Ujarrás, Cachi and surroundings: exceptionally good birding

Dec 4 2024

Ujarrás and the small village of Cachi might not be on many’ s birding itinerary, but the potential of getting some very interesting species hard to get anywhere else is very high. Besides that both villages are easy to reach at only an hour / hour and a half from San José and offer a great rural atmosphere in a beautiful green valley with the Irazu Volcano and dramatic Talamanca mountain scenery in the background.

Most important target species in Ujarrás and Cachi are: 

  • Cabani’s Ground Sparrow

Cabani’s Ground Sparrow is a species that in 2017 was split from Prevost Ground Sparrow because of obvious morphological and genetic differences. The result of this split was White-faced Ground Sparrow (Melozone biarcuata) from Mexico to Central Honduras and Cabani’s Ground -Sparrow (Melozone cabanisi) endemic to Costa Rica. Cabani’s Ground Sparrow’s population is limited to the scarce semi-natural areas that are left in the highly populated Central Valley of Costa Rica and the area around Monteverde. Cabani’s Ground Sparrow is considered to be “Near-threatened” according to Birdlife International.

One of the most reliable places for Cabani’s Ground Sparrow is the squash and coffee plantations of Ujarras where Cabani’s where it likes to forage on the ground and the low thickets. Cabani’s Ground Sparrow’s in general are shy and retiring but In early mornings they like to venture out of the thick vegetation to forage so early mornings are best to see them.

  • Scaled Antpitta

Scaled Antpitta is a relatively widespread species occurring in Central America and the Western part of Tropical America. In Costa Rica it is mostly found in middle elevations along the Caribbean slope.

As with all Antpittas the Scaled Antpitta is extremely hard to see because of its preference of staying low in thick vegetation and being active around sunrise and sunset when the forest floor is poorly lit. However since about 5 years the people at Hotel Quelitales have “trained” a couple of Antpittas to come to their hide in the late afternoon where earthworms are offered. The Hotel Quelitales hide has now become famous for being the most reliable place probably in the world to see and photography this unique and extremely shy species !.

  • Green-fronted Lancebill

This is an odd looking hummingbird with a straight bill pointed upwards that likes to hang out near fast moving water and waterfalls to prey for small flying insects. The Green-fronted Lancebill can also be seen in the cloudforest feeding on long-tubed flowers but in general this species is hard to see and will never show up at a feeder.

At the same hide in Hotel Quelitales and also in the afternoon there is a very good chance to see Green-fronted Lancebill come to his favorite perch at a small waterfall at the cloudforest edge. The Lancebill tends to be pretty relaxed and can be approached relatively easy to observe it well and make a good picture of it.

Besides these 3 target birds Ujaras and Cachi will produce a lot of bycatch with some great species like White-crowned Parrot, White-tailed Kite, Hook-billed Kite, Green Ibis, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Southern Lapwing in the more open agricultural area of Cachi. While the more forested surroundings of Cachi and Hotel Quelitales can get you some good cloudforest birds like possible Elegant Euphonia and Scarlet-thighed Dacnis and especially good hummingbird activity in the gardens with possible  Black-bellied Hummingbird, White-bellied Mountain-gem (both endemic to Costa Rica and Western Panama), Green Thorntail, and Violet Sabrewing.

If you want more information or would like help setting up a birding tour in Ujarrás and Cachi please contact us   

Birding Costa Rica

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