Costa Rica is world famous for its birding and wildlife. More than 830 species of birds can be found here! Other wildlife is also prolific with some 400 species of amphibians and reptiles; 200 mammal species including four types of monkeys and two and three toed sloths; abundant fish and marine life; and many thousands of insects including several hundred butterflies. Costa Rica is a truly great place to visit for birders and naturalists who enjoy the outdoors and viewing wildlife! The flora is also great with thousand of different types of plant life including beautiful orchids and bromeliads, and fantastic jungles full of hundreds of different trees. The tree-lined rivers attract birds and wildlife and facilitate seeing it since you can view the forest canopy from a clear area.

With so many birds, it is no wonder that Costa Rica is such a popular place to see them. Not only are the numbers large, but also many are beautiful and exotic so that even non-birders take great pleasure in spotting them! Among the beautiful species we regularly see are: Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled toucans, tiger herons, motmots, trogons, hummingbirds, and the Sunbittern as well as parrots and macaws. We regularly see and identify these birds and many more. One of the most useful tools for birders is the book A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch. The new Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean, two of Costa Rica's premier birders, is much smaller and easier to carry and is even more useful for identifying birds, so if you only have one book, it is probably the best. We always bring a copy along on trips but avid birders may want to consider buying a copy of their own. Those coming to Costa Rica with the prime purpose of adding the largest number of birds to their life lists may wish to engage a local bird guide. CCR would be glad to help make contact with such a person and could coordinate a land /water tour to make your visit efficient. You will find links to several of these expert birders on our links page. For many others interested in birds but who also want to paddle and explore Costa Rica, we can help you see and identify many great birds and see lots of other wildlife.

Some areas we visit are especially good for birding although you can spot exciting birds almost anywhere. We frequently see interesting birds such as toucans, parrots, raptors, and even exotic birds like the Scarlet Macaw while driving along. All the rivers have a great variety of birds, but if birding is of significant interest, you will want to visit Cano Negro as part of your trip! There you combine interesting paddling with seeing Roseate Spoonbills, White and Green Ibis's, Wood Storks and even Jabirus, Black-necked Stilts, Black-bellied Whistling ducks, as well as Boat-billed and 8 other herons, Olivaceous Cormorants, Anhingas, four species of kingfishers, and seemingly countless other birds.

A second great birding area is the Sarapiqui region, where you see some of the same birds, but also many smaller species such as tanagers, warblers, and flycatchers. La Quinta de Sarapiqui, the lodge we usually stay at in this region, has bird feeders where many birds can be viewed during meals or you can sit in the rocker on your cabin's front porch and watch them flit by. We also see trogons, oropendolas, owls and kiskadees on the grounds. On the rivers near here we often see the beautiful Sun-bittern. Nearby is La Selva biological station. This is one of the best birding hot spots in the country with a bird list well over 200 species. Guides at La Selva give excellent nature tours to meet the visitor's interests, and it is one of our frequent stops.

Another particularly good birding area we frequent is the Tamarindo Estuary. In this area we see many shore birds such as gulls, Magnificent Frigatebirds, and Brown Pelicans, as well as White-throated Magpie-jays, Ospreys, Herons, Limpkins and Parrots. (A visit to this area also provides the opportunity to view one of nature's marvels, the nesting of the giant leatherback turtles.)

A fourth, excellent birding area is found on the Rio Tres Amigos and the nearby Laguna del Largato Lodge close to the Nicaraguan Border. On the river we see the less common birds on just about every trip including the King Vulture. The lodge features a viewing deck where you see a large variety of birds including Toucans, Aracaris, Parrots and Tanagers. The great green macaw is a frequent visitor here!

Other good birding areas include the area around Carara National Park and the Tarcoles River where Scarlet Macaws are frequently spotted. This is South West of San Jose on the Pacific coast on the way to Manuel Antonio National Park and wild life sanctuary. The Corobici and Tenorio rivers provide excellent birding including Tiger, Night, and Boat-billed Herons, Motmots, and Squirrel Cuckoos. For those who would like to see the Resplendent Quetzal, we visit three good viewing areas, San Gerardo del Dota off the Cerro del Muerte south of San Jose, Monteverde, and Western Panama near Guadalupe. Other notable birding areas we visit include: Wilson Gardens in southern Costa Rica, the Osa Peninsula, the Tempisque River and the area near Chirripo.

If birding is one of your interests, we can put together an itinerary that will maximize your opportunity to see birds from both the land and from the water in small boats. Visiting many of the areas mentioned above can combined in a loop that minimizes time spent traveling to the different locations. If there are birds of special interest to you, please let us know, since some birds are only found in certain areas and we can develop an itinerary that will maximize the chances for seeing these birds.

"The birding was great. We added about 2 dozen new species to our life list. The most exciting one was a white hawk that landed in a tree along the river we were paddling and frightened a small group of monkeys into leaping from one tree to another across the river directly over our heads! Unforgettable!"
Tim and Rainy Hartley, Roosevelt NJ


WILDLIFE

As indicated earlier, a great variety of wildlife is seen on our trips. On just about any of our trips you can expect to see several of the four species of monkeys, a sloth and frequently White-nosed Coatis. All the monkeys are interesting to observe from the black howler monkeys with their otherworldly cries, to the cute little squirrel monkeys scampering through the trees. On some trips we see all four varieties of monkeys found in Costa Rica and both the two and three toed sloths. (For anyone really interested in sloths, and wishing to visit the Caribbean, there is a fascinating sloth sanctuary where you can learn all about them and hold one in your arms.) We see other mammals such as bats and squirrels frequently and some others such as peccaries, river otters, agoutis, anteaters, and armadillos occasionally. Large cats are nearly impossible to spot although they live in some of the areas we visit. What mammals you see will depend partially on the itinerary you select since certain of the animals live only in specific areas.

Reptiles and amphibians also make for great viewing. If you visit the Sarapiqui, you will usually see the blue jean and possibly the green and black poison dart frog. Other frogs are common also, but are not as colorful. Caiman are seen in many locations and crocodiles in several. There are many turtles and we see several kinds on the rivers. At Playa Grande the giant leatherback turtles nest, one of natures most rewarding spectacles. The green, loggerhead, olive ridley, and hawksbill are other sea turtles that nest in Costa Rica. Green and Spiny-tailed iguanas are seen frequently and in many areas. The green iguanas live in the trees that overhang the rivers and sun themselves in the branches that we pass underneath. One of the most striking reptiles we see is the green basilisk lizard that can run on top of the water and frequently is seen doing so, on several of the rivers we paddle. The Jesus Christ lizard does the same but is less striking in appearance. Snakes are rarely seen, but there are several good serpentariums we can visit if they are of interest.

INSECTS

Although insects are frequently one of the things most travelers hope to avoid, especially mosquitoes and other biting kinds, many others can be quite interesting in the tropics where they come in large and beautiful forms. One of the most beautiful is the butterfly, and in Costa Rica alone almost 1000 species have been identified. We regularly see the beautiful blue morpho and other exotic butterflies on the rivers while paddling. We see beautiful dragon and damselflies on the rivers as well. There are numerous butterfly gardens we can visit where you can see the various stages in the butterflies life cycle as well as view the beautiful butterflies. At least two kinds of ants are particularly interesting. The leafcutter ants can be seen in many areas carrying foliage into their nests and the giant bullet ants can be found foraging in the rainforest.

FLORA

The variety of plant life is overwhelming and beyond the limited space available here for any comprehensive discussion. There are at least four different environments of special note: the tropical rainforest, the cloud forest, the tropical dry forest, and the mangrove estuary. Each of these is a very different environment and you may want to plan to see them all during your visit.

Some of the plants of greatest interest to visitors are orchids, bromeliads, flowering plants, and trees. More than 1400 species of orchids have been identified in Costa Rica and one of them, the Guaria Morada, is the national flower. They can be found in the jungles and forests we visit, but for those who are really interested, a visit to one of the many orchid gardens may be in order. Bromeliads are epiphytes and live on the trees in the rainforest. They are air plants and have no roots in the ground. They get all they need from the air and rain that falls on them. Many of them have beautiful flowers that you can view from the rivers. Some of the most beautiful flowering plants are heliconias of which there are many varieties. They are relatives of the banana and there are whole gardens devoted to them. Many other beautiful flowering plants like bougainvillea, impatiens, hibiscus, and angel's trumpet, regularly brighten the landscape.

There are hundreds of different varieties of trees found here. A number flower and add great beauty to the landscape. The different types of flowering trees usually blossom at different times. Trees of various shades of red, yellow, orange, and pink are seen at different times of year. It seems like at least one type of tree is almost always in bloom. There are many fruit trees as well. Other trees of special interest include the Ceiba, a gigantic tree that is considered sacred by indigenous people and is also one of the fastest growing. The cecropia tree has leaves that are favored by many sloths and consequently is a good place to look for them. The strangler fig drops roots from the canopy to the ground and gradually kills the host tree over many years. Many other trees are used to make fine furniture and other objects such as the cocobola or rosewood, nazareno or purple heart, tempisque, guapinol, cenizaro, cristobal, ron ron, and balsamo or monkey wood. Still more trees are valuable for construction and other purposes.

Lankester Gardens west of San Jose and Wilson Gardens near the Panama boarder as well as La Selva, are excellent places to study tropical plants.