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Southern Pacific Costa Rica Birding Tour- Top 10 Birds

The bird list for Costa Rica is quickly approaching 950 species. Imagine that number of birds in Wales. How about West Virginia? Yeah, that many species on a bird list for such a small area!

How does Costa Rica do it? What’s going on to turn up so many bird species?

Including birds like the Scarlet Macaw.

Costa Rica owes its high biodiversity to several factors but the most important could be the conjunction of several major ecosystems and bioregions. With dry forest meeting rainforest and mountains creating their own unique habitats, the country is like a crossroads for tropical life. If we take the junction south from the Tarcoles River, we enter one of the country’s most important endemic areas; the Chiriqui region or “Southern Pacific zone”.

This bioregion extends a bit into western Panama but is still fairly small. Heck, if you could drive from the Tarcoles and cross straight into western Panama, you’d essentially traverse it in 5 to 6 hours. That’s all and yet, the place is chock full of endemic flora, bugs, reptiles, amphibians, and, for the birding set, several much desired bird species.

Throw in some mountain birding and localized natural savannah in the General Valley and we come up with a fantastic array of birds. Of those birds, some are more challenging than others, and some are must-see species. Although it’s not easy to pick a top ten from the sumptuous list of birding possibilities, I’ll settle on the following.

Turquoise Cotinga

birding Costa Rica

Whoah, that’s a good one! Nothing like an endemic shining blue and purple bird to whet the birding appetite. The only unfortunate thing is that it’s not common. No, you probably won’t see one driving along but, if you go to the right places, you can lay eyes on this stunning bird.

The best spots tend to be around San Isidro del General, sites near San Vito, and on the Osa Peninsula.

Yellow-billed Cotinga

Sharing the rainforest with the Turquoise Cotinga is this other cotingid star. Since it requires mangroves adjacent to rainforest, it’s even less common and likely endangered. However, once again, if you know where to go, you can see them.

Thanks to their rarity, bright shining white plumage, and almost cartoonish peace-doveish shape, seeing Yellow-billed Cotingas in the feathered flesh is nothing short of surreal.

Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager

birding Costa Rica

Haunting some of the same areas as the two cotinga species, this bird would probably win the prize for being the most localized species in Costa Rica. For unknown reasons, they are essentially endemic to the Osa Peninsula and adjacent rainforests in the Golfo Dulce region.

Even there, they aren’t common! To check out the salmon highlights on this local mega, you’ll have to watch for them in rainforest in ravines and next to streams.

Mangrove Hummingbird

This Mangrove Hummingbird is actually from Mata de Limon.

This country endemic also lives in the northern Pacific zone of Costa Rica but it’s such an important bird, I include it on this list. There are several sites in southern Costa Rica where it occurs, mangroves being the key.

Rosy Thrush-Tanager

What a bird this one is! Now that it has its own family and, could maybe be eventually split into a few species, seeing one in Costa Rica would be a pretty cool trick.

On account of its serious skulking ability and local distribution, it gets easily missed by visiting birders. However, once again, if you know where to go and how to see it, you have a fair chance of watching this dreamy bird.

Ocellated Crake

Ocellated Crake taken by Pirjo Laakso from the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app.

Whoah! Another dream bird and yet, also now feasible! Like the thrush-tanager, good local guides have worked out actually seeing and often getting good pictures of this grass crake!

It is very local in Costa Rica but fairly common in the right habitat.

White-crested Coquette

A bunch of hummingbirds live in Costa Rica’s southern rainforest habitats. This sprite is the most exquisite of them all. Notorious for escaping detection, White-crested Coquettes tend to wander in search of their choice flowering trees and bushes.

Check those food sources long enough and we can usually find them.

Baird’s Trogon

Baird's Trogon
Baird’s Trogon

The Southern Pacific Zone sure has some beautiful birds and this trogon takes the cake! It’s fairly common in rainforest, especially in and near the Osa Peninsula.

Golden-naped Woodpecker

Yet another beauty is this fancy woodpecker. When I happily see this bird, I am often reminded of the American Three-toed Woodpecker, just one that’s dressed for a tropical parade.

Thankfully, this beauty is also fairly common in rainforest habitats and can even come to feeders!

Orange-collared Manakin

Yet another fairly common South Pacific endemic, this manakin is gorgeous. Go birding in and near forest edge and second growth and you’ll hear displaying males snap their wings. Take a closer look and you even see them display in the undergrowth!

These are my top ten for a Southern Pacific tour but really, there’s so many fantastic birds to watch, I could add several more birds. If we blend a birding tour with this region and cloud forest, we’re talking a serious bunch of fantastic birds. Speaking of fantastic birds, in keeping with my constant wish of connecting people with as many fantastic birds as possible, I designed a tour to see all the species mentioned above along with some other birds like these:

Black-bellied Hummingbird

White-bellied Mountain-Gem

Violet Sabrewing

Speckled Tanager and so on and etc.

That tour is the Hillstar Costa Rica: Pacific Specials tour. Running from March 29th to April 9th, this birding trip will turn up a fantastic array of birds often missed on other tours to Costa Rica. Although we never really know which birds will show on a tour, I would expect a wealth of uncommon species on this one! I designed it with that goal in mind, it’s gonna be good.

Would you like to see the species mentioned above and lots more in Costa Rica? And on a fun trip led by Josh Covill? Contact me at information@birdingcraft.com or, at info@hillstarnature.com today. There’s still a couple open spots left!

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The Most Biodiverse Areas for Birds in Costa Rica

Planning a birding trip to Costa Rica? You might be wondering which are the most biodiverse areas for birds. It’s a fairly common question and a good one. After all, what birder wants to go to the least biodiverse areas for birds? That high avian diversity is one of the main reasons birders visit Costa Rica, some other reasons being “quetzal”, “Wrenthrush”, “umbrellabird”, and “Snowcap”.

In general, the more birds the better and, in that, Costa Rica fits the bill. No, we aren’t the most avian diverse nation on the planet but, we do have a heck of a lot of birds per square kilometer (or mile or league). With most also being quite accessible, it’s no wonder Costa Rica is a top destination for birding tourism. So, which areas have the most bird species? Which areas outperform for avian diversity?

In a sense, I could just say “the entire country”. From the Central Valley, Costa Rica is small enough for me to drive an hour or two in a few different directions and reach vastly different avifaunas. Seriously, as I write, there are over 700 bird species within a radius of 50 miles. It’s true! In a show of obsession for accuracy or curiosity or getting carried away with playing with Google Earth, I measured a 50 mile line stretching from my home in San Francisco de Heredia and made a circle.

I discovered that I am still amazed by the short distances created by a straight line in Costa Rica and, that my 50 mile birding radius encompasses everything from dry forest habitats to Monteverde, Carara, Caribbean lowlands, foothill forest as far as Turrialba, part of the General Valley, and the near continental shelf edge offshore from Quepos. In other words, I’m, smack in the middle of a heck of a lot of bird species. Within this Google Earth area, I counted 598 resident bird species and 160 migrants. Since I left out non-annual vagrants including the Aplomado Falcon currently hunting south of Jaco, there’s probably a few more.

Yes, definitely 700 plus bird species within 50 miles so how come I haven’t recorded that many this year? That stems from a fair percentage of those birds being rare or hard to detect, and me not having visited certain areas long enough this year to see them (such as the open ocean and a few other choice spots).

With all those birds in mind within such a short distance, we could say that the most biodiverse area for birds in Costa Rica is Costa Rica itself but, since we can’t travel “as the crow flies”, we’re better off talking about much smaller areas. These are the ones that come to mind.

The Carara Zone

streak-chested-antpitta

The Carara area is arguably the most avian diverse area in Costa Rica. It’s got a trick up its sleeve but, there’s no other site of similar area in Costa Rica (or Middle or Central America) that harbors as many bird species.

The crazy bird numbers don’t come from the national park although the mature, protected forests do play a vital role. They stem from Carara being a massive ecotone that blends dry forest with rainforest, mangroves, second growth, and wetlands. Yep, all those habitats all very close to each other. The end result is massive bird diversity (along with other stuff).

Monteverde

Male Three-wattled Bellbird.

This famous and heavily visited area is also a major hotspot. Sort of like Carara, all those birds living there are explained by sizeable areas of mature, protected cloud forest, some slightly lower elevation forest on the Caribbean slope, and dry forest habitats on the Pacific side.

In other words, Monteverde is also an ecotone of sorts, one with hundreds of bird species. In the past, when we did Christmas Counts there, I think we routinely turned up more than 400 species.

Poas Route 126

While the high elevations on Poas Volcano don’t host as many species as other areas in Costa Rica, when we also consider a surrounding area that includes dry/moist habitat birds in the Central Valley and middle elevation and foothill habitats on the adjacent Caribbean slope, we’re talking a lot of bird species.

This general area also having some of the most accessible birding to the Central Valley also earns points.

Bijagua

The Bijagua/Volcano Tenorio area also racks up the bird species. Like Monteverde and Carara, it likewise acts as an ecotone where dry habitats meet mature, wet foothill rainforest. Throw in some small wetlands and a trail or two that reaches cloud forest and we have a huge number of bird species. There might be around 400 possible.

Sites with Foothill and Lowland Forest

The other main sites in Costa Rica with major bird diversity are any place that combines foothill rainforest with lowland rainforest and/or cloud forest. Foothill and lowland forest on their own are always high diversity. Combine the two and you’ll have more than enough birds to look for even during a week of birding.

Emerald Tanager

Sites that come to mind are Rancho Naturalista, Hotel Quelitales, Reserva Las Brisas, parts of the Osa, Esquipulas, the remote Pitilla Biological Station, the Arenal area, and the San Vito area.

Wait, but what about Las Selva or Tortuguero or the Osa and the La Gamba area? Yes, those areas have lots of birds too, are fantastic, and you’d be birding wise to visit them. However, when talking about similar-sized areas that have ecotones, those sites seem to have more species. No matter what, as long as you bird in good habitat when birding Costa Rica, you can’t go wrong!

To learn more about birding at the sites mentioned above and many others, support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page ebook “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. I hope to watch birds with you here in Costa Rica!

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Raptor Festival at the Refugio Lapa Verde, Costa Rica

Raptor Festival! Who doesn’t love the sound of a festive gathering that celebrates raptorial birds? Such venue are destined to be cool. And it was. We nearly missed the gig but thanks to a casual Facebook check Friday evening, I noticed a quick, short video that mentioned the second annual raptor festival taking place at Refugio Lapa Verde, October 18th.

That sounded fun and it was free but yikes! We were talking the following day and although the LapaVerde Refuge is straight line close, sans flying car, getting there would mean 2 hours driving up and over the Central Cordillera mountain range (a common situation in Costa Rica). That actually isn’t so bad, especially if you like watching birds; the route passes through a few different life zones that hide 100s of bird species.

It’s the getting back part that can be tiresome (and whoah nelly, read on to hear about that challenge) as well as the leaving early enough part to get there in time (if you like to sleep in). However, on Saturday morning, we shrugged off any worries about those potentially challenging parts of the trip and made our way to the festival. Here’s how that day went along with recommendations and other hopefully helpful tidbits.

The height of fall migration in Costa Rica

This is it, third week of October in Costa Rica, the major final push of birds headed here and onward to the rich wintering forests of South America. See them while you can, see if you’ll get lucky with a quick cuckoo sighting or ironic, non-red Scarlet Tanager flocks and kingbird movements.

There’s also the raptors, the thousands of TVs and Swainson’s Hawks and Broad-wings soaring overhead, many of which pass over the hawkwatch at the Refugio Lapa Verde. Those big winged flyers are the main reason for the raptor festival but there’s other birds too, hiding and foraging in the vegetation of the refuge.

Even before we left for our cross mountain drive, I went looking for those migrants. I did my usual brief walk in our neighborhood, one that passes near a rare adjacent farm and narrow riparian zone. The Traill’s Flycatcher sallying down to the cut grass, a few pewees, Dickcissel, my first Bay-breasted Warbler of the year and a few other birds were a reminder of peak migration happening. A quick message from another local birder who had heard tons of Swainson’s Thrushes passing over pre-dawn skies was another reminder as were the birds we saw later that day.

An important, multi-faceted refuge

The Lapa Verde Refuge is privately-owned protected land that encompasses some of the last sizeable remaining areas of Caribbean lowland rainforest in Costa Rica. Just across the road from the Selva Verde forests and northwest of La Selva, the habitat is also loosely connected to other patches of forest that eventually reach the Nicaraguan border.

These connections and location make the refuge an ideal area to help conserve the Great Green Macaw. We need more reforestation for better forest connections outside of the refuge but Ecovida (the organization that owns and manages the refuge) has certainly been doing an excellent job.

Since 2013, through active reforestation and just letting the forest grow back on its own, they have reforested more than 300 hectares. The remaining 1500 hectares protects older rainforest, swamps, and other wetlands. This wealth of habitats is of course ideal for maintaining the complex biodiversity native to northern Costa Rica including important second growth habitats used by warblers and other small migrant birds (the same type of habitat frequently eliminated for pineapple farms).

Great Green Macaws and more

Thanks to the forests in the refuge, Great Green Macaws are regular (we saw several during our visit), and most expected lowland species have been recorded. This includes Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon (rare), Tiny Hawk, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Snowy Cotinga, puffbirds, motmots, and more.

Although Agami Heron, Rufescent Tiger-Heron and some other birds aren’t on the list, I’m sure they are at least occasionally present too, probably just in less accessible spots.

On our visit, we didn’t see too much but our birding was also limited to sunny mid-day weather and a short tour mostly meant to educate visitors about the refuge. Even so, we still encountered several expected warblers (as well as a beautiful male Prothonotary), other migrants, some migrating kettles, King Vulture, and some other birds.

Raptor celebration

In addition to free tours to learn about the refuge, festival attendants also enjoyed everything from DJ’d music to face painting, story telling, and an honest to goodness magic show. There was a lot going on and it sometimes got loud but I was impressed!

Local kids had also submitted artwork, there were vendors selling arts and crafts, a Vortex optics stand with binos and scopes to sample, snow cones, and other raptor festival foods.

Although we didn’t stay until the finale, the festival ended with a concert and fire juggling! We made up for missing that by watching the fun folks from dance around in identifiable raptor costumes. As was befitting their aggressive nature, the Ornate Hawk-Eagle and Black and white Hawk-Eagle also chased a couple of kite flying kids around.

The Ecovida hawkwatch tower

Part of our tour included a visit to the refuge’s crown jewell; the hawkwatch tower. Situated on a hill, it provided a fantastic view of the surrounding forests and skies. It somewhat reminded me of canopy towers in the Amazon, I’d love to be up there pre and post dawn. It would also be the perfect spot to do a big sit and raise funds for refuge projects.

Although we weren’t at the tower at an ideal time, the counters do see many thousands of raptors during the migration season along with lots of other cool birds.

Visiting the refuge

The raptor festival was an open house, fun, celebratory event but that’s not the norm. It seems like the refuge is mostly there for research and protecting habitat. Although their site does mention ecotourism and they do receive visits, there’s not a lot of information about entrance fees and so on.

If interested in visiting, it would be best to contact them to get the full deal. I’ll also be doing that and including that information in the next update for my Costa Rica bird finding book. I’ve already got a list of other places to update and include, it’s amazing how many new birding sites pop up for well-birded Costa Rica!

What I can say is that if you do visit, you should have a fair chance at a wide variety of lowland birds while watching from their trails and the tower.

The insane drive back

On another note, the drive back wasn’t as easy going as the drive there. Not quite. Driving up and over the mountains in dry weather and daylight is another world compared to doing that at night and in pouring rain.

The problem with night driving there and in much of Costa Rica is the lack of illumination coupled with a concurrent lack of painted roads with reflectors. That’s bad enough in the driest of weather but when you throw in slick roads and constant rain, you’re faced with a potentially life and death situation.

Seriously. It’s hard to see the edge of the road and if you venture off of it, you’re vehicle will likely be rolling down the mountain. Luckily, the rain was too bad on our drive up and, by taking it slow and easy, we made it to the to without too much anxiety. However, from there, as we descended towards Alajuela, the rain got heavier to the point of deluge level craziness with some road flooding (albeit shallow enough to drive through). Add in other drivers, some of whom insist on passing and it’s no wonder we ran into an accident. Not us thank goodness but it did close the road and made us take a detour to get back on track.

The moral of that story is to avoid driving at night in Costa Rica, especially in mountains and during the wet season. Fortunately, you don’t really have to and it’s much easier during the dry season. Happy birding, I hope to see you here!

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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!

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Best Birding Day Trips from San Jose- 5 Tips

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What birding day trips are possible from San Jose, Costa Rica? Is it worth birding in the city itself? How far can you go in a day and, most importantly, which birds can you see?

Oh yes, you can see Fiery-throated Hummingbirds.

Before we start answering those questions, there’s a few important things to know about staying in “San Jose, Costa Rica”. If you didn’t know, San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica. It’s also the general name given to the Central Valley, an urbanized area that also includes several other cities and towns. However, since housing has connected most of those places, it looks like one big urban conglomeration.

Although each place still has its own designation, its own municipality, visitors refer to the Central Valley as “San Jose”. In Costa Rica, we still say Heredia, Alajuela, and so on but everyone also knows the Central Valley as the Greater Metropolitan Area of San Jose. With that in mind, when you fly to SJO, Costa Rica, even though the destination says, “San Jose”, you are really landing in Alajuela.

You can also assume you are staying in San Jose when your hotel is actually at the edge of Alajuela (such as birdy Villa San Ignacio and Hotel Robledal), or even in Santa Ana.

Regarding day trips, it’s important to understand these distinctions because where you stay in the San Jose area has an influence on birding day trip logistics. The following tips deal with that and other factors that come in to play.

Some Places are Easier to Visit than Others, What About Birding in San Jose?

There’s a bunch of birding sites within reach of San Jose and even in the city limits. However, if you are already going to be birding in other parts of Costa Rica, don’t bother doing much birding in San Jose. You can see nearly all of those birds elsewhere along with lots more species.

The one exception might be the Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. Yes, there are good sites for it outside of San Jose but if you won’t be visiting the Orosi Valley area, you’ll need to find it in the Central Valley. There are several spots for this fancy towhee but you still have to know where to go and the bird is uncommon and tricky.

As far as birding trips from San Jose, the easiest places to visit sort of depend on where you are staying. Got a room at the classic Hotel Bougainvillea or in San Jose itself? Based on logistics, good day trips are Quebrada Gonzalez, Nectar and Pollen, and Centro Manu (those are some exciting places!).

Escazu or Santa Ana are good for day trips to the University of Peace area, sites near Orotina, and the Pacific lowlands, and the Poas area is ideal when staying near the airport or in Heredia.

How to Avoid Traffic

The number one challenge for day trips from the San Jose area is traffic. It truly is awful and can put a serious dent in your birding time. To make sure you are birding instead of wasting time on roads, you absolutely must leave the hotel by 5:30 at the latest. Earlier is even better, say by 4:30 or 5:00.

Seriously, if you head out after 5:30 or at 6, you might want to wait and bird the following morning. The worst morning traffic happens between 6 and 8; the best time for birding. You should really be at your birding site by 6.

The other worst time for traffic is between 4 and 6. 3:30 and 6:30 or even 7 aren’t so fun either but those two hours in the late afternoon are the worst. They might not eat into your birding day but it can be a real pain returning to your hotel.

There are two main ways to avoid that awful afternoon traffic. One is by limiting day trips to a morning of birding. You head out early, get in a good morning of birding, have lunch, and return to the hotel by 2 or so.

The other option is doing an extra-long day of birding. Really, with that traffic, it’s worth staying out until night, looking for owls, and then getting back to the hotel by 8.

bare-shanked-screech-owls
You might see a Bare-shanked Screech-Owl.

How Far Should You Go?

Costa Rica’s pretty small. When staying in the San Jose area, an impressive variety of habitats are within reach. The closest best spots are typically 45 minutes to an hour away with some places being an hour and half by car.

You can go further but leaving the hotel by 3:30 or 4 isn’t too fun, especially when it takes even longer to get back. Luckily, you can reach most major habitats in an hour and a half. The closest, easily accessible cloud forest is in the Poas area. Cloud forests near Coronado are also fairly close but are at the end of a rough road. Cloud forests near San Ramon are slightly further away and can also have bellbirds from March to August!

The nearest foothill rainforests are at and near Quebrada Gonzalez and the Virgen del Socorro area. Go a bit further and you can also bird the fantastic San Luis Canopy and Manuel Brenes road.

For high elevation forests, the road to Poas Volcano is good. Volcan Barva has even better habitat and is close but, sadly, is only accessible by a very rough road. If you travel a bit further, you can go to the Irazu Volcano area and try for Volcano Junco and Timberline Wren among other high elevation birds.

Unfortunately, the Talamancas are a bit far for a day trip from San Jose (at least for me). Sure, it can be done but you’ll be in for a fair amount of driving (unless you are coming from Cartago).

Dry forest birding is also close with several species even possible at sites like Villa San Ignacio and other places near Alajuela. It might only take 45 minutes to reach dry and open habitats around Orotina.

For South Pacific rainforest and coastal habitats, it takes an hour and a half to drive to Tarcoles and the Carara area. Go a bit further and you can also go birding at Mata de Limon and scan for seabirds from Puntarenas.

Day Trips to see Quetzals

What about quetzals? Can you see them on a day trip from San Jose? Absolutely! In Costa Rica, Resplendent Quetzals inhabit cloud forest and high elevation rainforest in all sorts of places. Find that habitat and quetzals should be somewhere in the area.

For their quetzal fix, a lot of folks visit Paraiso Quetzal and the Dota Valley. Those are great sites and you can do them as a day trip from San Jose but it will also take more than two hours to get there.

The closest quetzals are in the Poas and Barva Volcano areas. They move around and can be tricky but if you know how to look for quetzals, you can usually find them (at least I do). Incredibly, those birds are just 45 minutes or an hour’s drive from San Jose!

Quetzals are also possible near San Ramon. That usually takes an hour and 45 minutes and they aren’t as easy.

How Many Birds on Birding Day Trips from San Jose?

It’s all about time and location but most day trips from San Jose can turn up a good number of birds. If only doing a bit of birding in and near urban areas, you might get 40 or 50 species at most. It’ll mostly be common species with highlights like Lesson’s Motmot, White-eared Ground-Sparrow, and hopefully Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow.

A day in foothill rainforest typically results in 60 to 80 species or more. However, you might not see those birds in other spots. They include various tanagers and deep forest birds including chances at uncommon and rare birds like hawk-eagles, antbirds, and other species.

Juvenile male Spotted Antbird with adult male on the left.

Go birding in the Poas area and you can see a high number of species. The combination of high elevation and middle elevation habitats often turns up a 100 species. On my best days, I’ve shown birders 130 and even 140 species in a day. In addition to fair chances at the quetzal, a day of birding also usually includes Sooty Thrush, Yellow-thighed Brushfinch, many other regional endemics, several hummingbirds, and many other species.

Head down to the Pacific coast and you’ll also see a wide variety of species including Scarlet Macaw, parrots, maybe Double-striped Thick-Knee, raptors, trogons, and more. During a morning, I often see more than 120 species and a full day can result in 160 or more.

For the best birding day trip from San Jose, think about how you want to bird, what birds you want to see, and how long you want to stay out. Some spots are better for photography, others better for rare forest birds, and different areas of course have different bird species.

Really, there’s so many options, you could stay at a hotel in the San Jose area, do several day trips from there, and see more than 300 species!

To learn more about where to go birding in Costa Rica and support this blog, check out my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“. I hope to see you here!

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Birding Trip to Costa Rica- Driving Dos and Dont’s

Driving to Bribri

Driving in Costa Rica. Should you do it? What’s it like? What about taking the bus? How about road issues and birding by car?

If you are thinking about driving in Costa Rica, wondering if you should take the wheel or let a local do the driving, this post is for you. If you don’t plan on driving but are still curious about what the driving is like in Costa Rica, this post is also for you.

I’ve written about this topic on other occasions, here’s my latest take on various aspects of driving in the land of quetzals, toucans, and visiting sloth watchers.

Driving Expectations in Costa Rica

Thinking of driving in Costa Rica? Not sure if you should drive yourself or go with shuttles? Those are good considerations, after all, driving in Costa Rica might not be the same as home.

In short, it’s not but it’s also not extremely different from driving in Canada, the USA, or Europe. In general, it’s not as relaxed, streets can get pretty crowded, and there’s a fairly high percentage of bad drivers. If that sounds like home, you’re all set!

Based on driving in Costa Rica for several years and in all conditions, here’s the deal. Expect similar driving rules but also expect people to break many of them on a daily basis. The rule breaking isn’t constant but it does happen enough to expect people to do it.

For example, here’s some of what I saw during the past week, and is typical:

-Vehicles stopped on the side of a busy road and partly blocking a lane because they are picking someone up or going to the bank or doing some other thing that’s more important to them than causing traffic jams and unsafe conditions.

-Occasional cars rushing into traffic to turn left without really checking.

-Cars rushing to cut in front of you because you left space between you and the car in front so you don’t smash into it (I also see such fender benders every day), in slow or fast traffic.

-Driving too slow with sudden inexplicable stops and driving too fast, even by schools.

-People passing in dangerous situations, especially on highways.

-Likely drunk driving, especially when bars close, and constant cell phone use while driving.

-Driving through red lights and maybe not quite stopping at stop signs. This doesn’t happen very often but often enough to be very careful!

Now these might be things you also see at home, if so, then you already know how to drive in Costa Rica. If not, just drive carefully and defensively and you’ll be alright.

Traffic Police

Costa Rica actually has a lot of driving rules but there’s not enough enforcement. Traffic police are the only police that really give tickets and we just don’t have enough.

Typically, traffic police in Costa Rica wait on the side of the road with a speed camera. They might also wait in spots where people illegally overtake over cars and mostly watch for cars that do not have their registration and inspection stickers up to date.

They also do occasional stops to check for a license. If you see a traffic officer step in your lane and wave to you to pull over, that’s what they are doing. Pull over and see what they want. They rarely stop rental cars but, if you are speeding well over the limit or illegally passing, yeah, they’ll stop you and give a hefty fine.

Be extra careful to slow down in spots where it drops to 60 ks per hour even if other cars are flying by!

Motorcycles

Dirt bikes, speed bikes, and even weekend Harleys, you’ll probably see them all. Motorcyles, especially dirt bikes, are common in Costa Rica. Cheaper than cars, faster and easier to get through traffic, you might want one too!

They are also supposed to follow the same rules as cars but they never do and that’s not really enforced (except maybe speeding and official things like having a license). Motorcycles are why you can’t just watch the road in front of you. I keep an eye on the mirrors, always watch what’s coming from behind; it’s very common for motorcycles to zip between cars and fly past you on both sides.

Turning left? Changing lanes? Make sure some motorcycle isn’t flying into view. Oh yeah, they do drive dangerously, and yes, there are many fatal motorcycle accidents. On weekends, you might also see youngsters doing wheelies on busy roads. Don’t be surprised!

Cyclists

Cycling has become very popular in Costa Rica. Many climb volcanoes, their feats are indeed impressive!

You’ll see lots on the weekends, and they’ll slow down traffic. Few Costa Rica roads have shoulders, there’s not a lot of room but that doesn’t stop cyclists. Just be patient and don’t expect them to move out of the way, even if they are taking up an entire lane. You’ll eventually get a chance to safely pass them.

Road Conditions, Four Wheel Drive?

What about the roads? I’m happy to say that most roads in Costa Rica are great! Some still have holes and lots of bumps but it’s nothing like 20 or even 15 years ago.

Most major roads are pretty darn good. You can still run into massive pot holes, you still gotta watch out for them but major roads are pretty good. Other, secondary roads vary but the ones with gravel are alright. However, many little used tracks are definitely not alright.

You can explore but play it by ear. If the track has slippery clay mud, turn around! Just because a road is on a map doesn’t mean you can use it. Go downhill on slippery mud and you might get stuck down there, might slide right off the road.

There’s also the issue of crossing streams. Just use common sense- if that stream looks too deep, don’t do it!

So what about four-wheel drive? Do you need it? Not if you are only travelling between birding lodges (as long as their entrance road doesn’t require four wheel drive!). However, if you want to explore other places and visit exciting places like Pocosol, El Copal, and Laguna del Lagarto, yes, to be sure, get the four-wheel drive.

When Not to Drive in Costa Rica and other Safety Issues

Are there times when you shouldn’t drive in Costa Rica? Not necessarily, but I don’t recommend doing much night driving, especially in the mountains. Night driving in Costa Rica is not fun because most roads have poor or no lighting, it’s harder to see pot holes and other odd things to avoid, and people with dark clothing and bikes sans reflectors are regular.

Lanes and reflectors on the edge of the road are also poor or non-existent. When combined with mountain fog, those factors in particular can make for particularly terrifying driving conditions.

As for other safety issues, never leave anything of value in an unattended car, and don’t leave binos or other valuable things in a vehicle even in a guarded parking lot. Unattended cars are frequent targets, guarded parking areas less so but it can still happen, why take the chance?

Is Birding in Costa Rica by Car Possible?

It sure is! There’s a lot of places with good roadside habitat and I bird this way on a regular basis. I have seen everything from quetzals to hawk-eagles and antbirds.

To have a better chance at forest interior species like tinamous and quail-doves, it’s important to include trail birding too but you can certainly see a lot while road birding in Costa Rica.

However, you can’t really stop on busy roads, most lack shoulders anyways. I stop on other roads but still stop where occasional vehicles can get by and no matter how remote the road may seem to be, I always bird within sight of it.

Renting a Vehicle in Costa Rica, Shuttles, or Buses

Rent a vehicle and you get that wonderful freedom of the road. I usually work with Vamos Rent a Car but lots of folks have had good experiences with other companies too.

Know that prices go up quite a bit with optional insurance but I always feel better getting the full coverage.

Shuttles are nice and comfortable. They aren’t cheap but it’s a nice, relaxed way to get from one place to another. Of course, this limits movement but if you only plan on birding on hotel or ecolodge grounds, you’ll be alright.

Buses also go just about everywhere and they are the cheapest way to get around but, they’ll eat up a lot of your precious birding time.

Pumping Gas

It’s all full service in Costa Rica. Nope, no pumping your own gas, you have to wait for the attendant and tell them how much you want. To fill the car, say, “Lleno porfavor”. You’ll also have a choice of two or three types of gas with “super” costing the most. Speaking of cost, gas is pretty expensive in Costa Rica and runs around $5 a gallon.

Distances aren’t huge but it is costly.

The attendant can also wash the windows, check tire pressure, etc..

The Electric Car Situation in Costa Rica

Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular in Costa Rica! I like it, we’ve got way too much air pollution in the Central Valley and, as a species, we need to stop burning fossil fuels now.

So far, electric cars are also feasible in Costa Rica because the distances aren’t that far. Driving uphill and using necessary air conditioning eats up the charge but the distances are still close enough. There are also an increasing number of charging stations although some require special cards only acquired through bureaucratic processes, and some don’t work.

However, to meet the demand, it looks like there will be more charging station services available.

Wondering where to drive and go birding in Costa Rica? Support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“. I hope to see you here!

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Birding Costa Rica- Late July, 2024

Historically, July isn’t the most exciting time for birding. At least that’s how the birding rumors tend to roll in the temperate zone. No migration, birds finishing up nesting on lazy summer days, not much to see… Those mid-summer times always seemed better for studying your field guides, going to ball games and taking full advantage of sweet summer days.

Rumors can have some base of truth and those summer birding sayings are no exception. Even so, maybe we just weren’t seeing much because we weren’t going birding? Birds don’t disappear in July, neither up north and especially not in Costa Rica. Some linger on their breeding grounds and several are raising second broods. Other birds are on their way south, some shorebirds are already here!

Red-legged Honeycreepers? Always!

There are also birds that wander north, and, in Costa Rica, it’s a good time to look for seabirds in the Gulf of Nicoya (some Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels were seen today). If you are headed to Costa Rica soon, you bet the birding’s gonna be exciting. Wonder what to expect? Check out these tips and birding news items:

Heavy Rains

Not to tone down any birding expectations but yeah, you’ll have to be ready for rain. As with several other places across the globe, Costa Rica has been seeing some heavy rains. It’s no surprise, the atmosphere is warmer than we have ever known and that makes it hold more water.

It eventually comes back down, and with a vengeance. In Costa Rica, we’ve had flooding here and there, especially in the northern foothills and parts of the Pacific slope. Some roads have also been affected, especially the main road between San Ramon and La Fortuna. If you are driving yourself, make sure to check Waze to see which roads are open. Certain birding spots could also be flooded, especially sites near Ciudad Neily and Guanacaste.

Most roads are fine but with these rains, that situation can change from one day to the next.

Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo Sightings

With more diligent birders in the field, we have far more regular sightings of this mega bird than we used to. Recently, a pair with a juvenile have been attending an antswarm near Turrialba, and another one or two have been seen again at the San Luis Canopy.

These major birds can also show at various other sites but, away from swarming Army Ants, can be very difficult. A couple of the other regular sites are Rincon de la Vieja and the road to Manuel Brenes but they also occur in any sizeable tracts of mature foothill rainforest on the Caribbean slope. There is also a small population in the Carara hills and Cangreja National Park, and maybe elsewhere but those birds are much less accessible.

Even Mangrove Cuckoos are easier to see than the Rufous-vented variety.

Sooty Tern Seen at Medio Queso!

It looks like Hurricane Beryl probably did give us one lost bird! On a visit to Medio Queso during a Wings birding tour, Scott Olmstead photographed a distant tern. Upon checking pictures after the tour, it turned out to be a juvenile Sooty Tern!

As far as I know, this is the only inland record for this pelagic species in Costa Rica. You can watch these graceful birds flock and forage over tuna in offshore waters but we don’t even usually see them from the coast.

Beware Illegal Tours to Poas Volcano and Turrialba

Lately, the authorities have busted tours visiting prohibited areas on Turrialba and Poas Volcanoes. They weren’t birding tours and the tourists were locals but I figured I would mention it anyways.

Apparently, some locals have offered hiking trips to closed sites on these volcanoes. I get looking for adventure and wanting to see new places but there are some pretty good reasons why certain parts of active volcanoes are off limits.

I seriously doubt any visiting birders would sign up for these tours but figured I’d mention it anyways!

Fortunately, you don’t need to visit closed areas to see this particular bird.

As for other birding opportunities, there’s not a whole lot to say other than the birds are all here. They are in their expected habitats and, as always, the birding in Costa Rica is fantastic! For more tips, check out this blog, get my Costa Rica bird finding guide, study your Garrigues and Dean field guide and mark target species on your birding app for Costa Rica.

There’s a heck of a lot to see and the birds are waiting. I hope to see you here!

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2024- Starting Another Year of Birding in Costa Rica

It’s early January, a good time to be birding in Costa Rica! At times, windy weather can be a challenge but when the gusts calm down, the kiskadees are calling, and parakeets are flying overhead.

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Crimson-fronted Parakeets are pretty common.

Oh, and there isn’t any freezing weather either. None of that breaking ice off the windshield or other regular January morning chores I used to do in WNY. Here in the tropics, it’s all sun and warmth.

The birds know it too; it’s why Baltimore Orioles, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and other migrants are calling and chipping from the mango trees. They share their temporary tropical space with Social Flycatchers, tanagers, Green-breasted Mangos, and literally hundreds of other bird species.

As with other places, us local birders in Costa Rica are eager to start the year with birds. January 1st is a new year list, another annual journey that could ascend to 600, maybe even 700 species. Our 2024 journey (my partner and me) began with some birding on the 1st but it was quite nearly a false start.

Too much wind had chased all of the birds into cover. On a short, afternoon stroll, we were lucky to find the few birds that we did. To make up for it, we went birding the following morning. Read on to hear about our year birds and how I’ve been getting a couple other things ready for the high season.

Year Birds so Far

To make a true start for 2024 birding, we went on a nearby jaunt to check a couple of reservoirs and see what else we could find. Stops in key open habitats, those reservoirs, and patches of dry forest turned up a nice suite of birds.

Highlights included an American Kestrel, Grasshopper Sparrow, Painted Bunting, and rafts of Lesser Scaup. A good start for another year of birding! Check out the trip report.

Images that stick with me are the small falcon battling the wind, it’s barred tail pumping up and down as it perched at the edge of an open field.

The Grasshopper Sparrow was a sharp tick note, dry as the low scrub it was perched in. This small waif of the weeds is an uncommon bird in Costa Rica. We were quite pleased to lay eyes on it, I wondered where it had spent its windswept summer? Distant fields in Kansas? The Dakotas?

Painted Bunting was actually expected. This beauty is a regular wintering bird in the dry habitats of Costa Rica. On Raptor Ridge, it’s as common as House Sparrows! This picture is from that wonderful and welcoming spot.

painted-bunting

It was also nice to see so many scaups, diving ducks that remind me of the waterfowl rafts I used to watch on the Niagara River. More speciose in the icy north but waaaay more cold too.

Expectations for Birding Braulio Carillo National Park

Soon, we’ll be birding at one of my all-time favorite spots. I was birding Quebrada Gonzalez long before any ranger station was present, when the trail was muddy and ended with a slippery descent.

Since those days, this birding hotspot has changed a fair bit. The trails have gravel and rangers are always present. However, you can’t go in during prime birding time and several species aren’t as common as they used to be.

It’s still good though, still just as exciting to visit as it was in 1992 (well, maybe it was a lot more exciting on that first visit!). What will we see? Impossible to say, this tropical forest is too complex to guess but we should see something good, I always do.

I can mention possibilities. Those would be birds like Ornate hawk-Eagle calling above the forest, Dull-mantled Antbird singing from the stream, peaceful notes of Black-headed Nightingale-thrush coming from the humid understory.

Hopefully, there’ll be the tanager flocks, always a chance of a Central American Sharpbill or some other rare bird. The best would be army ants, if that happens, we could see a Black-crowned Antpitta, even see a Rufous-vented ground-Cuckoo.

There could even be a Bushmaster. Well, there are but you rarely see them. Hardly ever although I did see one in 2018.

The Golden-winged Warbler is the ABA Bird of 2024!

It finally happened, one of the coolest little wood warblers was chosen to be the ABA bird of the year! So what does this have to do with Costa Rica?

Well, if you are headed to Costa Rica, you can expect to see this beautiful little bird. Here in Costa Rica, Golden-winged Warblers are much easier to see than in other parts of their range. During the winter months, seeing one or more in a day of birding is typical.

Yes, seriously! Go to the right places and you can expect the Golden-winged experience, even in parts of the Central Valley. See a group of warblers or other mixed flocks in the lowlands? How about a group of birds in middle elevations? Or even old second growth with lots of hanging dead leaves?

There should be a Golden-winged Warbler or two. Since they forage by inspecting dead leaves, their predator watching abilities are limited. It’s why you won’t see them away from mixed flocks. That dead leaf habit is also why they frequent older second growth with lots of vines and hanging dead stuff.

If you think you see a chickadee in Costa Rica, that was a Golden-winged Warbler! By the way, it’s Ok to feel like you saw a chickadee in Costa Rica. Golden-winged Warblers are very likely mimicking chickadees.

Editing my Bird Finding Book for Costa Rica

Lately, I have been editing my Costa Rica bird finding ebook. It was in greater need of edits than I had expected and I also took the chance to update the book’s Costa Rica bird list.

I’m also including links to eBird hotspots and a few other things to help readers maximize their Costa Rica birding experience. It’s not ready yet but I’m almost done, this third version will be available soon!

As a caveat, if you bought the second version and want the updated third version, please let me know. When it’s ready I’ll send it to you free of charge.

If you haven’t gotten this Costa Rica birding companion ebook, check it out. Please consider buying it to support this blog while getting the most up to date birding site guide for Costa Rica.

Cattle Tyrant and Other Updates for the Costa Rica Birding App

With the high season at hand, we also need to update the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app. Cattle Tyrant wasn’t just seen in Texas, in late 2023, we also had our country first!

This species was already included on the app as an expected bird for the country, now we can include as a seen bird! At the same time, I may add a few additional expected species for Costa Rica and make a couple other minor edits.

This birding app for Costa Rica will still have images for well over 900 species and vocalizations for 870 species. Although it’s still only available for IOS devices, we are working on making this customizable digital field guide available for Android devices too.

Are you headed to Costa Rica for birding? I hope so because check it out, the birding is fantastic as always. Happy birding, I hope to see you here!

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5 Things Learned from Chasing American Avocets in Costa Rica

Recently, there have a few twitchworthy birds in Costa Rica. Lesser Black-backed Gull in Tarcoles- second country record, first chasable bird! American Avocet at Ensenada- a very rare vagrant scything the brine for several days! White-eyed Vireo also at Ensenada- rare vagrant, good bird to see in Costa Rica!

All present for more than one day, tempting for the Costa Rica birder, and all very twitchworthy. This past Thursday, temptation had its way and we found ourselves driving to Ensenada Wildlife Refuge. The plan was to see the avocet, maybe even visit the shorebird hotspot at Punta Morales, and keep tabs on the Tarcoles gull situation.

Ensenada is also a good spot for Spot-breasted Oriole.

At least that was the plan, here’s what happened, here’s what I learned. Even if you don’t chase vagrant migrants in Costa Rica, the following just might help your regular birding in Costa Rica too.

“Twitchworthiness” Doesn’t Guarantee Anything

When you start following the birding way, it doesn’t take long to learn some hard truths. Among those many birding facts of life, we quickly find that birders like to make a weird hissing noise referred to as “pishing”, that warblers look a lot nicer in spring, and that owls verge on being invisible.

It’s pretty nice when they become visible.

We also learn that just because we think we’ll see a particular bird species, noy an ounce of your confidence and faith will make that bird materialize. Beyond field skills, birding is sort of a game of chance. You can use weather, time of day, and other factors to nudge the odds in your direction but nothing’s guaranteed.

But hey, there are upsides to birding chance! You might find something rare! You might see the unexpected and if you pay attention, you’ll always learn a thing or two.

On our avocet chase, I was reminded that even if the bird was seen one day before, it doesn’t have to be there. Twittering flocks of Western Sandpipers were present. Wilson’s Plovers, yellowlegs, stilts, and other expected shorebirds rested and picked in the mud of Ensenada’s brine pools but nope, no neat bird with the extra fine, upturned beak.

We ran into other birding friends, notable our friends from Birding Experiences but even with more eyes looking and checking every pond, the avocet was no more. Well, we thought, at least we can check for the vireo a la white eyes! We knew just where another guide friend had found it, right where to pish and make pygmy-owl sounds. That little thicket dweller was destined for the birding bag.

But, no, the vireo didn’t want to come out either. I can’t blame it, if two-legged beings were making funny noises at me while the tropical sun baked the land, yeah, I would ignore them too.

Noon isn’t the Best Time for Birding on the Pacific Coast

Yeah, a better time to look for those White-eyed Vireos would have been much earlier in the day. You know, when birds are active and calling because it’s a lot more comfortable when it’s not a stifling, windless 90 plus degrees.

So right, why would we go birding in a natural oven at high noon? Our decision was based on upping the birding odds in our favor. On Thursday, noon was high tide and that there is prime time for shorebirds in Costa Rica. At low tide, most of the sandpipers and plovers forage way out on the mud flats in the Gulf of Nicoya. They spread out too and many are just too far away to watch.

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Distant mud flats at Chomes.

You gotta visit the shorebird spot at high tide, check the salt pools and other places where they congregate. In keeping with the no-guarantee rule for birding, they might not be at the pools you happen to be checking but hey, what are you gonna do? Stay home and not watch birds instead of being lasered by the long vertical hands of Helios?

Not necessarily! However, you could forget that noon birding stuff and stick to pleasant and productive birding efforts in the morning and late afternoon. You don’t have to stay home either. Like, you could find an ice cream shop or enjoy cold drinks in some shaded place until 3 in the afternoon. I mean, that’s sort of what the birds do anyways…

Slow Ride, Take it Easy…

Another benefit of leaving extra early is avoiding the traffic. You won’t be exempt from bumbling trucks and slow blocky vehicles and other oddities but there won’t be as many. It’ll still be better than driving at other times.

I can’t emphasize enough, on roads in Costa Rica, drive real early or give yourself some extra time! It really is slow going, especially on the highway between Puntarenas and somewhere around Limonal. I suppose at least when you drive slow, you have a better chance of spotting some perched raptor or maybe even finding a Northern Potoo. But please remember to leave that bird searching to the passengers. The driver has to constantly watch for pot holes, bad drivers, and other weird stuff.

Late Afternoon Dining in Puntarenas- a Big Yes!

We did not see the twitchworthy birds, and our extra side trip to the Colorado salt pans added on quite a bit of unexpected driving time but at least we visited Puntarenas!

We got there just in time for a late afternoon meal at the Isla Cocos Bar and Grill. Let me tell you, 4 p.m. could be the best time to visit this small seaside city. From our outdoor seating, we had a beautiful view of the gulf of Nicoya, Franklin’s Gulls picked at the shoreline, and other birds flew by.

While scanning the gulf from my seat, I even saw a distant storm-petrel sp.! Wish I would have had more time to scan for seabirds but we were hungry, we needed a real meal. Along those gastronomic lines, the Isla Cocos Bar and Grill delivered. I very much recommend it and not just because they support sustainable fishing. The food was good and the owner also offers boat trips into the Gulf!

Don’t Do Ensenada as a Day Trip

I used to visit Ensenada and Punta Morales as a day trip from the Central Valley. And yeah, you still could but it’ll just be a longer day than it used to be. Birding time has been reduced by traffic and the roadwork situation to the point where it’s hardly worth it to drive back and forth from that area.

I guess you still could if you left the Central Valley at 4 a.m. but even then, it’ll be a lot more fun and relaxing to bird the coast early and stay somewhere in that area for a night or two, maybe even in Puntarenas or at Ensenada Lodge. That way, you can have plenty of time to check shorebird spot, dry forest, and do seawatching and even boat trips from Puntarenas. There will also be plenty of time for mid-day siestas, cool drinks, and breezy tropical ocean views.

Ensenada, Punta Morales, and other shorebird sites also work well as birding stops as you make your way north to Guanacaste.

On Thursday, we dipped on the avocet and vireo, and we didn’t even try for the gull (which has also gone AWOL). However, we of course still saw other birds (a foraging Gull-billed Tern was a highlight), enjoyed a nice seaside meal, and learned a thing or two. It was also nice to end the birding portion of the day by listening to the rumbling gruff voices of duetting Spectacled Owls near Orotina.

There will always be more birds to chase and as I write, there’s certainly many more birds to find. Time to go look for them! Just not at noon…

To learn more about the birding sites mentioned and prepare for your fantastic birding trip to Costa Rica, get “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”, a 900 page site guide ebook for Costa Rica with accurate bird lists, tips for identification, finding birds, and more. I hope to see you here!

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Recommendations for Birding Costa Rica- December, 2023

Will you be birding Costa Rica soon? Need some recommendations? Here’s my take on birding Costa Rica in the final month of the year. These suggestions probably work for every December. In any case, I hope they help with your upcoming trip.

Expect Rain in the Mountains and on the Caribbean Slope

“It’s raining again…”

It’ll will be raining…but it won’t be that bad. Well, at least not on the Pacific slope! Yeah, in December, the dry season does kick into gear but not everywhere in Costa Rica. This country might be small but it sits at a major junction, one called the continental divide.

Put your pishing skills to the test at Walmart Woods and you’ll be urban birding on the Pacific slope. Go anywhere south of the mountains and it’s the same- all that water is headed to oceans where Nazca Boobies dive and Black Storm-Petrels nighthawk their way over the waves.

Bird the Pacific and the rains should be trailing off or stopping altogether.

Go to the other side of the mountains, anywhere north of the volcanoes and tectonic lift and you’ll be joining currents that flow to the Caribbean. The Atlantic Ocean that is, waters where Great Shearwaters shear and Black-capped Petrels arc and wheel. And oh how we hope to see those lost birds in Costa Rica!

Over on the Caribbean slope, it’s generally wetter and there is no historic, actual dry season. In fact, it usually rains more in December but don’t fret! If you are bringing binos to Arenal, La Selva, or any other site on Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope, the birding will still be good. In fact, when the rain stops, it can be downright fantastic.

What about the mountains? What about folks headed to Paraiso Quetzal, Savegre, and other montane birding sites in Costa Rica? Yeah, bring a rainjacket or poncho and/or waterproof stuff. It’s more hit or miss in December but once again, when the rain stops, the birds come out. They like it more than the hot, beating sun.

Don’t Rely on eBird Too Much- Birds are Where the Habitat Is

Tawny-faced Quails are very difficult birds to see. In Costa Rica, they occur in hilly lowland and adjacent foothill rainforest in the northern part of the country.

eBird is such a font of knowledge. Where would we be without it? It is very useful, and for those of us OG phone bird alert, pager, and listserv folks, I daresay the platform is still revolutionary.

However. In Costa Rica, it’s not really the final say on birding. That’s because:

  1. Most coverage occurs at the same sites and main birding circuits.
  2. Most lists do not show all the birds that were seen or heard (because a high percentage of people using eBird in Costa Rica don’t know all of the bird vocalizations).
  3. And most lists probably have errors that can be tough to filter out.

This doesn’t mean that eBird is useless. By no mean! In Costa Rica, it’s a great resource for birding. It just means that you should always remember that birds are not restricted to hotspots or sightings on eBird. They occur in their appropriate habitats.

Umbrellabirds at Centro Manu and Other Lowland Forest Sites

It’s that time of year again! Centro Manu continues to be one of the better sites for Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Even so, this endangered bird is not common there. You may need to walk the trails for some hours and really look for them. BUT, you’ll have a very good chance of seeing this mega, especially if you hire the on-site guide Kenneth. As a bonus, he might also know of roosting sites for owls and potoos.

He sometimes has Crested Owl on the premises.

As for other lowland forest sites, yes, umbrellabirds should be there too. The best places are Veragua, the Rainforest Aerial Tram, and Pocosol but they can also occur at Quebrada Gonzalez, the San Luis Canopy, the road to Manuel Brenes, Nectar and Pollen, La Selva, Tirimbina, Arenal, and any site where primary lowland and foothill forest is connected to highland forest.

Those weird big cotingas are just tough to chance upon.

Look for Rare Birds- You’ll See the Common Ones Too!

While looking for White-fronted Nunbirds, you should also find plenty of other nice bird species.

The best birding isn’t in hotel gardens. Ok, so that all depends on what one mean by “best birding” but in this case, I mean birding that gives you the best chances at the most bird species. As with all places on Earth, that means visiting the largest areas of intact habitat. In Costa Rica, that usually translates to mature, intact forest.

Naturally, such places also coincide with the best sites for rare birds. Focus on those rare species and you’ll see the common ones too. You’ll also see plenty of uncommon bird species. Just make sure to spend some time at the edge of the forest and scanning the canopy before walking beneath the trees.

Want to see leaftossers? I know, say what? But seriously, leaftossers, foliage-gleaners, more manakins, and many other birds. You’ll need to leave the tanagers in the garden and visit quality forest habitats.

Avoid Driving Rush Hour in the Central Valley

As a final note, I’ll just mention, no, urge you to avoid driving in the Central Valley during rush hour. The Central Valley is basically San Jose and all its urban connections. There are major traffic jams on a daily basis, perhaps exacerbated by roadwork, always by daily fender benders.

Drive in it and you’ll be missing out on hours of birding time (in addition to testing your stress levels). Avoid it by NOT driving Monday through Friday in the Central Valley at these times:

5:45 am-8:30 am

4:00 pm-6:30 pm

It can also get gridlocked on Saturdays! Sundays, though, Sundays are fun driving days except when ascending Route 27. On Sunday afternoons, the weekday rush hour traffic gets transferred there by the many folks coming back from the beaches.

If you must drive in and out of the Central Valley, leave early, even by 5, and stay out all day. Instead of wasting time in traffic, dine out and then go owling somewhere. That’ll be way more fun!

I’m sure I could day more but these suggestions will help for now. For more Costa Rica birding information, search this very blog and support it by purchasing “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. It’s also a great way to prepare for your birding trip- it has up to date information about most birding sites in Costa Rica along with tips for seeing and identifying everything.

I hope to see you here! Happy Thanksgiving and happy birding!