Approximately 30% of tourists arrive to Costa Rica for bird watching purposes

Large numbers of tourists arrive daily to Costa to get deep into the forest to observe animals which they’re most passionate about: birds. The sighting of these colorful singers is one of the most famous activities among those visiting the country.

A survey by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) indicates that last year 29.5 % of the tourists who entered the country claimed to have made birds observation, this is equivalent to 430,000 people, this data was obtained by surveys of the non-resident individuals who entered and exited our country air in 2011, whose goal was a recreational visit.

Paul Elizondo, a researcher at INBio (National Biodiversity Institute), explains that Costa Rica is very famous in the world by the number of birds. The country has approximately 880 species of resident and migratory birds, 56 of them are endemic.

Among the species that are most commonly seen are the kettle black (Chamaepetes unicolor), the burrowing serranera or estucuru (Megascops brachyuran), the cuyeo (Caprimulgus saturatus), the colibri throat of fire (Panterpe insignis) and the hummingbird volcano or chispita volcanera (Selasphorus flammula). They also stress the goldfinch (Myadestes melanops), the volcano junco (Junco mexicana vulcani) and rualdo (Chlorophonia callophrys).

There are sites for bird watching in the entire country, being some of the most highly visited of Los Santos in the Cerro de la Muerte, the Palo Verde National Park in Guanacaste; Monteverde, Puntarenas; Tortuguero on the Caribbean and Corcovado in the Osa Peninsula. Also the Carara National Park, which borders with our housing development: Costa Montana.

The number of observed species varies constantly since, especially the migratory are in the need to change their habitats to adapt to climatic variations that you are experiencing today. The phenomenon of birds migration occurs in October in southern direction, explains Elizondo.

However, depending on the species, the migratory populations are kept until the end of March and early April. “The Caribbean and the coastal areas of the Central Pacific are excellent areas for migratory bird watching,” he added.

Although from the data of counts and the knowledge of scientists on each ecosystem lists the birds easier to see, every visitor has its own goal. The tour guide expert in bird-watching Marino Chacón adds that this is a recreational activity that brings a great passion with it.

“There are people who wait years to see a bird, that they have studied, seen in photographs and heard her singing in recordings, and for them it is something very important and find it satisfactory in live and in living color,” he explains. “I remember finally cried when I saw that hummingbird. It was my dream,” said the Canadian Sara Tellman.

To receive these passionate visitors, the country has developed an important tourist industry, which offers a convenient infrastructure and high standards of security to enter forest and observation sites”, match the ICT and Chacón.

“The person who wants to observe birds comes with that as a number one goal; then is concerned about hotel or the transport. Clear that helps you to know that tourists come to an environment of political stability and security,” adds the expert.

All these factors, as well as the increase in international visitors interested in the bird watching, both for recreation and scientific research, have increased the offer.

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