What makes The Magic Road a magic road? Unlike Dorothy’s magic road (made of some curious yellow brick-like material), our Magic Road will not entice you to an Emerald City with a Wizard. But our Magic Road COULD tickle your fancy with an Emerald Toucanet with a lizard (sorry). Located just 20 meters north of El Tangaral (see blue dot above), the Magic Road has become an increasingly popular birding destination. A birding hot spot, if you will.

With a nice mix of disturbed secondary forest, open pasture, low scrubby plants and a variety of seed-bearing annual grasses, birders are likely to encounter many species that are rarely seen in dense forest or closed canopy rainforest. For example; all three of our Spinetail species are regularly seen on the Magic Road.

The Magic Road is also home to some of our specialty birds…those species that birders often come down here just to see. The first one is the Scaled Pigeon; very large and spectacularly marked.

The next is truly a ‘birder’s bird’; the Bran-colored Flycatcher (who knew bran was a color?)

Here is the dynamic Swallow-tailed Kite; also known as the Tijereta (scissor bird).

The term Magic Road really began to stick when birders started seeing some very rare species (often migrants) on their walks. Here are two of our recent rarities; the Sora, a migrant rail species and the Mississippi Kite; a very rare passage migrant raptor.

We’ll leave you with our San Vito Bird Club banner bird; the Turquoise Cotinga…also seen on the Magic Road (this one is a youngster).

Enjoy the solitude, enjoy the panoramic scenery of the Magic Road. You never know…’X’ may mark the spot where you see something really special!