Birding in Costa Rica #10: La Selva and Central Manu

Keel-billed Toucan with its adorable little  "bow" on its rump

After our morning at the Canopy San Luis Feeders, we headed back north and then east to Sarapiquí in the Province of Heredia. The area is named after its major waterway, the Sarapiquí River. The weather got hotter and more humid, the traffic got heavier and we saw a lot more evidence of agriculture. There were fruit stands everywhere, selling bananas, pineapples, papayas, breadfruit, passion fruit, citrus fruit and lots of exotic plants I couldn’t identify. 

As we drove, we paused at every bridge (many one-lane) to see if we could find a Fasciated Tiger-Heron. We never did, but we did come upon one Green Ibis. It was hard to photograph because of trees in the way, but I can tell you that this bird is green: green feathers, green legs, green bill. 

It looked like a White Ibis that had been dipped in dye

La Selva Research Station 

Our main destination was the La Selva Research Station, where we did two stops outside the gates and one guided walk led by one of the researchers. 

Our destination

The Research Station is run by Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), a nonprofit consortium of about 50 universities, colleges and research institutions worldwide. Founded in 1963, OTS has operations in three countries and research stations and education programs in Costa Rica and South Africa. 

OTS is the world's leading institution in the study of tropical biology, with more than 360 courses in tropical ecology, conservation and global health and over 8,000 graduates, including many of the world's leading tropical ecologists.

The Station pioneered private forest conservation in Costa Rica 

OTS established the La Selva Research Station in 1968. Before it was under OTS leadership, La Selva was a farm dedicated to sustainable forest research owned by Dr. Leslie Holdridge, an American botanist and climatologist. La Selva Station was the first of what is now a large network of private forest reserves in the country. 

La Selva Research Station has 1,600 hectares of well-preserved old-growth and recovering wet lowland tropical forest that abuts the Braulio Carrillo National Park.

Dense jungle

It has more than 2,077 species of plants; 125 species of mammals (72 of them bats!); 470 species of birds; 48 amphibian species; 87 species of reptiles; 45 species of freshwater fish; and tens of thousands of insects, arachnids and other arthropods.

Jungle flowers

The station has several buildings that house laboratories and offices. A herbarium houses more than 10,000 specimens of plants, fruits and seeds. The Academic Center includes a conference room, classrooms, laboratories and offices for faculty.

Left, the facility's hanging bridge; Right, I hope it keeps hanging

Our hike passed the buildings, but we didn’t visit them. We did, however, eat among the students at the open-air cafeteria after our hike.

It is a toss-up whether this hike or the one in Carara National Park was the hottest and most humid, but I think this was second place.

Birding at the Entrance

Before I cover the hike, let me go through the birds we saw during our stops at the entrance. These include a Snowy Cotinga, which I saw, but never photographed. Off in the distance and up in the tall, tall trees we saw a magnificent Semiplumbeous (literally “half gray”) Hawk …

First view

... at first, it had its back to us and, under my breath, I begged it to turn around ...

Thank you!

… it's a gorgeous bird, with its piercing eyes and pink/orange cere (upper beak) …

This field mark makes ID easy (a guide makes it easier)

... what a beauty ...

Ever vigilant

We also saw a distant Gray-headed Hawk …

This one looks a bit ragged

… a flock of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas (cousin to the Montezuma Oropendola I already talked about) …

A bit less colorful than its cousins, many of which were also in the area

… a Pale-billed Woodpecker …

These birds are about 15 inches long

… some White-crowned Parrots …

Flying away (that's a Black-cheeked Woodpecker in the background)

... two very similar Woodpeckers …

Left, Cinnamon Woodpecker; Right, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker

… and a Variegated Squirrel sharing breakfast with the birds …

They have many different color combos, hence the name

On the more mundane (and much closer to photograph side), a Black-faced Grosbeak ...

Feeding in the hedges

… a Black-cowled Oriole …

Just one quick glimpse

… a Golden-hooded Tanager … 

Keeping watch

And, zooming by in the sky as they always do, a flock of Olive-throated Parakeets … 

I never saw them land

Here, we started to see more of the Keel-billed Toucan, where before the Yellow-throated had been more common ...

The two birds are similar, but this one's bill is more colorful

Including its bill, these Toucans range in length from 17 to 22 inches, but the large and colorful bills are about one-third the length. While the bill seems large and cumbersome, it is actually a spongy, hollow bone covered in keratin, a very light and hard protein.

The bill is used for picking and cracking fruit and nuts

Toucans have zygodactyl feet: two toes face forward and two face back. Because they spend a large portion of time in the trees, this helps them stay on the branches and jump from one branch to another.

Working the tree

Keel-billed Toucans are very social, rarely seen alone. They fly in small flocks of approximately six to twelve individuals through lowland rainforests. 

There were just a few at La Selva

These are only the birds I photographed; there were about ten more species I missed, most because I already had photos of them.

That may be a Euphonia in the seed pods

Hiking

Warning sign

After the early morning birding, we had breakfast and then returned for a hike.

We started with a lecture that primarily warned us to be very careful about touching any plants. 

Not because the plants are poisonous, but rather because the jungle here is home to “Bullet Ants,” extremely large Ants that have a bite that is considered one of the most painful in the world. The name comes from the fact that a bite feels like a gunshot wound. 

Photo: Brave Wilderness

It makes me wonder whether there are many people in the world who have been bitten by a Bullet Ant and shot. Boy, that would be bad luck!

Anyway, I am happy to say that we never encountered any Bullet Ants, although several in our group did get bitten by smaller, but still pretty painful, Ants. 

Along the hike, I did see lots of Dragonflies and managed to get photos of a few.

Left, American Rubyspot Damselfly; Right, Carmine Skipper

After passing the gates and meeting with our guide, we walked across La Selva’s famous hanging bridge. 

Entering the jungle

Below us were some Black Wood Turtles ...

Two turtles on a log

... a rather large Caiman ...

I always thought Caimans were small; not in Costa Rica

... and – much to everyone’s surprise – a Sungrebe ...

Not what we expected in the river

This was one of the birds – not seen very often – that was on Michael’s target list. The bridge is high, so the Sungrebe was pretty far down and it was traveling away from us. But, we got a good view – enough to identify it as the slightly less colorful male.

I'll show you a female in a later post

Mammals

I swear something is up there

As we headed through the Research Buildings on the other side of the bridge, the guide (and Heather, our great spotter) stopped to survey a tall tree in the distance. 

In it was a Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth sleeping deep in some (well, lots and lots of) bromeliads. 

As you will recall, we saw one at Bogarin, but were concerned about how wild it really was.This was a research facility, so the Sloth was certifiably wild.

Can you see it?

It was very difficult to see, but I assure you that it was there. 

As we were watching the Sloth, something stepped out of the woods. I think I saw it first and I got a very good look at it. Unfortunately I got only three very, very bad photos of it. Don’t you love it when autofocus grabs the leaves in front and not the critter?

My iconic shot

It was an animal that I have never, ever heard of: a Tayra.

What I was trying for; Photo: Critter Science

An omnivorous animal from the weasel family native to the Americas, Tayras are long, slender animals that range from 3 to 4 feet in length, including their long bushy tails. They have short, dark-brown-to-black fur with a yellow or orange spot on the chest. They have small, rounded ears, long whiskers and black eyes. 

Tayras are secretive and have not been heavily studied. The guide seemed genuinely shocked to see one in the middle of the research area in the middle of the day.

My second great shot

After that sighting, we plunged into the jungle.

Honduran White Bat

A highlight of the hike turned out to not a bird, but rather some Bats. Our guide took us in groups of two off the path to look up under a large leaf where several tiny Honduran White Bats were sleeping.

A nice surprise!

Also called the Caribbean White Tent-making Bat, this adorable creature has entirely white fur, which is found in only six of the roughly 1,300 known species of bat.

It has bright yellow ears and a cute little nose with nose-leaf above it. It’s less than 2 inches long and looks like a cartoon drawing of a tiny pig.

One of the cutest things I have seen

The Honduran White Bat is one of approximately 22 known species of bats that roost within leaf "tents” for protection from rain and predators (but not photographers). It constructs tents out of understory plant leaves by strategically cutting the leaf ribs with its teeth and then roosts in these tents during the day. Once modified into a tent, a leaf lives approximately 7.5 weeks; then the Bats need to build a new tent. But, rather than roosting consistently in a single tent, they have a network of tents scattered across the forest that alternate among for roosting. Thank goodness the bats were in a roost the guide could find.

We were very careful not to frighten them, but they did wake up

Photographing was tricky because the leaf was low and we could not touch it or its stalk for fear of frightening the Bats, which would make them fly and find another roost. I had to sit on a rotting log and hope that it wasn’t full of Bullet Ants. It wasn’t.

Birds

Heather doing her spotting thing

But, we were there for birds, right?

So, we walked the very nice paths (some are even paved) looking and looking. 

We did see another Black-and-white Owl that was so camouflaged it really wasn’t worth shooting. How do the guides find them?

A bit (tiny bit) more successful was our search for a Manakin. 

We didn't find a White-collared Manakin, although we heard the weird clicking sound it makes to attract a mate.

We did find the miniscule Red-capped Manakin, which sat still way back in the heavy jungle growth …

A tiny (maximum length is 4 inches) bird deep in the jungle

… here’s a Scope view … 

Taken with my phone through Juan Diego's really nice Swarovski scope

There was a Scarlet-rumped Cacique that refused to reveal its bright red rump …

They have a striking ivory bill and blue eyes

We saw some Bananaquits that were happy to pose …

 

A cute little bird

And, of course, there was a contingent of birds I couldn't get photos of, including a White-necked Jacobin, a Violet-headed Hummingbird and a Crowned Woodnymph in the hedge by the bridge. 

But, all in all, we saw many more birds outside the entrance than on the hike through the thick jungle. 

Evidence that a bird had been there

Reptiles/Amphibians

We finally saw one of the jungle’s most famous inhabitants: a Poison-Dart Frog!

The black specks on the red skin make it (somewhat) resemble a strawberry

The Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog’s skin becomes toxic when it eats certain mites and ants. While not deadly to the touch, the toxins can kill you or cause convulsions and paralysis if you eat the frog. 

We heard a lot of them croaking and, eventually, saw three

We saw quite a few lizards … 

CW: Central American Whiptail, an unidentified Anole, Common Basilisk

And, all throughout the jungle large are nests of Arboreal Termites, which build their large nests on tree trunks (other termites nest directly on the ground or underground). This nest is made of “carton,” a mixture of digested wood and termite feces that hardens into a strong, protective material. 

Termite nest

The termites travel from the nest to rotting trees where they forage for food, building tunnels covered in carton down the side of their home tree, over the forest floor and to the food trees. 

The tunnels are distinctly a termite trait, which helps distinguish the termite nests from ant or wasp nests that can look similar high up in a tree.

One colony usually has 5,000 termites, but one species can have up to a million in one nest. Each colony has three castes with different functions and physiques. 

Tunnels; Photo: Backyard Nature

The queen is enormous – 30-60 mm compared to her 3-4 mm subjects. She is so big that she cannot move herself. When a colony is attacked (say, by an Anteater), soldiers flood out and squirt out sticky “nasute” that smells like turpentine and is irritating to the skin, particularly the nose and mouth. Workers stay protected deep in the nest where they take care of the brood and the queen. They do not produce nasute, but pack a mean bite. We saw these nests everywhere, but, unfortunately, saw no Anteaters. 

Still, it was a visit full of unexpected surprises.

Walking on one of La Selva's raised boardwalks

Central Manu

Our objective

After La Selva, three of us (other tour group members declined to come along) and Juan Diego went on a long drive for a last adventure of the day.

We went to a community park called Central Manu that is primarily used for recreation and picnics by local Costa Ricans. 

The draw was twofold: Hummingbirds and a nearby Central American Pygmy Owl.

We were successful on both fronts, but all the sightings were tough.

There was a lovely Hummingbird Garden, but not a lot of Hummingbirds. We saw some Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds ... 

The Hummingbird we saw most often

... and Variable Seedeaters ...

A cute little bird

Then briefly – very, very briefly – saw the two birds we were looking for: A Black-crested Coquette that zipped by and stayed long enough for two snaps of the camera ...

Black-crested Coquette making a quick appearance

Photo: eBird

... and a Snowcap that was too fast for anything but a positive ID. 

How can you ID something that fast? 

The Snowcap is very distinctive: a tiny ruddy bird with a brilliant white forehead cap. There was no mistaking it.

Then, we went on our adventure. We took a brief hike and then had to walk across a stream that was maybe a foot deep at the most (hence some of our group’s hesitancy to go). We walked up and down a farm road while Juan Diego searched for the tiny Owl. And, as the day’s light started to fade, we saw it. 

A tiny Central American Pygmy Owl in a big tree

We had to walk through a cattle pasture to get a view, but there it was up in the tree above us.

Success!

It was a long drive back to the hotel through truly awful traffic, but I am so glad we went.

Hotel

We stayed at the Bambu (AKA Bamboo) Hotel in Puerto Viejo. Unlike other accommodations, this hotel was in the middle of town. But, still, it had jungle all around the rooms ...

Walkway to the hotel room; Photo: Hotel Bambu

... and I was able to get another lifer: a pair of Olive-backed Euphonias nesting  ... 

Just steps from my door

... in a tree just outside my room ... 

Working on the nest

I should have spent more time outside looking. Several tourmates saw a White-collared Manakin; I only heard it.

The hotel was nice, with a pool (once again, no time to swim) and a fairly good restaurant. Plus, I took advantage of the opportunity to get some laundry done. And, try as hard as I could to get them to charge me, they never did.

All in all, a good day and a half in the jungle ...

Is he waving?

Trip date: March 9-27, 2022