For those wanting to participate in a birding tour to Central America, Costa Rica birding tours are generally the first choice. Costa Rica is a superb birding destination because of its varied topography and great diversity of bird species.
Costa Rica can be divided into several geographical regions. The drier northwest of Nicoya Peninsula is visited mainly by people interested in surfing at Tamarindo. Many people do go to Monteverde, a well-known tourist destination that features a cloud-forest nature reserve and other attractions. Most birdwatching tours visit the central part of Costa Rica, particularly Carara National Park in the lowlands of the Central Pacific Coast, the Caribbean slope around La Selva Biological Station, and the Talamanca Mountains where Resplendent Quetzals are most easily seen. Carara, the Caribbean slope, and the Talmancas are the preferred places to go on a first Costa Rica birding tour. A variety of photo tours also visit some of these same areas, especially the Talamanca Mountains because of the many photo opportunities there.
Southern Costa Rica is less traveled and more tropical than the rest of the country. Wilson Botanical Gardens is a wonderful place for seeing and photographing tropical plants and orchids, as well as a variety of specialty birds not found farther north. The south is the place to go on a second birding tour to Costa Rica. A particular attraction is the remote Osa Peninsula, much of it encompassed by Corcovado National Park. This area formerly attracted gold miners and fortune hunters but has become a tour destination for more adventurous travelers. It's also an excellent destination for birders and photographers because it offers extraordinary opportunities for seeing and photographing a variety of birds such as Scarlet Macaws as well as all 4 species of Costa Rican monkeys. A number of very comfortable ecolodges are located near the national park. Those in the south are especially attractive to nature lovers because this part of Osa Peninsula is less spoiled and features large tracts of primary rainforest. The northern part of Osa Peninsula was once logged and much of the accessible forest there is secondary growth rather than primary rainforest. TOP
BIRDING
Of the 850 or so species of birds recorded in Costa Rica, nearly 800 occur on a regular basis. This great diversity of species reflects the diversity of habitats found in the country. Most Costa Rican avifauna is to be found in forests. Aquatic species don't vary much across the country. The same is generally true of the 30-50 bird species found in open pastureland and scrub, except in high elevation paramo where some species are found nowhere else. Aquatic birds are most readily seen at Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, Paloverde National Park, and Tortuguero National Park. A variety of marine birds can also be seen along the coastlines of Nicoya Peninsula in northwestern Costa Rica, Osa Peninsula in southwestern Costa Rica, and the Caribbean coastline of eastern Costa Rica.
The highest number of bird species occurs in lowland wet forests, where some 200 breed in any given area and another 100-200 pass through or regularly appear. Some of the best lowland forests are Carara National Park, La Selva Biological Station and neighboring Braulio Carrillo National Park, and Corcovado National Park. Each site has its own special character, and each offers a somewhat different mix of forest birds. Lowland dry forests support little more than half the number of species found in lowland wet forests.
As one moves upslope, the number of species generally declines but the species composition is quite distinct from the lowlands. Some notable middle elevation sites include Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves, the Central Plateau, and at various Caribbean slope sites such as Colonia Virgen del Socorro. Again, each site offers its own character and special mix of birds. Certainly one of the big attractions of these sites is the Resplendent Quetzal. This extraordinary trogon with sweeping tail plumes is best seen before breeding season during January and February at Monteverde and throughout the dry season from December-April in the Talamanca Mountains, especially around San Gerardo de Dota. At still higher elevations such as the oak forests of the Talamanca Cordillera, only 40-50 breeding species can be found, while still higher in the paramo less than 25 species occur. Notable high elevation birding locations include Cerro de la Muerte in the Talamanca Cordillera and the tops of Poas Volcano and Irazu Volcano in central Costa Rica. TOP
PHOTOGRAPHY
Costa Rica offers numerous opportunities for photographing birds and wildlife. The country is well set up with comfortable ecolodges where our groups stay on each tour. Opportunities for bird and nature photography parallel those for birding.
Southern Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula offers access to more remote rainforest where monkeys and tropical forest birds can be photographed. Lookout Inn overlooking the Pacific Ocean offers excellent vantage points for making photographs of Scarlet Macaws flying below the balcony along the bluffs. The Talamanca Mountains are the best place to photograph Resplendent Quet.zals as they are most common there. Palo Verde National Park is the best place to photograph Jabirus and other wetland birds. A great diversity of birds can be photographed at traditional birding sites such as Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, La Selva Biological Station, and Carara National Park. These are all terrific places for photographing trogons, tanagers, and other forest birds.
