Nat Hab has spent over three decades exploring Costa Rica’s Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, rainforests, cloud forests, national parks and wildlife refuges. Our Costa Rica Wilderness Explorer and Natural Jewels of Costa Rica expeditions feature expert naturalist guides and curated itineraries that allow travelers to explore Costa Rica and the wildlife that makes this country a globally acclaimed biodiversity hotspot.
A Bird-Watcher’s Paradise
Costa Rica is a spectacular place for bird-watchers and photographers. This region has ecosystems and habitats that support some of the world’s most vibrant bird populations. As a traveler on Nat Hab’s Costa Rica adventures, you will explore national parks, private wildlife reserves, mangrove swamps and rainforest habitats in search of birdlife, sloths, spider monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas and more.
© Keith Arnold
Golfo Dulce & Tiskita Jungle Lodge
On Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast lies Golfo Dulce, an 800-acre private rainforest reserve that is one of only three tropical forest estuaries in the world. Gulfo Dulce receives tropical runoff from eight rivers, which form a fresh-water gulf. With an abundance of wildlife and sea life, the biodiversity here is unlike any other place in the world.
Exploring this remote area of the rainforest is a rare experience, and Nat Hab makes it even more special with accommodations at Tiskita Jungle Lodge, the only lodging in this biodiversity hotspot. Tiskita’s hand-built cabins, crafted from fallen hardwood trees, survey the sea from a high ridge, allowing you to experience a tropical rainforest in comfort.
More than 275 bird species thrive in this lush habitat, and our remote ecolodge on the less-visited southern Pacific coast provides excellent birdwatching and wildlife viewing. Daily morning walks provide the opportunity to see coveted species like the scarlet macaw, which was successfully reintroduced by Tiskita’s owners and now flourishes on the reserve.
Los Quetzales National Park
Los Quetzales National Park—which we visit on our Costa Rica Wilderness Explorer—sits atop the Talamanca Mountains and encompasses more than 12,000 acres of pristine cloud forest and 14 different ecosystems. This is one of the best places to spot the resplendent quetzal, an exotic crimson and iridescent green bird with flowing tail feathers. The park protects wild sections of the Savegre River, which originates high up on the Cerro de la Muerte.
Resplendent quetzal © Alex Arias
This cool climate is usually covered in a haze of thick clouds. Its high elevation attracts birds and other flora and fauna that live only at such extreme elevations. Other likely sightings include the spangle-cheeked tanager and the emerald toucanet. Nat Hab travelers enjoy lunch at Paraiso Quetzal—”Quetzal Paradise”—an ecolodge perched on a steep mountainside. From the outdoor deck, we’re sure to see dozens of hummingbirds buzzing around several feeders, offering superb close-up photo opportunities
Batsu Gardens
Our expedition also takes travelers to the Batsu Gardens, a birding and photography haven where every detail has been intentionally designed to enhance outstanding bird photography opportunities in a lush natural space. The name comes from Bri-Bri, a language spoken by the indigenous people of the Talamanca Mountains.
Corcovado National Park
On our Natural Jewels of Costa Rica trip, we visit another birding hotspot: Corcovado National Park, the crown jewel of Costa Rica’s national park system. Situated on the remote Osa Peninsula at the southern end of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, the park has been described by National Geographic as the “most biologically intense place on Earth.”
Surrounded by a 170-acre private reserve, we spend two nights at Corcovado Wilderness Lodge, a luxury ecolodge on the edge of the park. Here among Costa Rica’s largest trees, we find some of Central America’s densest populations of scarlet macaws, toucans, parrots, Baird’s trogons, spectacled owls and black-cheeked ant tanagers, along with other wildlife like tapir, sloths, monkeys, agoutis, coatis and the highly elusive jaguar.
An impressive 47 bird species are endemic to the mountains and foothills of Costa Rica and Western Panama. Check out some standout birds that you might see on our Costa Rica tours.
8 Birds to Watch for on Costa Rica’s Southern Pacific Coast
1. Scarlet Macaws and Great Green Macaws
Fifteen species of macaws—the world’s largest flying parrots!—live in Central and South America. Only two species—the scarlet macaw and the great green macaw—call Costa Rica home. The scarlet macaw is most commonly found in lowland humid forests, deciduous forests and tropical evergreen forest areas on the Pacific coast.
Macaws are a social species that spend their lives in groups of three to four, though sometimes this can rise to 30 individuals. You’ll almost always see pairs together, as macaws are a monogamous species and mate for life. The two will fly or sit side by side, preening each other’s feathers and talking to each other with affectionate, rasping calls.
2. Spangle-Cheeked Tanagers
This special tanager is an endemic resident breeder of the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. A frugivore, the spangle-cheeked tanager is small and active, with a unique orangey belly, cobalt wings and turquoise spangles on the chest, cheek and nape. These birds are usually found in pairs following mixed feeding flocks in forests and edges.
3. Magnificent Frigatebirds
These large seabirds sport long, angular wings that help them soar over tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the Americas. Males of this species are unique in that they have a distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate during the breeding season to attract females. Both males and females have black plumage and long, deeply forked tails, along with long hooked bills. They forage in lagoons as well as far out to sea and nest in low-growing scrub vegetation on islands.
4. Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds, remarkably, can fly backward and have the fastest heart rate of any bird, with a pulse that can surpass 1,200 beats per minute. These high-energy birds need quality food to sustain this daily energy expenditure. Some white-eared hummingbirds have been found to eat 850% of their body weight per day to sustain themselves. They survive on nectar and a wide array of insects, including beetles, flying ants and daddy longlegs.
Costa Rica’s Violet Sabrewing is one of the largest hummingbirds in the world.
Unlike macaws, hummingbirds are mainly solitary creatures, and breeding season is typically the only time you’ll see them together. In Costa Rica, you can find 51 species of hummingbirds, each one displaying dazzling and vibrant colors.
5. Roseate Spoonbills
Sometimes mistaken for flamingos, roseate spoonbills are unique pink wading birds with long, flat, spoon-shaped bills. Adults are pink overall, with scarlet wing patches, orange tails and bare pale-green heads. You can find this bird in freshwater and saltwater wetlands from the Gulf Coast of the U.S. through much of South America.
6. Toucans
These large-beaked birds are omnivores with a lifespan of 15–20 years. In Costa Rica, there are six different species of toucans, and you have the best chance of catching a glimpse of these birds in the cloud forests of Monteverde and the higher parts of the Central Volcanic Range.
7. Black-Mandibled Toucan
Yes, we know we just covered toucans, but we think the black-mandibled toucan deserves its own spot on the list! The feeding habits of this bird significantly impact the ecosystem of its home in the Central American and northwestern South American lowland rainforests.
Black-mandibled toucans are primarily frugivorous, meaning 90% of their diet is fruit. The seeds they consume pass through their digestive systems intact and sprout where they are deposited. These are the largest toucans in Central America and are known for their massive, bicolored bill.
8. Resplendent Quetzal
The resplendent quetzal was first described by Mexican naturalist Pablo de La Llave in 1832. These birds have colorful and complex plumage and live among lush vegetation in very moist rainforests at high elevations. Listen for their deep, melodious calls as you trek through Costa Rica’s wild spaces, especially in their namesake Los Quetzales National Park—a highlight of our Costa Rica Wilderness Explorer adventure.
Explore the Wilder Side of Costa Rica in Comfort
Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast is abundant with vibrant birdlife and outstanding wildlife viewing opportunities for all types of travelers. Join a Nat Hab trip and discover a wilder side of Costa Rica!
