COSTA RICA ESCAPE: SET DEPARTURE TRIP REPORT 3 – 11 JANUARY 2019 By Eduardo Ormaeche Resplendent Quetzal (photo Tracy Marr) www.birdingecotours.com
[email protected] 2 | TRIP REPORT Costa Rica Escape January 2019 Overview This Costa Rica Escape 2019 trip was our first tour of the year, starting only three days after the arrival of the New Year. It was an incredible trip, which allowed us to see the best of the country in just a week. Costa Rica is perhaps the easiest country to bird in the tropical Americas, and most of the Neotropical families are well represented. With great roads and tourist and service facilities infrastructure the country, and this trip in particular, is the best choice for those who come to the tropics for the first time. Our adventure started in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, and we managed to explore different habitats and ecosystems, ranging from the Caribbean foothills to the cloudforest mountains of Savegre in central Costa Rica to end at the Pacific slope at Carara National Park and the Río Tárcoles. Of the 934 species of birds that occur in Costa Rica we managed to record more than a third in a week only! We recorded 320 species as well as an additional three species that were heard only. Our trip list included sightings of amazing species such as Resplendent Quetzal, Boat-billed Heron, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Violet Sabrewing, Black Guan, Spotted Wood Quail, Streak-chested Antpitta, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Great Potoo, Spectacled and Crested Owls, Flame-throated Warbler, Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher, Fiery-billed Aracari, Spot- fronted Swift, Prong-billed Barbet, American Dipper, White-crested Coquette, Black- crested Coquette, Black-and-yellow Tanager, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, and White-eared Ground Sparrow.