Costa Rica Birding Tour

Day by day itinerary

Day 1. Arrival and tranfer to our hotel in the town of Alajuela. Night in Alajuela. Your driver and guide will meet you at the Juan Santamaria International Airport and take you to the hotel in Alajuela. You will have a meeting with your guide about the tour and the next day activities.

Day 2. After and early breakfast leave to Tarcoles area, Am birding at Carara National Park and by the afternoon the areas around the town of Tarcoles. Night in Tarcoles.
Today we will be at one of the most popular and good birding areas of the central pacific coast in Costa Rica. Carara National Park is located between the dry forest of the north and the rain forest of the south! And is home to the majestic Scarlet Macaw. In addition, the park is near a diversity of habitats like mangrove forest, Gallery forest, Second growth forest and Grasslands areas. Some of the birds we can see today are Scarlet Macaw, Greenish Elaenia, Inca Dove, Steely-vented Hummingbird, Mangrove Black-Hawk, Ferrugineous Pygmy-Owl, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Laughing Falcon, Yellow-naped Parrot, Blue-throated Goldentail, Black-throated Trogon, Riverside Wren among others.

Day 3. Am birding near the Tarcoles River and in the afternoon head to the Guanacaste area. Night in the town of Abangares.

Today we search for Stripe-headed Sparrow, Thick-billed Euphonia, Stripe Cuckoo, Orange-fronted Parakeet, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. In the afternoon we will drive towards the north region of Guanacaste looking for specialties of the dry forest such as Banded Wren, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, Streak-backed Oriole, Black-headed Trogon, Pacific Screech-Owl, Spot-breasted Oriole, White-fronted Parrot just to mention some of them.

Day 4. Am Birding around the hotel grounds and Pm drive to Arenal Volcano area. Night at the town of La Fortuna.

We look for birds that we may have missed the previous days and we leave to the Arenal Volcano area. Today we experience the transition from the dry forest habitat to the rainforest of the northern region.Along the way we may encounter birds like Double-stripe Thick-Knee, Common Ground-Dove, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher while we are driving through the rainforest area we may see Montezuma Oropendula, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, Pale-vented Pigeon, Black-striped Sparrow, Gray-rumped Swift and other rainforest species.

Day 5. Am birding around the lodge grounds and in the afternoon leave to the Sarapiqui area. Night in the town of Puerto Viejo.

In the Arenal Volcano are you can find wonderful birds like Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Slaty Spinetail, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Boat-billed Heron and Crimson-collared Tanager.After lunch we continue towards Sarapiqui, our destination for the next 2 days.

Day 6 and 7. Full days of full exploration at La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui River, grasslands and roads of Puerto Viejo. Nights at the Hotel in Puerto Viejo.

This part of Costa Rica is probably the best birding area of the country, during our stay here we will have a chance to find the rare Great-Green Macaw! ! Some other very important birds here are Red-lored and Brown-hooded Parrots, Bronzed-tailed Plumeleteer, Violet-headed Hummingbird, White-ringed Flycatcher, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots, Fasciated and Great Antshrikes, Snowy Cotinga, Black-headed Saltator, Sunbitterm, Sungrebe, Great Tinamou, Bright-rumped Attila etc, the open areas are good for Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, White-throated Crake, Bat Falcon, Green Ibis and Plain-colored Tanager.

Day 8. Leave early morning and birding along the way at Braulio Carrillo National Park, afternoon continue driving towards Cerro de la Muerte. Night at Cerro de la Muerte.

After being 2 days in the wonderful rainforest of Sarapiqui is time to go to the highlands. We will start birding today at Braulio Carrillo National Park, at an elevation between 1800 – 2200 feet above sea level, the birding here is amazing with birds like Emerald Tanager, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Lattice-tailed Trogon, Green Hermit, Black and Yellow Tanager, Dull-mantled Antbird, Black-faced Grosbeak and if we are lucky to find a mixed flock we may see Dusky-faced Tanager, Russet Antshrike and Blue and Gold Tanager.In the afternoon drive to Cerro de la Muerte.

Day 9. Full day at Cerro de la Muerte, Los Quetzales National Park. Night at Cerro de la muerte.

The newest Costa Rica national park is located in the mountains of Cerro de la Muerte, the Los Quetzales National Park is becoming more attractive every day for visitors, here we can see one of the most beautiful birds in the world the Resplendent Quetzal!! And many other birds here are only found in these mountains such as Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, Large-footed Finch, Timberline Wren, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Dark-Pewee, Volcano Hummingbird.We will be birding at different elevations, specially between 3500-9100 feet above sea level to get more chance to find all localized species.

Day 10. Am Cerro de la muerte, Pm drive towards San Jose. Night in San Jose.

This morning we will birding at the lodge´s property before head to San Jose. Some birds around the lodge are Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Ochraceous Pewee, Zeledonia, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Mountain Elaenia, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl just to mention some of them.After lunch drive to San Jose for our last night.

Day 11. Transfer out, Wonderful Trip!

Number of species expected during this trip 290-315 species. Habitats covered: Mangrove Forest, Rivers, Grassland and Scrub, Dry Forest, Gallery Forest, Lowlands Rainforest and Paramo.

Ecuador Hummingbirds and Antpittas

10 days – 9 nights

Day 1. Arrival and tranfer to our hotel in the town of Alajuela. Night in Alajuela.

Your driver and guide will meet you at the Juan Santamaria International Airport and take you to the hotel in Alajuela. Upon arrival you will have a meeting with your guide to talk about the tour and the next day activities.

Day 2. Transfer to Guanacaste area. Night near the town of Abangares.

After breakfast drive to the dry forest of the northwestern region of the country.The birding experience here is unique and fascinating because many of the birds that we will see are only found in this habitat, some of the specialties are Streak-backed and Spot-breasted Oriole, Banded Wren, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Pacific Screech-Owl, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Canivet´s Emerald, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo. Night near the town of Abangares.

Day 3. Am birding around the lodge´s property and Pm leave to Carara National Park.

One more morning to explore the dry forest, grasslands and salt ponds looking for more especialties of the area, by afternoon head towards the central pacific region at Carara National Park, the park is located between the dry forest of the north and the rainforest of the south.In the afternoon birding the areas around the town of Tarcoles, night near Tarcoles.

Day 4. Fullday at Carara National Park.

Today we will be at one of the most popular and good birding areas of the central pacific coast in Costa Rica. Carara National Park is located between the dry forest of the north and the rain forest of the south! And is home to the majestic Scarlet Macaw. In addition, the park is near a diversity of habitats like mangrove forest, Gallery forest, Second growth forest and Grasslands areas. Some of the birds we can see today are Scarlet Macaw, Greenish Elaenia, Inca Dove, Steely-vented Hummingbird, Mangrove Black-Hawk, Ferrugineous Pygmy-Owl, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Laughing Falcon, Yellow-naped Parrot, Blue-throated Goldentail, Black-throated Trogon, Riverside Wren among others.

Day 5. Leave to San Isidro.Night in San Isidro

We will continue moving southward into a more humid region, birds expected here are rainforest species such as Cherri´s Tanager, Lesser Greenlet, Fiery-billed Aracari, Costa Rican Swift. This in an incredible birding area and few birdwatchers come down here, more special birds are Southern Lapwing, Speckled Tanager, Chestnut-backed Antbird and Rufous-tailed Jacamar.Night in San Isidro.

Day 6. Fullday visit the Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary. Night in San Isidro.

Los Cusingos is located at the foothills of La Amistad International Park and is the best place in Costa Rica to look for Turquios Cotinga!! This amazing bird occurs only in the southenr region of Costa Rica and the adjacent Panama, others birds here include Long-billed Starthroad, Western-Slaty Antshrike, Gray-headed Tanager, Bicolored Antbird, Blue Dacnis, Red-legged Honeycreeper. Night in San Isidro.

Day 7. Transfer to Cerro de la muerte.

In the morning we will be birding the open areas and secondary forest around San Isidro searching for Southern Lapwing, Scarlet-thighted Dacnis, Golden-hooded Tanager, Striped Cuckoo, Pearl Kite and Pale-breasted Spinetail. In the afternoon continue driving to Cerro de la Muerte and stopping along the way to look for high-elevations species. Night at Cerro de la Muerte.

Day 8. Full day at Cerro de la Muerte, Los Quetzales National Park. Night at Cerro de la muerte.

The newest Costa Rica national park is located in the mountains of Cerro de la Muerte, the Los Quetzales National Park is becoming more attractive every day for visitors, here we can see one of the most beautiful birds in the America´s the Resplendent Quetzal!! And many other birds here are only found in these mountains such as Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, Large-footed Finch, Timberline Wren, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Dark-Pewee, Volcano Hummingbird.We will be birding at different elevations, specially between 3500-9100 feet above sea level to get more chance to find all localized species.

Day 9. Am Cerro de la muerte, Pm drive towards San Jose. Night in San Jose.

This morning we will birding at the lodge´s property before head to San Jose. Some birds around the lodge are Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Ochraceous Pewee, Zeledonia, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Mountain Elaenia, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl just to mention some of them.After lunch drive to San Jose for our last night.

Day 10. Transfer out and Wonderful trip.