SPECTACULAR BIRDING IN COSTA RICA

There are a myriad of birds to be seen on the Osa, actually around 400 species, but who’s counting?  Ha ha!  You birders are, aren’t you?

Our naturalist, Sidnar, specializes in birds. Sidnar can help you spot many birds with his incredibly keen eyes, and he knows and can replicate their songs as well.

Meanwhile, ironically many birders have seen more species not tramping through the wilds, but just sitting quietly on their verandas sipping a cup of coffee. (Some of the best birding on the peninsula is right at Iguana Lodge, with tour companies bringing their clients out our way.)

We pride ourselves upon our gardens, and many of the tropical plants have been selected with the purpose of attracting birds to our area, such as the papaya tree which toucans love.

Two other fabulous birding tours are hiking with Abraham near Rio Tigre and the Rio Esquinas Mangrove boat tour which is tide dependent – at last count 55 species were spotted in one day.

Serious birders know that Neo-tropical migrants journey south from their North American breeding grounds in the fall. Species such as Warblers, Flycatchers, Thrushes, Orioles and Tanagers swell during December – March. Many long distance migrants pass at least half the year here and can be viewed not as northern birds escaping winter’s chill, but as tropical birds that travel north to breed.

The northward exodus begins in March and continues with greater intensity into May. Of course, throughout the year, we enjoy our native birds, including Trogans, Antbirds, Woodcreepers, Toucans, as well as a vast population of Amazon Parrots and Scarlet Macaws. Still an amazing site is the daily display of numerous Scarlet Macaws flying around the town of Puerto Jimenez and right here at Iguana – we have one of the largest nesting populations of Scarlet Macaws in Costa Rica.