Resplendant Quetzal is one of the world’s most elegant birds. Photo: Gary Rosenberg
With an area somewhat less than 20,000 square miles Costa Rica is the third-smallest nation in Central America, yet in proportion to the country’s size its avifauna of nearly 800 species is among the richest in the world. It is a modern country, politically stable and generally considered the most democratic in Central America, and it is proud to be a nation without an army. For the visiting birdwatcher it presents the obvious advantage of compactness combined with excellent hotels and lodges, delicious food, stunning scenery, friendly people and fantastic birding. Our tour concentrates on the best birding areas, from the oak-laden forests of the Talamanca Highlands with its many endemics and Resplendent Quetzals, to the rich transitional forest at Carara in the Pacific lowlands, to the stunning cloud-forest at Monteverde, and finally to the Caribbean lowlands where we’ll stay at a new, comfortable resort near La Selva Biological Station and Braulio Carrillo National Park. We should see more than 450 species over 12 days of birding.
Day 1: The trip begins this evening in San José. Night in San José.
Day 2: The Central Plateau is bounded to the east by the Cordillera de Talamanca, much of which is protected as either national park or biological preserve. One national park, Tapantí, is only a short distance from San José, and we’ll spend much of the day exploring its lush cloud forest. Here we’ll have our first chance at many montane forest species such as Black Guan, White-bellied Mountain-gem, Collared Trogon, Prong-billed and Red-headed Barbets, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Torrent Tyrannulet and Spangle-cheeked and Bay-headed Tanagers. In recent years several species rare in Central America have been found at Tapantí including Green-fronted Lancebill, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and Wrenthrush, and we’ll look for them. Night on Cerro de la Muerte.
Day 3: Our hotel is situated in a lovely valley in the Cordillera de Talamanca, and we’ll have easy access to most of the montane species endemic to the “Chiriqui” Highlands of southern Central America. We’ll birdwatch along dirt roads that traverse middle-elevation montane forest where we’ll encounter many new species including Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher, Sooty and Mountain Robins, Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager and Yellow-thighed and Large-footed Finches. Within walking distance from our hotel we’ll have our first chance at seeing the magnificent Resplendent Quetzal. At hummingbird feeders at our hotel we can expect White-throated Mountain-gem, Green Violet-ear and Volcano and Scintillant Hummingbirds. In the afternoon we’ll continue farther up the cordillera where above treeline we’ll look for high-elevation specialties such as Timberline Wren, Peg-billed Finch and Volcano Junco. Night on Cerro de la Muerte.
Day 4: After a final look for specialties we may have missed, we’ll drop out of the highlands, bird outside San Isidro looking for Pale-breasted Spinetail, Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Streaked Saltator, among others, and continue down to the Pacific lowlands near Carara National Park. In the afternoon we’ll go to the mouth of the Tarcoles River where, depending on the tide, we are likely to see good numbers of shorebirds and waterbirds. In the mangroves nearby we’ll look for Mangrove Black-Hawk, American Pygmy Kingfisher and “Mangrove” Yellow Warbler. As the sun sets we’ll watch Scarlet Macaws as they fly to their night roosts. Night near Carara.
Days 5-6: Carara National Park is a relatively undisturbed tract of primary rainforest that appears to be the northwestern limit for many Pacific lowland forest species. The extraordinary richness of this transition between dry and wet tropical forests is exemplified by the very large number of certain bird groups: five trogons, seven woodcreepers, five manakins and five large Thryothorus wrens, most of which are fairly easy to see. Along the forest trails we’ll look for these species as well as Golden-naped Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Great Tinamou, Black-hooded Antshrike, Black-faced Antthrush, Streak-chested Antpitta, Spot-crowned Euphonia, Golden-crowned Spadebill and Long-billed Gnatwren. We have seen as many as 100 species in the park before lunch! On one afternoon, we’ll take a short boat trip to the mouth of the Tarcoles River for close-up views of a huge number of Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds, along with the opportunity for a few “mangrove” specialties, such as Mangrove Hummingbird and Rufous-necked Wood-Rail. At least one evening we’ll go out owling looking for Pacific Screech-Owl and Striped Owl. Nights near Carara.
Day 7: After a final morning at Carara National Park we’ll drive to Monteverde. Along the way we’ll pass through open pastureland and patches of tropical dry forest where we should see many new species such as Cinnamon Hummingbird, Plain-capped Starthroat, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Rufous-naped and Banded Wrens, White-lored and Tropical Gnatcatchers, Olive Sparrow, and possibly the elusive Lesser Ground-Cuckoo. In the late afternoon after checking into our very comfortable hotel, we’ll visit the Hummingbird Gallery at the entrance to the cloud-forest reserve where we are likely to see as many as eight species of hummingbirds including numerous Violet Sabrewings and the Costa Rican endemic Coppery-headed Emerald. Night in Monteverde.
Day 8: We’ll spend most of today in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a 7,400-acre tract of middle-elevation forest traversed by the Continental Divide and one of the best-known birding localities in Central America. In spring the preserve is famous for its nesting Resplendent Quetzals and calling Three-wattled Bellbirds (whose piercing call can be heard a mile away). We’ll search for these, of course, as well as for many other species found here including Orange-bellied Trogon, Prong-billed Barbet, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Streak-breasted Treehunter, both Tawny-throated and Gray-throated Leaftossers, Azure-hooded Jay, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, Three-striped Warbler, Golden-browed Chlorophonia and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch. If we’re lucky we may encounter one of the area’s difficult-to-see specialties such as Black-breasted Wood-Quail or Buff-fronted Quail-Dove. In the late afternoon we’ll revisit the Hummingbird Gallery. Night in Monteverde.
Day 9: We’ll begin our final morning at Monteverde visiting deciduous forest along one of the area’s private reserves, the Ecological Farm. The bird species found in this type of forest are quite different from those found only a few kilometers away in the wetter preserve, and we’ll have a chance of seeing Long-tailed Manakin, Golden-crowned Warbler, White-eared Ground-Sparrow and possibly a Chiriqui Quail-Dove. In recent years, this has been perhaps the best area for bellbirds, when they are calling. Before lunch we’ll depart for the Caribbean lowlands. Along the way we’ll pass by Volcán Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in all of Central America. If it is not enshrouded in clouds we may even see it erupt! In the forest near the volcano we have seen lowland species such as Slaty-tailed Trogon, White-fronted Nunbird, Scaly-throated Leaftosser and Spotted Antbird. We’ll have most of the afternoon to explore the foothill habitats around the volcano. If it is clear, the view of the volcano at night is breathtaking! Night near the Arenal Volcano.
Days 10-12: We’ll spend the morning of day 10 birding the very lovely Arenal Hanging Bridges. The trail here takes us through an excellent patch of foothill forest, where we hope to find Dull-mantled and Spotted Antbirds, Olive and White-throated Shrike-Tanagers, Streak-crowned Antvireo and Lattice-tailed Trogon. Even species such as Great Currasow are still possible here. After lunch near the Arenal Volcano, we’ll continue further onto the Caribbean slope for three full days.
On one full day we’ll visit Finca La Selva, a biological station operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies. This roughly 1,400-acre reserve is adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park and is managed as a natural research laboratory. Some 400 species of birds have been recorded at La Selva and although we won’t see that many in a one-day visit, we’ll certainly experience the avian richness of the region. La Selva is an excellent place to see Great and Slaty-breasted Tinamous, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Pied and White-necked Puffbirds, Chestnut-colored, Cinnamon and Rufous-winged Woodpeckers, Great and Fasciated Antshrikes, Black- throated and Violaceous Trogons, Snowy Cotinga, White-ringed Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Wren, Plain-colored Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, Yellow-tailed Oriole and Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, among many, many others! A visit to La Selva will be an especially memorable part of the trip.
On one day we’ll visit the tract of foothill forest at La Virgen del Socorro, where we hope to see such species as Red-headed Barbet, White Hawk, Barred Hawk, Immaculate Antbird, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet and Sooty-faced Finch, and at a bridge over the Río Sarapiqui, perhaps American Dipper and Torrent Tyrannulet. We’ll visit the Mirador Restaurant overlooking El Angel Falls, where at hummingbird feeders we’ll see a number of new species, including Green Thorntail and, possibly, Brown Violetear. We’ll have lunch at the lush La Paz Waterfall Gardens, where a look at more hummingbird feeders may revel the spectacular Black-bellied Hummingbird. Nights in Sarapiqui.
Day 13: We’ll depart early and drive the short distance to Braulio Carrillo National Park. This park, which protects one of the last untouched expanses of Caribbean foothill forest in Central America, is only a 25-minute drive from our hotel. We’ll have all day to explore two main trails within the park where we hope to find such specialties as Lattice-tailed Trogon, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Dull-mantled Antbird, Streak-crowned Antvireo, White-ruffed Manakin, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush and Blue-and-gold, Black-and-yellow, Emerald, Olive, White-throated Shrike- and Tawny-crested Tanagers. With luck we may see one of the truly rare species found within the park such as Sharpbill or Lanceolated Monklet. We’ll stop at a patch of roadside flowers where in past years we have successfully found both Snowcap and Black-crested Coquette. We’ll arrive back at our hotel in San José in time to search for Prevost’s Ground-Sparrow and finish the tour with our farewell dinner. Night in San José.
Day 14: The trip concludes this morning in San José.
Updated: 02 May 2008
Prices
- 2008 price about $4,460
- 2009 and 2010 prices not yet available.
Notes
This tour is limited to nine participants with one leader; 14 with two leaders.