Wildlife at Casa Quetzal Birding Photography Guesthouse & Garden

Being at 2750 meters or 9000 feet elevation at Casa Quetzal Birding Photography Guesthouse & Gardenmeans that you can always have crystal clear air, breathtaking panorama and unique high elevation wildlife around you. No Toucans, Howler Monkeys, Sloths or Morpho Butterflies which are abundant at lower elevations almost anywhere in Costa Rica but we have special range restricted species which you can not find anywhere else.

One of the World’s unique birds and surely the most iconic birds of the area as well is the Resplendant Quetzal. Although we can not see in the garden everyday, but they live around us and sometimes you can see it even from our rooms. We always know where are trees with ripening aguacatillos and during the breeding season where we can see the parents from a safe distance.

We can show colorful Tanagers, Warblers, Vireos, Redstarts through dazzling Hummingbirds till harder to find species like Toucanet, Chlorophonia, Solitaire or Silky Flycatchers. In the evenings you can hear and with some luck spot Dusky Nightjar, Costa Rican Pygmy Owl, very rarely Bare-shanked Screech Owl or Unspotted Saw-wheet Owl.

Mammals, Butterflies, dragonflies or reptiles are not so abundant like at lower elevations, but almost anything we find here is uniquely at this elvation.
Above in the more details lists we tried to put together the species which were already seen or heard or found footprints, but surely the lists are not full yet! Do not hesitate to come and see our area and help us to complete the list with your sightings as well!:-)

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Mammals

There is a long list of mammal species live in Costa Rica. You can observe some of them such as Baird’s Tapir, White-faced Capuchin Monkey, Red-tailed Squirrel, endemic Chiriqui Singing Mouse alongside the trails in our area and the surrounding tropical cloud-forests. Although we have Puma and Jaguar as well, the chance to see any of these top predators is very slim here. We also hear regularly Coyotes in large groups In our breathtaking valley just in front of our Casa Chlorophonia Guesthouse. We use Bat Detector and offer specific Mammal tours as well including Whale watching at other parts of the country.

Please send as an email to ecotoursgabororban @ gmail.com if you need more details

Butterflies

There are close to 1800 species of butterflies in Costa Rica. This is exactly 4 times more than the number of species in the whole European continent which is 200 times larger than this small country. You can enjoy this huge biodiversity either just resting in our flower-rich garden or participate in a specific Butterfly Holiday. Although at the elevation of Casa Quetzal Birding Photography Guesthouse & Garden there are not so many species as at tropical lowland areas almost each species here having restricted elevation range.

Birds

There are close to a thousand bird species living in Costa Rica. You can discover easily the Talamanca Mountain’s different elevation ranges from our Casa Quetzal Birding Photography Guesthouse & Garden. At the nearby highest elevations (3000-3500 meters) we can find Peg-billed Finch, Volcano Junco, Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatcher, Timberline Wren, Silvery-throated Jay, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and many more. A bit lower Resplendant Quetzal, Black Guan, Fiery-throated and Volcano Hummingbird, Barred Becard, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Spangle-cheecked Tanager and many more. Middle elevations are 1 hour drive from us, while Pacific Lowlands are 1,5-2 hours drive, Caribbean side is same distance.

Contact

Phone: Call May-October; Text all year
+36 30-645-9318 or +36 30-211-0006
Call Nov-April: +506 84961012 or 84961417
e-mails:
ecotoursgabororban @ gmail.com
toucanbirdingecolodge @ gmail.com

Our mission

Our first priority is to save habitats & species.

Secondly we would like to share our knowledge of wildlife and encourage you to participate directly or indirectly in protecting nature.

We are also working continuously on our carbon balance with developing our 23 hectares of wildlife reserve.