Situated at 3000 feet in Costa Rica's Cordillera de Talamanca, Rancho Naturalista has long been regarded as one of the country's finest birding lodges. Comfortable rooms, personal service, and delicious home-cooked meals combined with great birding and easy access to other habitats make the lodge a wonderful place to stay.

One of the pleasures of being at Rancho is to start the day birding from the balcony, a hot cup of coffee in hand and a myriad of tropical species parading below. More than 200 species have been seen from the balcony, and hummingbird feeders and flowers in the garden below attract a host of beauties, including the incredible Black-crested Coquette and Snowcap. It's a memorable show that one never tires of watching.

Just behind the cabins, several trails allow access to the lodge's 120-acre private forest reserve, a small but incredibly birdy mix of secondary and primary foothill forest habitats. Specialties include Rufous-winged Woodpecker, Brown-billed Scythebill, Dull-mantled, Immaculate, and Spotted antbirds, and a trio of manakins.

Hummingbird fans! See our Hummer Slideshow plus a listing of all our best itineraries for 30, 40, even 50 or more hummingbirds on a tour.

In addition to Rancho Naturalista, we will also have a chance to bird at several other sites, from mid-elevation cloudforest to the Caribbean lowlands. A visit to Irazu Volcano National Park will give us access to some of the many species found only at the highest elevations (like Volcano Junco and Timberline Wren), and we hope also to encounter the stunningly lovely Resplendent Quetzal on the volcano's forested slopes!

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