Tapir Valley Nature Reserve

Nestled at the base of Volcan Tenorio, Tapir Valley Nature Reserve is one of the most diverse birding and wildlife reserves in Costa Rica.

At 200 acres (80 hectares), the reserve has primary and secondary forests, wetlands, and grassland habitats, making it home to over 440 species of birds, dozens of mammals, and over 40 amphibian species.

Tapir Valley got its name from the healthy population of wild Baird's Tapirs that inhabit the primary forest and forage for plants in the wetlands and other areas of the reserve.

The valley is a safe place away from human development, and provides the best place in northern Costa Rica to see these endangered mammals.

Most birding hotspots typically consist of one or two different types of habitats. Primary forest habitats are common for Costa Rican birding spots, as are coastal or mangrove habitats.

Tapir Valley is unique in that it consists of six different distinct wildlife zones. At this amazing reserve, we find primary forest, secondary forest, riparian, forested swamp, marsh, and grassland areas.

This range of habitat types means that there's always some kind of activity to observe. If the primary forest is quiet, the grasslands will be busy with seedeaters, or the marsh will be full of yellowthroats.

Over 440 species of birds have been reported on eBird at Tapir Valley (check out our Ebird list here). That's over half of the birds in Costa Rica!

Tapir Valley's location and habitats are the key to its diversity. Some of the special birds that our visitors love are the Tody Motmot, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Bare-necked Umbrellabird (infrequent), Keel-billed Motmot, Snowcap hummingbird, Black-crested Coquette, and our resident pair of Spectacled Owls.

Over 30 species of mammals can be found at Tapir Valley. The most commonly seen species are White-nosed Coatis, White-faced Capuchin Monkeys, Mantled Howler Monkeys, sloths, tayras, and Baird's Tapirs.

Many of the mammals here are nocturnal, and our trail cameras have seen ocelots, puma, Spotted Paca. Our night tours are the best way to see many of these species.

Tapir Valley is special in that it has a fabulous wetland and riparian zone that is home to over 43 species of frogs.

Red-eyed Tree Frogs are popular with many photographers, but we see many different species during our night tours.

Tapir Valley is the only known location that you can find the newly-discovered Tapir Valley Tree Frog (Tlalocohyla celeste). This new species was first found in 2021 and we have viewing platforms that make it easy to see this amazing frog.

We see some fantastic snakes and lizards during our tours at Tapir Valley. Eyelash Vipers, Fer-de-lance (terciopelo), anoles, boas, iguanas, and basilisks are all resident species here.

Most of the snakes we see are nocturnal, and the night tours are the best way to get nice, safe views of these reptiles.

Nearly 50 species of spiders make Tapir Valley their home. The most popular are the Costa Rican Orangemouth Tarantula and net-casting spiders.

Over 550 species of insects have been recorded so far at Tapir Valley, but that's barely touching the actual diversity we see here.

At night, we can visit our moth-viewing platform and we can find hundreds of unique species of moths and other insects that are attracted to the UV light.