What is your favorite bird species?
The Resplendent Quetzal
Yellow-throated Toucan
What is your name, and where do you live?
My name is Dionisio Paniagua C., and I live on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Mangrove Hummingbird
What are the main regions or locations you cover as a bird guide?
Talamanca mountains and the Osa Peninsula
King Vulture
How long have you been a bird guide?
I have been birding for over 22 years
How did you get into bird guiding?
I once had the opportunity to work on a bird banding project with Stanford University and that made me fall in love with birds.
Bay-headed Tanager
What are the aspects of being a bird guide that you like best?
Share the passion of birding with people from all over the world, learn about world ornithology, travel to see birds in other countries, use new technologies and contribute to bird conservation.
Shining Honeycreeper
Which aspects do you dislike most?
It bothers me that many people are more obsessed with taking a good picture or seeing a lot of species, even if it means disrespecting the safety of the birds, the distance and doing little or nothing to improve the conservation status of the birds.
Scarlet-thighed Dacnis
What are the top 5-10 birds in your region that are the most interesting for visiting
birders?
- Scarlet Macaw
- Yellow-billed Cotinga
- Turquoise Cotinga
- Three Wattled Bellbird
- Resplendent Quetzal
- Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager
- Fiery-Throated Hummingbird
- White-crested Coquette
- King Vulture
- Orange-collared Manakin
- Fiery-billed Aracari
- Baird’s Trogon
Scarlet Macaw
Can you outline at least one typical birdwatching trip in your area? Please briefly describe the locations, the key birds, and the approximate duration of such a trip
The Three-hour tour to Rincon Bridge is a tour to look mainly for endemic birds, but as there are several different ecosystems, you can see a variety of species: Yellow-billed and Turquoise Cotinga, Riverside Wren, Mangrove Hummingbird, Fiery-billed Aracari, and Baird’s Trogon.
Fiery-billed Aracari
What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in your area?
I would suggest they visit Corcovado National Park, which is the best place in Costa Rica to see mammals, and do a pelagic bird tour. I would recommend them to come in the dry season from January to April, come prepared for high temperatures and high humidity.
Summer Tanager
If any readers of 10,000 Birds are interested in birding with you, how can they best contact you?
People can contact me through social networks such as Instagram (nitoguidecr), Facebook (Surcos Tours), email: nitolaparios@gmail.com
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