Bird Watching Costa Rica

Lowland Bird Watching Hike (Costa Rica)

The Lowland Bird Watching Hike begins early when the birds are just beginning to wake up. First on the agenda is a visit to a tower located on top of a knoll. The upper deck puts you in the tree tops on eye level with the birds. This is an ideal location for spotting tanagers, honeycreepers, toucans, saltators, vireos and others. From there you will hike through secondary forest with your sharp-eyed guide until you arrive at La Casona, the old Hacienda Barú home where you will enjoy a delicious breakfast of typical Costa Rican food.

From the Casona it is on to the river your only chance to observe water birds. Petrels, jaegers, gulls, and others are likely to be found there, and, with a little luck, an osprey might make an appearance. From there it's on to the rookery where, during the wet season, you will observe egrets, herons, ibis and other water birds from a blind built over the water of the mangrove estuary.

The final leg of the tour includes secondary forest and the beach, your best opportunities to observe shore birds such as whimbrels, plovers, phalaropes, sandpipers and sanderlings, pelicans and frigatebirds. From the beach it is a short walk back to the Tour Center, where you began.

Duration of the tour: 6-7 hours
Price: $35 per persons
Times: 5:30 to 6:00 AM, Requires prior reservation.
Limit: 12 persons, Minimum: 2 persons

Rainforest Bird Watching Hike in Costa Rica

The Rainforest Bird Watching Hike begins before daybreak. Your expert guide will take you through old cacao plantations and up into the rainforest. After about an hour of hiking and experiencing the early morning jungle.

You will arrive at the campsite where you may observe birds at your leisure while your guide fixes coffee and sweet rolls, granola and milk. After breakfast you will hike through primary forest in search of the birds particular to that habitat.

The dense forest provides unlimited hiding places, and birding here is definitely hard work. With a little luck, you will be rewarded with sightings of some of the more illusive birds such as: trogons, motmots, antshrikes, manakins, tinamous, curasows and others.

Duration of the tour: 6-7 hours
Price: $35 per persons
Time: 5:00 to 5:30 AM, Requires prior reservation
Limit: 8 persons, Minimum: 2 persons

Costa Rica Bird Species List at Hacienda Baru.

As of January 2006 more than 350 species of birds have been identified at Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge. This is mostly due to the wide diversity of habitats found on the 330 hectare (815 acre) reserve.

Click here for our Bird Species List

These include: primary rainforest, secondary forest, swamp forest, mangrove forest, river bank, wetlands, seashore, old cacao plantations and open pastures. The primary rainforest is found in the highlands and all the rest are in the lowland portions of the hacienda.

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