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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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