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Project Description

Take an active part in conservation efforts to help protect Tortuguero's landbirds and the habitats upon which they depend. You will be a vital research participant contributing to a continuous effort to preserve, study and research the Tropical Birds of Tortuguero. Your time participating on this project will surely be an adventure you will not soon forget!

Participants will be trained and assist researchers with mist-net capture stations, area search bird censuses and migration counts. Participants will learn to identify the local resident and migrant birds, and the basics of bird handling and data collection. The work takes place in various settings including the rainforest, rivers, canals, and near the beach, and with both resident and migratory species. Additional details and photos.

Tortuguero National Park (47,000 acres) and the surrounding area is truly a birder's paradise. The beautiful swamp forests, freshwater sloughs, beach, river mouth and primary and secondary forest habitats support over 300 resident and migrant bird species. Bird enthusiasts visiting Tortuguero can expect to see most of these bird species within a relatively small area from a variety of comfortable lodging options.

The habitats around Tortuguero make this area a significant coastal migration route for birds migrating between North and South America. It is also an important as an overwinter area for other birds. Warblers, flycatchers, raptors and other pass through on their way south. In addition, resident bird species such as tiger herons, toucans, macaws, sun bitterns, long tailed manakins and orpendolas abound in the forests and waterways of Tortuguero.

Large numbers of migrant species call Tortuguero home during the northern winter, and provide excellent opportunities for biologists to study these annual movements. CCC, in cooperation with Partners in Flight and the US Forest Service, has been monitoring resident and migrant bird species in and around Tortuguero since 1994. The research includes making observations in three integrated ways: 1) along transects, 2) within specific habitat types and 3) by mist-netting. Through monitoring of this type, we can gain a greater understanding of their migration, behavior and breeding biology.

Tortuguero Bird Checklist
Bird Capture List.

How can I join this project?

To ensure your place:
1) Submit the Online Registration Form or call CCC at (800) 678-7853 for initial registration, confirmation of dates, and contact number for travel information.
2) Secure your reservation with a $200 deposit as soon as possible.

To reserve your place in one of the above research sessions, contact Caribbean Conservation Corporation directly as soon as possible by phone or email or our convenient online form.