Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula offers great birding and other ecotourism activities for birders of all levels. The area’s bird list includes over 460 species including many regional endemics such as the Mangrove Hummingbird, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, Yellow-billed Cotinga, and Turquoise Cotinga. The Osa boasts perhaps the healthiest population of Scarlet Macaws in Central America and Great Curassows are recovering well here from past hunting pressure. It is hard to look up without seeing macaws! Huge trees in old growth forests, along with beaches shared only by sea turtles, and four species of abundant monkeys, make this an amazing and easily accessible destination.
The Osa’s bird list includes over 460 species including many regional endemics such as the Mangrove Hummingbird, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, Yellow-billed Cotinga, and Turquoise Cotinga. The Osa boasts perhaps the healthiest population of Scarlet Macaws in Central America and Great Curassows are recovering well here where they were once scarce from past hunting pressure. Many migratory birds that breed in the United States and Canada winter here.
Osa Conservation is a local conservation organization working to protect a variety of rich ecosystems along the South Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Osa Conservation’s properties offer birders chances to see the regional endemic species as well as pristine beaches used by nesting sea turtles. Osa Conservation offers access for day visitors and several options for overnight guests, including the Osa Verde Lodge, Greg Gund Conservation Center, and Piro BioStation on the south side of the peninsula. In addition to properties on the south side of the peninsula that effectively extend Corcovado National Park, Osa Conservation also manages lands at the Yellow-billed Cotinga Sanctuary and at Lomas de Sierpe adjacent to Piedras Blancas National Park.
Osa Verde Lodge opens in 2019 and is Osa Conservation’s most recently acquired property adjacent to the Piro BioStation, and consists of pasture and forest, as well as 1.1 miles of coastline with sea turtle nesting habitat. Piro gives you quick access to mature old-growth rainforest as well as to the coastal habitat along the Pacific, making this research station the ideal campus for researchers, field biology student groups, and sea turtle volunteers.
The Greg Gund Conservation Center is a nearby satellite educational campus with trails leading through restored secondary forest and primary forest. This campus is ideal for researchers and field biology groups interested in studying reforestation or education groups holding large classes on forest ecology.
An extensive network of trails and roadways connect the Osa Verde Lodge, farm, Piro BoStation, and Greg Gund Conservation Center.
Osa Conservation can help you plan a birding trip to these locations, and they always work in partnership with local naturalist guides who are intimately familiar with the birds and ecosystems of the region.
Birders staying at Osa Verde Lodge provide direct support for the conservation programs of Osa Conservation. American Bird Conservancy worked with Osa Conservation to purchase 1,679 acres at near Osa Verde Lodge and 29 acres to establish their Yellow-billed Cotinga Reserve, in addition to bird monitoring and tracking projects.