For the Birds - Costa Rica Trip - Part I

My colleague Judy Stone and I spent most of January in Costa Rica teaching a Colby biology class. The focus of our course was plants of the tropics but I had time to enjoy some wonderful birding while we were there. I’ll devote this column and the next to some of the birding highlights of our visit.

Costa Rica is a small country, roughly the size of West Virginia. Within that small area, however, the range of climate, topography and vegetation is great. It is no wonder that 875 species of birds occur in Costa Rica. The United States and Canada combined scarcely exceed that number of species.

We spent our first week in Costa Rica at the La Selva Biological Station near the town of Puerto Viejo, north of San Jose. This site, at an elevation, of about 500 feet is lowland rainforest. The trade winds blow across Costa Rica from the east, bringing moisture-laden air off the Caribbean onto shore. As the air rises, it cools and drops the moisture as rain. We were at La Selva during the dry season but, as we learned, La Selva has a rainy season and a rainier season. We were lucky though as most of the rain fell during the evening hours.

The first bird I saw at La Selva looked like a small warbler, flitting near the top of a large tree. It was a warbler indeed but not the tropical species I was expecting. It was a Chestnut-sided Warbler, one of the most common nesting warblers in Maine. I noted a number of other birds that breed here in Maine enjoying the Costa Rican warmth: Turkey Vulture, Tennessee Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Baltimore Oriole and Red-winged Blackbird.

We were assigned rooms in an older building called the River Station, overlooking the Puerto Viejo River. A pair of Crested Guans, chicken-like birds with bright red wattles, were feeding just above the trail on fruits. A Blue-black Grosbeak was in an adjacent tree.








Montezuma’s Oropendolas were the most conspicuous birds at La Selva. These members of the blackbird family are large and loud. Males are about 20 inches long, females five inches shorter. Most black, Montezuma’s Oropendolas have bright yellow tails and conspicuous white markings on the side of the head. Females were just beginning to build their pendant nests in palm trees. The nests are similar to those of a Baltimore Oriole but much longer. Males were displaying to females. The display is memorable. The male perches on a branch and gives a loud, liquid song. At a distance, the song is quite pleasing but metallic screeches can be heard when close to a male. As the male finishes his song, he performs a deep bow, rotating his body a full half turn, showing off his bright yellow tail. Despite the bravura performances, the females seemed unimpressed.

Mornings at La Selva were almost magical. Great Tinamous gave their wavering, flute-like call from deep in the jungle. Rufous Motmots gave their lovely hoot-hoot-hoot calls that reminded me of notes from a wooden percussion instrument. As dawn approached, the glorious songs of White-breasted Wood Wrens, Striped-breasted Wrens and Black-throated Wrens filled the air.

Parrots were vocal but usually difficult to see in the tops of trees. With patience, we got good looks at Mealy Parrots, Red-lored Parrots, Brown-hooded Parrots and White-crowned Parrots. The highlight though was eight fly-over Great Green Macaws. Only about 200 individuals are left in Costa Rica.

Birds at La Selva often move in large, fast-moving mixed flocks. One memorable flock had Palm Tanagers, Passerini’s Tanagers, Dusky-faced Tanagers, Blue-gray Tanagers and Golden-hooded Tanagers. Within five minutes, the flock had moved on.

I enjoyed seeing birds in families that were new to me. A Rufous-tailed Jacamar, related to the woodpeckers, looked alike an overgrown hummingbird with its long thin bill. A pair of Pied Puffbirds provided us with great views; these birds are also related to the woodpeckers. We saw Northern Barred Woodcreepers and Streak-headed Woodcreepers. Woodcreepers are perching birds that behave much like woodpeckers. A Great Antshrike gave me a brief look before diving back into its preferred dense undergrowth habitat.

Other memorable sightings included a male Green Honeycreeper with fluorescent green plumage, Olive-backed Euphonias, a Green Kingfisher and a ton of flycatcher species including Boat-billed Flycatcher, White-ringed Flycatcher, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Mistletoe Tyrannulet, Rufous Mourner, Bright-rumped Attila and Long-tailed Tyrant. Chestnut-colored Woodpeckers, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers and Pale-billed Woodpeckers were striking birds as well.

[Originally published on February 21, 2009]