Dry forest is one of Costa Rica’s major ecosystems. Occurring on the Pacific slope from Nicaragua to the river at Tarcoles (the Rio Grande), this tropical forest provides habitat for a bunch of birds.
Fancy birds too. Black-headed Trogons, White-throated Magpie-Jays, Yellow-naped Parrots, Orange-fronted Parakeets, Lesser Ground-Cuckoos and some!
Lucky for the birds and us people who watch them, most of the dry forest birds in Costa Rica are rather tolerant of habitat loss. Given the near absence of extant old growth tropical dry forest on much of the Pacific slope, that’s a darn good thing!
The birds persist in forest patches, living fig hedgerows, vital riparian zones, and pastures dotted with big trees. They are also increasing in various areas of second growth; some of that famous reforestation going on in Costa Rica.
Not pseudo reforestation of Teak and other commercial trees either but honest to goodness forest doing its best to make a natural comeback. The growing areas don’t have it easy. They lack the full suite of original pollinators, seed spreaders, and who knows what else but a forest’s gonna keep on trying, keep on growing. There’s some damn ignorant burning too but if we can get a handle on it, we might give those dry forests a chance.
The biggest and oldest areas of dry forest in Costa Rica are in and near Santa Rosa National Park. Go there to see the real, long-term deal. However, if you can’t make it up to Liberia way, you can still see lots of birds in other places.
Some of the closest tropical dry forest habitats near San Jose’s concrete and cars are sites between Orotina and Tarcoles. I was there the other day. It was just for a morning but the birding was worthwhile as always.
Not So Dry
Bird those dry spots in the winter months and you’ll be dealing with dusty winds. The grass is brown, trees have dropped their leaves and it’s one sunny day after another.
June is another story. Lush green grass, trees heavy with foliage, and storm clouds rolling in. Life is rejoicing with the rains, growing and breeding and naturally living it up.
Singing Birds
Some of that joy is expressed with bird song. Drive or bike or walk by fresh green dry forest trees and vireos will be singing. They sound sort of like Red-eyeds but their phrasing is shorter. Get a look and you’ll see a heftier beak for bigger caterpillars and more yellowish underparts for their basic name- Yellow-green Vireo.
There’s lots of them vireos in Costa Rica but almost only in the wet season, and mostly on the Pacific slope. They sing from the trees, Banded Wrens belt out bird tunes from the thick below, and Yellow-olive Flycatchers (Flatbills) give hearing tests for high-frequency sounds.
Black-headed Trogons make staccato beats, Gartered Trogons also call, and Rufous-naped Wrens make you think of babblers on the other side of the world (at least they do that for me).
Some Nice Spots with Regenerating Forest
Out on those low and hot country roads, I was happy to see some places where forest was rallying for its natural and leisurely relentless comeback. I saw reason to cheer the trees on and wish them well, especially on the Guacimo Road.
This is a road that leaves the coastal highway and makes its way towards the sea. It goes for a ways and you can make a nice birding loop that reaches mangroves and the beach itself at Guacalillo. There’s also a riparian zone replete with towering cashew trees; a perfect haunt for Spectacled Owls.
It’s one of the many sites covered in my bird finding ebook for Costa Rica, a good place to play hide and seek with Mangrove Cuckoos, call for Crested Bobwhites, and watch for soaring raptors.
A Morning for Kites
Speaking of raptors, this birding route is typically good for em! You never know what will show but there’s lots of possibilities. The birding chances include species like Collared Forest-Falcon, Laughing Falcon, Crane Hawk, and others, even the occasional King Vulture.
I had those birds in mind the other morning but they failed to report to the outdoor office. Didn’t see Short-tailed Hawk either! However, at least they were substituted by some other taloned birds.
Grays Hawks were present as they usually are, we saw both caracaras, and had distant views of Harriss’s Hawks. It was also a good morning for kites. As the vultures took to the skies, sure enough, a non-vulture was thermaling with them, a bird with rufous patches on pointed wings.
That was the only Plumbeous Kite we saw but it was a nice look in good light. A dark Hook-billed Kite was also soaring around and showing its distinctive paddle-winged shape.
Those were good but if I had to pick a prize, I would have given it to another birds that hunts lizards in those open fields; the svelte little Pearl Kite. I was pleased because this species can be a real challenge. In Costa Rica, they seem to occur in low numbers at low density populations. Factor in their small size and Pearl Kites are all too easy to overlook.
One perched on a cable high over open fields was one of the morning’s top treasures.
I’ve birded that area many times but I would love to explore it more, especially at night. There’s always more to see, especially when birding in Costa Rica.
Check out an eBird trip report from that fine morning of birding-
