Beautiful Birds at Selve Verde, Costa Rica

The rainforest at Selve Verde Lodge is a private reserve near Sarapiqui.  As you would expect of a rainforest, it is wet and humid and rains at least a little on most days.  The lodge is surrounded by the forest on three sides and also overlooks the Sarapiqui River.  It has many trails to walk but some of the best birding is done sitting at the lodge overlooking the many feeders.  These attract all kinds of fruit eaters and we also saw a few non-fruit eaters wander through.  Here are some of the beautiful birds we saw:

This Green Honeycreeper was an amazing shade of turquoise. With his full black mask and yellow bill, he was really handsome.

At first I did not realize that the bird below was Mrs. Green Honeycreeper.  Without the black face mask, and being a completely different color, she seemed like an entirely different species.  Eventually it all came clear when I consulted the field guide.

Tanagers in blue, red and green.  What more could a girl want.  This one is a Summer Tanager.

Montezuma’s Oropendola were also common.  Another amazing looking bird with bright orange bill, blue face, gorgeous chestnut body and bright yellow tail. 

The Collared Aricari looked a bit fierce with that serrated bill.  Fortunately he was only after the bananas.

All photos copyright Jonathan Moeller. 

 

For more great bird blogs try   I’d Rather B Birdin’  or  Nature Footsteps –Winged  or  Wild Bird Wednesday.