Birding and Natural History in Costa Rica - II
The Caribbean Slope – Selva Verde Lodge, Cano Negro, and Arenal Observatory Lodge
March 9 - 19, 2025
Keel-billed toucan by Misty Vaughn
Costa Rica has been blessed with several important ingredients for high biodiversity – a tropical latitude, tremendous geographic diversity, and a strong conservation ethic. As a physical and ecological link between North and South America, it is biogeographically rich with cloud forest, tropical deciduous forest, lowland rainforest, and an abundance of rivers and streams, all of which contribute to a great diversity of flora and fauna. From the comfort of some of Costa Rica’s finest nature-based accommodations, we’ll explore some of these habitats and their rich wildlife - Selva Verde Lodge, Cano Negro Natural Lodge, and Arenal Observatory Lodge.
We begin this trip just north of San Jose at Braulio Carrillo National Park in foothill rainforest. The bird list here is impressive, and we’ll have chances to see tawny-crested tanager, black-headed nightingale-thrush, streak-crowned antvireo, broad-billed motmot, checker-throated stipplethroat, white-ruffed manakin, two rarities, lattice-tailed trogon and yellow-eared toucanet, and much more.
Honduran White Bat by Karen Blumenthal
After a buffet lunch just outside the park, we’ll stop at one of Costa Rica’s newest wildlife “hotspots”. Jose Perez, also known as “Cope”, has a fabulous feeder set-up at his small house. In addition to hummingbird and banana feeders (both of which attract a lot of eye candy), we’ll have chances to see helmeted basilisk, brown-throated three-toed sloth, black river turtle, white-tipped sicklebill, spectacled and crested owls, great potoo, and Honduran white bat.
We then continue to Selva Verde Lodge, located on the banks of the Rio Sarapiqui. The grounds and adjacent properties are home to chestnut-backed antbird, bright-rumped attila, yellow-throated and keel-billed toucans, black-cowled oriole, bay wren, gray-capped flycatcher, scarlet-rumped tanager, bare-throated and fasciated tiger-herons, American pygmy kingfisher, rufous mourner, orange-chinned parakeet, mealy parrot, slaty-tailed and gartered trogons, cocoa woodcreeper, rufous motmot, and several hundred other species. Other wildlife in the area includes emerald basilisk, red-eyed leaf frog, two poison dart frogs (strawberry and green-and-black), mantled howler and white-throated capuchin monkeys, Central American agouti, white-lined sac-winged bat, and variegated squirrel. In addition to the lodge area, we’ll also visit the nearby Tirimbina Reserve and its pristine rainforest.
Slaty-tailed Trogon by Misty Vaughn
We then head north to Cano Negro Natural Lodge located amidst one of Costa Rica’s only large seasonal wetlands. The habitat diversity at Cano Negro – which includes the Rio Frio, several seasonal lagoons, forest patches, lots of edge habitat, and some agricultural land – is such that it’s not uncommon to see almost one hundred species in a day. Among these are Nicaraguan grackle, Amazon and ringed kingfishers, yellow-tyrannulet, gray-headed dove, russet-naped wood-rail, the rare yellow-breasted crake, pinnated and least bitterns, jabiru, lesser yellow-headed vulture, red-lored parrot, olive-throated parakeet, northern tropical pewee, black-headed trogon, canebrake and spot-breasted wrens, golden-hooded tanager, and many others.
Next we go to Arenal Observatory Lodge, a beautiful and very comfortable place with great views of Volcan Arenal as well as some good patches of rainforest. Here we’ll look for emerald tanager, tawny-capped euphonia, crested guan, great curassow, collared trogon, dull-mantled antbird, tawny-faced gnatwren, black-throated, stripe-chested, and song wrens, and lots more. At night their “frog pond” is good for red-eyed tree frog and northern cat-eyed snake. If we get lucky and find an antswarm, we may see spotted, bicolored, and ocellated antbirds, and black-headed nightingale-thrush.
On our return to San Jose we'll make several key stops. One is at a side road where we might see smoky-brown woodpecker, Zeledon's antbird, barred and white hawks, swallow-tailed kite, white-naped brush finch, and American dipper. Our lunch stop has feeders that attract prong-billed barbet, northern emerald toucanet, silver-throated tanager, coppery-headed emerald, green-crowned brilliant, and lots more.
In addition to the many birds, we’ll see, enjoy, and learn about a lot of general natural history, including the plants, mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians of the area as well as neotropical ecology. Non-avian possibilities include three primates (mantled howler, white-throated capuchin, and Geoffrey’s spider monkeys), two sloths (brown-throated three-toed and Hoffman’s two-toed), variegated squirrel, white-nosed coati, northern tamandua, several bats, emerald and helmeted basilisk lizards, many amphibians, and more.