Juan grew up in a very rural and undeveloped area at the base of the vast Juan Castro Blanco National Park, the only bird influence there was his uncle: an illegal bird poacher who caught Cholorophonias, Solitaires and Euphonias for ilegal trade. As a growing teenager he was getting more and more interest in a deeper study of the birds around his home and had a lot of questions that a bird in a cage was not able to answer, and understood that he needed books and more time observing these birds in the wild. At the age of 15 he was able to get his first bird book, the heavy 1989 “Skutch & Stiles” guide and he was hooked for life.

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After he stopped illegally catching birds at the age of fifteen he started watching birds for fun and later went to university to get a BA in Ecotourism and then a Master of Science in Sustainable Development with emphasis in Conservation of Biological Resources. Throughout his undergraduate and graduate career, he continued working during high seasons as a full-time bird-guide with some of the most renowned birding tour agencies in Costa Rica.

Since this time, he has also been active in many bird-related projects, from co-founding local NGOs (Cerulean Warbler Conservation Costa Rica) to being Vice Chair of a Working Group for the Convention on Migratory Bird Species of the United Nations Environmental Program. Apart from serving on multiple local committees for rare birds and birding clubs, his career/hobby has taken Juan to bird in many sites including Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America, and several countries of Central America.

Currently he is the country coordinator for eBird.org the largest database of bird sightings in the world.