Costa Rica is famous for its park system. Tourists enjoy excellent national parks, hiking trails, organized tours, and lodging. The lodging ranges from very cheap hostels, to classy 4-star jungle resorts. Ecotourism is big business in Costa Rica, and tourist dollars help preserve the parks and all the birds living there.

The bird most Costa Rican bird-watchers hope to spot is the Resplendent Quetzal. This dramatic bird has jewel-green feathers and a spectacular long tail plume. It lives in misty, high-elevation tropical forests called “cloud forests”. Many tourists travel to Monteverde, a Costa Rican cloud forest preserve, to look for quetzals.

Bird-watchers also head for Manuel Antonio National Park. This park has lovely white-sand beaches, rainforests filled with birds, and islands where seabirds such as Blue-footed Boobies nest.

Even people unfamiliar with birds can’t help but notice Costa Rica’s colorful bird-life. Over 50 species of hummingbirds live here, and many lodges put up feeders so that visiting tourists can get a close look. Hire a guide for a day, and he or she can also point exciting forest birds like toucans or the colorful Scarlet Macaw.

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