Day 5 - 2017 Costa Rica Journal

We arranged for a private guide (Armando) to take us to the Carara National Park.  Armando is a delightful young man that knows his forest birds!

Carara National Park is a 4700 hectare protected area.  The elevations range from 328 to 1640 feet.  It is regenerating tropical lowland rainforest and tropical dry forest.  Carara is the Huetar Indian word for crocodile.

As soon as we get out of the car Armando is spotting birds!

Rufous-naped Wren

We enjoyed seeing a Turquoise-browed Motmot perched on a wire in the parking area.  This is a species of Motmot that we've not seen previously in our Central American Trips.

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Also spotted in the parking area was this Ctenosaur (aka Black Iguana) that had taken up residence in the drain pipe of an old building slab. We didn't think it was real at first!

Ctenosaur

The trails are well maintained which makes it easy to look for birds and walk at the same time!

Trail intersections were marked by these cute carvings.

We saw plenty of birds on our 6 hour trip but the Scarlet Macaw was our favorite.

Scarlet Macaw

In addition to some flying birds, Armando showed us this mated pair at a nest site.

Scarlet Macaw mated pair

We saw many different birds tucked away in the deepest, darkest parts of the forest. They were tough to see, but Mark did a great job getting bird pictures in the dark undergrowth! This little Streak-chested Antpitta is no bigger than a can of soda, and stayed on the forest floor. But his constant singing gave him away!

Streak-chested Antpitta

Another species in the antbird family was this Chestnut-backed Antbird. It was a little more cooperative.

Chestnut-backed Antbird

One group of tropical rainforest birds that we look forward to seeing are the trogans. On this walk we got great looks at both a male and female Black-throated Trogan. As is always the case with trogans, the male is more colorful than the female.

Black-throated Trogan male

Black-throated Trogan female

Other rainforest species on our walk were woodcreepers and puffbirds.

Streak-headed Woodcreeper

White-whiskered Puffbird

Armando mentioned that he has some other birding places and even some “secret” hotspots that only he knows about.  We make arrangements for him to take us out again the next morning.

We head in for lunch and relax the rest of the day.

Next time:  Day 6:  Mangroves and more great birding!

Birds seen at Carara National Park:

Great Tinamou

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Short-billed Pigeon

Ruddy Ground-Dove

White-tipped Dove

Gray-chested Dove

Squirrel Cuckoo

Band-tailed Barbthroat

Long-billed Hermit

Stripe-throated Hermit

Scaly-breasted Hummingbird

Crowned Woodnymph

Steely-vented Hummingbird

Blue-throated Goldentail

Gartered Trogon

Black-throated Trogon

Lesson’s Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Yellow-throated Toucan

Pale-billed Woodpecker

Brown-hooded Parrot (heard)

Scarlet Macaw

Black-hooded Antshrike

Slaty Antwren

Dot-winged Antwren

Chestnut-backed Antbird

Streak-chested Antpitta

Wedge-billed Woodcreeper

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Plain Xenops

Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet

Greenish Elaenia

Northern Bentbill (heard)

Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher

Eye-ringed Flatbill

Yellow-olive Flycatcher

Stub-tailed Spadebill

Golden-crowned Spadebill

Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Streaked Flycatcher

Rufous piha

Blue-crowned Manakin

Red-capped Manakin

Rose-throated Becard

Tawny-crowned Greenlet

Lesser Greenlet

Rufous-napped Wren

Riverside Wren

Tropical Gnatcatcher

Black and White Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Kentucky Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Buff-rumped Warbler

White-shouldered Tanager

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Orange-billed Sparrow

Summer Tanager

Baltimore Oriole

Mantled Howler Monkey

Central American Aguoti

Black Iguana