PINDECO Pineapple Plantation

PINDECO Birding Site – Southern Pacific Region Tucked within the sprawling PINDECO pineapple plantation, owned by Del Monte in Costa Rica’s southern zone, are fragmented pockets of secondary forest that offer surprisingly exceptional birding. While this may not look like a typical birding hotspot, these remnant patches of vegetation have become a magnet for serious birders…

Quick Facts on PINDECO Pineapple Plantation
- Hotspot Type
  Private Planation
- Habitat
  Farmland, Secondary Forest
- Bird Species
  Great Kiskadee, Blue-gray Tanager, Scarlet-rumped Tanager, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Variable Seedeater, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Roadside Hawk, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-headed Caracara, White-crowned Parrot, Golden-hooded Tanager, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous-breasted Wren, Ruddy-breasted Seedeater, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Cattle Egret, Swallow-tailed Kite, Crested Caracara, White-collared swift, Lesson’s Motmot, Fiery-billed Aracari, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Orange-collared Manakin, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Masked Tityra, Riverside Wren, Green Honeycreeper, Bananaquit, Buff-throated Saltator, Northern Jacana, Green Heron, Gartered Trogon, Barred Antshrike, Black-hooded Antshrike, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat

PINDECO Birding Site – Southern Pacific Region

Tucked within the sprawling PINDECO pineapple plantation, owned by Del Monte in Costa Rica’s southern zone, are fragmented pockets of secondary forest that offer surprisingly exceptional birding. While this may not look like a typical birding hotspot, these remnant patches of vegetation have become a magnet for serious birders and photographers chasing some of the country’s most elusive species.

In just one productive patch, it’s possible to encounter the striking Rosy Thrush-Tanager, the understated but highly localized Black-tailed Flycatcher, and, if you’re truly lucky, the secretive and rarely seen Pheasant Cuckoo. Other top species include the Streak-Chested Antpitta, Turquoise Cotinga, Black Hawk Eagle and the Baird’s Trogon. These are bucket-list birds for many and PINDECO is one of the only reliable places in Costa Rica where all three have been recorded together.

This is not a formal reserve, and access is typically arranged through local birding guides who know the plantation’s back roads and the exact microhabitats favored by target species. Trails are mostly flat, but birding here can require short walks through uneven or weedy areas, so closed shoes and a sense of adventure are recommended.

While it may lack the infrastructure of a traditional wildlife refuge, PINDECO delivers where it counts—with rarity, excitement, and the real possibility of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.