Birding zone 2 of 5 · The wet slope above Turrialba · Arrive San José (SJO)
The wet slope above Turrialba, where the Talamanca mountains drop toward the Caribbean. It is the smallest of our five zones and the one with the biggest reputation among birders, because one lodge made it famous: Rancho Naturalista, 125 acres of protected foothill forest half an hour from town, with hummingbird feeders on the balcony from the first breakfast and forest pools where the Snowcap comes to bathe in the late afternoon.
The foothills sit between the lowlands and the cloud forest, so you get birds from both: tanagers and toucans in the valley, the highland species on the ridge at Cerro Silencio. Five of our 45 most recent birding itineraries sleep at the ranch, more than at any lodge but Arenal Observatory, and its resident bird guides are the ones a client of ours called "absolutely stellar".
Two and a half hours from the San José airport, so it is usually the first or second stop of a trip, and it pairs with the Highlands or the Caribbean Lowlands in a week.
The map
Each number is one of the places worth the mornings below; the small dots are the 2 lodges we use here.
Every place we send birders, in all five zones, is on one map: Costa Rica birding hotspots.
Gray-headed ChachalacaOrtalis cinereicepsLoud, brown, chicken-like flocks at forest edges and fruit feeders.
Collared AracariPteroglossus torquatusRancho Naturalista's morning feeders, Carara, and the canopy at Rincón de la Vieja. All year.
Rufous MotmotBaryphthengus martiiLarge cinnamon motmot of Caribbean lowland forest
Red-headed BarbetEubucco bourcieriiThe morning feeders at Rancho Naturalista, in the foothills above Turrialba. All year.
Lanceolated MonkletMicromonacha lanceolataA tiny streaked puffbird of Caribbean foothill forest, heard before it is seen.
Red-fronted ParrotletTouit costaricensisA small green parrot with a red face, found only in Costa Rica and western Panama.
Black Hawk-EagleSpizaetus tyrannusA black, bushy-crested forest eagle that whistles from high above the canopy.
Ornate Hawk-EagleSpizaetus ornatusHigh over unbroken forest, Turrialba foothills to the Golfo Dulce. All year, with a guide and some luck.The Snowcap first: a tiny wine-coloured hummingbird with a white cap, a regional endemic, and the bird people come to this zone for. The forest pools below the lodge in the late afternoon are where it bathes. At the morning feeders Gray-headed Chachalaca, Collared Aracari, Rufous Motmot and the Red-headed Barbet, the male with a head that looks painted on.
In the Río Tuis valley the Lanceolated Monklet and the tanager flocks. On Cerro Silencio Red-fronted Parrotlet and both hawk-eagles, Black Hawk-Eagle and Ornate Hawk-Eagle, the one bird on most lists you cannot plan for; a guide who knows the territories is the difference.
And the one a lister comes here for: the Tawny-chested Flycatcher, a small bird of these wet foothills that carries the official list's regional endemic flag, with the hummingbirds at the feeders by the dozen.
Each place below has its own page: the birds to look for, getting there, when to go and the lodges we use nearby.
125 acres of Caribbean foothill forest above Turrialba with a bird list over 450: the Snowcap at the pools, the feeders, the trails and how to get there.
See the placeThe Río Tuis valley below Rancho Naturalista, a few hours or the whole day: the Lanceolated Monklet, the tanager flocks and the trips that bird here.
See the placeCerro El Silencio above Turrialba, higher and more open than Rancho Naturalista: Red-fronted Parrotlet, both hawk-eagles and tanager flocks, and our trip.
See the placeLa Angostura lake and the farmland around Turrialba: toucans and parakeets in the gardens, birds on the water, and the country hotel we use by the lake.
See the placeTwo of our lodges are in this zone: the ranch itself, and a country hotel on a working farm a few minutes from Turrialba for the birder who wants a proper bed between the foothill mornings.
Photo: Hotel Casa Turire
Turrialba
Intimate Location full of luxury in Verdant, Exotic Turrialba!
★★★★
A twelve-room country hotel on a working farm a few minutes from Turrialba, beside La Angostura lake, with toucans and parakeets in the gardens and Rancho Naturalista's forest up the valley. Where we put birders who want a proper bed between the foothill mornings.
Photo: Rancho Naturalista
Turrialba
A Birder's Paradise Awaits in the Central Valley Near Turrialba
★★★
125 acres of protected Caribbean foothill forest half an hour from Turrialba, hummingbird feeders on the balcony from the first breakfast, and resident bird guides our clients called "absolutely stellar". Five of our 45 recent birding itineraries sleep here, behind only Arenal Observatory and Trapp Family Lodge.
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