How good is bird watching in Pico Bonito?

One of my lovely mother’s favorite expressions is “that’s for the birds” … It might apply correctly to many different things, but trust me, bird watching in Pico Bonito is not for the birds, it’s for us the humans! You cannot possibly come to Atlantida, and visit Pico Bonito National Park and not become enthralled with the lovely tropical birds that abound in this part of the World, you simply can’t!

OK, let’s say you are not in the least bit interested in birds, and you are comfortably relaxing in your hammock when a beautiful keel billed toucan flies past you and lands in a tree just thirty feet from you… Don’t tell me you are going to ignore it… You might just fall off you hammock from the excitement! Best of all, you were not even looking for it; the bird just came by and landed right in front of you.

On another note, you might be having breakfast in our lovely veranda when a group of 6 Collared Aracari individuals land in the papaya tree just 25 feet from your breakfast table and start enjoying their own breakfast of fresh papayas right off the tree. They are actually so hungry that they don’t mind the fact that you are very close to them!

Then I must mention those serendipitous moments, when driving down our local road I have spotted unique birds, such as the time there was a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl on our driveway who I startled as I was driving down. He quickly flew to the safety of the first tree branch available and gave me a dirty don’t you even think you are taking my lunch away look… only then did I notice lunch hanging under one of his wings. On that occasion I did have a camera and was able to record the experience.

Just the day before yesterday, and after talking about lovely cotingas with several colleagues, I came across one right next to our driveway… what a treat! Best of all, I was not even looking for birds; they just suddenly appeared in front of me. In the tropical rain forests of La Ceiba, bird watching in Pico Bonito offers many daily experiences. If you are an avid birdwatcher, you will be in heaven at La Villa de Soledad, and if you are not a bird watcher, you will enjoy both, the variety and the quantity of birds that you will effortlessly see from the comfort of your hammock in our lovely, cool verandahs. Come and experience for yourself the pleasures of bird watching in Pico Bonito National Park, La Ceiba, Honduras!