Aside from wonderful accommodations, Selva Verde is best noted among birders as the easiest place to see the elusive Sunbittern, a strange bird that is the only species in its family. A pair of Sunbitterns occupies a territory along the Rio Sarapique adjacent to the lodge and are regularly seen from the riverbank below the dining room as well as from the suspension bridge across the river.
The private reserve across the river is accessible only in the company of an authorized guide. The reserve offers some excellent lowland rainforest birding, but the same birds can also be seen at nearby La Selva Biological Station as well.
