Birding tours at Manuel Antonio and surroundings.



   The Manuel Antonio NP is considered one of the best sites for the eco-traveler, despite the amount of visitors it is always productive and yields a great quality of animal sightings, however, for birding there are other sites just outside of the park that are much more productive and are seldom visited by the average traveler.

As a birding guide, skills not only include quick ID by sight but also includes birding by ear. Birding thought the country has allowed me to be familiarized with the different species, and of course with special focus on the Manuel Antonio/central pacific patch, this allowing me to know the spots for some specific birds which are often in the wish list of many birders visiting this area. 

    Please notice that unlike a nature history walk into Manuel Antonio NP, birding tours are of a very different nature, although you do not have to be a bird expert to enjoy a birding trip minimum bird knowledge and binocular skills are a must to enhance the experience, each member MUST have their own binoculars, for these reasons birding tours are only offered to those so called birders.





Esquipulas bird-watching. 
Quiet, far from crowds and with abundance of birds, it describes an excellent birding place. That is the case of Esquipulas. A place 35-45min East of Manuel Antonio, located on the foothills of the central pacific, at approx 400 masl with an excellent number of endemic species found only in the SE CR and W Panama.
Esquipulas features a mixture of primary and secondary forest, house gardens and cattle pastures this makes the town of Esquipulas home to a broad variety of birds including tanager, trogons, hummingbirds, flycatchers, manakins, toucans among many others. If you are bird watching Manuel Antonio and do not want to drive to far to sites such as Carara NP this is then  the perfect option.
   The start time for this trip is between 4:45am to 5:00am depending on the sun rise, and it ends about 10:00am to 10:30am as the day warms up. 304 bird species had been reported here during my 11 years birding this site.


El rey

El rey consist of seasonal flooded rice field and grasslands, great to see herons and egrets as well as some specific birds of interest such as american-pygmy kingfisher, southern lapwing, slate collared seedeater, scrub greenlet and others. El rey has surprised us lately since 2 new bird species have been recorded for Costa Rica here; Clay colored sparrow by Danny Vasquez on April 2012 and Lined seedeater by Johan Chaves on October 2013. This site serves as an oasis to migratory birds thanks to it's location in the middle of African oil palm plantations, plenty of food and water for those birds to continue their journey home.  This birding site is best birded as a complementary/additional to Esquipulas to make a 3/4 day outing.


Carara National park & surroundings.

Undoubtedly the best birding site in the central pacific of CR. Carara it's located about 1.5hrs away from Manuel Antonio, it's position in a transition zone where the tropical rain forest meets the dry forest makes Carara the perfect home for both rain forest and some dry forest species, gathering different habitats such as primary and secondary rain forest, gallery forest, thickets, grasslands, rivers and others, simply a must visit to any birder coming to CR. Scarlet macaws, antbirds, tinamous, trogons, manakins and motmots are main target species at this park. Carara can be birded as a half day as well as a full day. 
Tarcoles river mouth and mangroves.
Also for those who want to explore the Tárcoles river after the morning at Carara there is opportunity to participate on the boat tour at Tárcoles as additional, this yields boat billed herons, roseate spoonbill, double stripe thick-knee and many other waterfowl. The 2hr boat ride with jungle crocodile safari or crocodile man tour is excellent to get good looks at some peeps also, as well as resident raze yellow warbler, common black hawk since part of their trip takes to the mangroves right at the river mouth of Tarcoles river. For the keen birder hoping to get the most species possible, a visit to the river mouth mangroves can produce Panama Flycatcher, northern scrub flycatcher, Mangrove vireo, american pygmy kingfisher and more. This is a good complement to Carara.


San Gerardo de Dota; Pacific highlands and middle elevation.

    You are staying  in Manuel Antonio and your holiday does not include areas such as Monteverde or the Talamanca mountain range? No worries! You can take one day trip and bird the highlands of CR, the Talamanca mountains and Dota region include a good array of endemic species (shared with Panama) such as Silvery-fronted tapaculo, Black-Capped Flycatcher, Long-tailed silky flycatcher, Flame-throated warbler, just to mention a few!. This trip departs very early from Manuel Antonio (before dawn) the drive approximately 3hrs takes us through some of the highest peaks of Costa Rica at elevations of 3300masl approx, where we look the highland/paramo specialists e.g volcano junco and timberline wren and then descend to the Savegre Valley with elevations around 2000masl. 

​Multiple days birding trip throughout the country.

Are you a dedicated birder planning on a 100% birding holiday in Costa Rica? Let me help you arrange an itinerary using the route that fits you best considering the birds you hope to see, including the best birding sites in CR, lodges and transportation. 

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    Inquire on a birding trip.

​I dedicate my birding guide services to the memory of who became my best friend, who thought me so much about birds and got me into this wonderful way of life, I keep his memory alive with every bird I see as there is always a story behind to be told. RIP Roy Orozco 1979-2016, he is and will be missed immensely.
Picture
An old photo of Roy and I while birding at Caño negro some years ago
“Amazing nature , bird expert”
Reviewed October 1, 2012
I wanted to hire a local bird/nature guide during my stay in Quepos, Costa Rica and felt so lucky, I hit the jackpot with Johan! His knowledge of Costa Rica's natural world is amazing. Johan is an accomplished birder, cultural guide and possesses an insatiable scientific mind. I did 2 full days of birding with Johan, that included Carara NP, Playa del Rey, Tarcoles and he was very professional, persistent, with great expertise in locating specific species. What better way to see & hear of Costa Rica than with someone who lives there and delights in sharing all he knows. I have been on professional nature tours, including VENT and Johan exceeded their standards! Johan really made my trip to Costa Rica & Quepos very worthwhile. He is the perfect nature & cultural ambassador and a very pleasant & easy guy to spend the day with, the time flew by...I learned so much !!

Janet Pellegrini 

“Top Guide”
Reviewed July 27, 2012
The bird guide network in Costa Rica worked great for us! Our bird guide in Monteverde recommended Johan Chaves when he learned we were going to be in the Manuel Antonio area. We had a 4-wheel drive, so Johan met us at our hotel and we left around 5:30 a.m. to explore Esquipulas/Villa Nueva, Johan's home territory. Johan's English is impressive as are his birding skills. Our delight at seeing "lifers" was matched by Johan's enthusiasm for birding and guiding. Because we were interested in mainly birds, Johan took us up into the highlands, helping to navigate some muddy tracks as we drove way into the country. We parked and walked the roads, with Johan locating birds or identifying ones we spotted plus offering observations about various flora as well as the way of life for people living in the area. We couldn't have spent a more delightful morning. Johan is smart, full of energy, and delightfully savvy about the business of guiding--a true contemporary professional. We can give him our highest recommendation.

Francie B.





“Not Just a Guide... A Passionate Birder!”

Reviewed August 3rd, 2015.
I met Johan while on vacation... not just mine but his as well. We were both birding in the Arenal area and Johan kept pointing out new species to me. I found myself following Johan and his wife around because he obviously knew every bird I was looking at and was very gracious with his knowledge. I finally asked him if I could join them and we spent the next hour or so birding Arenal.

As soon as Johan told me he was a guide in the Manuel Antonio area I immediately wanted to use his services on my planned visit to the area. As far as I'm concerned there is no greater testament to a GREAT bird guide than a person that goes birding on their vacations... I was so fortunate to meet Johan on his vacation.

Fortunately I was visiting Manuel Antonio on a Monday (when the park is closed), so Johan had an opening. Johan met me at my hotel at 5:30am and we spent the day visiting the Esquipulas and Playa El Rey areas around Quepos. Since I don't speak Spanish I was increadibly thankful that Johan spoke English better than pretty much any other Costa Rican I met on my 17 day vacation. Johan and I had great conversations that I will remember as much as the birding... Johan isn't just a great birder, he's a great guy!

At the end of the day (which ended because my wife called wondering where I was) Johan offered to sit with me a my hotel and go over each species we saw. Once we agreed on what we found he then offered to upload the shared list to eBird (which is great since I'm a ardent eBirder). In the end we found 105 species... more than any other day I had in Costa Rica!

I highly recommend Johan! I will definitely be visiting Costa Rica again, and I will visit the Manuel Antonio area again pretty much just because I want to bird again with Johan.

Frank Salmon, FL. USA