The Best Locations to Film Birds in Costa Rica

Fiery-throated Hummingbird.

Our production house’s location scout, Chris Bell, visits Costa Rica, where he discovers the highlights of the country’s enviable ecotourism infrastructure and the best places for filming birds.

Scouting the top 10 locations for filming birds in Costa Rica.

Soda Y Mirador Cinchona

‘Soda’ is the Costa Rican term for a small restaurant, but this particular soda is unique: it’s home to some of the best bird-feeding stations in the country. A broad and spacious deck overlooks eye-level banana feeders, making it possible to film localized species like Crimson-collared Tanager, Prong-billed Barbet, Northern Emerald Toucanet, and Black Guan at almost touching distance. Additionally, a selection of hummingbird feeders attracts Violet Sabrewing, Black-bellied Hummingbirds, and the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald. Moreover, you can film all these beautiful birds while enjoying delicious local dishes and freshly brewed coffee.

Northern Emerald Toucanet at Soda Y Mirador Cinchona.

Hotel Quelitales

This luxurious hotel not only offers spacious cabins and mouthwatering meals prepared by the chef/owner but also some of the best bird filming opportunities in the region. A large feeding station in front of the breakfast area attracts Montezuma Oropendolas and a wealth of tanagers and orioles, while nearby flowering trees often contain Elegant Euphonias and Spangle-cheeked Tanagers. Follow the trail beyond the cabins, and you come to a beautiful waterfall cascading out of the steep jungle above. Here, the owners have established a small feeding station for Sooty-faced Finch, White-eared Ground-Sparrow, Chestnut-backed Brushfinch, and a flowering hummingbird garden. The little hummers also like to bathe in the pool at the base of the waterfall, while a Green-fronted Lancebill regularly hawks for insects from an exposed perch at first light.

The Crimson-collared Tanager visits the feeders at Hotel Quelitales.

Rancho Naturalista

Rancho Naturalista is one of Costa Rica’s most iconic birding lodges and with good reason. A mazy network of forest trails emanates from the lodge into the steep jungle, where eagle-eyed observers can spot large, mixed-species flocks moving methodically through the canopy. A series of lookout points provides eye-level views of the canopy, making it possible to film these otherwise tricky birds. Back at the lodge, well-designed fruit feeders bring in Gray-headed Chachalacas, Lesson’s Motmot, Montezuma Oropendola, and Brown Jays, while a small fountain often attracts small warblers and migrant species to bathe. A short trail from the lodge leads to a viewpoint above a mountain stream where, regular as clockwork, hummingbirds come to bathe at dusk, as many as half a dozen species! The lower house, known as Rancho Bajo, is home to a large verbena patch, beloved of range-restricted hummingbirds like Snowcap and Black-crested Coquette.

Brown-hooded Parrots regularly come to feed on banana trees at Rancho Naturalista.

Reserva El Copal

El Copal is a forest conservation reserve located in Cartago Province, not far from Rancho Naturalista. Run by a group of local farmers who have started offering ecotourism to protect their forests; it’s also an excellent location for filming birds in Costa Rica. The jawdroppingly beautiful Snowcap hummingbird favors the verbena flowers at the entrance, which can be easily filmed at point-blank range. Up at the lodge house, a 360-degree terrace overlooks flowering trees that offer - with time and patience - eye-level views of rare mixed flock species like Emerald Tanager, Black-and-yellow Tanager, and many more. The forest trails can also produce more challenging birds like Yellow-eared Toucanet and Gray-headed Piprites.

The Snowcap is one of the world’s most beautiful hummingbirds and can be filmed at El Copal and Rancho Naturalista.

Paraiso Quetzal Lodge

As its name suggests, this comfortable lodge to the south of San José is a paradise for filming Costa Rica’s most iconic bird, the Resplendent Quetzal. The lodge works with local farmers to protect quetzal habitat and facilitate easy observation of this famous species. Farmers protect the forests and fruit trees on their land and then call the guides when a quetzal is visiting, allowing the lodge to send their guests to see the birds. It’s an excellent system that often results in remarkable quetzal views just meters away. As well as being a top location for filming quetzals, the lodge gardens attract species like Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher, Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Flycatcher, Wrenthrush, and Golden-browed Chlorophonia. There’s also an excellent hummingbird feeding area which probably offers the best filming opportunities in the world for Fiery-throated and Talamanca Hummingbirds.

Filming the Resplendent Quetzal is comparatively simple at Paraiso Quetzal Lodge.

Caño Negro

Caño Negro is a wildlife refuge located in the north of the country near the border with Nicaragua. The habitat in this region is a complete contrast to the previously listed mountainous areas, characterized by lowland forests and river systems. Most bird filming is by boat, but the unique birdlife compensates for the trickier filming conditions. Caño Negro is an excellent location for filming the spectacular Agami Heron, one of the most beautiful heron species in the world. Other species that can be filmed at Caño Negro include rarities like Snowy Cotinga, Green-and-Rufous Kingfisher, and Black-collared Hawk. Once the river channels open up into a large wetland area, wading birds and herons become more common, and during the dry season, thousands of water birds throng the rapidly shrinking pools. However, the real star of the show here is the Yellow-breasted Crake. This shy and retiring ball of fluff is barely known to birders due to its habit of staying hidden in reeds and waterside vegetation. Still, at Caño Negro the crakes regularly step out into the open, sometimes just meters from the boats. This is almost certainly the best location on earth to film Yellow-breasted Crakes.

The Nicaraguan Grackle’s strange display can be filmed at both Caño Negro and Medio Queso Wetlands.

Medio Queso Wetlands

The ‘medium cheese’ wetlands are located right on the border with Nicaragua and, like Caño Negro, are a top spot for filming aquatic species. Here, birders are taken out on a large barge to cruise up and down the waterways overlooking a large reed bed, making for comfortable and surprisingly steady bird filming. Rare waterbirds that can be filmed at Medio Queso include Pinnated Bittern, Least Bittern, and Sungrebe. Northern Harriers float across the tips of the reeds while flocks of whistling-ducks wheel overhead. Yellowthroats and Orchard Orioles sing from the water’s edge, while observant visitors will be able to film the rare and range-restricted Nicaraguan Grackle. With patience, you may even be able to film this bird’s strange and beautiful display. The roads connecting Medio Queso with Caño Negro are also the best location in Costa Rica for filming the magnificent Nicaraguan Seed-Finch.

The Nicaraguan Seed-Finch isn’t an easy bird to film, but there are plenty of chances around Medio Queso and Caño Negro.

Sky Adventures Arenal Park

Sky Adventures is famous for its hanging bridges strung out across the jungle canopy on the banks of Lake Arenal. These walkways through the canopy offer unparalleled visual access to the treetops, making them perfect for filming mixed flocks and rarer species like Bare-necked Umbrellabird and Ornate Hawk-Eagle. The biggest challenge is staying steady while filming, as the bridges sway with the slightest movement. Away from the canopy bridges, the forest trails are good for antswarms. These huge groups of foraging army ants attract antbirds to feed on the other insects fleeing the murderous swarm. Away from swarms, antbirds can be extremely shy and difficult to film, but with army ants, they often perch in the open for minutes at a time, allowing themselves to be filmed at close range. A good swarm can attract Bicolored, Dull-mantled, Spotted, Zeledon’s, and Chestnut-backed antbirds, and, with luck, the giant Ocellated Antbird, with its electric blue facial skin and rufous scalloped back. This species is almost impossible to film away from ants, so Sky Adventures is an excellent spot to capture this bird on video.

The hanging canopy bridges at Sky Adventures offer excellent bird filming opportunities.

Hacienda La Pacifica

Hacienda La Pacifica is an expansive lodge set in dry forest habitat in the region of Cañas, close to Palo Verde National Park. As well as being an excellent base for filming birds in surrounding dry forests and flooded fields, the lodge gardens themselves provide top-class bird filming opportunities. In the small patch of forest alongside the main dining hall, filming localized specialties, including White-throated Magpie-Jay, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Streak-backed Oriole, and Rufous-naped Wren is relatively simple. Long-tailed Manakin and Lesser Ground-Cuckoo can also be spotted from the grounds, while Limpkin is possible in the muddy fields near the hotel entrance. And the bird filming doesn’t stop when the sun sets, with the forests between the entrance and the cabins a perfect spot for Pacific Screech-Owl.

White-throated Magpie-Jay is a regular species in the grounds of Hacienda La Pacifica.

Casa Dowii

Casa Dowii is a delightful birding cafe and reserve with birding trails and feeders, located on the road south from San José, making it easy to access. The feeders attract a few notable star birds, including the Spangle-cheeked Tanager (Tangara dowii, hence Casa Dowii), Buff-fronted Quail-Dove, and Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge. The latter species is complicated to observe in a ‘natural’ state, so Casa Dowii’s feeding station represents one of the best places on the planet to film this shy species. As if all the excellent birding wasn’t enough, Casa Dowii’s local gastronomy, freshly brewed Costa Rican coffee, and range of bird-themed craft beers always make for a great day out, birds or not.

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Thanks to the ICT (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo) for inviting WhereNext to location scout Costa Rica.

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The striking Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatcher is another beautiful bird that you can film in Costa Rica

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If you’re interested in filming birds in Costa Rica then contact our storytelling agency team here.

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