Cerro Coyote/Coyote Mountain Preserve

Municipality of San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica

The Natural History of the Cerro Coyote Preserve

The Cerro Coyote preserve encompasses approximately 70 acres on the upper Pacific slope near the Continental Divide in the Cordillera de Tilarán of northwestern Costa Rica, including one of the final, most northwesterly mountaintops in the chain. Elevations are between approximately 1200 and 1400 meters in altitude. The Preserve is typical of the Tilarán, with steep slopes and deep valleys on both sides of the mountain.

Cerro Coyote (Coyote Mountain) serves as a water source and watershed for the Rio Barranca, which flows into the Gulf of Nicoya not far from Puntarenas. The Preserve straddles both the Pacific and Caribbean sides, thereby encompassing different life zones.

Cerro Coyote’s climate is similar to other upper Pacific montane areas, such as the famous Monteverde reserve, which lies just north about 15 miles as the crow flies. The climate is mild—almost Mediterranean—with montane temperature patterns, seasonal rainfall mostly in the Costa Rican “winter” (May to mid November), and powerful northeast trade winds. These winds—called “alisios”—are usually at their strongest in December, diminishing in intensity through April. During the rainy season (May-October), these winds are blocked by warm air masses that develop over the Pacific slope of which the Preserve is a part, resulting in calm air and rain.

During the dry season, the alisios drive moist air from the Caribbean inland and up the mountain slopes, where the air cools and clouds form. These clouds produce regular rain on the Caribbean-facing slopes resulting in the cloud forest environment in places like nearby Piedades Norte, Cerro Azahar, and Los Angeles. The clouds and mists sometimes get as far as the lower Cerro Coyote Preserve, and often a stream of clouds passes through an east-west wind alley just to the north of Cerro Coyote, where clouds hit the much drier Pacific slope and then suddenly disappear.

The top of Cerro Coyote is windy and cloudy more than other parts of the preserve, resulting in a small section of wind swept elfin forest on the exposed Atlantic side, which is Tropical Lower Montane Wet Forest. The rest of the forest here is Tropical Premontane Wet Forest. Both areas have abundant epiphytic life, including ferns, bromeliads, and orchids. Some larger trees are buttressed. The climate here is intermediate between Caribbean and Pacific.

During December and January, the trade winds are sometimes joined by cold fronts, resulting in extremely strong winds and cold temperatures, especially at night. These winds often blow down trees or rip off branches or leaves.

Below the top of the mountain forested areas are mostly Tropical Premontane Moist Forest, with more lush areas following the creek and spring areas in the valleys. Epiphytic life is less common than at the top of the mountain. Bird and animal life generally increases in diversity around the creeks and springs, especially in valleys sheltered from the wind during the dry season.

Just over the other side of Cerro Coyote, the Caribbean weather pattern predominates. In general, the Caribbean side of the Tilarán Mountains receives twice as much rain as the Pacific slope. This results in a much more lush type of forest. Generally, the lower down on the Pacific side, the climate becomes drier and more seasonal. It is often cloudy and misty in Piedades Sur or San Ramon, while being dry and sunny at Cerro Coyote. These communities have extensive cloud forest areas that can easily be visited from Cerro Coyote.

The rocks and soils of the Cordillera de Tilarán were formed 2-65 million years ago, with most of the surface rocks being relatively young (about 2-5 million years). Soil types include rhyolite, which looks like a light gray sand and was formed by volcanic extrusion; dark colored volcanic soils rich in organic matter from eroded ash and rock deposits; and eroded areas, especially on steeper slopes, that display heavy red-orange clay that is low in fertility.

The Cerro Coyote Preserve includes three broad life zones: highly seasonal (dry-wet) forest on the Pacific slope; cloud forest on the mountaintop; and wet rain forest on the Caribbean side (up and over the mountaintop). In addition there are open, savanna-like areas of the Pacific slope sparsely populated with trees that were formerly used for pasture. Many of these areas are being reforested, or being allowed to return to a natural state of forest creation and succession.

A Sampling of Species Viewed at Cerro Coyote

Birds

Black-headed Saltator

Three-wattled Bellbird

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Dusky Capped Flycatcher

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Yellow-green vireo

Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Rufous and White Wren

House Wren

White-eared Ground Sparrow

Band-tailed Pigeon

White-tipped Drove

Lesser Ground Cuckoo

Orange-bellied Trogon

Red-faced Spinetail

Rufous Capped Warbler

Masked Tityra

Rufous-collard Sparrow

Tropical Kingbird

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Golden-olive Woodpecker

Red-billed Pigeon

Short-billed Pigeon

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Streaked-headed Woodcreeper

Baltimore Oriole

Collared Trogon

Blue-Crowned Motmot

Black Guan

Keel-billed Toucan

Hoffmann’s Woodpecker

Great Kiskadee

Blue-and-white Swallow

Brown Jay

Clay-colored Robin

Tennessee Warbler

Blue-gray Tanager

Common Paurauque

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Emerald Toucanet

Smooth-billed Ani

Mammals

White-faced Capuchin Monkey (passing through occasionally)

Three-toed sloth

Olingo

Agouti

White-nosed Coati

Collared Pecari

Puma (rarely)

Amphibians

Glass frogs

Marine Toad

Tree frogs

Plants

Ticoglossum krameri (Odontoglossum)

Brassia gireourdiana

Stanhopia cirrhata

Epidendrum barbeyanum

Brasivola nodosa

Catacetum maculatum

Encyclia cordigera

Encyclia hoker

Encyclia fragrens

Epidendrum ciliare

Ep. stamfordianum

Scaphyglotis micrantha

Sobralia macrantha

Gongora armeniaca

Vanilla planifolium

Hexixea bidentata

Barkeria lindleyana

Lockhartia amoena

Pleurothallis costaricensis

Various bromeliad species

Cacti

Hylocereus costaricensis

Opuntia cochenillifera

Seleicereus testudo

The books An Introduction to the Cloud Forest Trees, Monteverde, Costa Rica (Mountain Gem, 2000) and Costa Rican Natural History (University of Chicago, 1983) were essential to the compilation of the above information.

Cerro Coyote Preserve

Cerro Coyote, S.A.

Inn at Coyote Mountain  www.cerrocoyote.com

+506 383 05 44