Every single morning a tap on the window wakes me up. Tap, tap, tap... Tap, tap, tap. A Social Flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis) discovered that there are (probably) dozens of tiny mosquitoes around the windows of my bedroom.
On the back, the tree where my tapping friend is nesting is full of mixed flocks, and you can hear the wooing of the Lessons’ Motmot (Momotus lessonii) entangled in the multiple chirps, whistles, and songs of a wide variety of birds that live in the cloud forest in my back patio. Behind and from a tree beyond, a whistling sound is quite familiar; the Long-Tailed Manakin males are calling from the depth of the understory.
This is a song and video created by one of Costa Rican most recognized musicians, the dance of the “Toledos”, the beautiful Long-tailed Manakins (Chiroxiphia linearis).
Enjoy: Simbiosis Song-Malpais
As I walk to the nearby Zucchero bakery to get some bread for breakfast, I run into at least three groups of birdwatchers with their binoculars pointing at a Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus), the purple prince of hummingbirds, or a small but bright Collared Redstart (Myioborus torquatus).
Tour Guides with their telescopes showing a Pale Billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) after hearing their distinctive screeching sound.
Another usual morning in Monteverde!
Why is Monteverde So Rich in Bird species?
When you walk in the different reserves of Monteverde, you will find some lookout points with the sign: Continental Divide of the Americas.
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea and the basin on the other side feeds into a different ocean or sea. (1)
As rains come from the Caribbean sea, they arrive in the area of Monteverde and turn into dense clouds that cover the peaks of the mountains. This phenomenon creates a misty fog caused by the low-hanging clouds that blanket the forests, providing the mystical atmosphere that draws so many travelers .
But it is the adaptations to this environment, where the blazing tropical sun has difficulty breaking through the dense cloud cover, that have created a vibrant and impressive ecosystem.
Orchids, lichens, bromeliads, ferns, and tall trees abound in the cloud forest. This breathtaking wilderness draws a wide range of bird, animal, and amphibian species because of the abundance of food in the environment.
The result is a diverse range of magnificent reserves, which offer the opportunity to see around 400 different kinds of birds, making Monteverde a must-see spot on any birdwatching excursion.
When to Come Birdwatching In Monteverde?
Despite climate change consequences, in Monteverde, we can identify three significant periods or seasons:
The rainy season lasts from May to November and is distinguished by sunny mornings, with brief aguaceros (afternoon storms) that punctuate the afternoons and evenings. Every once in a while, you also get a heavier storm during September, October, and November, but for the most part it’s just a bit rainier than usual.
Early to mid-November, the trade winds break, and enormous amounts of mist begin to be transported into the mountain range. You also get some stronger wind gusts up in the mountains. This transition is known as the windy-misty season, and it can extend until mid to late January.
The dry season lasts from January through April. During this period, the trade winds slow down, and cloud formation decreases.
Migratory birds begin appearing as early as September, but you can see dozens of mixed flocks with the newcomers adapting to the environment by late October, early November.
For many visitors January to April is a favorite time to come visit and go birdwatching, but for the locals it’s different. We know that there’s beautiful birdwatching to be done any time of year!
Where to go? What to see?
In Monteverde, there are no national parks. Not one. However, several different forest preserves make Monteverde a nature lover's haven.
Places to Enjoy Birthwatching in Monteverde
Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve is a 26,000-acre natural cloud forest reserve protecting 2.5 percent of the world's biodiversity. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve is a magnificent site for nature lovers, with 365 species of birds, 122 different species of amphibians and reptiles, and over 3,000 different kinds of plants.
The cloud forest is home to the area's most sought-after bird species, including the Resplendent Quetzal, the Long-Tailed Manakin, the Fork Tailed Kite, the Squirrel Cuckoo, the Black and Yellow Silky Flycatcher, the Black Guan, and Three-Wattled BellBird, to name a few.
The entrance to the reserve is a great site to see a variety of hummingbirds, including the Violet Sabrewing, Costa Rica's largest hummingbird.
The best trail to see birds is the Nuboso, followed by Camino Trail and ending in the Cuecha Trail that goes to the waterfall.
Personally, I usually hike up to El Roble, the most strenuous of all trails, going up and down in what seems to be an eternity of stairs. It’s a great bit of exercise and fantastic for a true hiking lover, but all of the trails have incredible wildlife!
Private Cloud Forest Reserve Curicancha:
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Curicancha, a lovely 205-acre property purchased by the Lowther family in 1970. Curicancha, which means "Golden Enclosure," is a name taken from the Inca language.
The property had 12 acres of pristine rainforest and 12 acres of open grazing land. The Lowthers were dedicated to reforesting the pastures to restore Curicancha to its former splendor as a rich, exuberant cloud forest.
The variety of habitats is one factor contributing to Curicancha's popularity as a birding destination. There is some primary forest, pre-montane forest, and open pasture area. Birders and photographers may visit all of the varied locations on wide, beautifully made trails, with the opportunity to see the birds that prefer each habitat.
Curicancha is an excellent spot to watch the Quetzal, Green-crowned Brilliant hummingbird, Black-breasted Wood-Quail, Emerald Toucanet, and other cloud forest birds.
Santa Elena Cloud Forest
With 765 acres (310 hectares) of cloud forests, the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is slightly higher than the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and less visited and smaller.
On the other hand, the plant-rich cloud forest provides visitors with the opportunity to see a variety of bird species, including the Resplendent Quetzal and Collared Trogon. The cloud forest is an excellent location for hiking and getting an unobstructed view of the tropical vegetation.
Santa Elena also offers a fantastic tower for observation and a tour to see the sunrise at the top of the forest.
Children´s Eternal Rainforest:
The Children's Eternal Rainforest Reserve is Costa Rica's largest private cloud forest reserve. Donations from youngsters in 44 countries around the world helped to establish the reserve. The reserve is managed by the Monteverde Conservation League, a non-profit conservation organization.
The Reserve is divided into four areas: Bajo del Tigre, San Gerardo, Pocosol, and Finca Stellar.
Bird watchers, photographers, and nature enthusiasts can tour the area independently or with a guide. With a great network of trails, the Bosque Eterno will place you right on the level of the treetops in some areas, and if you take the Murcielago Trail you will arrive at a marked area to spot the Three Wattled Bellbird.
This reserve is ideal for substantial mixed flocks as well as army ant swarms. A swarm of army ants can produce the Zeledon's Antbird and the Ochre Breasted Antpitta.
The Quetzal, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Green Hermit, and Buff Fronted Quail Dove can also be found in this reserve.
Walk Around Monteverde
Birds and birdwatchers fill Monteverde with life and sounds, joy and colors.
Monteverde is a paradise for residents and migratory birds to find shelter and abundant food with several different ecosystems.
Even beyond, it is a place where the community revolves somehow around birdwatching and birdwatchers.
For starters, the one thing in common for all tour guides in Monteverde is excellent optical gear. Beyond the expensive binoculars, having a good telescope makes a Monteverde tour guide a pro. After all, providing a good sighting of the bird you are watching is the goal of any naturalist tour guide!
It’s also worth noting that outside of the preserves, Monteverde is full of places to watch birds!
When you take a walk in Monteverde, you will find scattered, several benches looking out at the majestic view of the Nicoya Gulf. However, closer than that, there is the gorgeous forest of the Bosque Eterno de los Niños and a great chance to see hawks, kites, vultures, and even eagles flying above it.
If you walk towards the Monteverde Preserve on the sidewalk, you will arrive at a curve and a handrail on the right hand side. This is an opening to a good cliff and to the tops of some great trees that host great mixed flocks early in the morning.
As you walk some more, you will get to a bridge over a clear water creek coming from the forest as you walk. If you stop there, chances to see a multitude of birds are very high. (You will also find benches for you to sit, with your binoculars, your bird guides, and watch for as long as you want).
I have seen several types of toucans, black guans, the Golden-browed Chlorophonia(usually in big mixed flocks), and the squirrel cuckoo.
As you go on walking after the river, you will notice you are surrounded by forest. You can almost stop everywhere to watch some of the distinctive species of the area, and now and then, get a clear view of a rare target.
The forest to the right-hand side is part of the Children Eternal Rainforest.
As you arrive in the small plaza, you may choose to sit around there and wait for some passing by Keel-Billed Toucans (Ramphastos sulfuratus) on the nearby branches of the clearing: Or a mixed flock with tanagers, honeycreepers, orioles, warblers, and even at times, gorgeous hummingbirds foraging in the abundant closeby trees.
From this plaza, you may choose to walk a bit more to go into the Curicancha Preserve or the Children Eternal Rainforest.
And that’s just the start! Feel free to explore and find your own favorite spots!
Map from Ocotea Tours to Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve
What to Watch in Monteverde?
This beautiful region has many reasons to be a birdwatchers' haven. The place is breathtaking; there are different ecosystems, with all the various niches necessary to have natural biodiversity in birds.
It has a great network of well-set trails through the forests. Pasture areas, clearings, secondary forests, and quite unusual weather.
Staying in Ocotea Boutique Hotel, all you have to do is open the massive window of your bedroom and some great targets like the Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus) and the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus), may come to forage in the nearby trees.
But when it comes to birding species, there are some that birdwatchers and photographers from all over the world come to Costa Rica to see. These include:
Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno)
When you see a Resplendent Quetzal flying iridescently through the cloud forest, you can understand that it would have been considered a god for the native inhabitants of Central America.
The Resplendent Quetzal is an astonishing sight with its shimmering plumage of metallic blues, greens, and reds.
Males have a crest of bristly golden-green feathers and extended uppertail feathers that form a lengthy, floating tail during the breeding season. This magnificent species is a member of the trogon family, a colorful group of fruit-eating birds found in the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
Three Wattled Bellbird (Procnias tricarunculatus)
One of the most remarkable experiences for a newcomer in the Monteverde trails is the almost dissonant sounds that come from the tops of the trees. The bell sound is clear, and so loud it echoes throughout the forest. A call for the present moment, to stop, listen, and point binoculars to the canopy.
If you are lucky and at the top of a trail or on a platform or bridge, you may see it close by, doing all these strange cacophonous calls.
The male is unquestionable. The body is dark rufous, the head and breast are white, and three bare wattles dangle down from the bill. When singing, it usually sits prominently. The female is entirely different, having a drab olive body and yellower striping on the underparts. Identification is aided by the relatively big size, plump shape, tiny rounded head, and plain face. Found in woodlands, most often in the canopy. It's easiest to spot when it's singing, although it also eats on fruiting trees.
Spangle-cheeked Tanager (Tangara dowii)
A stunning multicolored tanager with an orangey belly, cobalt wings, and turquoise spangles on the breast, cheek, and nape. Face in black. Both genders are pretty similar, unlike the rest of the tanagers. They are small, lively, and typically seen in pairs following mixed feeding flocks in forests and margins.
Long-Tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia linearis)
This attractive, chunky little bird is primarily found in tropical forests in dry and humid lowlands and foothills. Away from display areas, these birds are usually found in ones and twos perched quietly or feeding at fruiting trees and bushes from understory to canopy. Complex displays involve loud whistles and interactions between two males.
The adult male is unmistakable. Female and young are greenish overall with orange legs and relatively long tails. Immature males have varying degrees of adult male plumage; the sky-blue back is the last appearance feature.
Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus)
The Violet Sabrewing is one of the biggest hummingbirds worldwide, shadowed only by a few other species and surpassed by the Giant Hummingbird. Although the male and female have different plumage, they both have a broad, long tail with bright white corner feathers, wide wing feathers, a large stature, and a long, curved bill similar to a hermit.
The female's beak is particularly curled; she is dark green with a gray underside and a violet neck. On the other hand, the male's plumage gives the species its name: he has a deep, solid violet head and most of his body, with dark green on some wing feathers and the lower back, a blackish tail, and the aforementioned white tail corners.
This species is easy to see in the forest because it flies low and loudly, trapping many of the same flower species as some species in the area as the hermits due to their similar beak shapes. Violet Sabrewing favors — and is quite territorial around — heliconia and banana blooms. It may appear at dusk to rob the nectar of buds that have yet to bloom or at morning to drink any remaining nectar left by the bats.
Oilbird (Steatornis caripensis)
This unusual nocturnal fruit-eating bird is hard to mistake as well!. It is a rufous-brown bird with tiny white spots on the wings, tail, and body, and it has a pinkish bill with a powerful hook. Both sexes are comparable.
The oilbird breeds and roosts in caves or steep dark ravines in colonies, but away from a recognized colony, it isn't easy to find. You can occasionally spot it soaring over the forest canopy at dawn or dusk though, and if you do, its greater size, bulkier shape, and floppier flight style distinguish it from other crepuscular birds such as nighthawks.
And this is just the start!
Some other great targets in Monteverde are the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus), Magenta Throated Woodstar (Philodice bryantae), Collared Redstart (Myioborus torquatus), Azure Hooded Jay (Cyanolyca cucullata), Purple Throated Mountain Gem (Lampornis calolaemus), Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus), Red-Tailed Hawk (Resident), and we can also mention some thrushes like the Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris).
There’s a lifetime of birds to discover here!
Birdwatching while at the Ocotea Boutique Hotel
Our friends at Ocotea know a thing or two about bird watching thanks to their decades of experience in the region, and this beautiful boutique hotel can be hard to beat.
Each of the spacious rooms has huge windows and balconies strategically situated to be facing the extensive views to the Pacific Ocean, or the gardens of the hotel filled with the trees that feed the Monteverde birds, including, of course, an Ocotea tree, the species of tree Resplendent Quetzals eat from.
You’re also located in the heart of Monteverde, just a few minutes drive from all of its beautiful reserves and birdwatching spots. Add in the fact that the Ocotea team is basically on first name term with every naturalist and tour guide in the region, and you have a recipe for a birdwatching adventure of a lifetime!
Hope to run into you around here soon!
Adventureblog. "What is the Continental Divide - The Great Divide?." The Adventure Company. 30 Nov. 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2021. https://www.theadventurecompany.com/continental-divide-in-colorado/
