If I Were Going...: Birding in Costa Rica #9: Feeders at San Luis and Cinchona

Woodpecker, Honeycreeper and Tanagers at Canopy San Luis

Most of this blog has been fairly chronological because that’s the easiest and most logical way to do it. I am going to diverge a bit here, however. On two occasions on this trip, we stopped at locations specifically to view and photograph bird feeders.

Bananas seem to be the favorite (or the most available)

The first was Canopy San Luis, which is a Zipline/Adventure Park between the towns of La Fortuna and San Ramon just a bit southeast of the Arenal Oasis Lodge. We stopped there after our visit to the Oasis Observatory on our way to our next stop at Sarapiquí/La Selva.

Canopy San Luis feeder with (oddly) no birds

The second was Soda y Mirador Cinchona (a “soda” is a casual restaurant; a "mirador" is a tower), which we stopped at on our last day of the tour as we headed back to San José. It is just a bit north of the capital city.

Cinchona

Both have broad decks that look down on beautiful canopy habitats with feeders where fruit is put out to attract a wide variety of birds, among them some of the most colorful we saw in Costa Rica.

Cinchona deck

And, many of them were birds we saw nowhere else. So, these were what I would consider “must do” stops for anyone visiting Costa Rica.

Juan Diego refilling bananas

Yes, it’s not fully “natural,” because the birds are attracted to a central location to eat food provided to them by people.

But, finding these birds in the wild would probably take an exponentially larger time commitment. Time you may not have when you covering a lot of ground.

Sometimes, you need to be expedient.

From a photography perspective, there is the issue of fruit (often in not too attractive condition) and a small amount of artificialness in the photos (such as the nails used to spear the bananas and papayas put out for the birds).

Pretty bird, ugly environs

But, both locations have taken care to make the feeder areas as attractive as possible and the birds don’t spend every minute eating.

The San Luis canopy is beautiful

Sometimes, they perch on nearby – totally natural – trees.

Both places had nice natural spots

Be Polite

Before I cover all the beautiful birds we saw, a quick word about etiquette. These places can get crowded. You need to be aware of the people around you and rotate your time in front of the feeders. At Cinchona, some idiot set up his tripod (a very large tripod with a very large camera) right in front of the feeder and then left it there while he ate lunch.

Some of the rudest photography behavior I have seen

I was seconds away from moving it out of the way myself when he fetched it.

You also need to keep you personal space as minimal as possible (hey, cell phone photographers: pull those elbows in and stop shoving the phone right in the bird’s face).

A long lens solves the "getting up close issue" (although here, it was sometimes too much)

And, you need to be quiet and calm so as not to startle the birds.

The birds should be the only ones making noise

So, what did we see?

Tanagers

Well, there was a fantastic array of colorful Tanagers, some of which we had seen before, including: Palm Tanagers ...

Can you believe how close we could get?

Blue-gray Tanagers ...

A fairly common bird in Costa Rica

Scarlet-rumped Tanagers ...

A very common bird in Costa Rica

Bay-headed Tanagers ...

The colors are striking

Golden-hooded Tanagers ...

Look at the variety of colors!

And, then there were some startlingly new and colorful ones: Emerald Tanagers ...

Who knew there were so many gorgeous Tanagers?

Crimson-collared Tanagers ...

Stunning!

Speckled Tanagers ...

These ranged from green to yellow (with, of course, speckles!)

Silver-throated Tanagers …

These birds love the feeders

Oh, so many Silver-throated Tanagers …

Having a conversation over lunch

But, wait! There’s more ...

Honeycreepers

We saw two varieties of Honeycreepers: Red-legged and Green ...

An assortment of Honeycreepers

We had seen Red-legged Honeycreepers before, both males …

A real showman

… and females …

Feeding on a banana (literally on a banana)

... but never at such close range …

The detail is amazing

... and, never engaged in such intense interactions with other birds ...

These little birds are fierce!

As we saw with the Red-legged, the females and males look completely different, and usually, the name reflects the male’s appearance …

The male has the very red legs

An exception is the Green Honeycreeper, which is named after the brilliant green female …

This Green Honeycreeper is full-on GREEN

The male, equally beautiful, is a brilliant turquoise and black ...

This Green Honeycreeper isn't green

Would you have guessed these were the same species?

You can see some green on the male to the left

But, there’s more …

Exotic Tropical Birds

At Cinchona, we saw three new exotic-looking tropical birds, including the Red-headed Barbet, both the brilliantly colored male ...

This is the only picture I had time to take

… and the almost-as-brilliantly colored female …

These are beautiful birds

We also saw a Prong-billed Barbet …

The beak looks like molten silver

Plus, Cinchona delivered a couple of Northern Emerald Toucanets, a medium-sized Toucan …

We didn't see these anywhere else

And, at San Luis, we saw two types of Trogons, including a male Orange-bellied, which was new for this trip (and for me) and a male Gartered, which we had seen several times before …

A tale of two trogons

Woodpeckers

Both feeder locations had a number of Black-cheeked Woodpeckers ...

Left, males; Right, females

... but no other Woodpeckers. Maybe these guys just like fruit better.

Hummingbirds

I already talked about Hummingbirds at feeders in my Monteverde Cloud Forest post. I decided to leave that there instead of incorporating it here because the feeders are such an important part of the Monteverde Cloud Forest experience.

Hummingbirds in Monteverde

Both Canopy San Luis and Cinchona had Hummingbird feeders, although neither were as populated as Monteverde. However, we did see a Crowned Woodnymph (a new one!) …

The yellow is a cap of pollen

… some more Green-crowned Brilliants, male …

Just showing a little of its gorget

... and female ...

Two views

… Green Hermits ...

This female spent a long time at the feeder

... and Violet Sabrewings …

The big daddy of the Hummingbirds

In addition, Canopy San Luis had some vervain hedges that were being worked over fairly well by Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds …

They seem to prefer actual plants to feeders

… and a buddy Bananaquit …

Not a Hummingbird, but hanging out with them

I will admit that Hummingbirds were not the main attraction here, because they were less plentiful and the feeders were a bit more difficult to access, but Hummingbirds are always a treat …

Male Green-crowned Brilliant

A Variety of Other Birds

Both feeder locations provided access to a number of other birds, including several on the feeders at San Luis: a Buff-throated Saltator …

A bigger bird than a lot of the others on feeders

... and a Yellow-bellied Elaenia …

Playing hide-and-seek in the trees

Plus, there was a Great Kiskadee in the parking lot …

Great Kiskadees are everywhere

… and a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher watching the nearby San Luis zipline ...

Some birds stayed away from the feeders

At Cinchona, we saw a Baltimore Oriole …

We didn't see a lot of Orioles, but Baltimore Orioles kept showing up

... Bananaquits …

The Costa Rica ones didn't seem as bright as the ones we saw in the Virgin Islands

… and a Tennessee Warbler …

Pretty far from Tennessee

Plus, at both locations we saw Clay-colored Thrushes (of course we did) …

Hanging near the feeders

… and Common Chlospinguses (Chlorospingi? What is the plural of Chlorospingus?) …

A cute bird with an unusual name (it was formerly "Bush Tanager")

And, occasionally, Squirrels get in on the action ...

Variegated Squirrel

Great Stops

The experience at the feeders was a highlight of the trip.

Nature is amazing

So many birds.

Action on the feeder

Such close access …

Jewel-toned birds

Such fun interactions …

A Silver-throated Tanager and Green Honeycreeper fight over banana

Did, I say so many birds?

I wish more places (such as our hotels) had had feeders

I did, but it is worth mentioning again; so, so many beautiful birds …

I enjoyed this immensely

Photo: TripAdvisor

Canopy San Luis has an entrance fee to visit the feeders (about $20 per person – well worth it) and both locations are decent restaurants.

Plus, at Canopy San Luis you can watch the zipliners whiz past (or, if you have time, you can zipline yourself). San Luis has a lot of trails, as well, but we didn’t have time to hike.