BWT Travel Guide

COSTA RICA
Carara National
Park is a popular
birding hotspot
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COSTA
RICA
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Montezuma Oropedola and
Keel-billed Toucan
COSTA RICA
A whole host of bird species can be enjoyed in this Central American country
WORDS: SETH INMAN
Nature Picture Library/Alamy
I
n the lower folds of Poás
Volcano’s foothills, overlooking
the city of Alajuela and Costa
Rica’s Central Valley, Xandari
Resort & Spa offers travellers what Forbes
Magazine has called ‘a mountainside
slice of paradise.’
The 40-acre property includes diverse
tropical gardens and a forest reserve with
several miles of trails that lead to
multiple waterfalls – one of which is
between 60ft and 70ft high.
A total of 130 bird species have been
reported on the resort’s eBird hotspot
(an online birding resource, which you
can view at http://bit.ly/2dpcyy1), but
Xandari is a mere 20 minutes away from
the country’s main international airport.
Hummingbirds and tanagers flit
year-round among the flowering bushes
and fruiting trees, Blue-and-white
Swallows commonly swoop down by the
sunset pool to sip water.
Strange vocalisations of the
Montezuma Oropendola, diverse tunes
from the Orange-billed Nightingale-
Thrush, and eerie whistles from Rufousand-white
Wrens drift up from the woods
below, while various species of raptor
soar thermals in the skies above.
Spot White-eared Ground-Sparrows
foraging among the leaf litter, Red-
Rufous-tailed
Hummingbird
crowned Ant-tanagers
chattering in the dense vine
tangles, and Long-tailed
Manakins performing their
mating rituals. To say
nothing of all the migratory
warblers and other families
of birds that find Xandari’s forest and
gardens to be a little oasis in the greater
overwintering haven of Costa Rica!
An orange grove is a popular area for
the local community of Blue-crowned
Motmots and one of the resident pairs of
Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers, as well as
three types of saltator that fly through
almost daily for their breakfast.
At dusk, calls from the Common
Pauraque and Laughing Falcons echo
across the hills, and if you’re lucky and
have a good torch you might spot a
Mottled Owl or Tropical Screech-Owl,
National Geographic Creative/Alamy
as well as the cute but deadly
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Dawn choruses
resound with Rufous-naped Wren chatter
and whistles from Costa Rica’s national
bird, the Clay-colored
Thrush, often
interspersed with
Yellow-throated
Euphonia and Barred
Antshrike song
depending on the
location of your villa.
One of the advantages
of being in the Central
Long-tailed
Manakin
All Canada Photos/Alamy
Valley is the proximity
to several key Costa
Rican birding hotspots.
Costa Rica’s dry season,
or summer, runs from December to April
and corresponds with the North
American bird migration, so despite the
higher rates on hotels throughout the
country it makes for better birding. The
rainy season is more affordable given the
lower amount of tourists in the country,
and often the mornings are sunny and
clear before the afternoon downpours.
With nearly 900 species recorded in
a country two-thirds the size of Scotland,
Costa Rica is a top candidate for any
birdwatcher’s holiday destination,
whether they be casual or avid!
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