February 1998

by Jack Stephens

Part I -- Guanacaste

We spent two weeks in Costa Rica at three different locations.  The first week was spent in Guanacaste near Flamingo, the second week was split between Monteverde and Carara.  The week in Guanacaste was partly devoted to a conference, so birding activity was somewhat limited.  I would take early morning walks along the hotel's golf course and we did go on a couple of tours – a float trip down the Corobici River and a boat tour of Palo Verde.   Bird density in Guanacaste in the dry season is relatively low, many of the species seen we one or two individuals.  It is easier to bird Guanacaste without a guide however, the forest is more open making the birds somewhat easier to see.

We were traveling with a non-birding couple, and had promised them some rest and beach time for this leg of the trip.  Guanacaste was great in this regard, we especially enjoyed the Sugar Beach Hotel near Playa Pan de Azucar.  I had hoped to make day trips to Santa Rosa Park or Rincon de Vieja from this base, but the travel times on Costa Rican roads were so long that this was not possible.  Canas or Liberia would be better bases for birding the area, unfortunately they are not great places to stay compared to the coast.

I elected to take the boat tour of Palo Verde to avoid the long drive from Flamingo, and to avoid the notoriously bad road into the reserve.  We booked with CATA tours, it was a reasonable good general nature tour, but I knew the birds better than our guide.   If I had to do it again, I would look for a smaller operation, or even an individual with a boat to take me into the park.  You should avoid that herded-cattle feeling that goes along with a larger tour.

SPECIES SEEN

All Dates ~ in Guanacaste

FRIGATEBIRDS
Magnificent Frigatebird
GANNETS AND BOOBIES
Brown Booby
CORMORANTS
Neotropic Cormorant
ANHINGAS
Anhinga
PELICANS
Brown Pelican
DUCKS, SWANS, GEESE
Blue-winged Teal
HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Little Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Boat-billed Heron
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
IBIS AND SPOONBILLS
White Ibis
STORKS
Wood Stork
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
OSPREY
Osprey
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Snail Kite
Plumbeous Kite
Crane Hawk
Common Black-Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
Crested Caracara
Merlin
LIMPKIN
Limpkin
JACANAS
Northern Jacana
SANDPIPERS
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
THICK-KNEES
Double-striped Thick-knee
PIGEONS AND DOVES
White-winged Dove
Inca Dove
Plain-breasted Ground-Dove
PARROTS
Orange-fronted Parakeet
White-fronted Parrot
ANIS
Groove-billed Ani
BARN-OWLS
Barn Owl
NIGHTJARS
Pauraque
HUMMINGBIRDS
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Plain-capped Starthroat
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
TROGONS AND QUETZALS
Black-headed Trogon
KINGFISHERS
Ringed Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
MOTMOTS
Turquoise-browed Motmot
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
CROWS AND JAYS
White-throated Magpie-Jay
WRENS
Rufous-naped Wren
Banded Wren
GNATCATCHERS
White-lored Gnatcatcher
SWALLOWS
Mangrove Swallow
Purple Martin
Gray-breasted Martin
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Yellow Warbler
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Stripe-headed Sparrow
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Streak-backed Oriole
Great-tailed Grackle
Species seen - 66
 

Part 2 - Monteverde

When we left Guanacaste for Monteverde the birding really exploded.  With the combination of more time in the field, higher bird density and an expert guide, our heads were soon swimming with new sightings.  I can't say enough good things about our guide, Alex Villeges (506-645-5343).  A Monteverde native, he is a self-trained bird guide and naturalist.  I have been out with many hard-core birders and several professional guides, but this guy is awesome.  His observation skills, his ability to ID birds by call or song, and his ability to bring them in by imitation is truly amazing.  While the general level of expertise of Monteverde guide seems to be fairly high, several times I saw other guides approach Alex for advise or confirmation of an ID.  Besides his skills in the field, he was a warm and outgoing person, and we left the country feeling that we had a friend in Costa Rica.  I would highly recommend his services for birding Monteverde.  He will travel to other parts of the country as well for guiding by special arrangement, and he has the ability to arrange birding tours complete with transportation and lodging for small groups.

I would recommend a guide for Monteverde.  We passed several groups that were birding on their own, and were clearly disappointed at the difficulty of finding and identifying birds in the thick forest.  If you are on your own, don't neglect the many dirt roads that branch off of the main route to the reserve.  These are more open, the birds are easier to see, and you will find many different species at this slightly lower elevation.  We also found the trails behind the Monteverde Lodge to be productive.  The nearby Ecological Farm yielded views of agouti and coatamundi within just a few feet.

Travel tip - we took the all-nylon travel shirts and convertible pants on the trip and they were great.  Get dirty and sweaty during the day, rinse them in the sink at night with a dash of soap, hang in the shower and they are clean and dry the next day.  You can pack lighter and not
hassle with laundry.

The following species list is for Monteverde proper.  Below it is a list of the few species we saw on the road up to Monteverde that weren't seen elsewhere.
 

SPECIES SEEN

All Dates ~ in Monteverde

NEW WORLD VULTURES
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Swallow-tailed Kite
GUANS, CHACHALACAS AND CURASSOWS
Black Guan
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Chiriqui Quail-Dove
PARROTS
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Brown-hooded Parrot
White-fronted Parrot
NEW WORLD CUCKOOS
Squirrel Cuckoo
HUMMINGBIRDS
Green Hermit
Violet Sabrewing
Green Violet-ear
Fork-tailed Emerald
Steely-vented Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Stripe-tailed Hummingbird
Coppery-headed Emerald
Purple-throated Mountain-gem
Green-crowned Brilliant
Magenta-throated Woodstar
TROGONS AND QUETZALS
Resplendent Quetzal
Orange-bellied Trogon
MOTMOTS
Blue-crowned Motmot
AMERICAN BARBETS
Prong-billed Barbet
TOUCANS
Emerald Toucanet
WOODPECKERS
Hoffmann's Woodpecker
Golden-olive Woodpecker
WOODCREEPERS
Olivaceous Woodcreeper
Streak-headed Woodcreeper
FURNARIDS
Red-faced Spinetail
Spotted Barbtail
Ruddy Treerunner
Lineated Foliage-gleaner
Streak-breasted Treehunter
ANTBIRDS
Plain Antvireo
Slaty Antwren
COTINGAS
Three-wattled Bellbird
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Paltry Tyrannulet
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Mountain Elaenia
Eye-ringed Flatbill
Yellowish Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Golden-bellied Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Masked Tityra
CROWS AND JAYS
Azure-hooded Jay
Brown Jay
VIREOS AND ALLIES
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Yellow-throated Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Lesser Greenlet
THRUSHES
Black-faced Solitaire
Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush
Mountain Robin
Clay-colored Robin
White-throated Thrush
WRENS
Plain Wren
House Wren
Ochraceous Wren
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren
SWALLOWS
Blue-and-white Swallow
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tropical Parula
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Slate-throated Redstart
Collared Redstart
Three-striped Warbler
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Rufous-collared Sparrow
White-eared Ground-Sparrow
Bananaquit
Common Bush-Tanager
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Golden-browed Chlorophonia
Silver-throated Tanager
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
Scarlet-thighed Dacnis
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Buff-throated Saltator
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Baltimore Oriole
Bronzed Cowbird
Species seen - 89

SPECIES SEEN Road to Monteverde

HUMMINGBIRDS
Green-breasted Mango
TOUCANS
Collared Aracari
Keel-billed Toucan
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Rose-throated Becard
WRENS
Plain Wren
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Stripe-headed Sparrow
Painted Bunting
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Montezuma Oropendola

Part 3 - Carara

We left Monteverde for Carara for the last leg of our trip.  We stayed at the Villa Lapas hotel, a 10-15 minute drive beyond the Carara reserve.  Most of our birding was in the reserve, with occasional forays into the trail system at the Villa Lapas and to the mouth of the Tarcoles river.
The Tarcoles yielded some good looks at shorebirds and a nice view of a Yellow-headed Caracara, the Villa Lapas trail was where we found the Buff-rumped Warbler and the White-whiskered Puffbird.  The best views of the Scarlet Macaws were in the morning at the entrance to the reserve, rather than at the Tarcoles bridge.  Most of the other species listed
were found in the reserve proper.

The trail into Carara by the main entrance leads through even denser forest than the trails in Monteverde.  There is a much more open trail between the main entrance to the reserve and the bridge over the Tarcoles River.  Birds are easier to find on this trail, the pay-back is that you loose the protection of the trees and it gets very hot by late afternoon.  Birds appear in the same mixed-flock formations in Carara as Monteverde, but obviously with different species seen.

Our Monteverde guide, Alex Villegas traveled with us to Carara.  Again he proved invaluable, helping with identification of the common species and ferreting out the obscure and secretive birds that others might miss.  At the Villa Lapas one afternoon he spotted a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl perched above the swimming pool, and at dinner that night he picked out (in failing light and without binoculars) the King Vulture amongst the Turkey Vultures soaring high overhead, a difficult ID for me with binoculars.  Highlights on the trails were watching the wing-snap of the Orange-collared Manakins at their lek, find the Puffbird right at eye level, and getting down on our hands and knees to see the Spectacled Antpitta and Black-faced Antthrush skulking in the shadows.

At one point we crested a rise in the trail and Alex paused for quite a long time, even though there was no bird activity I could appreciate.  Eventually we walked on, but he asked us to wait and went back to the spot where we had just been.  Within a couple of minutes he gestured to us to come up, there in his scope was a Spectacled Owl! After good long looks we moved on, and I asked him why he had gone back.  He said something to the effect that he just felt like we were missing something at that spot, that it didn't feel right to leave.  I had gotten used to his extraordinary ability at finding birds at this point, but this was getting a little spooky.  I'm not sure where a "sixth sense" comes from, but there seemed to be something at work besides good eyes and ears.

Carara was a real treat, but it was not slam-dunk birding.  The shorebirds and waterbirds are usually easy, and occasionally a trogon or hummingbird will perch up for a leisurely look.  Most often however birds are flitting by quickly, hidden from view in foliage, or soaring at some distance.  If you are on your own, try the wider trail between the main entrance and the river, get there at daybreak and pay the entrance fee on the way out.

For non-avian species, Carara did yield one agouti and all three species of monkeys (Howler, White-faced and Spider).  The Spider monkey was not pleased with us being there, swung over to the edge of his tree and urinated in our general direction with a scowl on his face.  Alex says that it is an aggressive maneuver, meant to express his displeasure..  For a minute I felt like I was back at work.
 

SPECIES SEEN in Carara Reserve

GREBES
Least Grebe
FRIGATEBIRDS
Magnificent Frigatebird
ANHINGAS
Anhinga
DUCKS, SWANS, GEESE
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Tricolored Heron
Little Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Boat-billed Heron
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
IBIS AND SPOONBILLS
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
STORKS
Wood Stork
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Turkey Vulture
King Vulture
OSPREY
Osprey
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Double-toothed Kite
Gray Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
Crested Caracara
Yellow-headed Caracara
Peregrine Falcon
RAILS AND COOTS
Purple Gallinule
JACANAS
Northern Jacana
SANDPIPERS
Whimbrel
Spotted Sandpiper
Willet
Ruddy Turnstone
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
AVOCETS AND STILTS
Black-necked Stilt
PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Wilson's Plover
GULLS AND TERNS
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
PIGEONS AND DOVES
White-winged Dove
Inca Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Blue Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Gray-chested Dove
PARROTS
Scarlet Macaw
Orange-fronted Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Red-lored Parrot
Mealy Parrot
NEW WORLD CUCKOOS
Squirrel Cuckoo
ANIS
Groove-billed Ani
OWLS
Spectacled Owl
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
NIGHTJARS
Pauraque
SWIFTS
Band-rumped Swift
HUMMINGBIRDS
Bronzy Hermit
Long-tailed Hermit
Blue-throated Goldentail
Charming Hummingbird
Purple-crowned Fairy
Long-billed Starthroat
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
TROGONS AND QUETZALS
Slaty-tailed Trogon
Baird's Trogon
Black-throated Trogon
Violaceous Trogon
KINGFISHERS
Belted Kingfisher
Ringed Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
American Pygmy Kingfisher
JACAMARS
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
PUFFBIRDS
White-whiskered Puffbird
TOUCANS
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
WOODPECKERS
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker
WOODCREEPERS
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
Barred Woodcreeper
Buff-throated Woodcreeper
FURNARIDS
Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner
Plain Xenops
ANTBIRDS
Barred Antshrike
Black-hooded Antshrike
Dot-winged Antwren
Dusky Antbird
Chestnut-backed Antbird
ANTTHRUSHES AND ANTPITTAS
Black-faced Antthrush
Spectacled Antpitta
MANAKINS
Red-capped Manakin
Blue-crowned Manakin
Long-tailed Manakin
Orange-collared Manakin
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Northern Bentbill
Yellow-olive Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Streaked Flycatcher
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Gray-capped Flycatcher
Piratic Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
VIREOS AND ALLIES
Mangrove Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Yellow-green Vireo
Tawny-crowned Greenlet
Lesser Greenlet
WRENS
Rufous-naped Wren
Rufous-breasted Wren
Riverside Wren
SWALLOWS
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Buff-rumped Warbler
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Orange-billed Sparrow
Black-striped Sparrow
White-shouldered Tanager
Summer Tanager
Western Tanager
Scarlet-rumped Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Yellow-crowned Euphonia
Bay-headed Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Blue-black Grassquit
Variable Seedeater
White-collared Seedeater
Blue-black Grosbeak
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole

Species seen - 145

Jack Stephens
Jsteph02@sprynet.com
Edmonds, WA