Birding Two Diverse Rain Forests in Costa Rica
by Pamela Conley

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The rented jeep groaned and bounced down the steep descent to the canyon floor.

My husband, Dennis Beall and I had driven the two hour drive from the capitol of Costa Rica, San Jose, to the famous mountain area of Cerro de La Muerte. First missing the turn, we turned back and finally located the hand-painted sign on a concrete bus stop that pointed to the entrance of a dirt road. The road was approximately nine steep kilometers with many twists and turns before we arrived at the foot of the beautiful valley floor with many deciduous trees and a rushing river. The vertical incline began at 9,000 feet elevation and descended to the lodge at 7,200 feet.

We had arrived at Savegre Mountain Lodge (also known as Las Cabinas de Chacon) owned by the Chacon family, a three generation family owned resort that caters to bird watchers, fisherman, and naturalists. After settling into our modest but cozy wood cabin complete with heaters and plenty of blankets to ward off the cool temperatures at night, we headed for the restaurant for a mouth-watering lunch of batter-fried fresh fish caught that morning.

The lodge had several busy hummingbirds feeders that attracted a constant whirling frenetic display of several species of hummingbirds. Within a few minutes of watching the feeders, we saw the magnificent little hermit, scintillant, volcano, and white-necked jacobin hummingbirds.

It began to rain after lunch, so we sat on the porch watching shiny blue and white swallows flying randomly over the cabins and lodge. The rain slowed to a drizzle and we decided to take a walk following the river upstream. We watched two dippers doing their water dance on the edge of the rocks. The rain began to stop and the sun came out. Suddenly, the chirps and chips of birds came from everywhere. The next hour was an intense hour of birding. There were so many birds and many of them were new to us. We were easily able to identify yellow-bellied siskin, sooty-capped bush tanager, ruddy-capped nightingale thrush, black-billed nightingale thrush, gray-breasted wood-wren, slaty flower piercer, and the gray-tailed mountain gem. Many North American warblers added to the confusion and the audacious behavior of the rufous-collared redstart became distracting.

The next day we decided to hike to Cataract Waterfall. A torrent tyrannulet wagged his tail upwards on the rocks in the water. A dainty flycatcher without a crest spends his time hopping on rocks near the water catching insects. The first exciting birds of the day was a silver-throated tanager, a spectacular bright yellow bird with indeed, a silver throat. A flock of spangled-cheek tanagers were foraging low and we were able to see their iridescent blue dots forming a wide necklace around their collars.

The trail became narrow and climbed upwards and then steeply descended, but with the roar of the falls becoming louder, there was no turning back. Nearing the falls in a bright sunny spot, we saw a warbler with a gray back and a white breast. I gasped when he turned around and I saw his blazing red throat. "Flame-throated warbler," Dennis called out. This and the silver-throated tanager were two of our target birds for this destination.

The falls were only 20 feet further. Tons of water poured down with powerful force into a large pool that raged over large boulders heading toward the Pacific Ocean. The steep climb from the falls at the high elevation of 7,000 feet made me feel a few moments of lightheadedness, but the thrill of seeing a flame-throated warbler and the spectacular falls will always be a sweet memory.

Found only at higher elevations, the resplendent quetzal makes its home near Savegre Mountain Lodge. The lodge is touted as one of the best places in Costa Rica to see the quetzal. And the guides and employees take the job of finding quetzals for their guests seriously. Dennis and I were in the process of getting dressed at 6:30 am the next morning when there was a knock at the door and at the window. Rolando, the manager of the lodge excitedly called out "quetzal, quetzal, behind the cabins." Dressing haphazardly, we grabbed our binoculars and flew out the door. A small group of bird watchers and a guide with a telescope were gazing at a tree. The guide told us to look into the scope. A brilliant male zoomed in for the closest look I've ever had. We watched enthralled while the female flew from a nest hole and took her place next to the male. I watched the two sit quietly side by side while the male's elegant elongated tail feathers softly caressed her in the early morning breeze. After a few minutes, the female took off to investigate the hole. The female had laid eggs in the hole last year, and so the prospect for mating this year was good.

After breakfast, we decided to take a trail on the Mirador property next to the lodge. We crossed a bridge that led to a lovely camping area with a swimming hole and began the steep climb up the trail behind the meadow. As we stood gazing out over the forest, a pair of quetzals flew into a tree below us. We waited for a few minutes while listening to them call. Then to our delight, we watched four quetzals chase each other in a territorial display. Watching the chase from the vantage point above, the quetzals floated like giant green butterflies with tails of streaming ribbon. The display was magnificent.

We entered the darkness of the forest and began our climb through the jungle. The forest began to come alive with bird movements in the high canopy above where the sun's rays touched the tops of the trees.

As we came down from circling the mountain top, we came across a beautiful creek. Suddenly an explosion of rapid wing beats took off a few feet away near the edge of a stream. Four spotted wood quails flew across the stream and disappeared into the darkness. With our binoculars, we finally located two of the camouflaged birds blending perfectly under the roots of a tree. Only the slightest movement helped us find them.

Pleased to have spotted these most secretive birds, we continued happily down the trail when I spotted a squirrel in a tree about twenty feet above us. I pointed to it and then the squirrel moved. My mouth fell open and I whispered, "Oh my god, it's a black guan." One single black bird the size of a turkey emerged from behind the trunk of the tree peering down at the strangers below. With a sleek black body and a smallish head, the bird had red eyes with a spot of iridescent blue behind the eyes that glistened as a show girl's eye shadow. There was a burst of flight and the bird disappeared into the darkness of the forest. We had found one of our hardest target birds and in the process had also found four bonus wood quails. As we emerged from the shadows of the forest into the bright sunlight, a small flock of squawking sulpher-winged parakeets flew above us. With emerald green quetzals, secretive black guans, and parakeets flying free and wild, I felt blessed to live in such a colorful mysterious world.

After a large breakfast the next day, we checked out of our room and said our farewells to Savegre. We climbed our way up the mountain stopping to bird in hopes of finding the zeledonia, a small round, greenish-brown bird with long legs. The bird kept evading us, but finally came out for a good look and were we were able to claim the zeledonia on our checklist. After departing Savegre Wildlife Refuge, we headed for the lowland rain forests of La Selva, passing through Braulio Carillo National Park. This is some of the most vast and rugged country I have ever seen. It appears almost impenetrable except for the road. Ten years ago, I remember it being completely inaccessible. Now, there is an aerial tramway through the tops of a rain forest, some fancy headquarters before going through the tunnel, and a few places along the side of the road to pull off. We did find on the north end of the park, a place called Las Palmas, an interpretive center with a short 1.6K trail. We did not see much in the way of birds at high noon, but did find the orange-billed sparrow. We spotted a pregnant spider monkey lazily hanging from a tree with one hand, her tummy round and ready to give birth, idly eating fruit with the other hand. A younger monkey, probably one from last year, played in the top of the tree above her. While monkeys fed in the high canopy, giant blue morph butterflies danced a mating ritual in the darkness of the canopy floor. We drove from there on to La Selva. Now at sea level, we found ourselves in a hot humid tropical lowland jungle.

La Selva

Our early morning walk the next day at our hotel garden found a bounty of birds. A papaya tree with several cracked and sticky over-ripe fruit was filled with birds devouring the sweet fruit; several clay-colored robins, red-legged honeycreepers, blue and gray tanager, and a new life bird, the black-cheeked woodpecker. High in the branches of another fruit tree, we watched two stunning golden-hooded tanagers sparkle turquoise and golden yellow as the morning sun reflected their brilliance. A pair of scarlet-rumped tanagers stood out like red flowers in a tree.

Following breakfast, we drove to the La Selva Verde Lodge to bird their premises. This is an old, well-planned and established lodge built on stilts that caters to bird watchers. Covered walkways, high above the ground gave great views of the lush plants and wildlife.

I watched what I thought to be a brown swallow flying randomly and then suddenly land on a tree. The swallow instantly, in my mind, became a treecreeper. But when the binoculars were focused, the bird suddenly became a soft chestnut-colored bat hanging upside down.

While walking through a mature forest, the silence can be deafening, then suddenly the forest will awaken from its deep sleep and become alive with activity and bird song. The bird activity and movement was everywhere. But what caught our attention was the flapping of large birds moving in the high canopy. Finally, we located the bright red rear-end of a toucan. But which toucan was the question. If it was a chestnut-mandibled toucan indeed it would be a life bird and it was. Several chestnut-mandibled toucans called their repetitious kreel kreel kreel over and over. Then two more toucans flew into the same tree. I watched a keel-billed toucan with its enormous rainbow bill try and replace a chestnut-billed toucan. The two similar bird species jostled for a few seconds. The chestnut-mandibled in spite of his size held his territory, but shortly after the dispute, both species of toucans moved to settle the dispute, the keel-billed to the left, and the chestnut-mandibled to the right. Clearly, neither species wanted to be near the other but were attracted to the same fruit.

The trail led down to the rushing river, the Rio Saraquipi, where a large green iguana took off for the leaves in the underbrush. I startled a large brown and round rodent with short mouse-like ears called a paca, and we watched a new hatch of bright yellow and violet butterflies flapping over the river.

At our hotel in La Selva, someone came over to our table at breakfast the following morning and told us to go outside and see the Jesus Christ Lizard. I thought the name was absurd, a lizard named after Jesus Christ. Up in a tree was a large slender, green lizard that appeared more like something green and scaly that had risen from the swamp with long fins for feet. Never had I seen anything like it before. Dennis informed me this was the lizard that can walk on water.

We drove to La Selva Verde and paid to bird the secondary forest across the highway. I found a tiny iridescent green frog with black spots and watched it eat ants with its long tongue. Butterflies and birds dazzled us, the birds with their numbers and activity, and the butterflies with their sudden brilliance of color and designs. We took a long walk in a dark humid forest. At times the stillness and dampness of the forest seemed oppressive. Not even a branch moved and when we emerged, we felt as though we had been in a sauna.

My biggest disappointment in this region is so much of the tropical lowland forest has been cut and carved by man. Only pockets of what use to be lowland hardwood forest are left remaining. you can see toucans and parrots flying from one patch to another over fields of agriculture. I realize now why lowland tropical forest is so vulnerable. It is much easier to cut and slash flat lowland jungle than it is to attack a highland rain forest. However, even at Savegre, I was amazed to see where apple orchards and other crops grew on steep slopes. All rain forests are susceptible.

This afternoon, Dennis and I visited Finca El Bejuco. This was barely mentioned in a guidebook and sounded intriguing. It is a private finca of 30 hectares of tropical forest, 66% of which is a mature tropical rain forest. We found the trail map to be confusing as we had to backtrack several times and take the same way out. A rain forest without a trail map is the most difficult maze ever created.

Several white-collared manakin males surprised us with the whirring of their wings and the snapping sound they make to attract a mate. We had found a lek. These cute little puffed up birds had black caps and red feet, with a large white collar on a bright yellow front with black wings. We neared the lek of male birds competing for females, the forest was filled with the sound of whirring wings, and loud clicks sounding like snapping fingers. The males puff up their white collar, so it appears to be a beard, and then fly a short distance, the wings creating a whirring nose like a small wind up toy. Then the dance begins. Lined up like a line dance, they begin their clicking noise. Each time the "snap," they jump about a foot like Mexican jumping beans.

Unfortunately, the birds were not active because of the time of day. We were sweating gallons of water and itching everywhere. We did locate several collared aracari in the high canopy above us quietly eating fruit. After we emerged from the deep forest gasping for fresh air, we saw five lineated woodpeckers working several dead trees. A small flock of white-fronted parrots flew into the trees above.

We left Costa Rica with the memory that it exists and continues to support the birds and wildlife that once was here in even larger numbers. "Forests are the living vestment of our Mother Earth, a utilitarian garment essential to her health and well being; for when stripped of this attire her sensitive skin and flesh are chafed away by rain and wind." Alexander F. Skutch, co-author of A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica.

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