More than 800 species of birds have been seen within the borders of this small country. To conserve this diversity, almost 30% of Costa Rica is contained in National Parks and Reserves, ensuring that it will be protected for many generations to come.
We’ll explore a wide variety of habitats as we search for the Keel-billed Toucan, Lesson’s Motmot, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, and so much more. One of the highlights will be our search for the Resplendent Quetzal, considered by many to be the most beautiful bird in the world.
We’ll explore the pristine rainforests, estuary and mangroves of the beautiful and remote Osa Peninsula, where we’ll seek out Scarlet Macaws, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager and Yellow-billed Cotinga. We’ll visit the cloud forest slopes of the Tapanti National Park where warblers and tanagers abound, and we’ll hike the lowland rainforest at the famous La Selva Biological Station in search of mixed-species flocks including cotingas, saltators and woodcreepers.
In Tortuguero, “the Amazon of Costa Rica,” we’ll see herons and egrets by boat while parrots fly over and howler monkeys roar in the distance. We’ll also visit the temperate high mountains of the Talamanca Cordillera, where highland tropical birds including an impressive diversity of hummingbirds are found. We could see up to 300 species of strange and colorful birds on this trip, along with a number of amazing mammals, colorful butterflies, and bizarre reptiles.