Butterflies and Hummingbirds You Can See At Ocotea Boutique Hotel

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

-Henry David Thoreau

There is magic that happens when I see a butterfly or a hummingbird in Monteverde. Maybe it’s the fog in the forest, or it is about their iridescent colors, but there is a part of my mind that scintillates when I witness their bright colors illuminating the space, like fairies coming from a mysterious fantasy.  

Both butterflies and hummingbirds are, in many cultures, symbols of joy, abundance, or good luck. And if you focus enough, and you pay full attention to their perfect colors and their amazing dance, you will notice that they’ll touch you too, with their fragile yet powerful beauty. 

In this post, I will tell you about the different hummingbirds, their relations with the orchids and bromeliads, and the butterflies you may see from your balcony in the gardens of Ocotea or while walking around in the different areas. 

They are all magnificent. Even the Caligo butterfly, with its dark browns and blacks, is a majestic piece of art on each scale. 

We will start this journey with the hummingbirds, these jewels of the cloud forest. 

Out in the Garden: Beautiful Butterflies and Hummingbirds You Can See At Ocotea.

Hummingbirds

Species of Hummingbirds in Monteverde

The violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus)

Long-billed Hermit (Phaethornis longirostris)

Purple-crowned Fairy (Heliothryx barroti)

Fiery-throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis)

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl)

Hummingbirds and Orchids

Bromeliads and Hummingbirds

Butterflies in Monteverde

Blue Morpho Butterfly

Glass Wings Butterfly

Heliconius Butterflies

Caligo Butterfly (Also called Owl Butterfly)

The Malachite Butterfly

In Conclusion

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are the world’s tiniest birds, with the fastest wings, and they also have the biggest brains in proportion to their weight. 

Hummingbirds’ wings may beat up to 100 times per second, producing a buzz that can be easily confused with that of a bumble bee. They are also territorial and aggressive and have a great memory span. 

And they have far more unique flight capabilities than any other bird. They are able to fly not only forward but also backward, sideways, and straight up. (1)

And they are everywhere in Monteverde! 

Species of Hummingbirds in Monteverde

There are between 325 to 340 hummingbird species (Trochilidoe Family), making it the 2nd largest family of birds after Flycatchers.

Hummingbirds live only in the New World, including all of the Americas. Although in North America, there are only approximately 23 species of hummingbirds, in Costa Rica there are 54 kinds and in Monteverde alone, you can find up to 16 different types. Sometimes several together in some privileged areas and hummingbird gardens. 

In our gardens, we have planted some favorite hostplants to attract them for your delight and their conservation.  

The hummingbirds that you can find in Monteverde are: 

(2)

Some of the hummingbirds of the list above are migratory, or rare visitors, however among the most frequent you can find: 

The Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus)

This is the second biggest hummingbird in the world and breathtakingly beautiful. It is aggressive, territorial, boisterous, and quite common in our gardens. 

Long-billed Hermit (Phaethornis longirostris)

Another big hummer! Hermits can follow color easily and are some of the few hummingbirds that will come straight to you if you have a red or pink shirt on. They will just check you out and leave. It’s quite a cool experience! 

Purple-Crowned Fairy (Heliothryx barroti)

One of the most beautiful due to the different colors of its plumage, that shine incredibly in the light. 

Fiery-Throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis)

This beauty is a fantastic picture if caught under the right light. It is usually seen taking nectar from the bromeliads and long trumpeted flowers and it is quite dominant and hostile to other hummers.  

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl)

This is the most common hummingbird in Costa Rica, you will see it in the garden as much as close to the roofs looking for spiderwebs to catch a bite. 

Hummingbirds and Orchids

The rainforests of the New World tropics support the largest plant biodiversity of any natural ecosystem on the planet. And among this impressive biodiversity, the epiphytes are the most common -and probably essential for survival- sort of plant. 

Epiphytes are not a species, but a way of survival in the rainforest. These are plants that rely on host trees for support yet get their nutrition from their microenvironments. In fact, epiphytes make up 2/3 of the species of plants in Monteverde. And you will see many of them from your balcony in the Ocotea Boutique Hotel. 

Orchids are the most numerous epiphyte family (although not all orchids are epiphytic, with some being terrestrial herbs or climbers). These members of the enormous, worldwide plant family Orchidaceae are known for their intricate blossoms, which are architectural wonders of nature.

And Monteverde has the greatest known orchid variety on the planet. The overall number of orchids in the forest is likely to surpass 500 species, however recording them all is difficult due to their uneven distribution, frequently at tremendous heights above the tree tops.

This feature has created an adaptation in several species with long-tongued pollinators. 

And although insects, primarily bees, pollinate orchids, hummingbirds are an essential pollinator group.

Seeing these little birds in action around the majestic orchids in the gardens of the Ocotea Boutique Hotel is one of the most genuine joys for our visitors, especially photographers. 

Bromeliads and Hummingbirds

Costa Rica also has more than 2,000 different species of bromeliads, which are mainly found in the rainforests and higher-altitude cloud forests such as Monteverde.

Bromeliads are the most valuable water reservoirs in the forest. 

Called by our biologists the “aerial swamps of the rainforest” these plants are literally tanks of water that work as nurseries and habitats for all sorts of creatures from small insects to the tadpoles of several sorts of frogs that are born and raised in the safe environment up on the canopy. 

These amazing and super useful plants also have some of the most colorful flowers in the cloud forest, and it is always amazing to see hummingbirds around their amazing flowers. 

Butterflies in Monteverde

Now, on to the other gorgeous visitors from our gardens! Costa Rica has over 14,000 species of butterflies, and  around 750 are found in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. 

However, we are going to list here the ones that you’ll see the most in our gardens and surroundings of the Ocotea Boutique Hotel: 

Blue Morpho Butterfly

The sublime beauty of the Blue Morpho is an experience in itself. 

With a bright iridescent blue on one side of its wings and a brown-black complex design on the other, this magnificent creature seems to twinkle when it travels through the forest. Like a fairy. 

Glass Winged Butterflies

There are around 60 species of glass-winged butterflies. They share a couple of features: their magnificent crystal-like wings give them a fragile and almost ethereal appearance, and they live in the shades of the forest. 

You may see them flying from one branch to the next looking for some warmth in a clearing, but if you want to finally catch the perfect picture, it will be when they are finally immobile on a leaf, shaded, and close to the ground. 

Heliconius Butterflies

Heliconius butterflies are a charming group of butterflies with distinctive black elongated wings that have been decorated with splashes of color ranging from narrow yellow and red bands in some species to huge swaths of mottled orange in others.

They have one feature in common though, because of their diet, they are toxic for birds and other predators to eat, making them one of the most common and visible butterflies in our gardens and everywhere Monteverde. 

Caligo Butterfly (Also called Owl Butterfly)

This huge butterfly is actually almost nocturnal. You will usually find it at twilight, or at dawn flying in the lower areas of the gardens.  You can always recognize it for the very characteristic “eye” shape in its wings. They love to eat fermented fruit juices.

The Malachite Butterfly

The malachite is a beautiful and quite common butterfly in Costa Rica and in Monteverde. It has black and brilliant green or yellow-green wings on the upper side and light brown and olive green on the underside. 

Come Explore the Gardens with Us

When you stay at the Ocotea Boutique Hotel you don’t even have to leave your room to see the wonders of Monteverde. Just wander the gardens, and you’ll never know what you might find. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the beautiful wildlife you can find here and throughout Monteverde, you can contact us right here!

References: 

James White. "Hummingbird Species. Listed by states and provinces.." Hummingbird-Guide.com. n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2022. <https://www.hummingbird-guide.com/hummingbird-species.html>

N.a. "Bird Checklist for Monteverde Area." Exoticbirding.com. 11 Aug. 2022. Web. 9 Sept. 2022. <http://www.exoticbirding.com/costarica/monteverde/checklist.html>

Cole, Brodi. "The Best Places to See Monteverde Hummingbirds 2022." Our Offbeat Life. 15 Aug. 2022. Web. 9 Sept. 2022. <https://ouroffbeatlife.com/monteverde-hummingbirds/>

N.a. "Bromeliads & Orchids**." Epiphytes.weebly.com. n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2022. <http://epiphytes.weebly.com/bromeliads--orchids.html>