March 8-23, 2025 with Jay VanderGaast & Vernon Campos
As I was lucky enough to spend several years living in this wonderful country, I welcome any chance to get back to Costa Rica, but this trip was even more welcome than usual. Though I'd been back to the country several times in the past few years, this was my first time leading this particular itinerary since the tour I had to cut short due to the pandemic, and thus was my first time back to a few venues I hadn't visited in quite some time! And boy was it good to be back! And I'm happy to report that the birding in Costa Rica is just as amazing as always! Over the course of this 2-week tour, we birded through a good sample of the country's key habitat types, tallying more than 450 species of birds, as well as nearly 20 species of mammals, more than 25 species of reptiles & amphibians, and a similar number of dragonflies/damselflies, not to mention numerous butterflies and all manner of wonderful plants. Little wonder Costa Rica is often referred to as a naturalist's paradise!
Our sojourn in paradise began as we left San Jose behind and worked our way up over the lower slopes of Volcan Poas, wending our way to the deep wooded valley that is Virgen del Socorro. Our morning here saw us get acquainted with some widespread, relatively common species as well as a handful of birds we weren't to see again on the trip: the striking White Hawk and Barred Hawk soaring over the canopy, the incredible White-tipped Sicklebill using its uniquely-shaped bill to probe a cluster of similarly-shaped blossoms, a brilliant pair of Emerald Tanagers, and an incredibly cooperative Slate-colored Grosbeak. Retreating to the nearby La Paz Waterfall Gardens for lunch, we enjoyed a delicious buffet, followed by a sadly lacklustre showing of hummingbirds at the feeders, though Coppery-headed Emerald and Green Thorntail were welcome additions to our lists. A stop at Cinchona was also quiet for hummingbirds (where were they all?!?) but a Buff-fronted Quail-Dove, both Red-headed and Prong-billed barbets, Northern Emerald-Toucanet, Crimson-collared and Silver-throated tanagers, and Scarlet-thighed Dacnis more than made up for the dearth of hummingbirds! It was an excellent first day afield, and we arrived at the charming La Quinta Lodge tired but happy with our day.
The next few days were spent in the lowlands and foothills of the Caribbean slope. Our main venue here was the La Selva Biological Station, where significant intact lowland forest still remains, and the birding is nothing short of amazing. Here we saw our first Great Tinamou, Great Curassow, and Crested Guan, three species often hunted in other areas, but here they are remarkably tame. We also enjoyed roosting Crested and Spectacled owls, both found within 20 yards of each other (and neither one a stakeout bird!), plus Rufous and Broad-billed motmots, Slaty-tailed and Northern Black-throated trogons, Pied Puffbird, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker, and an army ant swarm with attendant antbirds: Bicolored, Spotted, and the fabulous Ocellated, all seen well! In secondary scrub around the reserve, we enjoyed a pair of rare Great Green Macaws peeking out of a nest hole, a speedy White-throated Crake dashing across the road, and a virtuoso vocal performance from a very bold Canebrake Wren, among many other sightings. A night walk at the reserve gave us an incredible encounter with a calling Great Potoo, as well as several species of frogs and a long, slender, Blunt-headed Tree Snake! And mammal highlights included two species of monkeys, both sloth species, and several troops of Collared Peccaries.
Moving up into the foothills at Braulio Carrillo National Park, we had another mammalian highlight when we had a close encounter with a pair of Northern Tamanduas, the female determined to avoid the advances of the male and the male just as determined to catch her! Birds in the park included a perched Tiny Hawk and the local Lattice-tailed Trogon, another army ant swarm with even better looks at the attendant antbirds, plus Streak-crowned Antvireo, Western Woodhaunter, Tawny-crested Tanager, and White-throated Shrike-Tanager. And a side trip to nearby Donde Cope rewarded us with great views of a scarce Agami Heron perched up in the canopy along a small forest stream. We rounded out our Caribbean slope exploration at Rancho Naturalista, where a Sunbittern on a nest was a welcome find, and its mate flying under the bridge we stood on, displaying that showy wing pattern was even more welcome. As always, hummingbirds are a big draw at the lodge, and while we didn't find any male Snowcaps this time, there were some females about, and we also enjoyed an exquisite male Black-crested Coquette, Garden Emerald, and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer among the more expected species. Other local specialties like White-collared and White-ruffed manakins, Tawny-chested Flycatcher, Fawn-throated Foliage-gleaner, Dull-mantled Antbird, and numerous other flycatchers, warblers, and tanagers made our stay here memorable, as did the attentive service and delicious meals!
Higher in the mountains, a brief visit to Tapanti National Park gave us some good middle elevation species-Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Brown Violet-ear, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Elegant Euphonia, and Golden-browed Chlorophonia among them, then it was on to the highest points of the tour. The high mountains are arguably the most important birding area of the tour, as they are home to many of the Chiriqui endemics, birds found only here and in neighboring Panama, and those accounted for many of our highlights of our time here. Several species of hummingbird are among these endemics, Talamanca, Fiery-throated, Volcano, and Scintillant, and White-throated Mountain-gem, and all were seen well by most folks. Other Chiriqui specialties that performed well here included Dusky Nightjar (after dark), a fierce-looking Costa Rica Pygmy-Owl, some very cooperative Buffy Tuftedcheeks, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Timberline Wren, both Long-tailed and Black-&-yellow silky-flycatchers, a super Wrenthrush (an often hard bird to see well), brilliant Flame-throated Warblers, charming Spectacled Redstarts, lovely Spangle-cheeked Tanagers, and more. But it was a couple of somewhat more widespread birds that stole the show up here. Unsurprisingly, Resplendent Quetzal was one of them, and we had some fantastic encounters with these showy birds, often named as the most beautiful bird in the world. The other one was less obvious: a pair of amazingly cooperative Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridges that surprised us all by charging out into the open a handful of meters away! That all the birding up here is done in the superb setting of magnificent, towering oak forests makes it all the more memorable.
It took a good part of a day to bring ourselves from the Savegre Valley down to the Pacific lowlands, but we made the most of the drive with some key stops, picking up Volcano Junco in the high paramo, a shimmering male Turquoise Cotinga in San Isidro, and a surprise pair of Pale-breasted Spinetails at a roadside stop along the coast, before arriving at Villa Lapas, our base for exploring nearby Carara National Park and the surrounding areas. It's hard to do justice to this region in just a few lines, as there are just so many fantastic things to see here. The forests of the park itself gave us incredible looks at a trio of Marbled Wood-Quails, a gorgeous male Baird's Trogon, local Golden-naped Woodpeckers, Black-hooded Antshrike, Streak-chested Antpitta, glowing Orange-collared Manakins, Tropical Royal Flycatcher, and Black-bellied, Rufous-&-white, and Riverside wrens, just to name a few. Our hotel grounds were also great, giving us Fiery-billed Aracari, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Black-faced Antthrush, Golden-crowned Spadebill, and plenty of showy, noisy, Scarlet Macaws. A short drive north brought us into the southernmost dry tropical forests, where we picked up Double-striped Thick-knee, day-roosting Common Potoo and Pacific Screech-Owl, exquisite Turquoise-browed Motmots, a fine male Long-tailed Manakin, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Banded Wren, and Stripe-headed and Olive sparrows among others. And in the coastal region around the town of Tarcoles turned up a roosting pair of Black-and-white Owls, Crane Hawk, the Critically Endangered Yellow-naped Amazon, Panama Flycatcher, Streak-backed Oriole, and more. As always, the boat trip on the Rio Tarcoles was also a highlight, and a welcome, relaxing change to our hard work in the forest. Close approach by a huge, obviously habituated crocodile was a thrilling experience, but the most thrilling sighting had to be the unexpected Rufous-necked Wood-Rail that pattered across the canal ahead of us, then perched in a mangrove right next to the boat for all to see! Just the second time I've seen that species!
Our final venue took us back up into the cloud forest, this time at Monteverde, one of the country's most-renowned ecotourism sites. But before we arrived there, we made a slight detour to track down the very local Costa Rican endemic Mangrove Hummingbird, scoring some excellent looks, as well as a bonus Gray-Headed Kite. Unfortunately, one of our most hoped-for birds, the Three-wattled Bellbird, just wasn't around during our stay, but there were plenty of other great birds around to make up for their absence. Our visit to the Santa Elena Reserve turned up a close, stoic Black Guan, an incredible Bare-shanked Screech-Owl perched out in the open, calling, in broad daylight, skulking Silvery-fronted Tapaculos, Brown-billed Scythebill, Azure-hooded Jays, and Costa Rican Warblers. And a morning spent on the well-groomed trails of the Curi-Cancha Reserve got us a male Magenta-throated Woodstar perched high on an exposed limb, a nosy Gray-throated Leaftosser, Ruddy Woodcreeper at a small ant swarm, and Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, to name a few. The birding was even good right around the hotel, where Canivet's Emerald, Blue-vented Hummingbird, Collared Trogon, Golden-Olive Woodpecker, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and White-eared Ground-Sparrow were all seen just outside the restaurant, while Chestnut-capped Warblers even came inside at one point!
This was such a fun trip to lead, not just because Costa Rica and its wildlife are awesome, but also because we had a pretty awesome group with whom to share all these wonderful sightings! thanks so much for joining me and Vernon, and Luis of course on this adventure. It was a real pleasure traveling with you all; let's do it again sometime!
**Note** Species designated as "Sensitive" in Ebird will only show up in Ebird checklists for people with whom the lists were shared, not for outside observers. For this tour, those species were Great Green Macaw and Yellow-naped Amazon.
Mammals seen on the tour:
Northern Black-eared Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis)aka Virginia Possum. On the night walk at La Selva.
Greater Sac-winged Bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) The bats roosting in the lobby at Villa Lapas. Darker than the
next species.
Lesser Sac-winged Bat (Saccopteryx leptura) A couple roosting on the trunk of a large tree at Carara.
Honduran White Bat (Ectophylla alba) Cope showed us these tiny bats roosting in a modified leaf tent.
Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata) Seen and heard regularly.
White-faced Capuchin (Cebus capucinus) Finally seen at Carara. Also next to the road on our way down from
Monteverde.
Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) A couple at La Selva in a fruiting tree, and a trio in the
Savegre Valley.
Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) One by the bridge at La Selva.
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus) Just one at La Selva
Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) A couple put on a great show at Braulio Carrillo.
Common Tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis) aka Brazilian Rabbit. Seen at La Selva.
Variegated Squirrel (Sciurus variegatoides) The common big squirrel, seen often throughout.
Red-tailed Squirrel (Sciurus granatensis) The smaller squirrel seen at a few scattered locales.
Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) Seen in small numbers throughout.
Coyote (Canis latrans) Heard only, howling near the cabins at Savegre Lodge after dark.
White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica) Mostly at Carara and Monteverde, though our first were near Cinchona.
Neotropical Otter (Lontra longicaudus) A pair scrambled across the rocks and into the river while we were
looking for Sunbittern.
Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) A few herds at La Selva where they are pretty unfazed by people.
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) A couple of sightings at Carara.
Herps on the tour:
Turnip-tailed Gecko (Thecadatylus rapicauda) One on one of the buildings at La Selva.
Slender Anole (Anolis limifrons) A few at La Selva
Pug-nosed Anole (Norops capito) One in leaf litter along the trail at Braulio Carrillo
Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) Mainly at La Selva, on branches overhanging the river.
Black Spiny-tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura similis) Lots around Villa Lapas
Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus) Numerous along the river at Villa Lapas
Green Basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons) The spectacular bright green basilisk at La Selva and La Quinta.
Striped Basilisk (Basiliscus vittatus) The brown basilisks in the Caribbean lowlands.
Helmeted Basilisk (Corytophanes cristatus) The neat angular lizard at Cope's.
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) Numerous in several lodges at night.
Central American Whiptail (Ameiva festival) Skink-like lizards in forest at La Selva and Carara.
Green Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus malachiticus) One along the trail in the Savagre Valley
Blunt-headed Tree Snake (Imantodes cenchoa) The incredibly long, slender snake at La Selva at night.
Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) A beautiful small golden one at La Selva.
American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) Some big ones along the Rio Tarcoles.
Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus) Quite a few at night at the La Quinta ponds.
Smoky Jungle Frog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus) The big frogs on the ground on the La Selva night walk.
Savage's Thin-toed Frog (Leptodactylus savagei) At the Villa Lapas frog ponds.
Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates pumilio) A few of these tiny, bright red frogs were at La Selva.
Green-and-black Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus) A few at Carara.
Red-eyed Leaf Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) Beautiful green frog seen at La Quinta and Villa Lapas.
Masked Tree Frog (Smilisca phaeota) One on the La Selva night walk.
Nicaraguan Cross-banded Tree Frog (Smilisca puma) One on the La Selva night walk.
Black River Turtle (Rhinoclemmys funereal) Along the river below the La Selva suspension bridge.
Giant Toad (Rhinella horribilis) What we were calling Cane Toad, apparently split from that species now.
Harlequin Treefrog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus) Aka Hourglass Tree Frog. Common at Villa Lapas.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/347167
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Jay