Cloudmaker/Santa Juana Birding Tour
Led by a Greentique Certified Guide Birding Specialist, you will see why Cloudmaker is a must do Costa Rica birding destination for birders from around the world. Cloudmaker and the surrounding Santa Juana Pueblo area offer a rich blend of species endemic to the Central and Southern Pacific regions of Costa Rica and species native to the foothills of the Talamanca Mountain Range. Among its 150-bird species is the Red-capped Manakin, known locally as the Michael Jackson Bird for its amazing moonwalking mating dance. There are also white hawks, crested and yellow-headed caracara, gray-necked wood rails, southern lapwings, purple gallinules, black mandible toucans, fiery-billed aracaris, pale-billed woodpeckers, royal flycatchers, swallow-tailed kites, wood storks, king vultures, and crested guans. During peak migration, the reserve’s count increases by about 25% to 250+ species, as does the auditory resonance of their voices. More than 80% of the birds can be found year-round and as many reproduce twice a year, where it’s possible to hear a variety of melodic mating bird songs. At the end of the trail, slip into the cool waters a pristine natural swimming pool, fed by a spectacular waterfall before heading back up to the lodge for a Campesino lunch.