Trip
Information
Tour
Dates: February 19 - 28, 2009
Duration: 10
days
Tour Leader(s): Héctor
Gómez
de Silva
Cost: $2450
USD/CDN, Single supplement $375 USD/CDN
Tour starts and
ends in Mexico City Highlights:
• Experience the spectacle of millions of Monarch Butterflies
• Several rare and seldom seen Mexican endemics
• Rich culture
• Remarkably diverse habitats, from columnar cacti
forests to subalpine grasslands and high pine forests
Featured
birds:
Black-polled Yellowthroat
Sierra Madre Sparrow
Sumichrast's Wren
Red Warbler
Boucard's Wren
Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo
Dusky Hummingbird
Bumblebee Hummingbird Trip Summary
• 4-8 participants with one leader, 9-12 with two
• van and driver
•Good to very good accommodation
• Generally easy walking with a couple of uphill walks of
up to an hour |
Certainly
one of the greatest ecological spectacles in the world is the wintering
of up to
20 million Monarch Butterflies — most of the North American population — in
a single area of forest in central Mexico. In addition to this wonderful
sight, we will visit a variety of tropical and temperate habitats to
search for up to 40 species of birds endemic to Mexico and 29 nearly
endemic species. We will look for Mexican endemics in reed and cattail
marshes, pine and fir forests, tropical dry forest, oak woodland, subalpine
grassland, an abandoned coffee plantation in tropical semi-evergreen
forest and a beautiful forest of giant columnar cacti. A large number
of our target birds are species that are rarely or never seen on tours.
In the Lerma marshes we will seek the beautiful Black-polled Yellowthroat.
In the pine and fir forests we will look for a number of species including
the handsome Black-backed Oriole, flashy Red Warbler and elusive Long-tailed
Wood-partridge. We will listen to one of the most beautiful bird songs
in North America, the rich warbling and tinkling of the Brown-backed Solitaire
(which we also hope to see). Grassy meadows in the vicinity have Striped
and Sierra Madre sparrows; the latter has been seen by few people and is
one of the few birds in North America for which a photograph had never
been published until a few years ago (it first appeared in Eagle-Eye Tours'
brochure and web site). In this season, the tropical dry forest that we
visit is humming with hummingbirds, and we should see among others Golden-crowned
Emerald, Dusky and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. Golden Vireo and Rusty-crowned
Ground-Sparrows are also more easily seen that at any other season.
An entirely different
and very rich avifauna is found in the abandoned coffee plantation
at Amatlán, where Sumichrast’s Wren and
Fan-tailed Warbler will be our principal target birds. Lastly, the unique
cactus forest near Tehuacán will certainly produce a different
set of species yet again, including Bridled Sparrow and Gray-breasted
Woodpecker.
This tour, then, provides
a wildlife spectacle, diverse and very interesting scenery and a large
number of very sought-after birds.
See detailed itinerary
below
Click
here to download a registration form
Click here to download
a list of birds from our 2002 Central Mexico tour.
2006 Central Mexico
Tour species list (132 kb pdf) |
Itinerary
Day
1 - Arrival and Orientation
This tour begins after dinner in Mexico City. Our tour leader(s) will
meet you in our hotel lobby at 7:00pm to get acquainted, discuss
the tour and answer any questions. Night in Mexico City, at a hotel
adjacent to the airport.
Day
2 - Drive to
Angangueo
We will drive to Zitácuaro, a town close to the Monarch Butterfly
wintering grounds in Michoacán. We will be stopping en route
to look for our first birds of the trip in the Lerma marshes west
of Mexico City, one of the last homes of the threatened Black-polled
Yellowthroat.
Other stops will be in pine and fir forest, where possibilities include
Pine Flycatcher, Golden-browed Warbler, Red Warbler and Colima Warbler.
Night at Zitácuaro.
Day
3 - Monarch
Butterflies
We will drive to the site where millions of Monarch Butterflies
spend the winter. The late morning is the best time to enjoy this
spectacle.
We will not be alone here, because this is a very popular destination
for Mexicans and foreigners alike. Around 15 to 20 million Monarchs,
most of the population of the United States and Canada, spend the
winter here after travelling up to 120 kilometers per day in their
October
southward migration. During the early winter they spend most of
their time dormant, with their wings closed, in dense clusters
covering
the fir trunks and branches. This is a spectacle in itself but
the Monarchs
are even more impressive in late February and early March when
they spend most of the day sunning themselves with their wings
open, and
occasionally flutter around to feed on nectar. Only two species
of birds in this forest are capable of feeding on the normally
toxic
Monarch Butterflies, the Black-headed Grosbeak and the Mexican
endemic Abeille´s
Oriole (rare).
Day
4 - Mountain
Birds and on to Cuernavaca
After brakfast at our hotel we will spend the morning birding a
road through pine-oak forest near Zitácuaro, where the
many birds we may see include the cute Tufted Flycatcher, White-throated
Robin
and Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo. After lunch we will drive east
to Cuernavaca, where we will arrive just before dusk, just in
time to
see hundreds of White-naped Swifts and smaller numbers of Vaux’s
and Chestnut-collared Swifts flying into their roost close to
the city center. Night at Cuernavaca.
Days
5 and 6 - Around
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is right in the transition zone between tropical and
temperate regions, and short drives will take us into a variety
of different
types of forests in both. First, we shall visit a trail through
tropical dry forest a few kilometers east of Cuernavaca. This
trail always
produces a large number of bird species endemic to the lowlands
of western Mexico.
Although driving east to see birds of western affinities seems
paradoxical, this is because an arm of tropical dry forest,
the Balsas Basin,
extends 500 km east from the state of Colima, passing very
close to Cuernavaca.
In this season the forest will be dry, most trees will be leafless
and the birds will be easy to see. More than 20 Mexican endemic
birds occur here, and although it is difficult to predict which
ones we
will see, it can be said that there is a very good chance of
finding Golden-crowned
Emerald, Violet-crowned and Dusky Hummingbirds, Golden-cheeked
Woodpecker, Thick-billed Kingbird, Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow
and Black-chested
Sparrow, among others. We will also be able to practice identification
of Myiarchus flycatchers, because four particularly similar-looking
species are rather common in this forest. In the afternoon,
we will visit an oak woodland at Huitzilac (“land of hummingbirds” in
the language of the Aztecs), where we shall encounter many
birds of highland forest including, hopefully, Amethyst-throated
Hummingbird
and possibly even Bumblebee Hummingbird and, with a tremendous
amount of luck, Aztec Thrush. Night at Cuernavaca.
In the morning
of Day 6 we will visit a mountain meadow where
the extremely local and endangered Sierra Madre Sparrow can
be regularly
seen (though
few tours visit this site). Our principal tour leader carried
out the first study on the natural history of this species
here. Another
Mexican
endemic sparrow is common here too, the Striped Sparrow.
Nearby, we will visit a temperate forest which often produces a large
number of
Mexican endemic and specialty birds, including the look-alike
Russet and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrushes (they also sing
very much
alike! Concentrate on the color of their lower beaks), Green-striped
Brush-Finch,
Elegant Euphonia, Strickland's Woodpecker and many others.
In the afternoon, we will make a relatively long drive to
Córdoba,
where we will spend the night. Córdoba is a XVII century
city and largely retains its colonial architecture. Day
7 -
Amatlán
A short drive to Amatlán will put us in a blend of tropical
semievergreen forest and abandoned coffee plantation. The
birdlife here is completely different from what we will encounter elsewhere
on this tour and the area is very rich in species including
such tropical
gems as Blue-crowned Motmot and both Chestnut-headed and
Montezuma’s
Oropendolas. We will spend the morning in this forest/plantation,
keeping in mind that this is a special area for three birds that are
rare elsewhere:
Wedge-tailed Saberwing, Sumichrast’s Wren and Fan-tailed
Warbler. This is one of the few forests in Mexico where it
is possible to see
3 species of toucans. In the afternoon, we will drive to
Cardel, stopping en route on a little side road to look for
White-naped Brush-Finch
and other mid-elevation birds. Night at Cardel.
Day
8 - Cardel
area
This morning we shall visit one of the few remnants of
tropical dry forest in eastern Mexico to search especially
for the
tiny Mexican
Sheartail and the very well-marked local subspecies of
Rufous-naped Wren. White-bellied Wren also occurs here,
though it can
be quite elusive. In the afternoon we will drive to Tehuacán,
where we will once again meet the eastern extension of
Pacific tropical dry forest and
associated West Mexican avifauna. Tehuacán is another
XVII century town, but archaeological evidence indicates
that in fact it is one
of the earliest places where agriculture was practiced
in Mexico, perhaps even in the New World, 8000 years ago.
Day
9 - Tehuacán
This morning we will visit an impressive and unique ecosystem,
a dense forest of giant columnar cacti (one usually doesn’t think of
cacti as forming forests!). When the early morning sun’s rays
hit the tops of the cacti we can expect to see Bridled Sparrow, Gray-breasted
Woodpecker and other birds perching on the tall plants. These other
birds will include Boucard’s Wren, probably Yellow Grosbeak and
even Russet-crowned Motmot.
In the afternoon we will drive back to Mexico City. Night
in Mexico City.
Day
10 - Departure
The trip concludes after breakfast at our hotel next
to the Mexico City airport.
What to Expect
Our daily travel schedule
will vary to account for weather, bird species and habitat. We will often
want to be out birding very early in the morning—we
may have dawn breakfasts or take a box breakfast into the field. In addition,
there will be a few optional late evening expeditions in search of nocturnal
birds for those interested. The tour will involve generally easy walking
and possibly some hill climbing of up to an hour to reach the Monarch Butterflies
and the site for Sumichrast’s Wren. There will be a couple of long
drives of up to four hours, but we will be stopping at one or two places
along the way to break up these journeys into shorter segments.
Around noontime we will
stop to have a sit-down meal at a restaurant. If it is hot, as it can
be in most of Mexico, we may rest for an hour or
so during the middle of the afternoon. On some evenings, we will arrange
to go to a local restaurant, which we have selected for its good food and
comfortable atmosphere. During dinner we usually discuss the day’s
activities and review the list of birds seen and heard.
We will be visiting in the dry season and rain is unlikely. During three
days of the trip, when we are at higher elevations, we will encounter cool
weather.
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