Costa Rica Nature Tours, for the birds December 21st, 2009 • by Karen Cleary Are You a Twitcher? Respledent Quetzal If you are unsure if you are a twitcher, you’re not. “Twitchers” are the most commited type of bird watchers; the kind who keep life lists, and who, when they arrive on an African safari, get annoyed when another pesky lion interferes with their sighting of a Blacksmith Plover hatchling. But you needn’t be a twitcher to come to appreciate what makes these bird lovers so fanatic about their feathered friends. Spend a week on a Costa Rica hiking tour with Boundless Journeys, and you will find yourself evolving from bemusedly tolerant of your guide’s seemingly endless knowledge of bird behavior, to sneaking his well-used Central American bird guide out of his backpack for a little light evening reading. And there may be no better place for the novice birdwatcher to stretch his or her wings than in beautiful Costa Rica, with about 600 resident species, and another 300 or so arriving seasonally to enjoy the fine weather and abundant food supply. Among the diverse species you’ll soon come to recognize (and yes, truly appreciate) are the cotton-candy colored Roseate Spoonbill, the clownishly entertaining Montezuma Oropendula, and of course, the famous Respledent Quetzal. Still not sure birds are enough to hold your interest? That’s fine. Join a small-group tour to Costa Rica for the hiking, ziplining, exploration by boat, and to just get away from it all in one of nature’s most enticing playgrounds. Next thing you know, you’ll find yourself checking species off your life list and making notes in the margins of the bird guide you purchased on Day 3. Boundless Journeys specializes in all-inclusive active tours around the world. Discover your next adventure among our Latin America tours.