Visiting Costa Rica but only have a few days for birding? It’s not ideal but some birding is always better than none. Although most birders take a birding tour to Costa Rica or bird here for at least a week, quite a few also visit Costa Rica on brief trips. They might be a participant in a conference or convention, get a medical procedure, or be here for work.
It might not be a full-fledged two week birding vacation but the good thing is that you can still go birding!
Major birding.
You deserve to go birding too because this here country has a 930 plus species bird list. Yeah, a lot of stuff in small spaces and an ideal situation for a brief stay! If you only have a few days (or less) to work with, the following options are my top three choices for birding trips in Costa Rica.
The Poas Area
I’ve probably mentioned this birding option a lot but what can I say? if you only have one morning or a day for birding, it might be your best choice. It certainly is if you have never been to Costa Rica.
If coming from the Alajuela area (near the airport), it only takes 45 minutes to reach high elevation habitats on good roads. Everything from silky-flycatchers to Flame-throated Warbler and even Wrenthrush and Resplendent Quetzal are possible.
Head a bit lower down and middle elevation habitats host birds like Red-faced Spinetail, Violet Sabrewing and several other hummingbirds. If you have the time, you can also bird a bit lower and see more tanagers and maybe even Ornate Hawk-Eagle (!).
Blend this with birding in the Central Valley and Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow might also make it into the day list.
The Caribbean Lowlands
Lowland and foothill rainforests aren’t prohibitively far from the San Jose area either. With an early start, you can probably avoid the heaviest traffic on Route 32 and reach excellent forest habitat in 45 minutes or an hour.
Nectar and Pollen is a great choice. This roadside private reserve often has Snowcap and other hummingbirds, various tanagers, White Hawk and other raptors, and many other species. It is also set up for bird photography, you might even capture images of White-tipped Sicklebill.
A bit further on, Cope’s experience, birding at Guarumo’s Restaurant, or detouring to the La Selva area will result in a wide variety of lowland rainforest birds.
Orotina and Tarcoles
Not to be outdone, we also have lots of birdy habitats on the Pacific side of the mountains. Once again, around 45 minutes or an hour’s drive from the Alajuela area, the Ceiba de Orotina road has open spaces and riparian zones with chances at Double-striped Thick-knee, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Black-headed Trogon, several raptors, and many other species.
You could bird there and then check mangrove habitats at Caldera, or, head to the Tarcoles area for chances at Scarlet Macaw, parrots, and a wide variety of edge, wetland, coastal, dry forest, and humid forest species!
Bird all day in any of these sites and you could easily record well over 100 species. My best days have been well over 170 species (both in the Sarapiqui lowlands and around Tarcoles), as well as many days birding the Poas area with quetzals, Black Guan, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, hawk-eagles, several hummingbird species, and roosting owls and Great Potoo with Cope.
In Costa Rica, there’s a heck of a lot of birds to see, even if you only have a day or two to work with. On longer trips, there are hundreds of birding sites in Costa Rica to choose from. No matter what, I hope to see you here!