Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Stephen Moss

YOU WONT BELIEVE: Birdwatch a mesmerising costa rican encounter with the sunbittern | Mind Blowing Facts

A sunbittern in flight over water
The sunbittern, whose nearest relative, the kagu, lives about 7,500 miles away in New Caledonia. Photograph: David Tipling photo library/Alamy

“Garza del sol! Garza del sol!” I speak some Spanish, but even so, I struggled to understand what I was being told. Ella – the sister of José, owner of the Hotel Quelitales in Costa Rica – impatiently beckoned me down the path, until we reached a small, tree-canopied creek.

Then I realised what she was so excited about: the “sun heron” – in English, a sunbittern – was posing motionless as a statue, just a few metres in front of me.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.