rollicked and Nightingale Wrens enticed. Thankfully, the Tody Motmot responded to my whistling and perched within easy sight. It’s not like other motmots; more like a green puppet with a fancy face. Then again, all motmots got puppet attributes but the Tody would still be most at home on a children’s show.

The other tough one was the Keel-billed Motmot, another green beauty just up the road from where we took in the Tody.

Then there’s the final motmot, the 6th and easy, common one. No less beautiful, we saw a Lesson’s Motmot in an expected place and situation; perched on a concrete post next to shaded coffee.

Rufous-breasted Antthrush

If birders in Costa Rica see an antthrush, it’s usually the Black-faced variety. That’s still a great bird to see, still a forest-crakish creature that whistles far below crowns of massive trees. However, Costa Rica also has two other antthrushes, two other species less frequently seen, one of which is probably also endemic to Costa Rica and Panama (a classic, intriguing “future split”).

That would be the Black-headed Antthrush, a bird fairly easy to hear in several foothill spots and, not too tough to see at Pocosol and some other sites. The other antthrush is the Rufous-breasted, the toughest and least common of the three in Costa Rica. You’ll hear it at Tapanti and a few other spots but laying eyes on it is another story.

Cotinga luck being with us, we found ourselves in that other story on the track above Cinchona. It’s a slippery road, unless you are very fit and into hiking and fending off confused friendly dogs that become unfriendly, I can’t recommend it. But, the forests up there do have some good birds (see above for Ornate hawk-Eagle), tough antthrush included.

We heard at least three and one sounded close enough to give it a try. However, I knew it would still be a challenge as we still needed a view into the dense forest understory, a spot where we could see the ground to watch the bird walk into view (such is the antthrush way).

Fantastically, after a good deal of speaking with the bird in its whistle language, it gave us a break and popped into sight! It was just a moment but that span was enough to claim views of polished jasper, of a bird that brings me back to the Andes; a Rufous-breasted Antthrush.

Blue-and-Gold Tanager

It’s gorgeous, it’s a tanager, and it’s not easy to see. Well, these days, it is! Go to the San Luis Adventure Center and one might fly into your face. Not quite but close.

With such unruly cool and wet weather for so long, cloud forest birds are having trouble finding their favorite fruits. They’re moving to lower elevations and doing whatever it takes to survive. One of those actions is eagerly feasting on bananas or plantains or other stuff at the San Luis Canopy.

When the guy walked in with the fruit, tanager madness took place. There were maybe 30 Silver-throateds, a few Emeralds, and other birds that literally flew at us and perched within arm’s length. Two of those other birds were chunkier and bigger than the other tanagers and plumaged in yellow and dark, blackish-blue.

Yes, Blue-and-Gold Tanagers, uncommon Bangsia genus tanagers of fantastic mossy forest, just the type of habitat at the San Luis Canopy.

During this first week of birding, I also had other nice birds, lots, including Long-billed Dowitcher (it’s uncommon in Costa Rica!), two massive muppet Great Potoos, beautiful Bay-headed and Crimson-collared Tanagers and more. There’s always lots more birds waiting to be seen in Costa Rica.

To learn more about the sites mentioned in this post and how to see these and hundreds of other birds, support this blog by purchasing my Costa Rica bird finding guide, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“. I hope you see these birds, I hope to see you here in Birdlandia.

Categories
Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica Costa Rica bird finding guide

Highlights from Two Weeks of Birding in Costa Rica

Who doesn't want to see a Snowcap?

I slept in this morning, didn’t even go birding! That will change tomorrow when I awake before dawn for guiding in the Poas area. It’ll be good, in the highlands of Costa Rica, the birding always is. I experienced some of that memorable montane birding last week along with another week of birding in lowlands and middle elevations while guiding a couple of birders from one corner of Costa Rica to the next.

It was a biodiverse birding rush, an immersion into natural Costa Rica to see how much we could find on an itinerary carefully planned to experience as much of the Costa Rican avifauna as possible. There was a fair bit of driving, lots of walking, less rain than expected, wonderful hospitality, and great food in various, small, out of the way places.

The plan worked out because there were also more than 475 bird species seen along with 40 that were heard only. Highlights were a daily occurrence including that last bit of birding yesterday morning when we saw the elusive Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow (a suiting final bird for the list!).

I’m still wrapping my head around the trip, wondering which highlights to mention. Rolling up to the salt pans at Punta Morales and seeing dozens of roosting Black Skimmers along with hundreds of Marbled Godwits, Willets, and other shorebirds? Fantastic, glittering views of a male Mangrove Hummingbird at Caldera quickly followed by a Lesser Ground-Cuckoo hopping into view? Or, how about Resplendent Quetzals shining jade green in stately oak forests decorated with lichen and bromeliads?

Those are a few highlights that come to mind, here are some others.

Last Minute Birding in Los Chiles

After a long, unbirdy drive from Pocosol Biological Station, we made it to Los Chiles just in time for late afternoon bird action. As soon as we stepped out of the vehicle, new birds came fast and furious. It didn’t matter that people were chatting and walking around the river “dock” and nearby park.

Spot-breasted Wrens scrambling in the vines here! Flyover Red-lored Parrots, flyby Roseate Spoonbills, whoah…Black-collared Hawk! A quick Harris’s Hawk next, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts over the trees, Barn Swallows zipping, kingfishers rattling and flying, it was all around and all at once!

As dusk approached, a Bat Falcon followed the course of the river and nighthawks fluttered into view. That first one was an uncommon migrant Common Nighthawk! The others with the blunt wing tips and smaller patches of white were Lessers!

It was welcome birding after a drive and preparation for birding action the following morning.

Medio Queso Marsh Action

After a night at CyC Hotel (much recommended for a night or two), we headed to the nearby Medio Queso marsh before dawn. I was hoping for Striped Owl, wishing on an Ocellated Poorwill. I suspect we almost got the owl; we did notice a pale owl fly up from a ditch. However, we didn’t see it well enough, never saw it again and couldn’t discount an American Barn Owl. No longshot poorwills either but we did have perfect looks at Pacific Screech-Owls before a fine morning in a flooded marsh.

Water levels were high and that likely kept us from seeing Snail Kite and Limpkin but we still saw lots of other birds. There were great looks at Pinnated and Least Bitterns, the pinkish-beaked Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, a distant Sungrebe, unexpected White-tailed Hawk, and more.

Yellow-breasted Crakes walked and fluttered into view without playback, a White-throated Crake swam across the channel, and a wintering Sora briefly flushed from the grass. Luckily, just before leaving, we focused in on Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures doing their harrier movements over the marsh.

Tirimbina

We had an afternoon, full day, and a bit of morning in Sarapiqui. That’s somewhat of an injustice for this birdy region but we had other places to visit, couldn’t afford more time in the Caribbean lowlands.

To bird the forest, I opted for the Tirimbina Reserve. This reserve has beautiful lowland rainforest, a “canopy” walkway over a ravine, rushing river, and a heck of a lot of birds. I also like Tirimbina because it is open to the public at 6. Walk in, pay the entrance fee and the birds are yours’ to see.

Our morning visit was more or less exceptional. Fasciated Tiger-Heron from the bridge, Gray-cheeked Thrushes, White-collared Manakins, and other birds in the gardens, and we hadn’t even reached the forest.

Once we got there, it didn’t take long before we lucked into that dream Neotropical birding situation; Army Ant swarm!

There were a bunch of birds including point blank Ocellated Antbirds, furtive Spotted Antbirds, woodcreepers, and more. Hard to pick a best bird but the three Olive-backed Quail-Doves are a good contender! We had perfect looks as they walked around the edge of the swarm, probably wondering if they should stick around or walk away from the biting ants.

There was also that Great Tinamou that walked towards us on the trail, White-fronted Nunbirds going crazy, Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, puffbirds, and the Black Hawk-Eagle that wheeled over the river at eye level as we walked back across the bridge. Yeah, Tirimbina is a pretty good site!

An eBird list from that morning.

Paint-billed Crakes in Flight

Wait, what? Um, yes…maybe not like flying around normally but still in flight! On our morning visit to the rice fields and marshes south of Ciudad Neily, we came across a couple tractors preparing a field to plant rice. Noting that the mostly tractored field was already filled with egrets, caracaras, and other birds, I figured we should stick around and see what happens.

Sure enough, while watching one of the tractors, I noticed a Sora fly out of the old, marshy rice. We kept watching and much to our fortune, eventually saw at least 6 Paint-billed Crakes flush from the grass. Actually, we probably saw more. The birds would quickly flush and then hide although one flew right past us, close enough to see the red on its beak!

At a distance, they looked like chunky, dark grayish rails with red legs, and were more unform dark blue-gray than the white-bellied Soras. I also witnessed a small crake get flushed, might have been a Gray-breasted. But, in the few seconds waiting for a better look, an adult Peregrine suddenly snatched it from my view!

The raptor dispatched the small bird immediately, I can still picture its legs and neck dangling from the falcon’s talons as the master hunter carried the crake away.

We also witnessed Savannah Hawk catching something as well as egrets and a Wood Stork snatching rats, and a Crested Caracara unsuccessfully staking a Paint-billed Crake.

This night, we stayed at Fortuna Verde, certainly the best place to stay while birding this area. They have some forests out back and their hospitality is second to none. Very much recommended!

Snowcap and 36 other Hummingbird Species

Male Snowcap

I’m happy to say we did pretty good on the hummingbird front. Violetears, sabrewings, Blue-throated Goldentails. Coppery-headed and White-tailed Emeralds, Black-crested Coquettes, and more. However, the prize might go to the Snowcap.

After the briefest of looks at Pocosol, we were very much in need of much better views. We got them right at the end of the day at one of the few reliable sites for this species; Centro Manu.

It took some anxious waiting but just before 5 p.m., like fairies with headlamps, two males flew into our field of view. Even better, one of them perched and let us admire its deep wine, beetroot colors for several minutes.

Enigmatic Birds Heard but not Seen

This might not be as much of a highlight as other birding experiences but birders with an auditory bent may appreciate it. I enjoy the visual experience that birds bring, I always love seeing them but I also love hearing them. I might even listen for birds more than looking for them. I’m not sure if I can help it, I don’t think I could turn off my ears if I wanted to. Hearing birds shows me who and where they are just as much as visually noting them.

With that in mind, it was a special gift to hear the undescribed “Puntarenas” Screech-Owl calling near Mirador de Osa. We tried for it pre-dawn and eventually found one a few kilometers east of the cabins and small restaurant (great service, food and drink, also recommended). Unfortunately, the owl wouldn’t budge from its hidden spot but it was still magical to hear it give its brief vocalization as day broke over the rainforest.

Earlier in the trip, at Pocosol, we had another singing bird we would have loved to have laid eyes on. While hiking the beautiful yet steep Fumaroles trail, a Lanceolated Monklet finally decided to respond to my imitation of its call. Whenever I’m in monklet land (ravines and rivers in foothill rainforest), I call like one. They rarely respond but I still try because every once in a while, one of those shy little puffbirds does fly in.

At Pocosol, unfortunately, the monklet only called back somewhere way out of sight but it was still cool to hear. I should also mention that, as far as I have seen, I don’t think the monklets in Costa Rica sound quite like birds from the eastern Andes. I have still had them respond to recordings of Andean birds but, it might warrant further investigation.

The other notable bird heard but not seen was Unspotted Saw-whet Owl. Like the previous two birds, this one is also a tough one to find and doesn’t necessarily fly in and look at you. As in May of this year, just before dawn, one called from forest adjacent to Myriam’s Cabins. It called a few times but never flew in close enough to see. It’s a treat to hear that enigmatic owl, hopefully, we’ll lay eyes on it next time!

Well, those are the highlights that come to mind but they aren’t the only ones. As I was saying, the birding highlights were daily and constant; somewhat par for the course for Costa Rica. To learn more about the sites mentioned in this post and hundreds of birding sites throughout Costa Rica, support this blog by getting “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“.

Get ready for your birding trip to Costa Rica, I hope to see you here!

Categories
bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica birds to watch for in Costa Rica central valley

Recent Birding Highlights Near San Jose, Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, birding highlights are easy to come by. Most places, you don’t need to do much more than walk outside and you’ll see something cool! Another birding bonus is having the chance to see such an incredible variety of birds in such a short distance.

Thinking about it, there’s not a whole lot of other places with so many bird species in such easy striking distance. In Costa Rica, there’s always a whole lot of birds going on; a fact reflected by a few of my recent birding highlights.

Calling Ornate Hawk-Eagles

On September 15th, I guided someone for a morning of birding from the Central Valley to the Varablanca area. We had a good bunch of birds including some sweet highlights. For this easy day trip, that’s par for the course but you still never know what you’ll run into.

I usually see a raptor or two but they typically take the form of common raptors in Costa Rica like Short-tailed and Gray Hawks, often Barred Hawk and maybe Great Black-Hawk. On September 15th, birding chance exchanged those raptors for one of the more cherished of Costa Rica birding targets; Ornate Hawk-Eagle!

This big fancy raptor occurs in many parts of the country but at very low density. In other words, there’s always the chance of seeing one but you still have to be lucky. Luck was with us on the 15th when I heard the Ornate’s distinctive, brief whistled calls.

As expected, the calling bird was soaring high overhead but still close enough to just make out its white throat. I whistled back to it and the bird seemed to respond, wheeling somewhat closer. It never came close enough to stare the raptor in its fierce eyes but I can’t complain; we watched it and two other Ornates over the next 20 minutes!

Seeing three adults in the same area is pretty unusual, I wonder if that particular spot marks a territory boundary?

ornate hawk eagle
An Ornate Hawk-eagle from another day and how you often see them.

Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl

The hawk-eagles were great but they weren’t the first highlight of the day. We had already had a few others including excellent views at a rufous morph Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl! This bird is one I hear now and then on the “Legua Road” or “San Rafael de Varablanca Road” near Varablanca; a site I have taken many birders to and one of hundreds of birding sites covered in my bird finding guide for Cost Rica.

However, it rarely come in for a view. I’m grateful that it decided to show itself on the 15th. We enjoyed this small raptor’s presence as it was attracted the ire of Coppery-headed Emeralds, Black-bellied Hummingbirds, and other small highland birds.

Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow

Speaking of highlights, I was very pleased to get this one early in the morning. This endemic towhee is a tricky little bird alright, in part because it has to deal with feral cats, cowbirds, and other side effects of living near people.

It helps to know where to see them, what they sound like, and looking for them around 6 in the morning. We heard a couple and had good looks at one that was bringing food to hidden young. We also had it in one of the better spots for them, the road that passes in front of Finca Rosa Blanca.

Sadly, some second growth with this species and wintering habitat for Mourning Warblers was cleared on part of this road to build housing. However, there’s still a good amount of habitat and the Cabanis’s still occurs there.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

No, not what you think of when birding Costa Rica but small numbers of these doveish Arctic migrants do pass through! Sometimes, they also fly down to forage in pastures and other grassy spots.

Maryllen and I were very pleased to see one at a usual spot near the airport. It was hidden quite well by a taller tussock of grass, we could have easily missed it if a local birder hadn’t gotten us on the bird. Many thanks to Alex Castro for noticing this excellent year bird!

Purple Martin

I know, how is this a highlight? Birders might not come to Costa Rica to see Purple Martins but I look forward to seeing them each fall migration. If I don’t make it to the Caribbean Coast, I might also miss it at a year bird!

I still hope to get in some coastal migration birding but I was very pleased to notice a male in the Central Valley. Smaller numbers pass through this part of the country and I bet most get overlooked as they fly high overhead. I got lucky with my 2024 Purple Martin by watching swallows forage over my tiny backyard.

Cliff and several Bank Swallows were doing their thing when I noticed a dark bird coming in from the west. For whatever reason, this is the direction migrating swallows usually take when flying over the house. At first, I thought it was going to be a swift but then I noticed its flap, flap glide flight, that tell-tale sign of an honest to goodness passerine.

As the dark, large swallow flew high overhead, I could also make out the forked tail. A sweet surprise for sure although I still hope to connect with martin flocks on the coast.

By the way, someone should be watching those flocks, there could easily be a few Sinaloa Martins moving with the Purples. As a matter of fact, although the record hasn’t been accepted, I friend of mine saw a probable Sinaloa Martin in Costa Rica a few years ago. Dark martin with a white belly seen during migration by an experienced ornithologist who has also seen enough Gray-breasted Martins to know it wasn’t one of those…yeah, I bet he saw one.

Additional highlights from these recent birding days in Costa Rica include Spot-bellied Bobwhite, a nice influx of Yellow Warblers, calling Dickcissels migrating overhead, flights of migrating Cliff, Bank, and Barn Swallows every morning, beautiful warbler Blue Grosbeaks, Zeledon’s Antbird, and close views of several Spangle-cheeked Tanagers. Check out my trip report from the 15th.

And that was just one full morning, a jaunt to twitch a sandpiper, and casually watching the skies from the backyard. I suppose another highlight was hearing critically endangered Yellow-naped Parrots fly overhead this morning. Like I was saying, it doesn’t take long to experience fantastic birding in Costa Rica. I hope to see you here!