Over 850 species of birds have been recorded in Costa Rica and half of them can be found in the cloud forests of Monteverde. Because of the rich diversity of birds and other forms of wildlife, sanctuaries were established here starting in the 1970s to protect the virgin forest environment and its inhabitants. Your professional bilingual guide, whose vast knowledge and daily observations of the birds in the area, will take you on a birding expedition you are not likely to forget.
The hike along the well groomed forest paths starts at 06:00am in the morning and lasts for approximately five hours. Transportation will be provided from your lodgings in Monteverde and the small town of Santa Elena. Depending on the current conditions, your guide will choose which cloud forest preserves, including Curi-Cancha, will offer the best opportunities for birding that day.
You will visit four different ecosystems focusing first on the endemic species of the region, such as the Orange Bellied Trogon, Three Wattled Bell Bird or Resplendent Quetzal, but enjoying all the sightings that come your way. Equipped with a portable high powered, high definition spotting scope, your guide can quickly put you in position for optimum viewing as well as for taking photos through the scope itself. This is a private tour of only up to six people so you won’t be waiting in long lines to take your turn to look through the scope. Also you will have the time to be able to ask your knowledgeable guide many questions.
With years of listening experience, your guide will alert you to the kind of birds surrounding you and using a laser pointer will show you exactly where to look with your own binoculars or scope. The migration of birds from North America between the months of September and May will heighten your chances of adding more species to your checklist during these months. But the native species you rarely find elsewhere are the most thrilling to discover, such as the Great Curassow, Black Guan, or Prong Billed Barbet.
Your tour will include a trip to a hummingbird garden where up to 14 species of these aerial acrobats may be observed. This Birdwatching Tour is a favorite among birding enthusiasts but you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy scouting through a beautiful cloud forest with its abundant flora and fauna learning about bird life. It may even become a habit!
Round trip transportation is included in this tour as well as your professional bilingual guide with spotting equipment, and all park entrances. It is highly recommended to bring waterproof jacket or poncho and wear closed hiking shoes.
The Birdwatching Tour - Esteban Daily Guided Tours is available from Monteverde
Latitude: N 10° 18' 5.22"
Longitude: W 84° 48' 14.87"
08/18/2023
Esteban was fantastic! He helped me find rare birds including the resplendent quetzal!
06/23/2023
Again, 10 is not enough. Esteban was so knowledgeable and pointed out birds that we would have missed. We were quite lucky to have him for only the two of us.
03/25/2023
Our guide was awesome!
01/14/2023
Esteban is top notch and should be promoted better than he is on your excursion options. He mentioned that he feels it’s not prominently mentioned that it’s his own personal tour and he is very knowledgeable
01/15/2022
This was the best guided tour of the trip, Esteban is a terrific guide and a pleasant person to spend the day with. Highly recommended,
03/18/2021
Our five hours with Esteban in this wildlife tour were fantastic. His knowledge of the wildlife and vegetation made this tour a great highlight of our vacation.
03/12/2020
Fabulous from start to finish, GREAT guide!!!
02/12/2020
Esteban was AMAZING!!!! He was extremely knowledgable and extremely friendly! He knew everything about birds of Monteverde and was excellent in spotting different birds and animals!!!
01/03/2020
Best day of he tour, birdwatching is my passion and Esteban and I found over 100 species! Excellent guide!!!
12/31/2019
Esteban is truly a world class guide. To be honest I’m not a bird watcher and was just tagging along with my bird-loving mom but even I was really getting into it by the end. We were able to see TWO quetzales which was truly a once in a life time experience, but we also were able to see tons of other birds thanks to Estebans patience and knowledge.
11/25/2019
Oscar was exceptional.
08/01/2019
Excellent guide, very knowledgeable. He tried his best to find birds and tell us all about them. 100 point for this guide.
05/11/2019
I can’t say enough about Esteban. His knowledge, personality, and eagerness to make both our day hike and night hike exceptional were amazing. See my Travel Advisor review of Esteban for more comments.
03/26/2019
If I could give Michael Leiton more than a 10, I would. He worked SO hard to find birds for us. We saw a 3 wattle bellbird, a long tail manakin, 10 quetzals (2 were a breeding pair at their nest) and many, many more. He is so knowledgeable; he could tell a bird by its call and use that to locate the bird. Michael was interested in what we wanted to see, including local arts and restaurants too. He also helped us take photos through his scope and sent us pictures that he took with his very expensive camera. I cannot say enough about Michael. I hope you book him with other birding clients in the future. He is the best!
02/26/2019
Of all the tours, this one was the best. Our guide was very good and knowledgeable.
12/15/2018
This was by far the best bird watching experience. Esteban was the best guide. If I return to Costa Rica for bird photography I would retain his services as guide for the entire trip! His knowledge of birds is exceptional and provided the best bird guide help like I am used to.
05/08/2017
Top of the line tour!!! Highly recommend!
11/14/2016
This tour far exceeded my expectations. Esteban is such an excellent birder, and was able to get us both on the birds! We had a long species list, which he emailed to me--so nice not to have to take notes, and just enjoy the birds. He is so fast with his scope and can bird naked-eye. I am so glad I booked this tour!