Birdwatching in Costa Rica on the virtual Asian Birdfair
FollowOn Friday, July 3rd, I had the opportunity to present a talk for audience of the Asian Birdfair – ABF about the diversity of the neotropics, sustainable ecoturism with a special emphasis on the operation of birding tours in Costa Rica.
The subject of the conference was based on how easy it is for birdwatchers and photographers to observe and photograph birds in the Costa Rica. It is important to mention all the hotels and private facilities that have bird feeders and trails in excellent conditions.
The Asian public is discovering the colors of tropical America and they visit our country more and more frequently. We are sure that in the near future we will have a significant influx of tourism from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, India, and other Asian countries visiting Costa Rica. It is especially interesting that most of the tourists from Asia who visit us come with an interest in photography rather than birdwatching.
The lecture generated a lot of interest. we had more than 600 reproductions. I share this talk with you. To see the talk in full please visit https://www.facebook.com/www.asianbirdfair.org/
The lecture covered various aspects related to ecotourism in general and costa rica as a perfect destination for birding holidays. I will mention some of them.
In the Word, the tropical zone can be divided in Paleotropics and Neotropics
The neotropics basically cover south and central america and just the southern side of North America
Has has a huge biodiversity. Thats why is so popular for turist looking for wildlife, photography and birdwatching because: there is not long driving time to go from lodge to lodge, animals and birds concentrated in a small territory, and better chances to find them, costa rica has mountains, coast, ocean in two sides, because of that are many different habitats and that produces a higher diversity, it is also a great place for landscaping tourism and people frecuently see beautiful scenery in any trip
how big is CR compared with other countries in asia ?
Thailand is 10 times bigger and have 151 more birds
China is 188 times bigger and has 488 more birds
But if you compare size vs # of birds CR is more diverse by far.
The question is: how far you have to travel to get 350 birds?
I spent 17 days in India in March and got 290 birds, and 220 in China in 12 days in November.
In CR you can get more than 350 in less than 2 weeks / coast to coast in takes 5 hours and only 10 hours to cross the whole country
In Costa Rica you find families of birds you wont find in any other continent in the planet. People visit us looking for Resplendent Quetzal, tucans, motmots, and hummingbirds of course.
Costa Rica is a very young country geographically speaking. It became a natural bridge for many species but as a natural filter for the especies that couldnt cross to the other continente but stayed in CR
Costa Rica can be divided in five big areas of diversity. The best way to take advantage of the geographic diversity is visiting all the places in one trip.. In a normal birdwatching trip in Costa Rica we move from region to region every two days, so people see diferent species constantly.
In other countries people are not allowed to get off the car and walk the trails because of the tigers, lions, bears, buffalos, rhinos, etc. In Costa Rica while you are birding you can walk as much as you want. You usually go with your birding guide, but if you want to go on your own on your free time birding of photographing you can go anywhere. No chances to get lost or dangerous animals (basic common sense). Our tourists usually spend some time taking walks on their own
When we talk about birding we talk about travelling because you have to travel to see or photograph the birds.
If you travel to India in February from Taiwan or Philipines it will cost you $ 650. If you travel to Costa Rica in February from Taiwan or Philipines it will cost you $ 1.200.
When is good time to visit CR for birding or photography vacations? there are two seasons in CR, dry (dec to april) and rainy (may to november. If the tour is only for photography we can see 20 new species a day (280 sp in a trip), if the tour is only birding we can see 350 – 400 birds in a trip (30 new ones a day), in a combination of both we finish the trip with 350 birds
Talking about birding, in my personal experience is much easier to do birding and photography in the Neotropics than the rest of the world. I have birded in Paleotropics in África and southeast asia and the birds in general are shy and hard to find or photograph. If you look for other animals, is easy to find frogs, lizards, snakes, insects, orchids, in the Neotropics compared to the Paleotropics.
In conclusion, Costa Rica is the best introduction to tropical birds for the ones that are new to this part of the world, and we are more than sure you will come again.
Wildbird Tours organizes birdwatching tours and photography trips to Costa Rica and Panama. Birding groups, customized birding holidays and bird watching vacations anywhere in Costa Rica.
