Trip
Information
Date: April
12 - 26, 2008
Duration: 15
days
Leader: Héctor
Gómez de Silva
Limit: 12
people
Cost: $3295
USD, $3195 CDN, single supplement $525 USD, $515 CDN.
From: Tour
starts in Veracruz, Mexico and ends in Villahermosa
Highlights:
• Superb
birding in a wide variety of habitats, including the spectacular Sumidero
Canyon and the pre-Columbian pyramids at Palenque
• A wealth of birds, over 40 endemic or near-endemic species, including
many localized wrens, hummingbirds, and the splendid Rosita's Bunting,
Orange-breasted Bunting and Red-breasted Chat
• Our leader, Hector Gomez de Silva, is among the foremost birders in
Mexico!
Target
birds:
• Nava’s
Wren
• Red-breasted Chat
• Giant Wren
• Bridled Sparrow
•
Rosita’s Bunting
• Belted Flycatcher
• Russet-crowned Motmot
• Oaxaca Sparrow
•
Ocellated Thrasher
• Orange-breasted Bunting
Trip
Summary:
•
Moderate walking, some hill climbing
• Warm and hot days, pleasant nights
• Mainly very good accommodation, with a few nights in basic hotels
• Spectacular scenic ruins
• Includes all meals and transport
•
4 to 8 participants with one leader; 9 to 12 with two leaders plus a driver
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We visit cloud forest,
pine woodland, subtropical scrub and tropical dry forest, taking
in the remarkable pre-Columbian ancient cities of
Monté Alban and Yagul. Birding is rich and diverse as we search
for several endemics including Dwarf Jay and Dwarf Vireo. We also hunt
for two of Mexico’s most restricted species: Nava’s Wren
and Long-tailed Sabrewing. We visit the spectacular steep-walled Sumadero
Canyon and the charming city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas,
again targeting some very special birds, such as Black-throated Jay
and Red-breasted Chat. Our tour culminates at the outstanding Mayan
archaeological site of Palenque, where we expect a dazzling array of
species in the luxuriant rain forest and the marvelous Usumacinta marshes.
See detailed itinerary
and 'what to expect' below.
Click here to download
a list of birds from our December 2004 Oaxaca and Southern Mexico tour.
Click
here to download a list of birds from our April 2004 Oaxaca and Southern
Mexico tour.
Click
here to download a list of birds from our 2002 Oaxaca tour
To download a registration
form click here.
Photos: Green Violet-ear
by Cam Gillies
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Itinerary
Day
1- Arrival and
Orientation
This tour begins with arrival in Veracruz, where our tour leader(s) will
meet you in the hotel lobby after dinner. Night in Veracruz.
Day
2 - Veracruz
wetlands/grasslands to Tuxtepec.
After breakfast we will leave the hotel, driving through extensive
grasslands and wetlands in central Veracruz while generally making our way
to Tuxtepec
in northwestern Oaxaca. On our way we shall see many tropical land and
waterbirds in and near Alvarado, such as Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Double-striped
Thick-knee, Rufous-breasted Spinetail and Fork-tailed Flycatcher.
After
lunch in Tuxtepec, we will bird a short distance away. This area has a
very high bird diversity, but our main target will be the very hard
to find Sumichrast’s Wren. Other birds we will probably encounter
include Red-legged Honeycreeper and Montezuma’s Oropendolas, with
their interesting colonial nest trees.
Day
3 - Drive to Oaxaca
We’ll
have a pre-dawn departure this morning. Much of today will be
devoted to driving to the
city of Oaxaca. We will
bird along the way,
seeing quite a variety of species in the numerous habitats we traverse,
mainly the lowlands close to Tuxtepec, the cloud forest slopes where
we may see Unicolored Jays, Bumblebee Hummingbird, Slate-colored Solitaires
and Blue-crowned Chlorophonia and, as we near Oaxaca, the humid pine-oak
forest at La Cumbre, where we can expect to see birds such as Red Warbler,
Crescent-chested Warbler, Painted Redstart, Slate-throated Redstart,
Tufted
Flycatcher, Gray Silky, Gray-barred Wren, Yellow-eyed Junco and others
while we search for the rare Dwarf Jay, which is found nowhere else in
Mexico.
Days
4 and 5 - Oaxaca
The pine woodland, subtropical scrub and tropical dry forests within
half an hour’s drive of Oaxaca, possess nearly one third of
Mexico’s endemic bird species. We allow ample time to search
for most of these in the foothills and mountains east of the city
and at nearby sites in the Interior Valley of Oaxaca such as at Teotitlán
del Valle and Yagul. We also spend part of an afternoon enjoying
the weaving and dyeing demonstration by Zapotec weavers in Teotitlán
del Valle.
In the foothills, expected birds include Dusky and BeryllineHummingbird,
while we will be specifically searching for Oaxaca Sparrow and three endemic
species of vireos: the Dwarf, Golden and Slaty Vireo. With luck, we may
also find Ocellated Thrasher and Pileated Flycatcher. Nights in Oaxaca.
Day
6 - Tehuantepec
Today
we make several stops along the drive to Tehuantepec, At the archaeological
site of Yagul,
surrounded by beautiful scenery,
the endemic White-throated
Towhee, Gray-breasted Woodpecker, Beautiful Hummingbird and Boucard’s
Wren should not be difficult to find while, with luck, we may hope to see
Bridled Sparrow. Further toward Tehuantepec, we hope to see Green-fronted
and Doubleday’s Hummingbirds, Plain-capped Starthroat, White-lored
Gnatcatcher and Cinnamon-tailed Sparrows. Night in Tehuantepec. Day
7 and 8 - Arriaga
After birding in the morning around Tehuantepec, we head eastward into
yet another biotic province. In the Arriaga area we look for waterbirds,
including Reddish Egret and, hopefully, Collared Plover, and several endemic
or nearly endemic birds, including Yellow-naped Parrot, Orange-chinned
Parakeet, Spotted-breasted Oriole, Giant Wren and Rose-bellied Bunting.
Nights near Arriaga.
Days
9 and 10 - Tuxtla Gutiérrez
After
breakfast we spend the day travelling to Tuxtla Gutiérrez,
stopping along the way at several birding spots, inluding a sinkhole where
dozens of Green Parakeets roost. Our stay at Tuxtla Gutiérrez includes
a visit to a special site where Nava’s Wren occurs. Our leader, Hector
Gomez de Silva was responsible for discovering this bird and having it
classified as a separate species. To our knowledge, very few people, other
than participants in Eagle Eye Tours, have ever seen this bird. Nights
in Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
Day
11 - Nava’s
Wren and San Cristóbal
de las Casas
Before
heading to San Cristóbal de las Casas,
we visit the spectacular Sumidero Canyon, where we will search for such
spectacular birds as Belted
and Flammulated Flycatchers, Lesser Roadrunner, Red-breasted Chat, Bar-winged
Oriole, and, with luck, possibly even the gorgeous Slender Sheartail and
the elusive Lesser Ground Cuckoo.
After lunch we climb
into the highlands of Chiapas, where, near the folkloric San Cristóbal de las Casas we see several new species including
Rufous-collared Thrush (Robin) and Rufous-collared Sparrow. Birding in
pine forests, we may see some of the following species: Amethyst-throated
and White-eared Hummingbirds, Black-capped Swallow, White-naped Brush-finch,
the blue-chested, southern form of the Steller’s Jay, Rufous-browed
Wren, and even, if we are very fortunate indeed, Pink-headed Warbler, Black-throated
Jay and/or Unspotted Saw-whet Owl. Night fortunate indeed, Pink-headed
Warbler, Black-throated Jay and/or Unspotted Saw-whet Owl. Night in San
Cristóbal de las Casas.
Days
12 and 13 - Palenque
After
looking for Pink-headed Warbler near San Cristóbal, we head
toward Palenque, an outstanding archaeological site surrounded by luxuriant
rain forest in the land that belonged to the Mayas. Hundreds of bird species
can be found in this area, among which we can expect to see Long-tailed
Hermit, Masked Tityra, Red-capped Manakin, Montezuma’s Oropendola
and several species of trogons, parrots, tropical tanagers, wrens, flycatchers
and more. An optional night trip can produce Pauraque and any of a number
of species of owl. The most common owl here is Mottled Owl, but we can
also hope for views of the handsome Black-and-White and Spectacled Owls.
Nights in Palenque.
Day
14 – Usumacinta
marshes
Leaving
Palenque we will drive through the grasslands and marshes near Emiliano Zapata
and Villahermosa. We will be looking for a number of interesting
birds including Double-striped Thick-knee, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Grassland
Yellow-Finch, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture.
Night in Villahermosa.
Day
15 - Departure From Villahermosa
The trip concludes after breakfast at our hotel in Villahermosa.
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 breakfast before dawn 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 some hill climbing and sometimes it may be muddy in
one or two places. During these times we will stop frequently to observe
nature.
There will be a couple of long drives of up to five or six hours, but
we will be stopping at two or three places along the way to break up
these
journeys into shorter segments.
Around noon time we will stop to have a picnic lunch or for a sit-down
meal at a restaurant. If it is hot, as it can be in southern 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.
The rainy season will have just ended in most places that we will visit,
but the Palenque and Villahermosa areas, where we will be on the last
few days, will be hot and humid and we may encounter showers late in
the day.
During three days of the trip, when we are at higher elevations, we will
encounter cool weather.
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