Black-headed trogon (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

20 January 2026: Day 2, La Ensenada Lodge and surrounding area — Road Scholar Birding in Northern Costa Rica: Tanagers to Toucans

Today we travel to La Ensenada Lodge at the Gulf of Nicoya, a place well known for birds.

The grounds at La Ensenada Lodge, Costa Rica (photo from the lodge website)

After settling in we’ll go birding in the afternoon to find black-headed trogons (Trogon melanocephalus) and turquoise-browed motmots (Eumomota superciliosa).

Black-headed trogon, fanning its tail (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Turquoise-browed motmot (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

We’ll also go out after dark to look for nighthawks and two potential lifebirds — Pacific screech-owl and double-striped thick-knee.

La Ensenada Lodge, Abangaritos, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (photo from the lodge website)

Lesser nighthawk at La Ensenada (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Pacific screech-owls (Megascops cooperi) are similar to our familiar eastern and western screech-owls in North America.

Pacific screech-owl in Costa Rica (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Double-striped thick-knees (Hesperoburhinus bistriatus) are very different. These shorebirds in the Stone-curlew (Burhinidae) family are mostly nocturnal and prefer dry lands instead of the shore.

Double-striped thick-knee in Costa Rica (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Most thick-knees live in Africa, Asia and Australia. Only two species live in the Americas. None in North America.

Range map of stone-curlews from Wikimedia Commons

At night we might not see them, but we may hear them “sing” like this: