Birds & garden

National bird counting day 2022

The national bird counting day 2022 was held on the 22nd of January. Again, we had the help and support of a professional team of birders. They counted in twenty-four hours 76 species. See the list here. We want to thank everybody involved in this beautiful event organized by the – Costa Rican Bird Route 2022. You can contact them at costaricanbirdroute@hotmail.com if you want more information.

Birds - Catarata Del Toro - Costa Rica
Birds - Catarata Del Toro - Costa Rica
Birds - Catarata Del Toro - Costa Rica
Birds - Catarata Del Toro - Costa Rica

Birds

Welcome to our second-biggest natural attraction, namely: birds. And we are proud to be home to a wide variety of hummingbirds under which a few scarce species. When clients enter the restaurant, the first words are: ‘Look at all those hummers, amazing!’ And some clients we have to persuade to start the waterfall tour, else they would take only pictures. And we are called home for many other birds, too; think about the Oropendola Montezuma, toucan, black turkey, hawks, vultures, and the Trogon.

Our bird list is here (Word) or here (PDF) – last updated 10-04-2023.

hawk catarata del toro

The ‘Catch’ of one day

On a Saturday in August, an area tour guide visited us with his wife. Both are enthusiastic professional birders. From 3.00 pm till 10.00 am the next day, they spotted the following birds: Tropical kingbird, Melodious Blackbird, Swallow-tailed Kite, Slaty flower purser, Cherrie’s tanager, White-tailed kite, Slaty-backed nightingale thrush, Streak headed woodcreeper, White hawk, Scaly throated foliage gleaner, Scaly-breasted pygmy tyrant, Streak breasted tree hunter, Spotted barb tail, Sooty faced finch, Chestnut-capped brush finch, Buff-rumped warbler, Black-breasted wood quail, Black-breasted wood wren, Common tody flycatcher, Common bush tanager, Brown jay, Yellow-faced grassquit, Slate-throated Redstar, Blue-grey Tanager, Montezuma oropendola, Peg-billed finch, Crested guan, Rufous-winged woodcreeper, Silver throated tanager, Thorntail hummingbird, Brown violet ear hummingbird, Green hermit, Green-crowned brilliant, Black-bellied Hummingbird, Rufous-tailed hummingbird, Coppery headed Emerald, Violet Sabrewing, Purple-throated mountain gem, Collared trogon, Black vulture, Clay-colored thrush, Social flycatcher, and the Rufous-collared sparrow.

How will your list look?

Meet our new residents

Something nice is happening in our place. As we are trying to protect nature and the natural habitats, the fruits are showing. Since October 2020, we are proud to have a new resident, the Barn owl. Already some eggs came out. When our daily visitors go home and the darkness of the night starts moving in. Sound and activity begin to increase dramatically. We are delighted and feel blessed that those birds are here, among many other animals.

Resident- Catarata Del Toro
Barn-owl - Catarata Del Toro

Garden

We designed the garden to attract birds, which is ever-under-construction. But it is coming there. Our philosophy is that if we attract birds, the ecosystem will follow. So our ultimate goal is to attract the Quetzal permanently. The Quetzal is native to the area but needs a better habitat. And till now, we never met a person who did not like birds. So if you want to take a walk and enjoy the views and peace of the garden or want to spot as many birds as you can, it is all here.

Garden view Catarata Del Toro

51 hectares

Some inside information: at our Blue Falls section (51 hectares), we planted hundreds of native fruit trees. So, especially at the slopes of the creeks and the garden, our area will become a bird paradise!

Frog pond Catarata Del Toro
Black-bellied-Hummingbird-male-cataratasdeltoro
hummingbirds catarata del toro
White-tipped Sicklebill catarata del toro
hummingbirds catarata del toro (2)
hummingbirds catarata del toro
trojon catarata del toro

Birders

Birds are essential to us, and many birders have found our place; many more will follow. We allow multi-flash setups but only with reservations, and you have to bring all the equipment and know-how. Prices for birders are the same as for everybody else even if you stay the whole day, except for the multi-flashers.

Trails ——–——– Cloud Forest