SARAPIQUI ECO-OBSERVATORY
COSTA RICA
LOCALE
| # Species*: | 214 |
| # Excl Vagrants*: | 214 |
| # Endemics*: | 0 |
| # Near Endemics*: | 2 |
| *Based on partial or incomplete data. | |
| Habitat: Open forest, river | |
ABOUT THE BIRDING
Sarapiqui Eco-Observatory is a fairly new birding destination and perhaps the best location for bird photography in the area. It encompasses a 400-ha rainforest on private land with numerous trails for observing and photographing the some 215 species of birds recorded on the property. The trail to the Sarapiqui River offers good chances of seeing and photographing Fasciated Tiger-Heron and Sunbittern. It features a botanical garden, hummingbird feeders that typically attract 9 species of hummingbirds including Stripe-throated Hermit, Purple-crowned Fairy, Green-breasted Mango, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, and Crowned Woodnymph, and a tree-canopy balcony where forest birds can be photographed in the tree-tops. The endangered Great Green Macaw can often be seen flying at eye-level from this vantage point.
LOCATION OF SITE
Sarapiqui Eco-Observatory is located about 10 miles west of Puerto Viejo along Highway 4 on the Caribbean slope of northern Costa Rica. It's about 1¾ hours north of San Jose and just 20 minutes from La Selva Biological Station.