This report is intended to help birders and other nature lovers plan their own trips to Costa Rica. Our 12-day trip was focused on birds, but we enjoyed many other aspects of nature as well. We planned our own trip, made our own reservations, drove our own rental car, and hired professional guides for one full day and several shorter walks, in addition to short introductory tours included with two of our accommodations.
Birding Destinations At Cerro Lodge, besides getting good birds at all of the trails at PN Carara (two by the HQ, and one along the river), we also found the “waterfall road” productive. This is the “back road” past Villa Lapas, basically following the south edge of the park uphill (and inland).
You may have read that the Quebrada Gonzales trails, at Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo, are really good in the early morning. And I suppose they probably are. What I wish I had also read in advance, is that these trails are REALLY quiet later in the morning. We found 5 species – 7 total birds, in fact – in 2.5 hours on the best trail there, during a late morning in beautiful March weather. Lesson learned: bird early in the morning, and plan to spend the middle part of the day driving, catching up your eBird list, viewing hummingbird feeders, napping, or sipping a cool drink. This is a good guideline anywhere but more pronouncedly so I think, at Quebrada Gonzales.
Two very high points of our trip were driving en-route stops at feeders: El Tapir, the former butterfly garden, adjacent to PN Braulio Carrillo; and Café Colibri, the marvelous roadside café in Cinchona, along route 126 between Vara Blanca and San Miguel. There are a couple of other imitation café’s along there, closer to the big La Paz Waterfall attraction, but don’t let them distract you. Studying Google Maps carefully, I think Café Colibri is at 10.21603, -84.16787, but I’m not sure. The local people there are “the real thing” – a simple wood-burning stove, fresh home-made, very good food and coffee, etc. – and an amazingly rich variety of birds at their feeders and gardens. We enjoyed 2-1/2 hours at Café Colibri and watched 3-4 tour groups come and go, none of whom saw all the birds we did. El Tapir is well worth an hour at least, too. Its hummers and others showed well for us.
Lodging We made our lodging reservations the first week of July, for this March vacation. That was too late, to get into my 1st and 2nd choice eco-lodges, at one of the destinations. The 3rd choice lodge luckily turned out to be wonderful; this “limited” choice of available lodgings put us into a spectacular and comfortable lodge, paying much less than we would have at #1 or #2. Even granted that March is the peak month, there is still a lesson here – book your eco-accommodations VERY long in advance.
We learned years ago that we are much happier staying a minimum of 3 nights at each stop. This reduces time spent packing, driving, waiting to check in, and unpacking. It also means we get to really know the wildlife and rhythms of each place much better than if we only had a single full day there. On many of our trails, it was equally fun to see some of the same birds as the day before, and begin to “know” them, as it was to find completely new ones we would have missed if we only had one full day there. On this trip we stayed 4 nights, 3 nights, and 4 nights, at each of our lodgings, and that was nearly perfect for us.
The only regret was that we placed the most comfortable place in the middle, and ended the vacation with 4 nights in a lowland location with no A/C. Try to end the trip at the most comfortable place, not at the least comfortable!!
We stayed at Cerro Lodge, birding Parque Nacionale Carara and vicinity; Paraiso del Quetzales, birding that area up to Cerro de la Muerte; and La Selva Biological Station, birding the preserve at La Selva. For our last night, just for convenience to the airport, we also stayed at Hotel Buena Vista. We recommend all 4, but be warned, there is no air conditioning anywhere at La Selva (we did not wish to spend hours in the gift shop). It was the best lodging for all-around nature-appreciation, and we did pay for it in sweat. CL & PQ both include a very good full breakfast with lodging, and LS provides 3 good meals every day you’re there. (Although a hot lunch is a mixed blessing at LS!) They’re also good about packaging your breakfast and/or lunch “to take away” to go with your birding plans for the day, if you notify them in advance.
I have seen trip reports that also complain about the heat at Cerro Lodge. In fact, we had one of the cabins facing the afternoon sun. But we found that the room became quite comfortable, just a few minutes after we turned on the A/C each afternoon. The heat was similar at La Selva, but much harder to deal with because there was no A/C.
Both Cerro Lodge and Paraiso del Quetzales have extensive, well-planted grounds with great birding around the cabins. PQ additionally has several forest trails, 1-2 km each. There appears to be some sort of rivalry or friction going on between PQ and its “sister” lodge Mirador Quetzales, and it’s important to verify with the management which trail you plan to walk. This is also important because they are being careful to limit the disturbance of nesting Quetzals on the trails.
The very hilly terrain at PQ, at elevation 9,000 feet (even to get from your cabin, to the “reception” for meals etc.) could be a challenge for some. We viewed it as a healthy 10-minute refresher walk, several times a day, among beautiful, birdy gardens.
Rental cars As I’ve read in others’ reports, we too suffered a miserable two hours at the rental car office, fighting to deal with very large and unexpected “extra charges”. My lesson from that is, make sure you fully understand all charges ahead of time. Call them in advance, and demand to know (and understand) every item they will charge you with.
In our case, the two nasty surprises were mandatory 3rd-party liability insurance, and an extra driver charge (which Hertz has never charged me for domestic rentals). Bad on me for not investigating all of this ahead of time. And, bad on Hertz for not clearly notifying me when I made this reservation, about their very different policies when renting a car internationally.
Driving and navigation You can’t beat a good GPS loaded with local maps for the country you are driving in. But, here is a good back-up, in case you want one. We relied on this in lieu of a GPS, and it works OK – but only if one person in your party is willing to turn himself into a full-time GPS device. In our case there were several times when conversation and/or bird watching led to our “human device” very nearly missing an upcoming turn.
Our method (again, only suggesting this as a back-up) was this. Google Maps has a wonderful feature called “OK maps”. Before our trip, I used this feature to download map data for our entire route. During the trip, I had a working map on my iPad showing our current location and surrounding map details, with no cell connection at all. To navigate I used that map in the iPad, plus previously printed driving directions, previously listed latitude/longitude coordinates at key waypoints, and a free latitude/longitude app, and we managed the entire 407-mile trip, including 4 driving days (to our four lodgings) with exactly zero wrong turns.
On a related topic, this was I think at least the 3rd time Verizon assured us we would have good phone coverage in-country for an international trip (for a one-month additional charge), which turned out to be pretty spotty. I was very glad I had the pre-loaded map data.
Bugs Maybe it’s because this was late in the dry season, but I came away from 12 days in Costa Rica without a single mosquito or tick or chigger bite. Nothing. We used permethrin-treated pants and socks, but most days I wore a T-shirt with no bug spray (well, actually changed twice a day, so it was two T-shirts).
Guides Like the lodgings, good birding guides are booked well in advance. We were lucky to get an excellent guide, Pat O’Donnell, for our first full day. I cannot recommend Pat enough. He was very easy to get along with, just a nice, nice guy; and he was incredibly proficient at finding, identifying, and helping us see and appreciate birds and other natural wonders. He found and showed us 140 species of birds during a very comfortable full day of birding. Finally, he takes the conservation and future of Costa Rica very seriously. See his extensive blogs about CR at http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/. We did not get around to reserving independent full-day guides for our other days in time, but I do recommend using guides for at least some of the days – you do see so much more that way.
As other reports have mentioned, we found Lenin Duarte to be an excellent guide at La Selva OTS. He is at lenincostarica (at) gmail.com. At each lodge, we asked them to provide a private guide for a 2- or 4-hour session (e.g. Lenin), and we found each one well worth the extra money. I think there is substantial competition in CR for the job of eco-guide, and it showed in these hard-working and talented guides.
Books, Resources Following the standard advice, I started with Lawson’s book, “A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica”. However I also learned of a newer book called, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” by Pat O’Donnell. It is an eBook, much newer (2014 instead of 2008), and has many more locations (birding spots). It is also better organized, grouping the locations by habitat zone and geographical proximity, rather than just habitat zone as in Lawson’s book. O’Donnell’s book also includes a section (absent in Lawson’s) describing how to find and identify specific families – raptors, woodcreepers, euphonias, etc.
Finally, O’Donnell’s book is much more recent, whereas Lawson’s is outdated in many places. In summary I have studied both books thoroughly, and in my opinion the one to use is “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.
The best field guide is still Garrigues, The Birds of Costa Rica. The evening tally rallies at every lodge were a wash of khaki (clothing), and sky blue-and-white (the book cover). For a fascinating and very readable description of the natural history of tropical birds, I heartily add my recommendation to many others, to read Steven Hilty’s book, Birds of Tropical America.
I have only been able to locate one “app” for birding Costa Rica, by Birding Field Guides, and I have a mixed review. Good things: 1) It has a good 700 to 900 species, very complete. 2) Most species have a voice recording, and most of those are fairly good quality. 3) Each species has a range map, description notes, and habitat notes. 4) I never got into it, but the app also has ability to collect your own notes on your sightings, and (maybe) share or upload them (I think, not sure).
Bad things: 1) It is a photographic app, and if you’re a serious birder, you know how limiting a photographic field guide is, compared to a painted field guide (by a good artist like Peterson or Sibley). 2) The interface is a bit awkward; when you want to jump back and forth between 2 or 3 species to compare them, you have to “back out” or reset and search again, each time you switch species. The app cleverly comes with built-in lists of “similar species”, to avoid this problem; but in most cases the list is too short, and another species I really need to compare with, is excluded. So it’s back to the full index of 700+ species, to go look at the other (comparison) species. 3) The listed bird sizes given are practically useless, because all of the birds are sorted into only 4-5 size categories. To exaggerate a bit, 6-inch birds like sparrows are in the same size category as 3-inch birds like Volcano Hummingbird. It’s not much help to know that a given raptor is “Large: 16 to 24 inches” especially when you notice that most of the hawks in the app all have this exact same size.
Bottom line: I relied heavily on Richard Garrigues’ book, the standard field guide I saw in everyone’s hands. This app (by Birding Field Guides) was very useful to me for one thing, the recorded vocalizations. It was worth the money to me, just for that feature – but you’ll definitely want a copy of Garrigues for most species identifications.
Bird results 297 total species, including 181 life birds. Many highlights including Agami Heron, White-fronted Nunbird, and Snowy Cotinga; Silver-fronted Tapaculo and Wrenthrush (saw and heard both); 3 kinds of Manakins, 7 kinds of Trogons, 26 kinds of Hummingbird, 4 night birds (owls and nightjars), 34 varieties of flycatcher, and 18 kinds of diurnal raptor. Our day with Pat O’Donnell as a full-day guide netted us 140 species. Several of the specials e.g. Tapaculo and Wrenthrush, we definitely would never have seen without the expert guides provided by the lodges.
Photo link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/92816502@N03/albums/72157666242336985
Other cool nature things Spider, Howler, and Capuchin Monkeys; Two-toed Sloth, Coatis, Agoutis, peccaries; whiptail, basilisk, and iguana lizards, crocodiles, and caiman; beautiful bullfrogs; a handful (think about it) of poison dart frogs; fer-de-lance (snake on our night hike); glowing click beetle and fireflies, zipper spider, millipede and centipedes; army ant swarms, termite nests and trails, and countless leaf-cutter ant trails and mounds; white tent bats and lesser white-lined bats. Nesting and/or courtship behavior for many of the birds we saw there. It was also exciting for a life-long astronomy enthusiast from the northern temperate zone, to see Polaris just 9 degrees above the north horizon; and to see the evening crescent moon facing down and to the left (the “wrong” way!!).
Great Tinamou PN Carara & La Selva OTS. Came upon these birds as we walked through forest slowly and quietly, and were able to approach quite closely.
Muscovy Duck PN Carara
Gray-headed Chachalaca Along the "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
Crested Guan La Selva OTS
Black Guan PN Los Quetzales
Great Currasow La Selva OTS
Wood Stork La Selva OTS
Magnificent Frigatebird Tarcoles area
Anhinga La Selva OTS
Brown Pelican Tarcoles area
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron Tarcoles area
Great Blue Heron Tarcoles area
Great Egret Tarcoles area
Snowy Egret Tarcoles area
Little Blue Heron PN Carara
Cattle Egret Tarcoles area
Agami Heron La Selva OTS, foraging in a stream (first time our guide had ever seen one there)
White Ibis PN Carara
Green Ibis La Selva OTS
Black Vulture everywhere
Turkey Vulture everywhere
Osprey Tarcoles area
White-tailed Kite Cerro Lodge area
Swallow-tailed Kite PN Los Quetzales
Double-toothed Kite PN Carara
Mississippi Kite Cerro Lodge
Crane Hawk Cerro Lodge
Common Black Hawk Tarcoles area
Roadside Hawk Tarcoles area, perched alongside the roads
White Hawk Cinchona café
Gray Hawk Tarcoles area
Broad-winged Hawk PN Carara & PN Los Quetzales
Red-tailed Hawk PN Los Quetzales
Purple Gallinule PN Carara
Double-striped Thick-knee Cerro Lodge area, in fields
Whimbrel Tarcoles area
Spotted Sandpiper Tarcoles area
Willet Tarcoles area
Laughing Gull Tarcoles area
Royal Tern Tarcoles area
Rock Pigeon wherever
Pale-vented Pigeon La Selva OTS
Red-billed Pigeon Cerro Lodge & Hotel Buena Vista
Band-tailed Pigeon PN Los Quetzales
Ruddy Pigeon PN Los Quetzales
Short-billed Pigeon throughout; only heard, unseen
Inca Dove Cerro Lodge area; roads and edges
Common Ground-Dove Cerro Lodge area
Ruddy Ground-Dove Cerro Lodge & La Selva OTS
White-tipped Dove Cerro Lodge area
White-winged Dove Cerro Lodge
Groove-billed Ani Cerro Lodge area; fields & low perches
Striped Cuckoo Cerro Lodge
Squirrel Cuckoo Cerro Lodge & PN Carara
Vermiculated Screech-Owl La Selva OTS
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Cerro Lodge
Common Pauraque Cerro Lodge & La Selva OTS
Dusky Nightjar PN Los Quetzales
White-collared Swift Cerro Lodge & Hotel Buena Vista
Gray-rumped Swift La Selva OTS
White-necked Jacobin El Tapir
Band-tailed Barbthroat PN Carara
Long-billed Hermit PN Carara & La Selva OTS; at heliconia flowers
Stripe-throated Hermit PN Carara
Lesser Violetear PN Los Quetzales
Green-breasted Mango Tarcoles area & Cinchona café
Green Thorntail El Tapir & Cinchona café
Black-crested Coquette El Tapir
Green-crowned Brilliant Cinchona café
Magnificent Hummingbird PN Los Quetzales
Fiery-throated Hummingbird PN Los Quetzales
White-bellied Mountain-gem Cinchona café
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Cerro Lodge
Volcano Hummingbird PN Los Quetzales
Violet-headed Hummingbird El Tapir & La Selva OTS
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird Tarcoles area
Violet Sabrewing PN Los Quetzales & Cinchona café
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer La Selva OTS; at heliconia
Crowned Woodnymph El Tapir
Coppery-headed Emerald Cinchona café
Snowcap El Tapir
Blue-chested Hummingbird La Selva OTS
Charming Hummingbird PN Carara
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird everywhere
Cinnamon Hummingbird Cerro Lodge
Blue-throated Goldentail PN Carara
Resplendent Quetzal PN Los Quetzales; guides know where to find them
Slaty-tailed Trogon La Selva OTS
Black-headed Trogon Cerro Lodge
Baird's Trogon PN Carara
Gartered Trogon Cerro Lodge & PN Carara
Black-throated Trogon PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Collared Trogon PN Los Quetzales
Rufous Motmot PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Broad-billed Motmot La Selva OTS
Turquoise-browed Motmot Cerro Lodge & PN Carara
Green Kingfisher Tarcoles area & La Selva OTS
American Pygmy Kingfisher Tarcoles area & "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
White-necked Puffbird Cerro Lodge, PN Carara, & La Selva OTS; high perches
Pied Puffbird La Selva OTS; high perch
White-whiskered Puffbird PN Carara
White-fronted Nunbird La Selva OTS; quietly perched 10m above the ground on deep trail well W of the river
Rufous-tailed Jacamar PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Collared Aracari La Selva OTS
Fiery-billed Aracari PN Carara
Yellow-throated Toucan PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Keel-billed Toucan La Selva OTS
Olivaceous Piculet Cerro Lodge & Tarcoles area
Black-cheeked Woodpecker La Selva OTS
Hoffmann's Woodpecker everywhere
Hairy Woodpecker PN Los Quetzales
Rufous-winged Woodpecker La Selva OTS
Chestnut-colored Woodpecker La Selva OTS
Lineated Woodpecker Tarcoles area
Pale-billed Woodpecker La Selva OTS
Crested Caracara everywhere
Yellow-headed Caracara Cerro Lodge & PN Carara
Laughing Falcon Cerro Lodge & La Selva OTS
Peregrine Falcon La Selva OTS
Orange-chinned Parakeet Cerro Lodge
Brown-hooded Parrot Cerro Lodge
White-crowned Parrot Hotel Buena Vista
Red-lored Parrot Cerro Lodge & La Selva OTS
Yellow-naped Parrot Cerro Lodge & PN Carara
White-fronted Parrot Cerro Lodge
Olive-throated Parakeet La Selva OTS
Orange-fronted Parakeet Cerro Lodge & Tarcoles area
Great Green Macaw La Selva OTS; several brief fly-bys
Scarlet Macaw Cerro Lodge & PN Carara; several brief fly-bys
Barred Antshrike PN Carara
Black-hooded Antshrike PN Carara
Russet Antshrike PN Carara
Dot-winged Antwren PN Carara
Dusky Antbird PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Chestnut-backed Antbird PN Carara
Bicolored Antbird PN Carara
Silvery-fronted Tapaculo PN Los Quetzales; our guide was absolutely essential
Black-faced Antthrush PN Carara
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper PN Carara
Plain-brown Woodcreeper La Selva OTS
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper PN Carara
Cocoa Woodcreeper La Selva OTS
Streak-headed Woodcreeper Cerro Lodge, PN Carara, & La Selva OTS
Plain Xenops PN Carara, PN Braulio Carrillo, & La Selva OTS
Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner PN Carara
Ruddy Treerunner PN Los Quetzales
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet Tarcoles area
Yellow-bellied Elaenia "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
Mountain Elaenia PN Los Quetzales
Ochre-bellied Flycatcher PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Paltry Tyrannulet La Selva OTS; nest just 2m above the ground, open tree in yard
Northern Scrub-Flycatcher Tarcoles area
Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Common Tody-Flycatcher PN Carara & Tarcoles area
Eye-ringed Flatbill PN Carara
Yellow-olive Flycatcher Cerro Lodge area
Golden-crowned Spadebill PN Carara
Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher PN Carara
Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher PN Carara
Tufted Flycatcher PN Los Quetzales
Ochraceous Pewee PN Los Quetzales
Eastern Wood-Pewee La Selva OTS
Tropical Pewee Cerro Lodge & La Selva OTS
Black-capped Flycatcher PN Los Quetzales
Long-tailed Tyrant La Selva OTS; high perches, flycatching
Bright-rumped Attila La Selva OTS
Dusky-capped Flycatcher La Selva OTS
Nutting's Flycatcher Cerro Lodge area
Great Crested Flycatcher Cerro Lodge area
Brown-crested Flycatcher Cerro Lodge area
Great Kiskadee everywhere
Boat-billed Flycatcher PN Carara, Cerro Lodge area, & La Selva OTS
Social Flycatcher La Selva OTS & Cinchona café
Gray-capped Flycatcher PN Carara & "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
White-ringed Flycatcher La Selva OTS
Streaked Flycatcher everywhere
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher La Selva OTS
Piratic Flycatcher PN Carara & "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
Tropical Kingbird everywhere
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Cerro Lodge area
Snowy Cotinga La Selva OTS; ask guides when & where to look for it
Blue-crowned Manakin PN Carara
White-collared Manakin La Selva OTS
Red-capped Manakin PN Carara
Masked Tityra "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas, & La Selva OTS
Cinnamon Becard El Tapir & La Selva OTS
Rose-throated Becard Cerro Lodge area & PN Carara; no rose color in Costa Rica race!!
Rufous-browed Peppershrike PN Tapanti, SW portion near Pan-Amer hwy; found & ID-ed first by hearing it; then saw it
Green Shrike-Vireo PN Carara; perched briefly in mid-canopy
Tawny-crowned Greenlet PN Carara
Lesser Greenlet PN Carara
Mangrove Vireo Tarcoles area
Blue-headed Vireo PN Los Quetzales
Yellow-green Vireo Cerro Lodge & PN Carara
White-throated Magpie-Jay Cerro Lodge area; in fields
Brown Jay Cerro Lodge & Hotel Buena Vista
Blue-and-white Swallow PN Los Quetzales & Parque Bosques de Fraijanes
Northern Rough-winged Swallow everywhere
Gray-breasted Martin La Selva OTS
Mangrove Swallow Tarcoles area
Barn Swallow Tarcoles area & Cerro Lodge area
House Wren La Selva OTS & Hotel Buena Vista
Timberline Wren Cerro de la Muerte
Band-backed Wren La Selva OTS
Rufous-naped Wren PN Carara & Cerro Lodge area
Rufous-breasted Wren PN Carara
Black-throated Wren La Selva OTS
Stripe-breasted Wren PN Braulio Carrillo
Riverside Wren PN Carara
White-breasted Wood-Wren La Selva OTS
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren Cerro de la Muerte
Long-billed Gnatwren PN Carara
White-lored Gnatcatcher Cerro Lodge area
Tropical Gnatcatcher Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles area, & PN Carara
Black-faced Solitaire PN Los Quetzales; found by hearing it first
Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush PN Los Quetzales
Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush PN Los Quetzales
Swainson's Thrush La Selva OTS; seen perched during guided night walk
Wood Thrush La Selva OTS
Sooty Thrush PN Los Quetzales
Mountain Thrush PN Los Quetzales
Clay-colored Thrush everywhere
Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher PN Los Quetzales; often seen near Long-Tailed
Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher PN Los Quetzales; often seen near Black-and-yellow
Ovenbird PN Carara
Louisiana Waterthrush La Selva OTS
Northern Waterthrush PN Carara & "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
Golden-winged Warbler La Selva OTS
Black-and-white Warbler PN Los Quetzales & La Selva OTS
Flame-throated Warbler PN Los Quetzales
Tennessee Warbler everywhere
Gray-crowned Yellowthroat "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas, & La Selva OTS
American Redstart Hotel Buena Vista
Tropical Parula PN Carara & PN Los Quetzales
Yellow Warbler PN Carara, Cerro Lodge area, & "waterfall road"
Chestnut-sided Warbler everywhere
Black-throated Blue Warbler La Selva OTS
Black-throated Green Warbler everywhere
Black-cheeked Warbler PN Los Quetzales
Buff-rumped Warbler PN Carara & La Selva OTS; at ant swarm and at stream
Wilson's Warbler PN Los Quetzales
Slate-throated Redstart Cinchona café
Collared Redstart PN Los Quetzales
Wrenthrush PN Los Quetzales; our guide was absolutely essential
Gray-headed Tanager PN Carara
White-shouldered Tanager PN Carara
Tawny-crested Tanager PN Braulio Carrillo
Passerini's Tanager El Tapir, La Selva OTS, & Cinchona café
Cherrie's Tanager Tarcoles area & "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
Blue-gray Tanager everywhere
Palm Tanager everywhere
Golden-hooded Tanager PN Carara, "waterfall road", & La Selva OTS
Bay-headed Tanager PN Carara
Silver-throated Tanager Cinchona café
Shining Honeycreeper La Selva OTS
Red-legged Honeycreeper PN Carara, Cerro Lodge, & La Selva OTS
Green Honeycreeper PN Carara & La Selva OTS
Slaty Flowerpiercer PN Los Quetzales; flits between low shrubs like a wren
Blue-black Grassquit Cerro Lodge area
Variable Seedeater everywhere
White-collared Seedeater Tarcoles area, Cerro Lodge area, & "waterfall road"
Bananaquit El Tapir & La Selva OTS
Dusky-faced Tanager La Selva OTS
Buff-throated Saltator Cerro Lodge, La Selva OTS, & Cinchona café
Grayish Saltator Cerro Lodge & area
Sooty-capped Chlorospingus PN Los Quetzales
Common Chlorospingus Cinchona café
Stripe-headed Sparrow Cerro Lodge & area
Olive Sparrow Cerro Lodge area
Orange-billed Sparrow PN Carara
Volcano Junco PN Los Quetzales
Rufous-collared Sparrow PN Los Quetzales & Cinchona café
Large-footed Finch PN Los Quetzales
Yellow-thighed Finch PN Los Quetzales
Summer Tanager everywhere
Flame-colored Tanager PN Tapanti, SW portion near Pan-Amer hwy; & Hotel Buena Vista
Red-throated Ant-Tanager La Selva OTS
Black-faced Grosbeak PN Braulio Carrillo & La Selva OTS
Rose-breasted Grosbeak "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas
Blue-black Grosbeak PN Carara
Blue Grosbeak Cerro Lodge area
Melodious Blackbird Cerro Lodge feeders
Great-tailed Grackle everywhere
Shiny Cowbird La Selva OTS
Bronzed Cowbird PN Los Quetzales
Black-cowled Oriole La Selva OTS
Streak-backed Oriole Tarcoles area
Baltimore Oriole everywhere
Chestnut-headed Oropendola PN Braulio Carrillo
Montezuma Oropendola La Selva OTS
Scrub Euphonia Cerro Lodge & Tarcoles area
Yellow-crowned Euphonia "waterfall road" (E) from Villa Lapas, & La Selva OTS
Yellow-throated Euphonia PN Carara
Olive-backed Euphonia La Selva OTS
Tawny-capped Euphonia PN Braulio Carrillo
Golden-browed Chlorophonia PN Los Quetzales; attracted w/ recording