Target Birds in Carara Region:  Amongst the 400 species in
the area, some of our target bird species during our bird
walks in the Carara Region include Scarlet Macaws,
Orange-chinned Parakeet, White-crowned Parrot, Slaty-tailed
Trogan, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, Blue-throated
Goldentail, Steely-vented Hummingbird, Rufous-tailed
Hummingbird, Baird's Trogon, Black-throated Trogon,
Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Fiery-billed Aracari,
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper,
Great Antshrike, Black-hooded Antshrike, Chestnut-backed
Antbird, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Piratic Flycatcher,
White-winged Becard, Orange-collared Manakin, Long-billed
Gnatwren, Scrub Greenlet, Golden-hooded Tanager, Blue
Dacnis, Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Blue-gray Tanager, Palm
Tanager, Gray-headed Tanager, White-throated
Shrike-Tanager, White-shouldered Tanager, Orange-billed
Sparrow, and Montezuma Oropendola (just to name a few).
Birds Likely to be Found in Greater
Arenal Region:
  1. Double-toothed Kite
  2. Tiny Hawk
  3. Semiplumbeous Hawk
  4. White Hawk
  5. Roadside Hawk
  6. Short-tailed Hawk
  7. Laughing Falcon
  8. Gray-headed Chachalaca
  9. Black Guan
  10. Red-billed pigeon
  11. Ruddy Quail-Dove
  12. Orange-Chinned Parakeet
  13. White-Crowned Parrot
  14. Red-Lored Parrot
  15. Squirrel Cuckoo
  16. Stripped Cuckoo
  17. Spectacled Owl
  18. Short-tailed Nighthawk
  19. White-collared swift
  20. Gray-Rumped swift
  21. Band-tailed Barbthroat
  22. Violet Sabrewing
  23. Brown Violet-ear
  24. Green Violet-ear
  25. White-crested Coquette
  26. Green Thorntail
  27. Snowcap
  28. Green-crowned Brilliant
  29. Slaty-tailed Trogon
  30. Violaceous Trogon
  31. Amazon Kingfisher
  32. Green Kingfisher
  33. Rufous Motmot
  34. Rufous-tailed Jacamar
  35. White-necked Puffbird
  36. Emerald Toucanet
  37. Keel-billed Toucan
  38. Chesnut-mandibled Toucan
  39. Lineated Woodpecker
  40. Pale-billed Woodpecker
  41. Olivaceous Woodcreeper
  42. Spotted Woodcreeper
  43. Red-faced Spinetail
  44. Fasciated Antshrike
  45. Great Antshrike
  46. Barred Antshrike
  47. Slaty Antwren
  48. Dotted-winged Antwren
  49. Bare-crowned Antbird
  50. Bicolored Antbird
  51. Spotted Antbird
  52. Ocellated Antbird
  53. Masked Tityra
  54. Long-tailed Tyrant
  55. Tropical Kingbird
  56. Piratic Flycatcher
  57. Golden-bellied Flycatcher
  58. Gray-capped Flycatcher
  59. Social Flycatcher
  60. Great Kiskadee
  61. Yellowish Flycatcher
  62. Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher
  63. Yellow-olive Flycatcher
  64. Yellow-margined Flycatcher
  65. Common Tody-Flycatcher
  66. Mountain Elaenia
  67. Slaty-capped Flycatcher
  68. Olive-striped Flycatcher
  69. Blue-and-white swallow
  70. Mangrove Swallow
  71. Brown Jay
  72. Azure-hooded Jay
  73. Plain wren
  74. Bay wren
  75. Black-throated wren
  76. Song Wren
  77. White-throated Robin
  78. Clay-colored Robin
  79. Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush
  80. Tropical Gnatcatcher
  81. Long-billed Gnatwren
  82. Yellow-throated vireo
  83. Yellow-green Vireo
  84. Bananaquit
  85. Slate-throated Redstart
  86. Chesnut-headed Oropendola
  87. Montezuma Oropendola
  88. Scarlet-rumped Cacique
  89. Yellow-billed Cacique
  90. Yellow-crowned Euphonia
  91. Yellow-throated Euphonia
  92. Olive-backed Euphonia
  93. Golden-hooded Tanager
  94. Plain-colored Tanager
  95. Rufous-winged Tanager
  96. Bay-headed Tanager
  97. Red-legged Honeycreeper
  98. Blue-and-gold Tanager
  99. Blue-gray tanager
  100. Scarlet-rumped Tanager
  101. Olive Tanager
  102. Black-and-yellow tanager
  103. Common Bush-Tanager
  104. Black-headed Saltator
  105. Grayish Saltator
  106. Black-faced Grosbeak
  107. Slate-colored Grosbeak
  108. Black-thighed Grosbeak
  109. Yellow-faced Grassquit
  110. White-colored Seedeater
  111. Variable Seedeater
  112. Orange-billed Sparrow
  113. Black-striped Sparrow
  114. Rufous-collared Sparrow
To check out the
Bird List for the
La Selva area
click here.

To learn about our other great
trips, click here.

For information about the
the price of these services, click
here.

For more information, contact us
at 1-888-203-7464 or by email at
info@pibird.com.
Costa Rica 2010
Brief Itinerary

Day 1:  Arrival transfer to Four-Star Hotel in San Jose Area

Day 2:  6 am pick up to a birding drive until we reach Rancho Naturalista lodge.

Day 3:  Day spent birding Rancho Naturalista

Day 4:  Day spent birding at the Rancho Naturalista.

Day 5:  Birding drive to Wilson Botanical Garden. This drive will take us through three
different habitats until we reach our lodge.

Day 6:  Full day spent birding Las Cruces Botanical Garden, night (Wilson Botanical
Garden) in gallery forest.

Day 7:  We bird the surroundings of the Gardens and the área of the great birding zone of the
town of
San Vito for grassland and pasture habitat.

Day 8:  Early drive to Carara Biological Reserve. A full day of birding the way on rivers, dry
forest and grassland.

Day 9:  Full day birding Carara Biological Reserve.

Day 10:  Full day birding the road that leads up to Montevede Cloud Forest Reserve.

Day 11:  Full day birding Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

Day 12:  Early departure to the lowlands of Sarapiquí. We drop from the highlands of the
cloudforest into the lowland rainforest on the Caribean side.

Day 13:  Full day enjoying the Caribean specialties at La Selva Biological Station.

Day 14:  Full day spent at La Selva Biological Station

Day 15:  Morning spent birding our last time at La Selva, afternoon birding drive to San Jose.
San José, night (hotel in San José) or pm flight home.

Please request or lodging list, our comprehensive Costs Rican bird list and a more
detailed itinerary.  
Costa Rican Guides

Adolfo "Fito" Downs

Adolfo “Fito” Downs has been interested in birding and natural history
from a young age. A native Costa Rican, “Fito” refined his excellent
birding skills and broad knowledge of natural history at La Selva
Biological Station in Costa Rica (2 years conducting field research and
guiding), and at the Smithsonian Institute in Panama (2 years). In
addition, he was the resident guide for Neblina Forest-Bolivia for
another three years! To date, “Fito” coordinates our groups in Costa
Rica.  He now leads trips in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Bolivia.


Alejandro Solano

Alejandro Solano is also Costa Rican and now resides in Ecuador.  He
has a degree in biology from Universidad Latina de Costa Rica and the
most recent acquisition to our staff.  He has developed keen field skills
and has learned to be a trip leader.  Alejandro has worked as resident
naturalist guide at Monteverde Cloud Forest and has provided
tremendous volunteer work in Costa Rica’s national parks.  He has
also worked in the United States on the MAPS project at the Institute of
Bird Populations in California and at the Redwoods Science Lab,
Trinity River Restoration Program at Humboldt University.  Besides
leading bird trips, his field experience includes surveying, mapping
nests and banding birds. In Ecuador, he has conducted bird
inventories and surveys, field projects in coastal and southern
Ecuador, and conservation work on the endangered Black-breasted
Puffleg. Alejandro has also birded Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and
southern Brazil.
Fito Downs welcomes you to some great birding.
Detailed Trip Description:  Classic Costa Rica

Arrival:  

Our personnel stationed in San Jose will greet you on arrival and transfer you to your hotel of choice. Night in
San José.

Rancho Naturalista:

Before reaching this wonderful cloudforest, we will drive through the central area of San José looking for
Snowcap, Bay-headed Tanager, and Bat Falcon

At the Rancho Naturalista we will be looking for Purplish-backed Quail Dove, Tawny-chested Flycatcher,
Crimson-collared Tanager, eight different species of hummingbirds and many more.

The highway which connects the high mountains of Cerro de la Muerte with the south Pacific valleys will give
us the opportunity to find highland specialties such as Timberland Wren, Flame-throated Warbler,
Black-capped Flycatcher, Mountain Robin, Fiery-throated Hummingbird and others.

Las Cruces Botanical Garden (Wilson BG) With enough time in a comfortable lodge, nice trails plus good
habitas, some of our target birds are Streaked Saltator, Fiery-billed Aracari, Blue-crowned Manakin and
Turquois Cotinga. In time we will be exploring the areas near San Vito. In this small town we will search for
Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Band-rumped Swift, Spot-crowned Euphonia.

On the road to Carara, we may encounter Brown-throated Parakeet, Scrub Greenlet, Yellow-headed and
Crested Caracaras, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Blue-headed Parrot. We will try to reach the grasslands and
rivers of Villa Lapas in the afternoon to explore them in daylight.

Carara Biological Reserve: we have a chance to see the wonderful Scarlet Macaw, now only found on the
Pacific slopes of Costa Rica.In adition, there are a good number of new birds for the trip including; Baird's and
Black-headed Trogons, Black-bellied and Riverside Wrens, Mangrove-black Hawk, Long-tailed Manakin, the
elusive Streaked-chested Antpitta and Royal Flycatcher.In the afternoon we visit to the mouth of the Tarcoles
River searching for Mangrove Vireo, Black-tailed Flycatcher and a variety of Shorebirds.

On our way from the Pacific lowlands to the highlands of Monteverde, with innumerable altitudinals habitats
along the road, we will stop at different points for Banded Wren, Turquois-browed Motmot and Yellow-throated
Euphonia.

Monteverde Cloudforest Reserve: we have a good possibility for the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald! The
best montane species of the área may be found here in Monteverde: Collared Trogon and Red-headed
Barbet, Emerald Toucanet, Speckled, Blue and Gold and Black and Yellow Tanagers, Golden-browed
Chlorophonia and a variety of hummingbirds including Violet Sabrewing, Green Violetear, Mountain-Gems
and others.Remember, Monteverde is home for the wonderful Resplendent Quetzal..

On the last leg of our trip, we bird the caribbean lowlands (Sarapiquí).A very important region of Costa Rica
with abundance of agricultural aereas, amazing rivers and tropical rain forest.

Here, we can find the stunning Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Keel-billed and Chestnut Mandibled Toucans,
Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Rufous Motmot and the noisy Montezuma Oropendola.The weather is humid and
usually we have very hot days. We often will have a very active morning and the activity slows down by mid day
to only start again in the late afternoon.

La Selva Biological Reserve: when birding the entrance of the station, the habitat is basically grasslands and
second-growth forest. Crimson-collared Tanager, Snowy Cotinga, Nicaraguan Seed-finch, Pied Puffbird,
Fasciated and Great Antshrikes. While on the trails, the birds we expect to see are: Great and Slaty-breasted
Tinamous, Cinnamon and Chestnut-colored Woodpecker, Black-striped Woodcreeper and a diversity of
Wrens and Tanagers.

We should mention that aside from the great bird opportunities, at La Selva reserve, mammal and reptile life
is abundant with opportunities for Two and Three toed Sloths, Howler and Spider Monkeys, Agouties,
Collared Peccaries and others.