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Links above are my own sightings at each location

Notes on Specific Birds

The areas around Dominical include Hacienda Baru Reserve in Dominical and Rancho Merced and Oro Verde near Uvita. There are similar birds here that might be found around Manuel Antonio or Carara, but it's far enough south where you might see a few other species unknown or more difficult to see farther north, such as White-crested Coquette, Garden Emerald, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, and Thick-billed Euphonia.

Hacienda Baru is good forest birding. On a small man-made canal near the lodge, we had an American Pygmy Kingfisher. Also around the lodge, we had Charming Hummingbird, Lesser Elaenia, and Costa Rican Swift. A Blue Ground Dove was observed near the road on the way there.

Near Uvita, we stayed at Oxygen Jungle Lodge (300 meters) which has very nice foothill birding as well as access to coastal birding. I was able to pick up four Scarlet Macaws along the coast south of Uvita - a place where they are not shown on the range maps. On a drive higher up in the mountains, I was able to pick up Stripe-headed Brush-Finch and White-throated Thrush.

This area seems to be a particularly good place for raptors. Every day, birds would circle the thermals and might include Swallow-tailed Kites,  White Hawks, Great Black Hawks, Black, Hawk-Eagles, King Vultures and others.

Along the coastline, we had an uncommon American Oystercatcher,a Double-toothed Kite, and a Green-Breasted Mango hummingbird - a bird whose southern range in Costa Rica is uncertain.

Access to the mountains around San Isidro is less than two hours from Uvita. Here you might find good birding around the Skutch's Farm or perhaps the Talari Lodge, both written up in bird finding guides of Costa Rica. As you move into areas around 800 meters, you begin to get slightly different birds. Querbadas Gonzalez, a private refuge in the mountains, is over 1200 meters has a very different bird life than the foothills.

On top of that, you are really less than three hours from the Osa Peninsula and the Bosque del Rio Tigre birding lodge. All of this makes networking out of Uvita an excellent location for a southern Costa Rica birding trip.