COSTA RICA Bird Watching Costa Rica has long been famous among serious bird watchers, but many people who would never consider the activity at home quickly have become interested in the country’s spectacular avian diversity. With almost 850 species of birds -more than total of what North America has- packed into an area half the size of Kentucky, it’s hard not to become enthused about the variety of feathered creatures one encounters in Costa Rica. And the country’s travel agencies can provide experienced nature guides who make any bird watching expedition an educational experience. www.visitecostarica.com
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COSTA RICABird WatchingCosta Rica has long been famous among serious bird watchers,
but many people who would never consider the activity at home quickly have become interested in the country’s spectacular avian diversity.
With almost 850 species of birds -more than total of what North America has- packed into an area half the size of Kentucky, it’s hard not to become enthused about the variety of feathered creatures one encounters in Costa Rica. And the country’s travel agencies can provide experienced nature guides who make any bird watching expedition an educational experience.
www.visitecostarica.com
Poás Volcano Lodge - Highlands - The lodge is nestled into the rolling pastures, at the foothills of the Poas Volcano, one of the worlds largest active craters. This location is defenitely great for birders. Over 380 species have been recorded in the area.
Rancho La Merced - South Pacific - National Wildlife Refuge. La Merced National Wildlife Refuge is home of a great variety of birds. 310 species of birds have been spotted in the refuge and sorrounding habitats.
Rancho Naturalista - Littoral of the Caribbean - Our 125-acre ranch lies in pre-mountain rain forest in the Caribbean zone at 3000 feet. Over 400 spe-cies of birds have been recorded by guests locally....
Rincón de la Vieja Lodge - North Pacific - We are inside the Guanacaste Conservation Area at the side of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano. Dedicated to the eco-tourism, we are the closest Lodge/Hotel to the Rincon de la Vieja National Park. Ideal for birders looking for the northern Costa Rica.
Savegre Mountain Hotel - Highlands - In the midst of exuberant tropical cloud forest and bounded by beautiful gardens with colorful flowers sorroun-ded by hummingbirds you find Savegre Mountain Hotel. Over 170 bird species have been observed in the area and its multiple hiking trails.
Talamanca Reserve - Highlands - Miles of paths, guided tours to water falls, orchids, bromeliads, and age-less forests. Hike or rent automatic shift deluxe ATVs to make a moun-tain walk a dream. Birds, ferns, ani-mals; come see for yourself!
Toucanet Lodge - Highlands - Toucanet Lodge is a charming rus-tic mountain lodge offers a peaceful retreat and cool mountain climate. Over 170 species of birds have been recorded.
Trapp Family Lodge - North Pa-cific - You are always very welco-me to stay in the Trapp Family Lod-ge, the nearest hotel to the beautiful Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye,
through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds.
What is Birdwatching?
In this section, we recommend you some of the better lodging options in Costa Rica for birwatchers. You can find next to its name the region of the country where is located the hotels.
Lodging
Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are more readily detected and identified by ear than by eye. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity mainly for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornitholo-gists, who engage in the study of birds using more formal scientific methods.
Birding, birdwatching, and twitching
The term birdwatching was first used in 1901; bird was introduced as a verb in 1918. The term birding was also used for the practice of fowling or hunting with firearms.
The terms birding and birdwatching are today used by some interchangeably, although many participants prefer birding, both because it does not exclude the auditory aspects of enjoying birds, and because it does not have some associated negative connotations.
Twitching is a British term used to mean “the pursuit of a previously-located rare bird.” In North America it is more often called “chasing”.
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Villa Lapas Hotel - South Pacific - Carara Reserve is next to Villa Lapas. This park is very important in Costa Rica because it is a transitional zone between the Dry Forest from the North and the Tropical Rainforest from the South. It is possible to observe over 350 bird species of birds.
Esquinas Rainforest Lodge - South Pacific - Esquinas Rainforest Lodge is a tropical paradise in the remote jungle of Southern Costa Rica, surrounded by the untouched wilderness of new Piedras Blancas National Park.
Laguna Lodge - Littoral of the Caribbean - Laguna Lodge offers access to the various, smaller affluents within the Tortuguero National Park, where besides observing the flora and fauna, ideal for birdwatchers, with over 309 species of birds have been recorded.
Fonda Vela Hotel - North Pacific - Fonda Vela is a hotel dedicated to the idea of ecoturism in harmony with nature. The views of the Gulf of Nicoya from the hotel´s 1400 meters elevation are spectacular. The climate is refreshing, many times referred to as “eternal spring”.
Hotel Belmar - North Pacific - Hotel Belmar is nestled in the mountains ad-jacent to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica. In this Costa Rica rain forest are found more than 350 species of birds including 30 kinds of hummingbirds.
La Cusinga Lodge - South Pacific - Sorrounded by an amazing lowland tropical rainforest and with a great ocean view La Cusinga offers great birding trails and even shore habitats for the all interest levels. Over 340 bird species have been observed in the area.
La Selva Biological Station - Littoral of the Caribbean - Discover the biodiversity of lowland tropical rainforest at this internationally renowned re-search station.
Costa Rica provides birding pro-grams and also the opportunity to explore very interesting locations of intense bird activity in Costa Rica. You can choose either one of the programs independently, or con-nect them for a longer trip.
Birding Escape I Caribbean Foothills and Cloudfo-rest Highlands of Talamanca
Birding Escape II Monteverde Area and Central Paci-fic Lowlands Carara
Birding Escape III Central Valley Highlands and Ca-ribbean Lowlands
Birding Escape IV Southern Pacific Highlands,Lowland Rainforest, and Seashore
The early interest in observing birds for their aesthetic rather than utilitarian (in other words, mainly for food) value is traced to the late 18th century in the works of Gilbert White, Thomas Bewick, George Montagu and John Clare, pioneers in the fields of nature study and ornithology.
Although the study of birds and na-tural history became fashionable in Britain during the Victorian Era, it was mainly collection oriented with eggs and later skins being the arti-facts of interest. Wealthy collectors made use of their contacts in the colonies to obtain specimens from around the world.
It was only in the late 19th century that the call for bird protection be-gan leading to the rising popularity of observations on living birds.
The Audubon Society, organization dedicated to protect nature, started to protect birds from the growing trade in feathers in the United Sta-tes while the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds began in Britain.The term “birdwatching” appea-red for the first time as the title of
a book “Bird Watching” by Edmund Selous, a British ornithologist and writer, in 1901.
In North America, the identification of birds, once thought possible only by shooting was made possible by the emergence of optics and field identification guides. Birding in North America was focu-sed in the early and mid 20th cen-tury in the eastern seaboard region, and was influenced by the works of Ludlow Griscom and later Roger Tory Peterson.
Every day, Bird Watching capti-vates people all around the whole world and invite them to join this enjoyable sightseeing of different and beautifully covered in feathers animals.
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About Bird Watching…
Most birdwatchers will keep an eye on birds around
them at all times but will make specific trips to observe
birds fulltime. The most active times of the year for birding in temperate zones
are during the spring or fall migrations when the greatest variety of birds
may be seen.
Bird Watching Programs
Considered one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world, Costa Rica is divided in 20 natural parks, 8 biological reserves, and a series of protected areas that captivate ecotourism lovers.
The variety of activities includes horseback riding, hiking mountainous paths in the cloud forests, and guided bird-watching tours.
Costa Rica is a country with high biological diversity among various taxonomic groups (Janzen 1983), and birds are not an exception (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Highlands Cerro de la Muerte, Cerro Chirripó, Parque La Amistad, Volcanoes
Littoral of the Caribbean Sarapiqui, San Carlos Flat Lands, Turrialba, Caño Negro
North Pacific Guanacaste, Península de Nicoya, Monteverde, North Puntarenas
South Pacific Dominical, Uvita, Osa Peninsula, Drake Bay, San Vito, Carara, Valle de El General
Central Valley San José, Heredia, Alajuela, Cartago, Metropolitan Area and surroundings
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Couple of Abejarucos
Costa Rica Bird Watching
Birding Regions
Marbled Godwit
Diversity
One of the reasons for Costa Rica’s extraordinary bird life is the country’s great variety of habitats: rain forests, mangrove swamps, beaches, cloud forest, rivers, etc. And any two of those ecosys-tems, with their resident bird species, are often only a short distance apart.
Birders from North America who visit Costa Rica during the northern winter invariably recognize fa-miliar faces in the forest, since many species of warblers, flycatchers, vireos, orioles, etc. migrate to Costa Rica every winter.
Preservation
The country’s exemplary System of National Parks and Protected Areas provide more than am-ple stomping grounds for birders, but just about anywhere you look in Costa Rica, you spot inter-esting avian species. Even some of the hotels in the San Jose area have such colorful critters as blue-grey tanagers, great kiskadees and crimson-fronted parakeets in their gardens.
However, those interested in bird watching will want to see the resplendent quetzal, which lives in the cloud forests of Monteverde, Los Santos re-gion and the Central Volcanic Mountain Range, and the equally spectacular scarlet macaw, which can be seen on the Osa Peninsula or the area around the Carara Biological Reserve.
Birding in Costa Rica is an extraordinary expe-rience, with 812 species recorded with voucher to date (Official List of the Birds of Costa Rica 2006 by the Scientific Cometee of the Ornitological As-sociation of Costa Rica - published in April 2007).
Costa Rica offers to birders great birdwatching opportunities within relatively short distances, in-volving very diverse habitats in the six ornitolo-gic regions of the country, from sea level to high mountains above 11.000 f.a.s.l.
Exciting guided tours and itineraries take you to wonderful locations where you are able to enjoy the best of birding and nature.
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Costa Rica Bird Watching Facts
The Clay-colored Robin or Clay-colored Thrush (Tur-dus grayi) is common throughout Central America and
