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A Day of Birding near Carara, Costa Rica- Updates and Tips

Going birding around Carara National Park, Costa Rica? If so, good choice, a birder can’t go wrong with such a mega meeting of biodiversity. Too much for one day but you can still try, the constant new bunch of birds can keep you going, keep you seeing more birds until you can’t see no more. Of course you don’t have to throw all your birding eggs into a one day basket; not an ideal choice for any area with more than 100 possibilities and far from the best option for birding areas with species lists that run into the hundreds.

However, if you only have one full day to work with or, one day and morning, what are you gonna do? Throw up those birding hands and sip creative cocktails? Heck no, if you got the energy, what you do is bird as much as you can and then celebrate with post birding cold beers or cocktails or wild and crazy kombucha. Don’t do yourself in, pace yourself but, you might as well keep on birding, at least in places where hundreds of lifers are waiting.

Carara National Park and surroundings is one such “place”. This major ecotone blends so many bird rich habitats, you’d be much better off patiently birding the zone for 3 or 4 days. One day is a lot, one day can be a major challenge, especially if you go for humid forest birds in the morning and dry forest birds in the afternoon.

I did that yesterday with a few guys from Toledo. The weather cooperated, I forgot to put on sunblock and it was a marathon day of birding in Costa Rica but it all worked out. After birding two main routes from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., we finished with more than 150 species. Yeah, some of those were heard onlys but lots more were seen including such niceties as King Vulture, Black Hawk-Eagle, Crane Hawk, Double-striped Thick-Knee, Mangrove Cuckoo, Velvety Manakin, Riverside Wren, Golden-naped Woodpecker, etc., etc.

It’s pretty birdy up in the Carara area, if you plan on checking it out, aside from suggesting working in at least 3 days for the area, here’s some other updates and tips.

Road Work on the Tarcoles Bridge

Roadwork on the famous “Crocodile Bridge” continues and won’t end at least until May. It is open but the new speed bumps can cause some traffic jams both ways and, traffic jams will be worse during one lane closures. These will take place as so:

-Feb. 23 to March 27

-May 4 to May 9

-Closed at night from 9 PM to 5 AM on yet to be determined dates from March 15 to April 20.

During roadwork, crocodile viewing is also prohibited from the bridge but, I’m not sure how much that will be enforced. However, if you still want to see crocs, don’t frown yet! There are plenty of boat trips for close looks and a brand new thingee has also just opened at the bridge. It’s called the Croc Skywalk and looks like it will eventually offer crocodile viewing along with other tourist activities. As I drove past, I saw a whole bunch of buses and people there yesterday. I look forward to checking it from a birding perspective and including it in the next update for my Costa Rica birding site guide.

Start the Bijagual Road Back as Far as You Can Go (use 4 wheel drive)

Carara isn’t just the national park. There’s also several other birding options including the Bijagual Road. This great birdy route starts near the coast and then makes its way into the hills adjacent to and in back of the national park. Follow Route 320 long enough to Route 319 and you’ll even access the very little birded but excellent eastern part of Carara. You’ll need a four wheel drive and that might not be good enough for the furthest stretches of route 319 but it will be exciting!

At the least, if you do spend some time on this road, I suggest driving back on it pre-dawn so you can start the birding near El Sur. This is a bit past the turn off to Macaw Lodge and gets you way back into the wild and least accessed part of Carara. As I was saying, past El Sur, road conditions might be impossible for a 4 wheel drive but it will still be worth starting way back in there. You can look for various owls and other nocturnal birds en route and will be in the right place at dawn.

Try to bird the road past El Sur but, if not, it would still be worth checking roadside forest near the turn off for Macaw Lodge and on other parts of the road. The combination of mature rainforest, second growth, canopy views, and some open fields is a good recipe for a very birdy, high total morning.

It’s the best area around Carara for Black Hawk-Eagle (although we got one soaring high over the Pura Vida gardens), has birds not generally found in the park like Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Thick-billed Euphonia, and even occasional Streaked Saltator and White-lined Tanager. Other weird stuff could also occur, maybe even Tiny Hawk and there should be chances at the rare Turquoise Cotinga.

You’ll still need four wheel drive to get to the Macaw Lodge area and El Sur but it will be worth it.

Hummingbirds?

We had a good, long day with lots of birds but, I can’t help but mention one downside and it’s a reoccurring one; the lack of hummingbirds. Yes, they are still out there but not nearly in the numbers they used to be and it is disturbing to say the least. And no, it’s not just a lack of flowers or that they are all somewhere else. There are fewer hummingbirds overall. For example, some ten years ago or even less, any trip to Carara National Park or nearby would easily result in a dozen species (and several of each species). Yesterday, in humid forest, I only had Rufous-taileds and maybe a couple other species on the Bijagual Road.

Sadly, this appears to be the new normal for humid forest habitats in several parts of Costa Rica and must be a consequence of climate change having disrupted flowering and insect productivity. So far, those hummingbirds are still out there and can be found, but it’s not the easy, expected task it used to be. Imagine suddenly seeing one tenth of the hummingbirds you used to at feeders and flowering gardens and you’ll get the picture.

Eyes on the Sky for Raptors

When birding anywhere around Carara, it’s worth to keep checking the sky. Several raptors occur in the area and the Bijagual/Macaw Lodge area is an excellent area to watch for them. The hilly topography makes it possible to scope the canopy for perched raptors and there’s plenty of sky to scan for birds in flight.

On our morning visit, we didn’t have too many raptors but, I bet more dedicated raptor viewing would turn up more. On the Bijagual Road, we had:

-A couple of Broad-winged Hawks

-One calling Gray Hawk

-One or two Roadsides

-Both caracaras

-Calling Laughing Falcon

-Black Hawk-Eagle

-Double-toothed Kite

-King Vulture and the other two vultures

In dry forest on the Guacimo Road, we also had excellent views of a Crane Hawk and a Common Black Hawk.

Bajamar Mangroves were Frighteningly Dry

While birding the Guacimo Road, I was eager to get back to the mangroves at Bajamar. On past visits, whistling like a pygmy-0wl was an easy way to bring in mangrove specialties like Panama Flycatcher and Mangrove Hummingbird and with various other species.

Not this time. I was surprised to see that hardly any mangrove birds responded. I also noticed that the mangrove forest floor was uncharacteristically dry. It should have been muddy and buggy but, instead, it looked like the water hadn’t reached there for a while. Nearby lagoons had water but nothing seemed to be reaching the mangroves, I can’t help but wonder if that explained those bird’s absence.

With that in mind, you’ll need to get in your mangrove birding at other spots (like Tarcoles or elsewhere).

As always, after coming back from birding such high biodiversity sites in Costa Rica, I can’t wait to go back. I go home with all sorts of questions and the only means of answering them is going right back there and birding again. How many owls are out there? Potoos? Wintering nightjars? Cotingas and other uncommon species? No matter how often you go birding in Costa Rica, there’s always lots more to see. I hope you get the chance to experience it.

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A Reminder to see These Birds in Costa Rica

Who doesn't want to see a Snowcap?

Going birding in Costa Rica? I know, like you need a reminder to see birds! You’re gonna be looking for them, you’re gonna be seeing them, and you’ll be celebrating a fine cornucopia of lifers, photos, and priceless experiences. However, this being the high season, I figured it might be useful to mention a certain set of species, a group of avian taxa worth your while.

Yes, all birds are worth your while, all birds merit connection and you watch whatever floats your personal birding boat but, you might not be so aware of the importance of the birds I’m going to cover. If so, great! If not, check this out:

Streak-chested Antpitta on the Caribbean slope

If you see a Streak-chested Antpitta in Costa Rica, there’s a good chance it’s going to be on the Pacific slope, probably at Carara. That’s great, I hope you see one or more and I wouldn’t wish you otherwise. However, if you can, it’s also worth laying eyes on Streak-chested Antpitta from the other side of the mountains.

You see, that bird is not exactly the same as the ones from Carara or Panama or further south. It’s also just enough not exactly the same to be considered a separate species. Nope, no official study yet but, based on the same number of differences used to separate related species of antpittas, those Caribbean slope birds should be given species status too.

I’m pretty sure the Birds of Costa Rica by Dyer and Howell mention this along with several other likely splits. They don’t mention exactly where to see it but that’s not really the scope of a field guide anyways. It needs large areas of mature rainforest and one of the best sites is Quebrada Gonzalez. Although I haven’t had as many there as I used to, it still occurs.

Sharpbill

Like the antpitta mentioned above, this species also has disjunct populations in need of detailed studies. They don’t live near each other, sound different, and look different so, there might be 3 or 4 species involved.

If you saw one of those more common and easy ones in Brazil, I’m sorry but it’s probably not the same species. If splits eventually happen, the subspecies in Costa Rica and Panama will very likely be elevated to species status (and I’n guessing probably subsequently red-listed as Vulnerable).

Watch for this special bird in mixed flocks and fruiting trees in foothills and middle elevations, especially at Skytrek, the San Gerardo Station at Monteverde, and Tapanti.

Elegant Trogon

It’s worth seeing this bird because those Arizona and Mexican trogons were split from it. Yep, if you saw one from Cave Creek or wherever, that is currently known as a Coppery-tailed Trogon.

To see Elegant Trogons in Costa Rica, watch for them in dry forest on the Nicoya Peninsula and in Guanacaste. Rincon de la Vieja is a good spot as is Santa Rosa National Park.

Paint-billed Crake

I mention this cool looking little gallinulish bird because it seems to be more common in Costa Rica than previously believed. Nope, not exactly common and it moves around but, you go to the right place and do the work, you have a fair chance of seeing one.

Try wet rice fields just about anywhere but especially in the Ciudad Neily area. They can also occur in dense vegetation along ditches and other odd wet spots.

Ruddy Pigeon

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This one’s a bit debatable but, I think it’s still worth mentioning. Although the Ruddy Pigeon has an official big range in South America, most of those birds live in the steamy lowlands. So what are they doing in cloud forests and high elevations in Costa Rica and Panama?

Exactly, how come “our Ruddys” live so high and cold when the other ones aren’t? It might because they aren’t quite the same species. Yeah, they sound similar but then again, not exactly and, vocalizations aren’t everything so…even if you have seen them in the Amazon, it would be good to see this bird in Costa Rica too.

Volcano Hummingbirds on Poas and Irazu

If you do any high elevation birding, there’s a fair chance you’ll be living the bino/camera life on Cerro de la Muerte (The good old “Mountain of Death”). You’ll see Volcano Hummingbirds but, what you won’t see are Volcano Hummingbirds with pinkish or rose gorgets. That’s cause those little jammies live on other high mountains; one on the Irazu-Turrialba massif and the other one on Poas and Barva Volcanos.

They are still considered the same species but, it wouldn’t be surprising if more detailed studies split them into separate species. Fortunately, they are pretty easy to see. Watch any high elevation vegetation on Irazu and Poas and you should see both. Watch for large bugs that are actually tiny hummingbirds. Oh yeah, and make sure you watch for them above 2,200 meters to rule out the similar Scintillant Hummingbird (more or less).

Ochre-breasted Antpitta

Have you seen Shakira and those other dancing Ochre-breasted Antpittas in Ecuador or Colombia? I hope so but I also urge you to see the one that lives in Costa Rica. Yeah, it’s still the same species but, yet again, more detailed studies could easily split it.

I mean, it looks a bit different, sounds slightly different, and has quite the disjunction range so, it could be split. Unfortunately, it is not an easy bird to see in Costa Rica. Try quality middle elevation forests such as El Copal, Hotel Quelitales, and Tapanti.

Azure-hooded Jay and Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush

You’ll want to see these beautiful cloud forest birds anyways but, it’s also good to know that the ones in Costa Rica and Panama are waiting to be split from birds in other parts of their range.

The jay isn’t easy or common but, if you watch for it high quality cloud forest, you might see them. The nightingale-thrush is much easier in middle elevations, if skulky.

Ashy-throated Chlorospingus

This is an uncommon and cool bird to see, even if it’s not as brightly colored as the Emerald Tanagers it often flocks with. It might be a future split or, might not be but, since it only lives in quality habitat, looking for it is birding in the best of places. Nope, not the easiest of birding but, foothill rainforest with chances at uncommon species like Yellow-eared Toucanet and so on and so on.

There’s lots to see in Costa Rica and you don’t need to see these species but, if you want to see some likely splits, these are some good ones to go after. There’s also taking closer looks at Nutting’s Flycatchers to see if the very cryptic Salvadoran Flycatcher also occurs but I can’t blame you for leaving that ponderous task to local birders or another trip.

No matter what birds you look at or how you go birding, I hope to see you here!

To learn more about sites mentioned in this post and how to find these and more than 900 other birds in Costa Rica, consider supporting this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page Costa Rica bird finding guide, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.

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Costa Rica Birding News January, 2026

Happy New Year! Happy days of seeking birds; both new and pseudo new (for the year listers). Happy birding wherever you are, especially in Costa Rica, a land of quetzals, Wrenthrushes, macaws, and waaaay more.

Some of that waaaay more.

If you are headed to Costa Rica now, plan on visiting in January or, any time the rest of the high season, this birding news is for you.

Sandhill Crane and Aplomado Falcon Still Present

Two star birds in Costa Rica are still showing at the Mistico fields. Both Sandhill Crane and Aplomado Falcon have been recently spotted at farm fields near Mistico. Although the fields have been converted from rail friendly rice to not so many birds melons, let’s hope that the falcon and crane stay there at least for another month.

They could leave at any time but, if you want to add a couple excellent birds to your Costa Rica list, now would be the time to visit this hotspot near Mistico. Go to the end of the road where there is a gate. You can look from there or, go to the other side of the gate and walk to where you can get better looks.

Snowcaps at Quebrada Gonzalez

Snowcap, that much desired hummingbird, has been frequenting the parking area at Quebrada Gonzalez. On a recent trip, we saw two females and one young male visiting Porterweed and feeding from small red flowers at the forest edge.

Although the species is more reliable at Rancho Naturalista, El Copal, and sites near there, especially the crazy, wine-colored males, it’s always good to know about more sites for this beauty.

Cinchona Feeders

The fruit feeders at the Hummingbird Cafe in Cinchona have been turning up the usual good birds like barbets, Northern Emerald Toucanet, Buff-fronted Quail-dove on the ground, and other birds. However, it’s been another story for the hummingbird feeders.

On a recent visit, we had very little activity, something that could be related to the folks at Cinchona putting out the feeders with less frequency. This is related to Ministry of Environment employees making them take the feeders down and warning them that they could be fined if they put them back up.

Yes, you read that right, in Costa Rica.

Unfortunately, based on interpretation of laws that prohibit feeding wild animals, some people would like to stop any feeding of birds. Never mind the lack of studies demonstrating a negative effect on bird populations and putting more emphasis on that than the real and much larger impacts on animals and ecosystems caused by pesticides, human caused climate change, and outright destruction. It’s just easier to make people take down feeders (which might even harm hummingbird populations since many seem to have declined). It doesn’t happen everywhere but, once in a while, businesses are told to remove their feeders.

With luck, we can change this law or, at least find a way to regulate bird feeding so it can always take place. In the meantime, be aware that the authorities in Costa Rica do make some places take them down from time to time.

Monteverde Reserve Changes

If you plan on visiting the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, be aware that they have made some changes regarding entrance times and fees. To enter, you must pick an entrance time, trail, and pay in advance via their online booking site. This only covers one trail, to visit another trail, you would have to pick another entrance time and pay again. Parking has also been completely moved away from the reserve and there is a shuttle bus that brings you to the entrance.

These changes must have been implemented to manage the high visitation rates at the reserve. However, it also means some local guides won’t guide there any longer. Instead, they mostly guide at two other great birding sites; Santa Elena Reserve and Curi-Cancha.

Improvements at Cope’s Place

Cope’s Place has continued to make improvements at this classic, very special hotspot. There is a larger, cement floored area for bird observation at the house, and a larger overhang to keep you from getting rained on. Not that this great birding site needed any changes but now, it just looks a bit nicer.

Sicklebill and other Birds at Nectar and Pollen

Just up the road from Cope’s, we have another excellent site for bird photography; Nectar and Pollen. Owner Miguel continues to plant and carefully manage the site for birds, especially hermits and the White-tipped Sicklebill. Lately, that crazy-billed hummingbird has been a regular visitor and, some days, he has had that and every possible hermit species in Costa Rica!

There’s also Rufous Motmot, oropendolas, toucans, tanagers, and various other birds to look at. Although Black-crested Coquette and Snowcap haven’t been there recently, they could also occur at any time. Not to mention, the skies are always good for raptors (we had a pair of Great Black Hawks and King Vultures), and the forest can have good mixed flocks.

Need Sunbittern? Take the Green Ship Sarapiqui Boat Trip

Sunbittern

Sunbittern is a much wanted bird and with good reason. The bird’s odd, unique shape, sunburst wing pattern, and elusive nature combine to drench it with allure. Being the sole member of its family only adds to the must see qualities of this special bird.

In Costa Rica, despite most sightings happening in certain spots, this species is actually fairly common. It just prefers being unobtrusive in less accessible spots.

I’ve found that one reliable way to see Sunbittern in Costa Rica is taking the Green Ship Sarapiqui boat trip. Tell boatman Oscar you want to see “Garza Sol” and he’ll keep a close eye out for it. You’ll have a very good chance at close views along with fair chances at Sungrebe and various lowland forest species. I’ll just also mention that Oscar has been very accommodating and professional, I can’t recommend him enough.

Quetzals Near Poas

Resplendent Quetzal always occurs somewhere in the Poas area. There aren’t as many as on Cerro de la Muerte but, if you know where to look for them, you’ve got a fair chance. Sometimes, I see them on the way to the national park but, if not there, I can usually find them on the San Rafael de Varablanca road.

A couple days ago, we had great looks at a pair that flew out and over the road. Find the right fruiting tree and sometimes, you can see 6 or more quetzals in a day!

Driving to San Jose from the Pacific in January? Go on Sunday Afternoon

If you need to drive to the San Jose area from the Pacific, see if you can drive up Route 27 on a Sunday afternoon. This month, every Sunday afternoon, this highway turns into a much quicker, one way route uphill. If not, it would be a slow going, traffic ladened trip.

Are you birding in Costa Rica this January? I hope these tips help. There’s always a lot more to say,; to learn more about birding at sites mentioned above and others, how to see Sunbittern and other species as well as identification tips, support this blog by getting my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.

Happy birding, I hope to see you here!

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Tis The Season for Umbrellabirds at Centro Manu

The holiday season has been unleashed and Costa Rica is no exception. Arrays of blinking and flashing Christmas lights, inflatable Santas and reindeers, candy cane and nutcracker themed decor…my neighborhood’s got it all. Christmas carol tracks are also on replay in supermarkets hawking everything from pseudo fruitcakes to panettones imported from Verona.

Growing up in Niagara, I don’t recall panetonnes (a fun, sort of brioche-like bread with mini chocolate chunks and candied fruit), but we did exchange tins of Christmas cookies. Those home-made treasure boxes featured a fine assortment of sugar-butter creations, even cucidati, Italian wedding cookies, mini brownies, pizzelle, you know, the good stuff!

In Costa Rica, people exchange tamales. They belong to a heftier food category than a flat, lightweight pizzelle but the kind, gift giving feelings are the same. Tamales aren’t bad either; if you’re in Costa Rica in December, make sure you try one accompanied by a fine cup of locally grown and roasted coffee.

Something else to enjoy in Costa Rica these days are umbrellabirds. Tis the season for these rare crow-like cotingas, especially at Centro Manu. After breeding in remote cloud forests, Bare-necked Umbrellabirds move to lower elevations, sort of “wintering” there until they head back uphill in February and March.

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Umbrellabird breeding habitat.

Alas, umbrellabirds can’t spend post breeding season in any old place. These special birds need mature rainforests that provide them with plenty of their preferred tamales and cucidati; local tropical fruit, small lizards, and a fine assortment of big bugs. Sadly, unlike toucans, they won’t go for bananas and would rarely if ever visit a fruit feeder. Nor will they hang out in second growth or forest edge; those places just don’t have the stuff that umbrellabirds need.

Based on their extra large eyes, I also wonder if they might be better adapted to the dim conditions of the forest interior, and thus avoid brightly lit areas. Given their penchant to forage in the upper understory of wonderfully shaded forest made even dimmer by frequent cloudy conditions, I would not be surprised.

That’s what yesterday’s umbrellabird at Centro Manu was up to. The subadult male would perch on a branch about 12 feet above the ground and peer this way and that, looking around until it swooped to snatch some bug, or move to another branch. On occasion, the mega bird also swooped to snatch a small “wild avocado” fruit in flight, gulping it down after regaining a perch. I’m not kidding about the swooping either, this species flies a bit like a woodpecker.

Yep, all of that show and right in front of us, for extended photo sessions, and walkaway views. That’s what’s going on at Centro Manu right now, you might want to visit! However, I’d be lying if I said it was simple as pie. It probably won’t be. We had to walk to the back part of the trail and still get lucky to cross paths with the bird. That trail is also famously muddy and has some slippery roots and rocks, and the forest is pretty humid and features a healthy population of mosquitos.

Even so, as long as you can walk fairly well and have repellent, you’ll be alright. You’ll still need some luck to run into an umbrellabird (that endangered status ain’t for nothing) but, you also have a fair chance at Centro Manu, especially right now. Heck, their guide Kenneth has also recently seen one in the early morning right above the office!

A different Bare-necked Umbrellabird from Manu last winter.

I don’t know how many umbrellabirds are hanging out at Centro Manu but I bet there’s more than one. When you aren’t looking for this serious mega, there’s also lots of other stuff to search for too. We also saw White-crowned Manakin, Black-crowned Antshrike, Spotted Antbird, the roosting Great Potoo, and Rufous-winged Tanager among other 90 plus bird species. You might also want to check out the fruiting figs near the hummingbird garden, they’re bound to attract some uncommon birds, maybe even a Lovely Cotinga or Red-fronted Parrotlet? Those would be a couple of additional mega birds indeed but, since they also partake in the Costa Rican altitudinal shuffle, it’s not out of the question.

Want a guided trip for umbrellabirds and other species at Centro Manu? Let me know! I hope to see you here!

Learn how to look for this bird and find information for dozens of other birding sites in Costa Rica in my Costa Rica bird finding ebook (buying it also supports this blog).

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A New and Unexpected Bird for Costa Rica

How many birds can you see in Costa Rica? A couple hundred? Yes and a lot more. As with birding anywhere, your final Costa Rica tally depends on where you go birding, how often you go birding, the number of birding days, and how you carry out the avian observing endeavor (like, if you just hang in a hotel garden or spend hours on forest trails to track down quail-doves and glimpse RVG cuckoos).

Ten days can easily reach 300 species, two weeks can turn up 400 plus, and more than 600 in a year is pretty normal. That’s a healthy bunch of birds and yet, Costa Rica’s got more! The current official bird list for Costa Rica stands at 942 (947 if we count additional, yet to be accepted species) and now, as of November 15th, we’ve got one more bird to add.

That most recent addition is a bird I saw yesterday on a Tarcoles River boat trip. No long slog in a remote area, no border birding in search of overshoots from Panama or Nicaragua, just a regular, enriching and easy going boat ride on the Tarcoles.

Before boarding the boat with Jose’s Crocodile Tours, I did realize we could see something weird or out of range or odd. Such birding fortune is always possible at that particular spot but, rarities are never the norm. It’s worth being aware of possibilities but you can’t have any expectations. Better to just open the mind to birding, watch, listen, and go with the birding flow.

Yesterday, that strategy seems to have worked. It’s also a reminder to check every bird and, if you don’t recognize it right away, take a closer look.

It was a quiet morning on the river, high brown water typical of a wet season river that drains the stormy and densely populated Central Valley. Being the low season, we were also the only boats on the river, the others moored and waiting for crocodile viewing sometime December.

Our boat driver Isaac motored upstream and Barbara Seith and I enjoyed the easy-going and productive birding. Great Egrets waded and waited for hand outs that we failed to provide. The occasional Bare-throated Tiger-heron stalked the river edge along with other wading regulars.

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons perched on driftwood, Mangrove Swallows fluttered alongside the boat, and we scanned for more birds; Tropical Kingbirds and Great Kiskadees perched on tall riverside grass, a quick and distant flyby of an Amazon Kingfisher, and a Peregrine flapping into view, lazily checking out its killing domain.

Upriver we continued, seeing thick-knees, spoonbills, and other regulars but not much else. It was still good, ultimately better to be boating a tropical river and looking for birds as opposed to say driving or walking on nearly birdless busy streets.

On that upriver journey, I noticed a tall grayish bird and as I did with most birds, automatically raised my binos to my eyes. After nearly half a century of focusing on birds, that movement has become a reflex, a gesture as quick and normal as smiling when the rain stops and the sun makes its welcome appearance.

As I moved the focus wheel and the bird came into view, my expected “just another Great Blue Heron” morphed into a not Great Blue Heron. Time seemed to slow as I realized I was looking at a more uniformly colored bird and one with a reddish or rusty front. But no, it couldn’t be…um…that just didn’t make sense and yet, there I was, undoubtedly looking at a Sandhill Crane.

Costa Rica’s first Sandhill Crane. And it was standing there right in front of us like that was completely normal. Except that’s not! At least not in Costa Rica!

I asked Barbara to please take photos of this country first, told the boat driver likewise and then we worked on getting the word out. Thankfully, we had a good signal and, in real time, sent messages to forums and friends that we were looking at a Sandhill Crane, that this was no joke, and tried to relay the exact location.

Although the bird was a clear Sandhill Crane, it was still sort of unbelievable. I mean, I had other species on my radar as birds that could and should show up but Sandhill Crane really wasn’t one of them. In retrospect, I guess it should have been, after all, the bird is a long distance migrant and has a large population but, they don’t usually fly further than central Mexico.

I figured some pelagic species or maybe a Bar-tailed Godwit or Tibetan or Siberian Sand-Plover or Altamira Oriole and other possible species I included on the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app but Sandhill Crane? Well, I guess I need to add that one too!

A country first is nothing to scoff at but, with other life birds to look for, we got back on our birding mission and boated on the rest of the river. Nope, no other new birds for Costa Rica but it was still good.

As for my fellow local birders, they got the word and several made their way to Tarcoles as quick as they could. Jose set up boat trips for a big discount and they went looking for the crane. Unfortunately, it was not in the same spot and, for much of the day, I feared it had left and would turn into a major dip (chasing and missing a bird). Although some did miss it, those who arrived later or stuck around until 4 p.m. did manage to refind and see the star bird.

Today, the day after, more birders went looking for the crane and some did see it in flight. No close looks but at least they saw it and, so far, it seems to still be hanging around. Hopefully, it will stick around a lot longer; staying for a few more months would be nice!

Thanks to Barbara Seith for taking the picture shown above and more documentation of this country first. See more at our ebird checklist from that eventful boat ride and more of her photos and artwork at her site.

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Costa Rica Birding Expectations for the Final Quarter

birding Costa Rica

Fall is happening, the year’s final fourth. In Costa Rica, look around and you’ll find a scattering of pumpkin spice and occasional Halloween decor but no changing of leaves, cool nights, or cold weather precursors.

We do have hints of winter but they don’t come knocking with frosty fingers, chilled air, and tail-flashing juncos. Instead, we get the boreal summer birds; Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers and waterthrushes dipping tails over puddles and mangrove roots. Go birding in Costa Rica these final quarter days and you’ll see our winter arrivals. You’ll also see the northern nesters sharing space with resident species like Blue-gray Tanagers, motmots, and other neotropical beauties.

A common beauty.

It’s not the high season but the birds are still here, more than enough to watch. Here’s some of what to expect in these latter months of 2025.

Urban birding

Try as you will to get into the real nitty gritty of Costa Rica birding, you’ll probably still find yourself doing some urban birding. I’m talking hotel gardens and patches of habitat in the people zone. It’s alright, there’s always more around than you think, always more to see and always good (especially at hotels like Villa San Ignacio, Robledal, the Bougainvillea, and others that host and cherish green space).

Don’t spend too much time away from the birdier forests but don’t not bird around your hotel either. As encouragement, here’s some of what I’ve been recently seeing and hearing in the tiny bits of habitat (especially a small neighboring farm) near home, in the middle of a city:

-Short-tailed and Gray Hawks are daily, yesterday morning, a kiskadee was dive bombing a perched, dark morph Short-tailed Hawk.

-White-fronted Parrots, and Orange-chinned and Crimson-fronted Parakeets do daily morning and evening flyovers, sometimes, critically endangered Yellow-naped Parrots too.

-Tropical Mockingbirds sipping from orange flowers, Rufous-tailed and Cinnamon Hummingbirds at flowering bushes, occasional Green-breasted Mango on a high perch.

-Brown Jays creeping and getting scolded by Rufous-backed Wren and various other small birds.

Rufous-backed Wren

-Speaking of small birds, there are common flycatchers like Tropical Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, and Common Tody-Flycatcher. Lately, I’ve also been seeing migrant pewees, Baltimore Orioles, and wintering Yellow Warblers among small numbers of migrating Red-eyed Vireos, Blackburnian, Black and white, and Chestnut-sided Warblers.

-Migrating swallows a la Barn, Bank, and Cliff. I also got lucky with a lone male Purple Martin. I keep looking up, hoping for a random shorebird or lost nighthawk, maybe win a birding lottery Cave or Violet-green Swallow.

-Tropical Screech-Owl calling from the farm next door. I don’t hear it every night and I wonder, is it just moving through or, does it live there all year long? With luck, it will roost from a viewable spot.

-Handsome Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers, our local version of the Red-bellied or Gila or other common woodpecker. Today, I also heard a Lineated laughing from the riparian zone.

-There’s more, always more to make hotel garden birding worthwhile.

No hurricanes but more than enough rain

In Costa Rica, we don’t usually get smashed by hurricanes but, we still get that rain. Lately, a heck of a lot of it. A hurricane happens somewhere in the Caribbean and droves of rain happen here. A tropical storm system takes place and we can get hammered with road smashing precipitation.

These days, it’s been a bit too much; buckets and waves of falling water that overflow creeks, race down roads, and precipitate landslides. Unfortunately, the main road from San Ramon to Puntarenas got washed out. I’m not sure when it will be fixed but surely before the high season. In the meantime, we’ll probably see even more traffic on the main road to the Pacific Coast, Route 27.

This link sums up roads affected and closed by heavy rains. There will surely be more, if driving from now until December, check Waze to see what’s open, think twice before driving in heavy rain on mountain roads, and don’t drive through flooded areas.

Altitudinal migrants

Heavy rains happen but the birds are still here. Several species also react to the weather. When birding lower elevations, keep an eye out for altitudinal migrants like White-ruffed Manakin, Olive-streaked Flycatcher, Black-faced Solitaire, and others.

Male White-ruffed Manakin.

Umbrellabirds have also arrived to lower elevations (rare and mostly in mature rainforest in the foothills and adjacent lowlands), rare Lovely Cotingas and bellbirds can show up at lower elevations along with some hummingbirds and other interesting birds.

Year List

On a personal note, despite getting sidetracked by necessary (and thankfully successful) surgery, my year list is coming along alright. I’m at 648 species in Costa Rica for 2025, some of which I’ve added from nocturnal flight calls in the backyard (the usual way I record Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush). There’s still time to see more, hopefully, I’ll get to the right places soon.

I hope you get out birding soon too, especially in Costa Rica. A lot to see down here and, birds are more active before and after the rains.

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

News and Tips from Recent Birding in Costa Rica

A few days ago, I returned from a week of birding in Costa Rica. This wasn’t any old week of excellent birding at commonly visited hotspots like Arenal, Sarapiqui, and Cano Negro. No, this was a target road trip, a custom birding voyage structured around “the missing”. Those hallowed species would be any birds not seen on previous trips to Costa Rica.

As such, they could only be encountered at scattered locations, typically, places too far flung to visit on previous trips. But, we had already birded the close spots, had already seen most of what could be seen relatively nearby (and even then, not all!). Reaching the far off places had become necessary, at least if we wanted to see funny sounding birds like Stub-tailed Spadebill, Elegant Trogon, and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper.

In a birding nutshell, we went from the Sarapiqui lowlands to cloud forest in the central highlands, on to Liberia in northwestern Costa Rica, and then way south to the gateway to the Osa and Ciudad Neily (and then back, as well as a day trip to Centro Manu). The following reflects some of the highlights and tips from this custom birding journey, more or less following the timeframe of the trip.

Cerulean Warblers and some other migrants

I was hoping to catch up with the annual fall passage of mini sky-blue beauties. The height of their movements coincided with our birding days, I figured we’d probably see a few but, since this is birding, you just never know!

Fortunately, it all worked out, birding probability paid off in three places. There were the brief glimpses of pleasant greenish backed females and a neatly breast banded male in Centro Manu (where they consort with Lesser Greenlets- scandalous), the bold female that uncharacteristically showed in eye level vegetation at Tirimbina, and the fantastic, very welcome male that gave perfect views at Cinchona.

Although not quite so glamorous, other migrants were around too; a handful of Red-eyed Vireos, Blackburnians, Black and white Warblers, pewees, and a few others. In southern Costa Rica, there was also a bunch of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers. It was pretty cool and birder dreamy to see a dozen doing their hefty flycatcher thing in one special tree!

Tirimbina- still great for Great Tinamou and antbirds

We spent a morning at Tirimbina to look for various fairly challenging lowland birds. Luckily, some made an appearance. One of the best was one of the birds that this private refuge is often good for- yee friendly whistling Great Tinamou. After a juvenile had flushed, we were pleased to see an adult doing us a favor by sticking around for great views.

Other nice target birds included antwrens, antvireos, and seriously lucking out with Ocellated Antbird. In roughly the same spot where I had encountered an antswarm nearly a year before, lo and behold, I see a couple streams of Army Ants trying to sneak by!

After careful investigation and whistling like an Ocellated, thankfully, two of the wonderfully spotted, blue-faced birds appeared for some fine looks.

Fair birding on the San Rafael de Varablanca road

The cloud forest next to Braulio Carrillo National Park weren’t quite as birdy as I would have liked but, then again, I probably expect too much. No quetzal but we did have excellent views of Black-breasted Wood-Quail, had a nice mixed flock, and heard White-fronted Tyrannulet.

This site always turns up some good stuff, I cover it and lots of other places in my Costa Rica bird finding ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.

Visiting Santa Rosa National Park

Santa Rosa National Park is an excellent, big area of tropical dry forest in northern Costa Rica. It’s around 35 minutes north of Liberia and worth the visit!

We went there hoping for several dry forest species and indeed, lucked out with Thicket Tinamou on the main road, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, and Stub-tailed Spadebill among other birds. Although it was overall fairly birdy everywhere, some of the best spots were the old growth dry forest on the drive in, and the loop trail near the Casona.

You can stop on the main road but be very careful of speeding vehicles. Also, although the entrance road doesn’t have a gate, you still need to make reservations in advance and pay the fee at the park entrance (only with cards and only from 8 to 330). Reservations were easy enough and the park rangers were also very friendly and helpful.

Las Trancas- not as accessible, not as good

Las Trancas is the name for a farming area on the road from Liberia and the airport to the Playa Hermosa area. In the past, rice fields there have been excellent for Jabiru, rails, and more. Unfortunately, as I saw from this recent sojourn, most of the rice has been converted to unbirdy sugar cane and the side roads are gated.

Needless to say, we didn’t have much there. However, the other part of the farm that still has rice fields and birds can still be visited albeit with a local guide. We paid a brief visit and managed distant Jabiru and a few other birds. To check this great area out and maybe see Spotted Rail, contact local guide Javier Perez Chaves.

BONUS SNOWY PLOVER AT CALDERA!

As befits the find, this subtitle gets the big letters. During low tide, a sand bar forms in the lagoon at Mata de Limon (aka Caldera). Sometimes it has several birds, other times no but it’s always worth checking. On September 9th, that checking paid off with a very rare for Costa Rica Snowy Plover.

The bird was distant and the sun was hot but carefully scoping that bunch of Semi Plovs was worth the sweat and staring. Ghost pale, think dark beak and gray legs…year bird success!

I doubt it will stick around that spot but you never know. I hope it turns up again, might be in Tarcoles.

Cotingas at Rincon de Osa

In Costa Rica birding circles, Rincon de Osa is known as the place to be for Yellow-billed Cotinga. Thanks to two fruiting figs, it most definitely was on our visit. Belying their scarce and possibly critically endangered status, the surreal white birds swooped back and forth, sometimes near eye level. Most were males, I only saw one, maybe two females at most.

Turquoise Cotinga was also present but, amazingly, we missed it by an inch! As we watched the white birds, another birder was taking pictures of the blue one on the other side of the tree. He assumed we had seen it and, sadly, the birds snuck off and never came back, not even on the following morning.

Quiet birding at Rincon de Osa

On another note, overall, the forest birding at Rincon was pretty quiet. Yes, we still saw Crane Hawk, Gray-lined Hawk, and some other good birds but it was pretty quiet. I only hope that’s related to season and not fewer birds but, I worry. On past visits, I have easily recorded 100 plus species in a few hours.

An absence of owls and other night birds

In general, we had every few nocturnal birds. If we would have looked more, we probably would have found some but, checking a couple nights turned up nothing, not even a Pauraque.

Ciudad Neily rocks and birding rolls

This small city in southern Costa Rica was birdy as ever. The “hospital road” had Savannah Hawk and other regulars but no dice with Paint-billed Crake (maybe too wet to concentrate them?). Unfortunately, the Coto area was too flooded and muddy to access but the birding just outside of town was good.

Parrots and other birds flew over town at dawn and dusk and roadside birding in forest just outside of town was productive for a good number of rainforest species. As a bonus, we also had great looks at Central American Squirrel Monkeys!

After Ciudad Neily birding, we made the long drive back to San Jose, thankfully, with nary an incident. Speaking of incidents, lately heavy rains have caused local flooding near Fortuna and other places, and landslides on the Route 32 San Jose-Guapiles highway. Be careful and make sure you get your birding in during the sunny morning! By 1 or 2, the weather takes a drastic turn and pours down buckets.

Happy birding, I hope to see you here! Here’s a trip report to whet the appetite.

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Birding Costa Rica migration

Reminders of Bird Migration in Costa Rica

A lot of birds winter in Costa Rica. Go birding from late October to early March and you should run into Summer Tanagers, orioles, Philadelphia Vireos and a warbler parade of winter plumaged Chestnut-sided, Black and white, Tennessee, Wilson’s, Black-throated Green, and Yellow Warblers among other species.

There’ll also be Barn Swallows zipping low over open fields, a healthy array of shorebirds probing mud flats, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers chipping from the woods. At the moment, most of those winter birds have yet to arrive. For the most part, there’ll still entertaining birders and ravaging caterpillar populations up north. They don’t usually get their fill until later this month, making it here in bulk by early October.

Barn Swallow living it up in Costa Rica.

However, we don’t have to wait until the month of pumpkin spice to see migrants. A fair number are already here, most making a stop on their route to South America. They can sneak through and the numbers are much smaller than the October avian rush but the birds are out there, available for birders taking a closer look.

This past week saw a nice little push of transient migrants and early arrivals. These were some of the reminders that migration is happening in Costa Rica, that birds are on the move through Quetzalandia.

Pewees on perches

Lately, I’ve been checking my local patch of urban green space, hoping to notice hints of the northern migrant vanguard. If I was birding in better habitat, I’m sure I’d see more but, you’ve got to work with what you got. Around here, that means a small bit of trees on a riparian zone, and a nearby patch of a park.

At least that’s what I’ve got within walking distance. There are better vegetated spots a bit further afield (and I do hope to visit them too) but they require more time and effort than easy, early morning strolls.

During those strolls, I have noticed a few migrants but wondered where the pewees were. Those semi-crested, easy-plumaged flycatchers pass through Costa Rica in substantial numbers. I suppose it’s a tad early, most aren’t here yet but I did see my first of three migrant Contopus this past week.

Around Varablanca, an out of place thingee on the tip top of a tall snag turned into an expected Olive-sided Flycatcher. I always like seeing those conifer birds, as a kid, they were one of the “good ones” to see, one of the uncommon flycatchers. I saw my first perched on a typical tip of a snag during a summer visit to Algonquin Provincial Park, sometime 80s. A while ago now but burned into the memory banks by additional sightings from that same boggy spot; otters playing, a pair of lifer White-winged Crossbills, and a glimpse of a distant Black Bear crossing the track far ahead.

I see Olive-sideds here in Costa Rica, the tip top birds that demand three beers elsewhere, and wonder what they saw on their wild and beautiful breeding grounds. I wondered the same for the other pewees also seen this week; a Western Wood-Pewee (WEWP there it is…) on the snag in front of Cinchona, and an Eastern on the end of a stick yesterday evening.

Did they see bears too? Imagine the glittering tanager parties they’ll see once they reach the Andes!

Dickcissel whispers

Now is the time to hear Dickcissels. I heard my first of the fall yesterday morning and it was par for the course; a slight buzzy call from somewhere above, an afterthought above zinc-roofed homes, Green-breasted Mango feeding from orange flowers topping a lone tree, and White-winged Dove quickening over concrete.

Once in a while, a Dickcissel even lands around here, no doubt much to its chagrin. It won’t find food on these cinder block walls, no rice or weedy fields to visit. Most whisper and keep moving, keep flying south and east until they find suitably marshy spots to their liking.

A handful of warblers

I figured my first warbler would be aYellow Warbler. That’s usually the case although Black and whites are pretty early too. I have had a few of those but no Yellow yet. Should be one nearby, at least any day now.

The other scant early bird warblers I have seen are American Redstart, a cool female Canada Warbler in the local park, Blackburnian in cloud forest, and expected Louisiana Waterthrush near a mountain stream.

Other local birders have noticed a few other warblers, the best of the bunch being a possible Yellow-throated. Now that would be a nice find, it’s a rare bird in Costa Rica.

A push of Ceruleans

At the moment, we are in the heart of Cerulean Warbler migration. That’s one of the main birds I’m hoping to find in my neighborhood, my biggest hope while scanning fully foliaged trees. No luck yet but a few have been seen nearby, there’s probably one or more within a few miles as I write.

However, the best places to see these special birds are where other birders have been reporting them; forested middle elevations and the Caribbean slope. I might get there soon, really hope I see one.

Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Least Terns, and other coastal birds

The biggest migration news was a flock of 17 Buff-breasted Sandpipers from Chomes. Although that happens every year, you still gotta be lucky to coincide your visit to Chomes with their’s. Those seriously long distance migrants are here one day, gone the next, and there’s not a heck of a lot of them.

Least Terns are also moving through, now is a great time to see them on the Pacific coast along with other coastal migrants, shorebirds for the most part. However, if you do some seawatching, you might also get lucky and see a Sabine’s.

Swallows and other species

The first of droves of Hirundines have also shown up. I’ve seen Barns and some Cliffs, as usual, for whatever reason, flying from west to east, often low over the neighborhood houses.

I also saw one other swallow, unfortunately, a kick myself bird. It came in so low, I didn’t notice it until it was too close for binos (or I was just too early morning lazy to raise them). At first glance, I also foolishly took it to be a common and expected Blue and white Swallow. However, when it flew overhead, I realized it didn’t have a darn vent so I figured, oh, my first Bank Swallow.

BUT, while looking for the dark breast band, I realized it didn’t have one and was all white below. Um, around here, a migrant swallow like that is either a Tree or a Violet-green, both rare species for Costa Rica. Sadly, I couldn’t see anything more revealing before it flew directly into the sun and out of my life. I suspect it was a Violet-green, a major migrant prize and year bird but, I was too lackadaisical with the binos (proceeds to kick self).

Other species have included my first Eastern Kingbird of the fall (which was insisting on hanging with a pari of Tropical Kingbirds that kept chasing it away), and others have seen flocks of Swallow-tailed Kites and some other birds.

Migration is definitely happening in Costa Rica, what else is out there? I hope I get the chance to find out.

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

Birding Updates- Poas and Cinchona

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

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

Poas Volcano still Active, National Park Open

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

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

The Road to Poas

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

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

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

Wrenthrush

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

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

The San Rafael Varablanca Road

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

Ruddy Treerunner.

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

Cinchona Was Pretty Quiet

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

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

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

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

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica

Twitchable Yellow-billed Tern in Costa Rica

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

The road to the Yellow-billed Tern.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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