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With
more than 850 species of birds, all found within
a tight geographic area, Costa Rica offers birders
of all levels of expertise and unrivaled bird watching
experience during their stay in the country. From
the oak forest of the Talamanca Mountains, Central
America's highest mountain range, to the cloud forests
of Monteverde or Braulio Carrillo National Park,
to the lowland rainforest of the Osa Peninsula,
birders will discover a rich variety of habitats
filled with wonderfully diverse groups of birds.
The
best advice for birding in Costa Rica is to visit
several different habitats, hire a local guide who
specializes in bird watching and come prepared with
the "Birds of Costa Rica". This excellent
guide, written by Gary Stiles of the University
of Costa Rica and Alexander Skutch, is readily available
from Cornell University Press. Birders will find
well - drawn illustrations as well as helpful information
about habits, calls and plumage in this classic
book, which also lists key areas for productive
bird watching and provides useful hints about clothing,
insect repellents, etc.
Some of the birds described
could have sprung straight from the imagination
of Dr. Seuss. Take the Umbrella Bird, for example,
with its topknot of fine feathers that make the
bird look like it's wearing an umbrella on its head
(which would be just the thing in the wet cloud forest
where it lives). Or the Three - Wattle Bellbird,
which doesn't say "Ding, dong", or sound
like a bell at all.
It goes "BONK!" Other
birds could have materialized from the pages of
childhood books of fantasy. The unbelievably beautiful
Resplendent Quetzal, with its iridescent plumage
that gleams emerald green or shines like polished
metal, is a bird that figures prominently in pre
- Columbian mythology throughout Central America
and whose feathers were prized like gold or jade.
The quetzal can be easily seen in Costa Rica, at
Cerro de la Muerte or Monteverde, an awe inspiring
sight that will stay with birdwatchers forever.
The Scarlet Macaw, another beautiful bird whose
populations are dwindling throughout Central America,
can still be seen in Costa Rica, especially at the
Carara Biological Reserve.
Birders
out on the trail in Costa Rica's forests should
keep an eye out for mixed flocks foraging on certain
types of food, especially fruit, in the forest canopy.
They
should also watch for ant swarms, a tropical phenomena
in which migrating groups of vicious army ants stir
up other insects and even small animals as they
move along the forest floor. Ant swarms are accompanied
by a number of bird species, which feast not on
the army ants but on the insects they stir up. Species
most frequently seen with an ant swarm are an birds
(naturally), tanagers, manikins and wrens.
Thanks
to the excellent diversity of birds living in a
variety of habitats that are easily accessible,
to the availability of knowledgeable, local guides,
and to safe, convenient trails, Costa Rica has become
one of the worlds' most popular bird watching destinations.
Few, if any, bird watchers leave the country without
having exceeded their highest expectations in a
tropical country!
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