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Tag: where to see birds in Costa Rica

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Urban Birding in Costa Rica (and Walmart)

Urban birding in Costa Rica? Does Costa Rica even have urban areas? Well, obviously yes but if all your conclusions about Costa Rica came from tourism marketing videos, that would be a valid question. According to images and videos, Costa Rica is (1) beaches, (2) zip lines through tropical forest, (3) volcanoes, (4) tropical wildlife like sloths, toucans (occasionally species that live in Brazil), and monkeys, and (5) everyone exclaiming “pura vida!”.

This toucan does live in Costa Rica.

Hey, I don’t blame those marketers (except for using the wrong toucan species), after all, the goal is selling an experience, showing potential tourists highlights and reasons for vacationing in Costa Rica. They aren’t wrong either because this birdy nation is those things but, just like Niagara Falls, NY is more than the famous cataracts (to me it’s also family, DiCamillo’s bakery, a blizzard of gulls, and a lifetime of memories and fantastic stories), Tiquicia has so much more.

For the record, as with most countries, Costa Rica also has busy urban areas. For my nature-linked tastes, they are too busy but at least escaping them is pretty easy. Fly into SJO and you’ll experience that urban stuff pretty quick but, if you stay outside the metro area, you’ll also leave it behind just as soon as you arrive. However, if you do find yourself faced with urban birding in Costa Rica, don’t despair!

As the Urban Birder David Lindo reminds us, birds are everywhere, even in big cities, often more than you think and in places where you least expect them. With recent heavy rains and a mild cold keeping me from doing much birding, those urban birding concepts have been on my mind. These were a couple recent reminders that birds really are everywhere and they can even include rare and endangered species.

Yellow-naped Parrot at Walmart

Yes, sounds like an odd birding dream but it just goes to show that, in Costa Rica, birding dreams come true! The other day, I took a regular, random shopping trip to Walmart with my partner and her daughter. In Costa Rica, although one sees fewer “Walmart people” than in the USA, people watchers will be pleased to know there’s usually one or two folks shopping in would be pajamas, employees sport those same blue, Walmart vest things, and there’s always a couple of shoppers roving the store in motorized carts.

However, before you feel a bit too reminded of being back in the USA, you’ll notice many more differences. Forget about undercover security and shopping on your own. There’ll be a few security guards decked out with an impressive and potentially intimidating display of pseudo-military looking gear (stuff like tactical looking vests with too many pockets, maybe a flashlight and other random stuff but perhaps lacking weapons), and you’ll find yourself wondering how other shoppers manage to block entire aisles while being completely unaware that they do not have the entire store to themselves.

Actually, those aisles blockages are mostly because the aisles are too narrow but whatever. The worst thing, though, and the most different, will be the salespeople. These bastions of Costa Rica Walmart are invariably women who sport uniforms that represent what they want you to buy. You won’t help but notice them and not only because they stand in place and block the selections of tortillas or bread or sliced ham.

No, you’ll notice them mostly because as soon as you come within range, they will start talking to you, automatically telling you about this and that product in question or asking you what you are looking for. It doesn’t matter if you would rather look at those tortillas for yourself or check ham out on your own. It doesn’t matter if you stare straight ahead with a blank and unbecoming 1,000 yard stare. No, they will still want to “help” you.

I understand that’s their job, it’s good they have one, perhaps I should talk with them more? But the thing is I don’t go to Walmart to casually converse with people about ham discounts. I don’t really want to be there at all so I’m not keen on spending time to stand and listen to sales spiels. I’m not particularly anti-social, I would just rather not spend my time that way.

In an attempt to avoid the unwelcome conversation, I usually end up saying, “No, gracias” but then I invariably wonder why I thanked them for advice I didn’t ask for. My partner says to answer them in English and yes, that has helped. I have done that as well as occasionally answer in other non-Spanish languages and let me tell you, no matter how talkative, when presented with a classic language barrier, even the most gung-ho Walmart salesperson throws in the towel!

Now if you find yourself in a Costa Rica Walmart, in all likelihood, those organic, real life influencers will know you are a tourist and probably be too afraid to talk to you anyways. However, if not, and if you don’t feel like practicing Spanish or would rather spend time watching birds (because when birding in Costa Rica, every second counts), you can always smile and say something in English. Thanks to Duolingo and so many people wanting to learn English, it’s still a risk but what are you gonna do? You got birds to see (dammit)!

A word of advice; the coffee and tea aisle is especially challenging. It’s a veritable gauntlet of loquacious and determined coffee and tea influencing saleswomen so out of control, I never purchase coffee in Walmart for that very reason!

But so what about shopping in Walmart, like, isn’t this a birding blog? Yes but when birding abroad, you will likely need to step into a store, and Walmart is a common choice. It’s good to know what to expect. Also, when you step outside the store, at least the one in San Francisco, Heredia, you might see a Yellow-naped Parrot.

Yes! Insanely, when we exited Walmart yesterday afternoon, like magic, the laughter-like calls of Yellow-naped Parrots were somehow penetrating the urban din. Showing that nature must triumph (or that they had loud voices), a pair of these critically endangered species defiantly yelled over the nearby traffic. They were perched right on the tip of a non-native cypress and even without binos, the bright yellow on their napes stood out against their plumbeous sky backdrop.

It was a fantastic sighting! I mean, I almost ran back inside to confront the aisles influencers and tell them that no, I’m not interested in that block of Turrialba cheese but let me tell you all about the fantastic Yellow-naped Parrots at the edge of the parking lot! Oh, not interested? Well, I wasn’t interested in hearing about cheese either but you started telling me all about it anyways…touchee senora.

Now this doesn’t mean Walmart is a good place to see birds, in fact, I can’t recommend it. But, it is a reminder that birds can appear in Costa Rica in odd places, even rare species. When in Costa Rica, you stop birding at your own peril because even in urban areas, a Lineated Woodpecker may swoop into view, Short-tailed and Gray Hawks might be soaring above, and wood-rails are sneaking around the edges of polluted streams.

A classic view from Walmart except that there are two Yellow-naped Parrots perched in the trees on the left, and the mountains in the background have cloud forest with quetzals and tapirs.

Centro de Recreo SITET

Speaking of wood-rails, this undiscovered birding gem has them along with lots more. I thought I knew about most of the places to go birding in Costa Rica, I mean, I included hundreds of sites in “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” and yet, after a random school trip, I realize have to edit the book and include this place, the Centro de Recreo SITET.

Located in Rio Segundo, rather close to the airport, this is a small but excellent oasis to see common birds in an urban setting. Forget about that ridiculous Walmart Woods eBird hotspot, this is the place to go! We went to this small, private park for a school picnic and wished we had brought binoculars! A combination of mature Caribbean pines, huge figs, second growth, stream and pond attracted a surprising array of species.

Need Boat-billed Heron? Several roosted over the pond, even good enough for pictures! How about Gray-cowled Wood-Rail? A few of these fancy rails fed near a stream also frequented by Lesson’s Motmot and other common species. Chestnut-capped Warblers and Cabanis’s Wrens called from the thick stuff, Black Phoebe wagged its tail, and Ringed Kingfisher flew overhead, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow is also present.

birding Costa Rica

This overlooked site looks especially good for migrants and interesting wintering birds. I’m definitely going back to see what I find. If you want to check it out, this site has a 2,000 colon entrance fee ($4), is closed Mondays and open other days from 8 to 4. It’s located off a busy road but once inside, the birding should be alright and there are various picnic tables and grills. I bet it can get loud and busy on the weekend but other days are probably quiet. This is my eBird list, it also shows exactly where this spot is located.

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Highlights from Two Weeks of Birding in Costa Rica

Who doesn't want to see a Snowcap?

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

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

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

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

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

Last Minute Birding in Los Chiles

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

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

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

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

Medio Queso Marsh Action

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

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

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

Tirimbina

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

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

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

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

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

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

An eBird list from that morning.

Paint-billed Crakes in Flight

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

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

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

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

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

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

Snowcap and 36 other Hummingbird Species

Male Snowcap

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

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

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

Enigmatic Birds Heard but not Seen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Birding in Southeastern Costa Rica- Highlights, Observations, and Recommendations

Costa Rica may be state-sized but it’s still got regions! What I mean is that this small nation has distinct areas with their own ecological and cultural flavors. That’s a fine bonus for birding, especially with regions being so close to each other.

After watching Great Green Macaws flap through warm humid airs of the Caribbean lowlands, you can head uphill and get refreshed with tanagers, Collared Trogons, and more in the cool highlands.

Collared Trogon

Go to the southeastern part of Costa Rica and you might get your bird groove on with Purple-throated Fruitcrows, Snowy Cotingas, and a bunch of toucans. Oh, and there’s that ocean too with its Caribbean waters, and a local culture strongly influenced by the descendants of Jamaican settlers.

I like it. So do lots of other locals who visit the beaches south of Limon every weekend. You might run into more people than expected but the birding’s still exciting, there’s still very good reasons to make the trip, especially in October.

These were some of our reasons and highlights for making the trip this past weekend.

Costa Rica’s First American Flamingo

Whoah! With all of those flamingos flying as far as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, it was about time one showed in Costa Rica! Heck, we aren’t all that far from flamingo colonies in northern Colombia either. Only thing is, those birds don’t usually fly this way. They likely veer to more appropriate places, sites better suited to their hyper haline tastes.

I can’t blame the cool pink birds; they can’t exactly thrive away from shallow waters and salt pans. In Costa Rica, although we do have a bunch of tropical habitats, we don’t have much for flamingos.

Even so, they may visit on rare occasions; some fishermen claim to have seen flamingos now and then. I bet some have but none have been officially documented, at least not until the past week!

First seen on a beach near Moin, the pink star bird was refound by local birders at a roadside estuary south of Limon. When passing through the area, I suppose sort of like a flamingo, I also stop at the Estero Negro and other estuaries. These spots are no strangers to rare birds and often host something of feathered interest.

I have also figured they would to be good spots to get super lucky with a flamingo but even then, my visions were of a few birds flying by, out over the ocean. They would be distant flamingos, ones where you would exclaim in triumphant disbelief, “Holy crap! Flamingoes!! There they go….” The birds stopping and staying for a while was too much for my flamingo dreams.

Thankfully, this pink mega proved my visions wrong. It has done nothing but stay in the estuary and casually dip its serpentine neck to “baleen” feed in the shallow waters. Is it truly a wild bird or one that escaped confinement? I’m not sure but either way, Costa Rica’s first flamingo has been a fantastic automatic ambassador for birding. It’s got an easy job too; just stand around, do some foraging, and please stay alive.

The bird has also been impossible to miss. On Friday morning, when our small contingent from the Birding Club of Costa Rica arrived, it was the first thing we saw and we were very pleased to enjoy prolonged, pink-heavy views. Some other folks also watched it that Friday morning but that was nothing like the crowds on Sunday.

In typical people gathering fashion, someone had set up a food stall like they had been selling grilled chicken since the year 2000. Cars were stacked up on each side of the road, people were talking and laughing…I’m surprised no one cranked up some reggae or other loud, dance inspiring tunes. I bet someone did later on.

I mean, this flamingo shindig was turning into a real party and best of all, every person was present to see the bird (expect the vendors). Some birders were there but there were waaay more non-birders and that’s the best thing. Don’t get me wrong, I hope for all birders to see every bird but I also wish that every non-birder would convert and become bonafide birders.

Future birders?

If you’re a non-birder reading this, don’t worry, you don’t necessarily have to run out the door to see a soaring hawk, you don’t need to get a floppy hat or decorate with bird decor. You just need to see beauty in birds and have some desire or inkling to watch them in your backyard or further afield.

That’s all I’m asking, hopefully that flamingo did some natural marketing magic. It certainly looked magical.

Wattled Jacana

Yep, there was another nice tropical bird in the area! The Wattled Jacana isn’t as wild and crazy as a flamingo but it’s still a rare bird for Costa Rica. With exact instructions in digital hand, we made the 60 minute drive from Cahuita to near Gandoca, way close to the border.

We had to wait for a bit as we stared into a small, marshy cow pasture but eventually, yes, there it was. Wattled Jacana and American Flamingo in the same day! What was next? Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher? Perhaps an extra large raptor. One can avian dream after all…

Many thanks to the local birders who had found the bird. They showed us the exact spot and one even let us into his mom’s backyard for better views! He should get a medal or subscription or some other just reward.

Thousands of Swallows, Kingbirds, and Raptors (oh my!)

Flamingoes weren’t the only reason for our weekend excursion. Oh no, we were there for other birds too! You can’t go wrong with October in southeastern Costa Rica.

Migrants galore, sunnier weather than other months, and a nice big selection of resident species; I’ll take it!

I really love the swallow migration. It’s simply out of hand bird migration madness. Go birding there in October and you’ll see a near constant movement of swallows; mostly Barn, Cliff, and Bank. There’s other birds too, especially those swallow look-alikes, the Eastern Kingbird. Oh yes, they do look sort of like swallows, especially when flocks of hundreds mix and aerial mingle with the waves of swallows flying overhead.

On Sunday morning, to get an estimate of numbers, I counted swallows and kingbirds from one spot for five minutes. Extrapolating from that, during two hours, I figured at least 1,600 Eastern Kingbirds flew over along with at least 2,000 bank Swallows, and 6,000 each of Cliffs and Barns.

And honestly, those numbers are very conservative, I bet there were more. That only makes sense, the majority of the North American population of these species probably fly through Costa Rica.

Other migrants included Dickcissels, a few Veerys on their way to and near southern Brazil (where I fear climate-induced habitat destruction will seriously affect their survival), Prothonotary Warbler and a few other warblers, and lots of Traill’s and wood-pewees.

Oh yeah, there were all those raptors too- hundreds of kettling TVs and Broad-wingeds with occasional Osprey, late Swallow-tailed Kite, Miss. Kites, Peregrines, Merlin clutching its hirundine prey, a few Purple Martins and Chimney Swifts, a few Common Nighthawks, and some other birds.

If this were the 1930s, I’d probably say, “Ain’t migration grand?”

Black-chested Jay

Black-chested Jays aren’t that common in Costa Rica. Around here, they reach the northern limit of their range, the edge of their ecological existence. It can make them a challenging bird to see, especially during a brief window of birding.

Lucky for us, our window was in one of the best places to see this cool bird; Playa Negra, Cahuita. While birding near “Bridgette’s Place” (you’ll see it in Google), we had great looks at 8 of these fine year birds.

Cahuita National Park

Southeastern Costa Rica has lots of accessible habitat but it’s still nice to be able to visit a national park. Now if they could open at 6 instead of non-birdy 8, that would really help but on your hot walk, you’ll still see some birds anyways.

We actually did fairly well in the parking lot with a few fruitcrows, good raptor migration, and some migrants. On the pleasant boardwalk trail, we also saw such nice birdies as Brown-capped Tyrannulet, Acadian Flycatcher, Checker-throated and White-flanked Antwrens, and were entertained by the constant calls of Black-crowned Antshrikes.

Peer as I did into the swampy understory, I didn’t see any Agami Herons nor Rufescent Tiger-Herons. No Uniform Crakes calling back either but it was still a nice walk. If you make that hike, keep in mind that it won’t look around. After 2.1 kilometers, you’ll reach the beach (which is nice) and then have to walk back the way you came.

Calle Cahuita

This road is one of a few roads in the area that passes through good forest. We only birded it one afternoon and it was kind of quiet but I would sure love to be there at dawn!

Our best bird was a male Snowy Cotinga but many other species are possible and we also had some tanagers, and various expected common rainforest birds. No Sulphur-rumped Tanagers but they should still be possible. Black-crowned Antpitta might also still occur, who knows what else?

Also known as the road to Casa Calateas, this is one of hundreds of sites covered in my bird finding guide to Costa Rica.

Costly

Yep, as with so many places in Costa Rica and the globe in general, prices have risen in southeastern Costa Rica. Some restaurants are pretty expensive and lodging is a far cry from much cheaper days.

However, there are lots of options, especially with Air BnB. If you are flexible and look enough, you can find some good deals. The same goes for places to eat. The Atlantida was good, especially for breakfast, and another place we really liked was the Restaurant and Bar Peruanita. We tried to go to the much acclaimed “Cahuita’s Taste Caribbean Soul Food” but they had run out of food! It’s a small place with home-cooked meals, make sure to get there early.

As always, when visiting southeastern Costa Rica, I wish we could have stayed longer. When I leave that birdy zone, I drive off knowing that there are many underbirded places to check, sites that might host Great Jacamar and other rare species. Which migrant birds arrived after I left? Was there a Gray Kingbird just around the corner? Uncommon and rare warblers skulking in the woods? Flamingo or not, there’s plenty of reasons to return.

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Birding News from Costa Rica- Late September, 2024

Going birding in Costa Rica? If your answer is “yes” but any time from January to March, you aren’t alone. After all, those sunny days are when most folks visit Costa Rica, birders included.

However, if you are headed to Costa Rica soon, the following birding tidbits and news items might be helpful. You might also gather some useful information if you happen to go birding in Costa Rica during the high and dry season.

Rain, Localized Flooding, and More Rain

Lately, we’ve been experiencing a lot of rain. For a Costa Rican September, that’s pretty much par for the course but lately, it seems to be more intense than usual. Nearby tropical storm systems and hurricanes have been throwing huge amounts of moisture our way and the water has been slamming several parts of the country.

It’s not always like that; some years, September and October are fairly dry. This year though, the forests are getting more than plenty of life-supporting water. It’s a wonderful and vital aspect of rainforests but roads and flood prone areas could use a break.

Yes, there has been some localized flooding, mostly in the Nicoya Peninsula, the Coto 47 area near Ciudad Neily (one of hundreds of sites covered in my bird finding guide for Costa Rica), and on parts of the Pacific Coast. Last week, various parts of the small city of Canas were also submerged. With more rain in the forecast, we can expect more localized flooding and road closures. Stay informed about road situations with the Waze app. That’ll tell you which roads are closed right away including one of the most commonly affected major highways; Route 32.

Just a reminder, if you are driving and see flooded streets and swollen rivers, resist the temptation to test the rental! Just wait or find another route because cars do get washed away, even trucks.

Migration Just Ticked up a Notch

On another, more birdy note, bird migration through Costa Rica has really kicked into gear. After checking local neighborhood habitat for the past week or so, it wasn’t until this morning that I saw a major jump in bird numbers.

While listening for flight calls at dawn, I managed to hear Dickcissels, a couple Swainson’s Thrushes and a hoped for Veery through the normal soundscreen inadvertently put up by Rufous-collared Sparrows and Great Kiskadees (those kiskadees really yell their names!).

As the light increased I saw a dozen Baltimore Orioles feeding and flitting in the trees, several Yellow Warbler, one Blackburnian, a smart looking Golden-winged Warbler (my first for the fall), several swallows, and a few other migrants. Two of the more interesting birds were a couple of Great Egrets that flapped right over the houses of my very urban neighborhood.

Later that morning, during a visit to Lankester Gardens, we had several more warblers (Canada and Mourning included) and migrants, especially Swainson’s Thrushes and Red-eyed Vireos.

A Good Time for Centro Manu

Centro Manu is always worth a visit, no matter what time of year. However, fall could be one of the better times to go birding at this easily accessible lowland/foothill hotspot.

Recent highlights have included the usual roosting Great Potoo, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, a female Lovely Cotinga (!), and Red-fronted Parrotlets!

Ditto for Veragua Rainforest

Great Jacamar
What a shining, crazy-looking bird!

The same goes for another excellent site, Veragua Rainforest. The most notable recent highlights have been a reliable Great Jacamar and a more challenging Black-crowned Antpitta.

Umbrellabird and lots of other excellent birds have also been seen at this consistently high quality site.

Unspotted Saw-whet Owls

Yes, this time of year can also be good for one of the Costa Rica’s more challenging and fantastic owls. If the rain stops and you can listen for them at high elevations (above 2,200 meters), perhaps especially in semi-open areas, you might connect with this major bird.

You can also boost your chances by staying at Gema del Bosque or taking a tour that targets these special little birds. If interested in seeing this owl, contact me at information@birdingcraft.com

Flamingo in Costa Rica!

Wait…what?!? Yes, the real pink bird has finally touched down on Costa Rican shores. Myself and one or two other birders have wondered when one would appear here, it’s why I included it on the Costa Rica Birds app as a possible species for the country (along with several shorebirds, Red-throated Pipit, and some other bird lottery winning species). In all likelihood, it happens on very rare occasions but the birds don’t linger. The nearest flamingoes are in northern Colombia and the Yucatan, the one seen this morning could have come from either spot.

This morning, someone made a video of an America Flamingo on the beach near Moin! Will it be refound? I hope so and hope even more that it stays long enough for us to see it too!

As for other Costa Rica birding news, there’s always lots more I could say. However, I’ll just mention that the usual birds are in the usual spots, whether mentioned on eBird or not, the best sites are the places with the most habitat, and according to eBird, 746 bird species were identified in Costa Rica during this past month. Yep, in Costa Rica, there’s always a lot of birds to see! I hope to see you here, the birds are waiting.

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Recent Birding Highlights Near San Jose, Costa Rica

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

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

Calling Ornate Hawk-Eagles

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

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

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

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

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

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

Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl

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

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

Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow

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

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

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

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

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

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

Purple Martin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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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Costa Rica Birding Expectations for July- The Mini High Season

Happily, Emerald Toucanets showed up to eat papaya and entertain with stunning colors at close range.

Costa Rica is a popular destination, especially during the winter. Warm and welcoming weather instead of slushy driveways? Toucans, parrots, macaws, and manakins? Throw in a few dozen hummingbirds and it’s a sweet combination!

Fiery-throated-Hummingbird

Although most birders visit Costa Rica in the winter, we’ve also got a second, mini high season. That would be this month, July. Yes, it’s the summer in the northern half of the globe but no, it’s not any hotter in Costa Rica. Weather just doesn’t work that way.

If anything, cloud cover makes Costa Rica cooler now than sun-drenched February and March! This second high season started happening some years ago when bird tour companies realized that Costa Rica’s brief wet season break might work for tours.

The pause in rains happens most years, usually during the first two or three weeks of July. It does make for some easier birding and although you won’t see wintering birds from backyards up north, everything else is around. If you are headed to Costa Rica soon, here’s some of what’s in store!

A Better Time for Some Birds?

July birding in Costa Rica is just as good for resident species as the high season. For some birds, July might even be easier.

This month and other parts of the wet season seem to be better for wetland species like Masked Duck and Paint-billed Crake. Both of those sneaky birds are always around but in the dry season, they aren’t nearly as accessible.

Now is a good time to look for both species in the Ciudad Neily area.

Masked-Duck

July also marks the return of Oilbirds! Yeah, they are pretty rare but if you take a night tour in the Monteverde area, you might see one. Another good place to look for Oilbirds is Cerro Paraguas near San Vito. They might even live in that area all year long.

Last but not least, July is also a fine time to study Austral migrants like Yellow-green Vireo, and Piratic and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers.

Weather

July can be dry but then again…maybe not! This is Costa Rica after all, a nation with mountains that trap huge amounts of moisture from two different oceans.

Hopefully, it won’t rain as much as other times of the year but to be honest, in 2024, it’s hard to say what might happen. Hot water in the Caribbean has already spawned one hurricane and more are likely to come.

Although Beryl didn’t hit us, we still got heavy side effect rains that caused landslides and flooding. We could still get more; keep a close eye on weather advisories, be aware that landslides can close mountain roads, and that flooding is very possible near lowland rivers.

Lately, the Pacific lowlands have been especially hard hit with flooding happening near Jaco, Parrita, Quepos, and near Ciudad Neily.

A Few Birds to Watch For

Bellbirds are calling and are mostly still in their highland haunts. Umbrellabirds are still in cloud forest areas but some have already moved into foothill zones.

Other resident species are in their usual spots although there might be more Green-fronted Lancebills and Black-bellied Hummingbirds in foothill forests.

birding Costa Rica

See any big, funny looking Bank Swallow? Take pictures, you’re probably looking at vagrant Brown-chested Martin!

Think you see a funky looking Purple Martin? Take more pictures, those could be another vagrant hirundine- the Southern Martin!

Can You Still See Quetzals in Costa Rica?

In a word, “yes”. A lot of folks ask when they can see quetzals in Costa Rica, or when is the best time to see them. For me, it’s any time of the year. While many do nest in March and April, Resplendent Quetzals don’t exactly fly away.

Those incredible birds are in Costa Rica all year long, you just have to bird the right habitat and places.

Cloud forest is quetzal habitat.

A Great Time for DYI Birding in Costa Rica

July is also a good time for some DYI birding in Costa Rica. In other words, it’s a good time to visit Costa Rica on your own. There’s a lot more vacancy, more elbow room, and always plenty to see!

If you want to hire guides, more are also available in July than during the high season. To find the birds, yes, eBird will give you some good ideas but don’t count on it as the only option. Just remember, birds don’t live where people go eBirding, they live in places with the right habitat. To learn how to see more birds in Costa Rica and about hundreds of sites to see them, get “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.

To prepare for your birding trip to Costa Rica, don’t forget to bring a good field guide (I like Garrigues and Dean), and customize your target lists with the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app.

As always, I hope to see you in Costa Rica!

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Two Days and Two Mornings of Birding in Costa Rica = 254 Species

Birding in Costa Rica means a lot of birds. I often say something along those lines but hey, good news is worth repeating. But seriously, there really are a heck of a lot of birds in Costa Rica! Thankfully, a lot of places are home to lots of birds too but what makes Costa Rica stand out is the number of bird species you can see in a short amount of time.

During a week of birding in Costa Rica, you could easily see more than 300 species, maybe even 400. Heck, even during a few days of birding, you can see an impressive number of birds. You have to go to the right places, put in the time, and it helps knowing how to find birds in Costa Rica but seeing 100 plus species in a day isn’t that difficult.

Last week, one full day of birding yielded well over 100 species, and another morning turned up far less but included several rare species or regional endemics. Then there was the birding that yielded more than 170 species, all in one morning.

Where did I go? What did I see? Highlights? Lowlights? Check it out-

Sunday Morning on the Bijagual Road

This spot is the name I give to the road that goes from Villa Lapas to the village of Bijagual and on to Macaw Lodge. This birdy byway goes along and near the southern edge of Carara National Park. There are forests, second growth, fields, and 200 or so species (or more). I have wanted to do some dawn birding in that area for a while. Despite the early, night drive down to the lowlands, I’m glad we did it!

To be honest, I wanted to see how the road might work as a Big Day starting point. Would I hear some key Carara birds from the road? Might I find something else?

Although it didn’t yield the Big Day results I was hoping for, it was still a great morning of birding. In addition to expected macaws, trogons, and lots of other birdies, we also had a few less expected finds. I knew White-crested Coquette was possible but I also know it trends elusive. I can’t blame the bird, it’s just about bug size and has to constantly hide from the larger, more aggressive members of its family.

A male from another time and place. Females also have that orangey belly and a white throat.

BUT, at some flowering trees that were abuzz with hummingbirds, sure enough, we saw one! The bird was a female that popped in and out of view, not good for a photo but this was birding, NOT bird photography.

Other nice finds were hearing expected Marbled Wood-Quail, several Olivaceous Piculets, finding Pale-breasted Spinetail, and seeing the perched King Vulture shown above!

I can’t complain, in four hours of birding, we had 145 species.

eBird Checklist – 17 Mar 2024 – Road from Villa Lapas to Pura Vida Waterfall Gardens – 145 species

Then, we did some quick birding around Tarcoles, mostly checking the shore and taking a peak at roosting Black and white Owls. We ended the morning with 171 species. Bijagual road and Tarcoles – eBird Trip Report

A Morning on Irazu

A few days later, I birded the Irazu area for the morning. First stop was a stop for Bare-shanked Screech-Owl. As it often does, a roosting bird was calling in the early morning but try as we did, we just couldn’t find it. I think it roosts deep in some extremely vegetated high elevation bush.

While we scanned for the owl from different angles, a Maroon-chested Ground-Dove started calling! I usually see this bird at the Nochebuena but do sometimes hear them on the main road just south of there. The dove came closer and I did glimpse it once in flight but nope, it never perched where I could put it in the scope.

Next stop was a road next to the entrance to the national park. It didn’t take long to find our two main targets; the Timberline Wren and the Volcano Junco. After that, we went to the Nochebuena cafe and trails to look for another ground-dove. It took a little while but we did eventually have looks at a perched male!

The Timberline Wren.

We also enjoyed the other regular birds, had brief but good views of Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge, and fantastic looks at a Bare-shanked Screech-Owl. Since we didn’t need to see the quetzal or pygmy-owl, we didn’t spend much time looking for those quality species before driving back at 11 a.m.

Irazu area March 20 2024 – eBird Trip Report

A Full Day From Poas to Virgen del Socorro

The following day was a full day of birding in highland habitats at and near Poas. The varied habitats and elevations always make for a good selection of birds and March 21st was no exception. This day, we got our fill of quetzal views along with looks at other expected high elevation birds.

Wrenthrush was sadly quiet but we still saw a bunch of other birds in the Varablanca area and then at Cinchona and Virgen del Socorro. Of those 129 species, highlights included Buff-fronted Quail-Dove, Black-bellied Hummingbird, silky-flycatchers, Flame-throated Warbler, and Yellow-winged Tanager.

Of yeah, and there was also an antswarm at Virgen del Socorro! Nothing too crazy but close looks at a few Zeledon’s Antbirds was nice and singing Ocellated Antbird in full view was even better!

Poas, Cinchona, Virgen del Socorro – eBird Trip Report

On another day of birding that included some lower elevation sites, I had even more species (153)- March 13 2024 – eBird Trip Report

Overall, the total from two mornings of birding and one full day was 254 species. Like I was saying, within a short amount of time, you really can see an incredible number of birds in Costa Rica!

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Introduction

Highlights of Recent Back Road Birding in Costa Rica

The best birding in Costa Rica depends on what you are looking for. If that translates to an abundance of great looks and photos of beautiful common birds, you’ll find that personal paradise in many a hotel garden. If shorebirds are your thing, high tide at Punta Morales is a good bet (along with checking Puntarenas for random megas like Pacific Golden-Plover). However, if your most wanted birds are the rare, the uncommon, the challenging members of the local avian kingdom, then the search can get complicated.

To know where to go for birds like Blue-and-Gold Tanager, Song Wren, or cotingas, eBird gives good hints. However, the true key to seeing them is knowing how to find them, and knowing the best places to visit, especially when many such places are well off the regular birding routes. Such little visited and less accessible places often have better birding than popular hotspots (and is one of the reasons I include many of them in “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”}.

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A Blue-and-Gold Tanager high on a perch in misty weather.

What?!? Better than eBird hotspots? Well…yes and that’s probably the case for any place lacking major eBird coverage (in other words, most nations). Don’t get me wrong, eBird is a huge help and fantastic birding tool but, birds are always where the habitat is and if such places aren’t visited by many birders, they can’t get much coverage on eBird.

This is why, when guiding for custom, target bird trips, I often visit sites off the regular birding map. These are places that don’t fit into regular birding tour circuits because of location or access but can be an excellent fit for small birding groups in Costa Rica doing their own birding thing.

Recently, I enjoyed some of that fine back road birding in Costa Rica. Here are some highlights from three such sites:

The Road to Manuel Brenes Reserve

What can I say? Quality habitat is where the birds are and this road fits the bill. It can be rough and is best done with four-wheel drive but if you can bird this road, you’ll have chances at common, uncommon, and rare birds. In late March, during a brief, hour or so early morning visit, we seriously lucked out with one of the kings of Costa Rica birds, the Bare-necked Umbrellabird.

This crow-sized cotinga can be seen at this and other suitable places but, thanks to their random, quiet behavior, and low numbers, umbreallbirds in Costa Rica are always a challenge to find. As is often the case with this species, we saw one by pure chance, just as we were trying to locate a calling Barred Forest-Falcon.

As we peered into the dense forest, the cotinga blasted into view and perched in a nearby cecropia. The female or juvenile male sat there looking around and ate some Cecropia “fruits” for ten minutes until it took off like a shot, zipping back into the forest. It flew like a big woodpecker and was surprisingly fast!

Not a bad way to start the birding day! We then focused on the forest-falcon and although we didn’t get the best of looks, we did manage brief views of the bird in flight and perched behind mossy vines.

After listening to the mournful whistle of a Northern Schiffornis, seeing some mixed flock action, and not noticing any signs of Army Ant swarms, we ventured on to our next little visited birding site,

Lands in Love.

After paying the $15 fee to use the trails, we ventured into the forest and found two of our main targets right away; Thicket Antpitta and Tawny-chested Flycatcher. The main entrance to the trails below the rooms is overgrown and not maintained but we still managed to get good looks and photos of the antpitta, and nice views (but not the best of shots) of the flycatcher.

Venturing onto the trails from a spot above the rooms (this trail entrance is maintained), a walk through beautiful, mature lowland-foothill rainforest resulted in good looks at Streak-crowned Antvireo, White-flanked Antrwren, and Golden-crowned Spadebill. Just as we were leaving the trail, we also ran into an ant swarm of small Labidus ants. These small black ants don’t attract as many birds as the classic, larger Army Ants but they can still attract birds nonetheless.

Their foraging gave us good looks at Ocellated and Spotted Antbirds and a few other birds. We didn’t have any sign of the ground-cuckoo but when I first noticed the bird activity, I could have sworn I saw something sneak off on the ground. Maybe one was there, hiding back in the shadows? The idea me eager to get back into that beautiful forest!

Our other main back road birding sites included:

The Road to the River Next to La Selva, and Roads That Loop Behind Selva Verde.

In the morning, birding next to La Selva, and especially down at the river, can be fantastic. Scanning high trees immediately revealed a female Snowy Cotinga and a White-necked Puffbird. We kept watching and the birds kept on appearing. Three Hook-billed Kites flew in and perched high in a fig. Pied Puffbird flew in to another high perch, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker showed, and we were entertained by additional birds. One of the best were a few Spot-fronted Swifts that flew low enough and at the right angle to see the gleaming white spots on their faces.

I heard Purple-throated Fruitcrows but they wouldn’t come close. Luckily, we caught up with that cool cotinga on the road behind Selva Verde. I don’t usually see it there so it was a nice surprise to hear one call and have it fly into view. It was hanging with a bunch of oropendolas, and as I figured, White-fronted Nunbirds.

As per usual, these choice puffbird species flew high overhead but, eventually, they did us a favor and moved much lower and into much better lighting. As is typical with such flocks, they were joined by Rufous Mourner, Black-striped, Northern Barred, and Cocoa Woodcreepers, and a few other medium sized bird species.

Black-striped Woodcreeper from another day.

We topped off that quality back road birding with close views of the one and only feathered bug, Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, and calling White-ringed Flycatchers. After those views, it was time for us to move on but oh how it is worth it to bird the forests near La Selva and Braulio Carrillo! Yesterday, a fellow local birder told me about a verified sighting of a Crested Eagle from near there (near Poza Azul and Tirimbina) a day before we were in the area!

Hopefully, that super mega eagle will stick around but who knows, it was a near adult likely moving around in search of territory. It could be anywhere in northern Costa Rica by now but my bets are on it either using the forests at and near La Selva (that includes the places I visited and Tirimbina), the forests north of Quinta de Sarapiqui, or foothill rainforests near the Socorro area. I sure hope someone sees it again, it will be interesting to see where it is found. I know I’ll be keeping that mega bird in mind!

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Costa Rica Birding News- March and April, 2023

You might see a Three-wattled Bellbird around there.

It’s late March and we are at the tail end of the high season for birding in Costa Rica. April will still bring a good number of birders but, as with previous years, most birding trips to Costa Rica happen during the first three months of the calendar year. If you do happen to be visiting Costa Rica in April, you are in luck because the fourth month is a fantastic time for birding. It might even be the best time to bring the binos to this beautiful, birdy nation.

April is high time for our spring migration and although the warblers and other migrants won’t be singing like they do up north, this month features large numbers of swallows, Chimney Swifts, Eastern Kingbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, raptor migration, and other birds that winter in South America. This impressive spectacle of migration adds a nice cherry on top of a birding cake flavored with hundreds of resident bird species.

With that in mind, let’s start recent birding news with some tips on the best sites for spring migration in Costa Rica.

An eddy in the river of raptors.
  • Tortuguero– Situated on the Caribbean coast, this national park also sits smack in the middle of a flyway that features millions of birds. Watch the skies for flocks of kingbirds, swifts, swallows, and raptors as well as other odd birds making their way north. When I visit, I also check the coastal scrub and gardens in the village for small migrants like warblers, the occasional cuckoo, and various other species, and the beach for shorebirds and occasional pelagic species.
  • Cahuita-Manzanillo– This general area is also excellent for migration and a wonderful area to mix migrant birds with fantastic birding in lowland rainforest. The seabirding seems better at Tortuguero but it’s still worth scoping the ocean around here too. I have seen Brown Noddy, Bridled Tern, and a jaeger or two, and other species are certainly possible.
  • Sarapiqui– Another classic site for lowland rainforest, it can also be very good during migration. Although there won’t be any seabirding, you might find Cerulean Warbler, flocks of Scarlet Tanagers, a river of raptors, and several other species.
  • Puntarenas and the Gulf of Nicoya– Puntarenas is a good place to do some seawatching and look for migrant terns and other species. Mud flats and other sites on the Gulf of Nicoya also act as important stopover sites for shorebirds.

In other birding news, here are some other items of interest for birding Costa Rica:

Gullmania in Puntarenas– Costa Rica isn’t really known for gull watching and with good reason. Although a good number of Laridae are on the official bird list for Costa Rica, most are vagrants, even bird species like Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull. Our regular species only include Laughing Gull, migrant Franklin’s Gulls, and various terns.

Given the lack of birding coverage along extensive coastlines, inaccessible shrimp ponds, and other gullish sites, I bet more gulls visit Costa Rica than we realize. Not a huge number by any means but choice rarities surely slip by and over our local birding RADAR; we just don’t have enough people putting in the hours. However, we do have enough focused birders to come up with some really good finds. One of the best was a Heerman’s Gull at Puntarenas! A first year bird discovered by Daniel and Robert Garrigues, and Daniel Fernandez Duarte is the first officially documented record for Costa Rica. This species has been on my personal birding RADAR for some time, it’s great to see that one was found and that it has also stayed long enough to be seen by a number of local birders (my partner and I included).

The Heerman’s will probably be Costa Rica’s “best bird” of 2023 but, even better, it came with two consolation prizes; a Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull in the same area! For many local birders, all three of these species were key lifers. Once again, it pays to bird Puntarenas.

Pacific Golden-Plover in Puntarenas- What was I just saying about Puntarenas? A very rare migrant Pacific Golden-Plover was found by local guide Beto Guido during a recent visit. It was with two American Golden-Plovers and although they seem to have flown north, the Pacific has stayed for several more days. As of March 26th, it was still present. Look for it on the beach and jetties from the lighthouse to parts of the beach east of the jetties.

Pacific-Golden-Plover-Puntarenas-Costa-Ric
A Pacific Golden-Plover I found at Puntarenas in 2022. Perhaps the same indfividual as this year?

8 quetzals in a day at and near Poas– Most birders visit the Dota Valley or Monteverde for their fill of quetzals but the ultra fancy birds also live in other places. I don’t always see or hear them on Poas but have a pretty good success rate. Last week, though, was exceptional with two quetzals heard on Poas and at least 6 (maybe more) heard and seen at a site near Varablanca.

Speckled Mourner seen!– This odd little bird is one of the rarest resident species in Costa Rica. With very few confirmed sightings, and not really knowing what they need for survival in Costa Rica, we really have no idea how many still occur in the country. On a high note, a bird was seen and photographed by a local birder and biologist at a site within the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund Area (which also protects important rainforest and cloud forest habitats). This important sighting hints at the quality habitats protected by the fund and (along with the 2017 Harpy Eagle sighting) provides further impetus to explore and bird sites around those remote northern volcanoes.

Bellbirds near San Ramon- Lastly, the bellbirds are back at sites near San Ramon. Last week, we had excellent views of a calling male near the end of Calle Chaves, the Pagan Poetry Bed and Breakfast road. It’s four wheel drive only but the trip might be worth it. The bellbirds at this and other sites near there do move around but might still be possible until May or June.

These are some of the latest local birding news items and with dozens of birding hotspots, I could always say more. Learn more about where to watch birds in Costa Rica with my 900 plus page, recently updated ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. I hope to see you here!