Gerardo Vega is a superb birding guide who has led tour groups to most parts of Costa Rica for many years. He is intimately familiar with over 700 of the 870 species recorded in Costa Rica and can identify over 300 species by their calls. Gerardo was born in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica but speaks excellent English. He has been working at La Selva Biological Station since 1982. La Selva is the most prominent of the three field stations operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). Its mission is to provide tropical study programs for graduate students and research facilities for biologists from throughout the world. He has been involved in numerous research projects as both a research assistant and conducting his own research on tropical birds and plants in addition to guiding birding tours.