Costa Rica Birding and Nature Expedition

Arrive at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and transfer to your hotel, suggested properties include Hotel Bougainvillea or Xandari Resort, both featuring expansive tropical gardens. Spend the afternoon adjusting to the climate while spotting blue-crowned motmots, rufous-tailed hummingbirds, and crimson-fronted parakeets. If time allows, visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens or INBio Parque, where lush gardens attract tanagers, euphonias, and oropendolas. Enjoy a relaxing evening, preparing for your journey into Costa Rica’s most diverse birding destinations.

Travel into the Talamanca Mountains, where the cool, misty cloud forests of San Gerardo de Dota provide the perfect habitat for the resplendent quetzal. Check into Savegre Hotel & Spa or Trogon Lodge, both renowned for their birdwatching opportunities. Take a guided afternoon walk along the Savegre River, where you might spot collared trogons, long-tailed silky-flycatchers, and mountain thrushes. The peaceful highlands offer a welcome contrast to the tropical lowlands, with trails winding through ancient oak forests rich with mosses, orchids, and bromeliads.

Rise early for the best chance of spotting the resplendent quetzal, which feeds on wild avocado trees in the early morning. Explore the dense forests, where you may also find flame-throated warblers, black-and-yellow silky-flycatchers, and golden-browed chlorophonias. Visit Los Quetzales National Park, where mixed-species flocks move through the treetops. In the afternoon, enjoy leisurely birding near your lodge, watching for hummingbirds like the volcano hummingbird and fiery-throated hummingbird. As night falls, listen for the haunting calls of the bare-shanked screech owl.

Descend from the mountains to the lush Sarapiquí region, one of Costa Rica’s most productive birding areas. Stay at Selva Verde Lodge or Tirimbina Lodge, both offering trails through tropical forests filled with great green macaws, rufous motmots, and white-collared manakins. In the afternoon, explore the La Selva Biological Station, where scientific research has made it one of the best places in Costa Rica to see trogons, motmots, jacamars, and tanagers. The mix of primary rainforest and river habitats ensures excellent birdwatching.

Take a boat safari on the Sarapiquí River, an excellent way to spot Amazon kingfishers, boat-billed herons, anhingas, and black-collared hawks. This region is rich with river and wetland species, including caimans and iguanas basking along the banks. Return to the lodge for a relaxing afternoon, or opt for a guided night walk to search for spectacled owls, common pauraques, and nocturnal mammals. The diversity of birdlife in this region makes Sarapiquí a true paradise for birdwatchers.

Travel to Arenal Volcano, a hotspot for mid-elevation birds. Stay at Arenal Observatory Lodge or Amor Arenal, where trails offer excellent chances of spotting keel-billed toucans, Montezuma oropendolas, and great curassows. Take an afternoon hike along the Arenal Hanging Bridges, offering a canopy-level perspective to observe tanager flocks, euphonias, and white-fronted parrots. The varied ecosystems surrounding Arenal create the perfect conditions for a wide range of bird species.

Spend the morning exploring the Bogarín Trail, a birding hotspot known for sightings of rufous-tailed jacamars, white-throated crakes, and spectacled antpittas. Visit the Danaus Eco-Center, a small reserve with excellent opportunities to see black-cheeked woodpeckers, green honeycreepers, and purple gallinules. In the afternoon, relax at the natural hot springs, where hummingbirds and flycatchers are often seen darting among the tropical flowers.

Head to Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, one of the best wetland birding destinations in Costa Rica. Stay at Natural Lodge Caño Negro and take an afternoon boat safari along the Río Frío, where you’ll see jabiru storks, roseate spoonbills, and black-bellied whistling ducks. The refuge is home to both migratory and resident species, offering incredible opportunities to see a variety of water birds. The slow-moving waterways and flooded forests make for a peaceful birdwatching experience.

Enjoy a last morning of wetland birding, looking for snail kites, sungrebes, and green ibis. Walk the trails around the lodge, where warblers, flycatchers, and oropendolas are common sightings. Begin the journey back to San José, making stops along the way for additional birdwatching. Arrive in the capital in the late afternoon and settle in for a relaxing evening at your hotel, reflecting on an unforgettable birding adventure.

Depending on your flight time, visit a final birding location such as INBio Parque or the University of Costa Rica campus, where you may spot common species like great kiskadees and clay-colored thrushes. Transfer to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) for your departure, leaving Costa Rica with an extensive birdwatching checklist and incredible memories of the country’s diverse avian life.