This is our most popular Mexican tour, and for good reason. Oaxaca (
wah-HAH-kah) has the biggest bird
list of any Mexican state (around 700). The group recorded 320
species,
including 36 endemic to Mexico and 60 endemic to northern Middle
America. With impressive ruins, a bustling capital city rich in
commerce and architecture, a vibrant native culture, and some of the
world's most beautiful beaches, Oaxaca offers even the non-birder much
to write home about. If you're looking for a trip that's also good for
a non-birding partner, we highly recommend this one. On many of the
days, afternoon birding was optional, so those who wished went
shopping, indulged in the local cuisine, and even simply took a siesta.
Day
1: Oaxaca City
Most of our participants arrived a day or more early, so what to do
today other than bird? While enjoying drinks, we picked through
mixed flocks that passed through the courtyard of our hotel.
Nashville and Audubon’s Warblers made up the core of these flocks, but
we also found Tennessee Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Wilson’s
Warbler. We followed some muffled whistles and discovered that a
Rufous-backed Robin had set up a
territory in the hotel! The local and vibrantly crimson race of
House Finch also paraded around for all to see. Some of us took a walk
across the beautiful Paseo de Juárez, which yielded views of
Summer Tanager and the ubiquitous Tropical Kingbird. We even saw our
first local endemic,
Dusky Hummingbird,
feeding on the poker plants on the terrace. Not a bad start!
Day
2: Teotitlán del Valle
The day began birding the scrubby hillsides above town, and the first
bird of the day was a great omen. Not far out of the van we heard a
bird messing around in the leaves on the side of the road. It was
elusive at first, but eventually everyone had excellent looks at a
Oaxaca Sparrow mere feet away as it
fed on the open ground. This bird is usually quite hard to see in
the winter, so we were quite lucky to see one first thing on the first
day! We also saw
White-throated
Towhees in the undergrowth, but our attention was pulled away
from them by large overflying flocks of clucking birds.
Gray Silkies! We saw literally
hundreds, including amazing scope views. About the same time,
someone asked what the odd green bird with the blue and orange head
was. Buried in a mistletoe clump was a small flock of
Elegant Euphonias. Though deep
inside at first, over the next ten minutes we enjoyed their brilliant
azures, metallic indigos, mossy greens, and rustic oranges in the scope
as they scoured branches for berries. Nearby, a loud squawking sound
started from within a dense stand of pipe cactus: it was a
Boucard’s Wren. A little tape
brought him and his mate to the top of the cactus for amazing
views. While we were enjoying the wren, a small hummingbird
appeared, feeding on the cactus blossoms. It was a female
Beautiful Hummingbird!
Downslope, we caught view of another pipe cactus specialist as a male
Gray-breasted Woodpecker obligingly
perched at the top of one. We all had views in the scope of its
neat facial pattern, including the red cheeks. Wow--the birds
were dripping off the trees . . . or cacti, this morning!
A bit further up the road we came across our first mixed flock, which
included Virginia’s Warbler, Rose-throated Becard, Painted Whitestart,
Bridled Titmouse,
Crescent-chested
Warbler, Western Tanager,
Slate-throated
Whitestart, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and
Rufous-capped Warbler. While
we were scouring the flock, a family of scrub-jays came by, and we
admired this uniquely-plumaged southernmost subspecies of
Western Scrub-Jay at length.
Across the road, we heard the odd jangling sound of a pair of duetting
Bridled Sparrows. We called
them in without any difficulty and agreed that this is one
exceptionally beautiful sparrow!
Later in the day, the flycatchers really picked up. Most of the
morning, we were treated to comparisons of Cassin’s and Thick-billed
Kingbirds, but at our lakeside lunch stop we were joined by very
cooperative
Tufted Flycatchers,
Black Phoebes, and Vermilion Flycatchers. The skies were filled
with hundreds of swallows, Violet-greens and Northern
Rough-wingeds. There was a nice variety of waterbirds on the
lake: Least Grebe, Ruddy and Ring-necked Ducks, Blue- and
Green-winged Teal. The Ring-necks were quite a surprise, as there
are few prior records in the Oaxaca Valley.

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Black-vented Oriole
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Gray Silky
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After lunch we’d planned to go straight into town to shop at the rug
market, but the birding was just too good! So, we went back up
the
road a ways to view some blooming coral bean trees where we had views
of
Dusky and
Berylline Hummingbirds. During
this vigil, we were also
witnesses to a somewhat exhibitionist pair of gorgeous writhing yellow
snakes. A bit further up the road, we were shocked to see a flock
of
literally hundreds of passerines congregating around a stream.
Just
some of the more noteworthy birds included Grasshopper Sparrow,
Black-vented Oriole,
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Lark Sparrow, and
Bullock’s Oriole. Finally, we had to pull our selves away to make
it
to the rug market in time to get back to Oaxaca for dinner, so we
headed back down into town, but not before stopping for a roving band
of adorable little “black-eared” Bushtits.
Once at the market in Teotitlán, we split up. Some went
shopping; others were more interested in the rug-making process.
Those who went to the women’s cooperative were treated to a very
interesting demonstration, including how a simple acid-base reaction
can yield many different colors in the cochineal dye: it’s
naturally red, but adding lime juice turns it orange, while adding ash
makes it purple! We then watched one of the weavers at work on a
loom.
We ended the day having seen six of the seven local endemics. Add
this to an enjoyable afternoon at the local tapete market, and the day
(only the first full one) was a smashing success!
Day
3: Monte Albán and Teotitlán del Valle
This morning started out with good fortune, as we quickly heard an
Ocellated Thrasher singing along the
entrance road. The last local endemic! Unfortunately, only
about half the group got to see this uncooperative bird, though some
did see it extremely well. In the parking lot, another
frustrating mimid, a
Blue Mockingbird,
offered only fleeting glimpses. A
Gray-breasted Woodpecker flew in,
giving us even better looks than the day before, while a
Nutting’s Flycatcher called from
the hillside above.

We strolled around inside the
ruins, taking in this incredible site (and stopping to chuckle at the
Rock Wrens that set up house in the decaying pyramids), and in the
process we had great views of Western Kingbird, Cassin’s Vireo,
Black-throated Gray Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Vaux’s Swift, and Scott’s
Oriole.
It was back to Oaxaca for lunch, and an optional afternoon of
birding. Some chose to siesta or shop in Oaxaca, but the rest of
us returned to the road above Teotitlán del Valle. We were
hoping that we’d be able to locate the immense flock of passerines from
the day before. We did find a large flock, but Audubon’s Warblers
comprised the entire group. We did however have good looks at
Canyon Wren, Louisiana Waterthrush, and a flock of
Gray Silkies along the creek.
Day
4: Cerro San Felipe/La Cumbre
It was chilly this morning at dawn, but it was no wonder since we
started out at 10,000 feet in fir-pine-oak forest! This was the
location where we were all able to get acquainted with one of the most
incredible birdsongs in the world, that of
Brown-backed Solitaire. The
species is widespread all over northern Middle America, and its song is
the characteristic sound of the region’s highlands. We also were
surprised to hear a
Black Robin
singing out-of-season. Most people got nice looks at a singing
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, a sure sign
that we were in tropical highlands. A small group of Band-tailed
Pigeons perched up in a dead snag. A White-tailed Hawk was quite
a surprise at this altitude. We quickly learned the sounds of the
locally ubiquitous
White-eared
Hummingbirds, and were treated to many views of breathtaking
males as they fed in the roadside
Salvia.
Magnificent Hummingbirds were
also present, including one on a massive, stories-tall blooming
Agave. That particular Mag wasn’t around long though, as it was
scared off by a very large
White-nosed
Coati with a sweet tooth! Meanwhile, a
Russet Nightingale-Thrush flushed
from the side of the road and sat motionless for a few minutes, long
enough for us to study it in the scope and observe the diagnostic dusky
tip to its mandible! We were starting to get worried that we’d not yet
seen a Red Warbler, but shortly before lunch we ran into a mixed flock
of warblers, one of which was a very responsive male
“White-eared” Red Warbler.
Hermit Warbler, Hutton’s Vireo,
Mexican
Chickadee, and
Olive Warbler were
also in the flock. During lunch we watched some “Mexican”
Yellow-eyed Juncos as they fed on the road but were soon distracted the
loud, high-pitched whistles of a
Spot-crowned
Woodcreeper. We finally found a flock of
Gray-barred Wrens and
Steller’s Jays but were unable to
pick out any Dwarf Jays.

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White-nosed
Coati
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Magnificent
Hummingbird
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After dinner, some people opted to return for night birding. We
were very successful right away in calling in a
Mexican Whip-poor-will. It
flew overhead in the lamp a few times, and we were able to compare and
contrast the song of the form here with tape of the Northern
Whip-poor-will found in the eastern U.S. We located a
Mountain Pygmy-Owl singing down a
hillside, but it never showed itself. While alternating between
Northern Saw-whet, Whiskered Screech-, and Flammulated Owls an owl
swooped literally inches over our heads, scaring us just
slightly! We were unable to see or hear the culprit and
determine its identity, though.
Day 5: Cerro San Felipe/La
Cumbre
We hadn’t even entered the reserve before a flock of Steller’s Jays
flew over the road. We piled out of the van and ran back down
the road, sifting through the birds for Dwarf
Jays. This particular flock turned out to be only Steller’s, but
we were determined to continue the search. A good-sized flock of
American Robins was a small consolation.
Multiple
Pine Flycatchers were
seen today, including nice scope views which allowed us a textbook view
of its field marks—always welcome with empids! Eventually, our
persistence was rewarded: we found some
Dwarf Jays associating with the
flocks of Steller’s Jays and
Gray-barred
Wrens. The looks could have been better, though. Shortly
after lunch we found a flock of small passerines, which contained
Red and
Crescent-chested Warblers and an
eventually cooperative
Golden-browed
Warbler. A male
Collared
Towhee gave us quite a show as he sang from an exposed perch
just above eye level in a fir. We’d just about called it a day
when someone heard a Gray-barred Wren from inside the van. As we
got out, a flock of jays and wrens materialized, including more
Dwarf Jays. Most people got
better looks at this group. After the wren-jay flock quieted
down, we noticed a small flight of Scott’s Orioles (about 40 birds)
overhead. A pair of inquisitive Common Ravens came to say goodbye
as we loaded back up for our short drive back to Oaxaca.
Day
6: Oaxaca to Tuxtepec
A trip to the north was in store today. It’s only 200 km, but we
took it very slowly, birding along the way. We hadn’t made it
much past La Cumbre when we noticed a bright red trogon perched
directly over the highway. We got out of the van at the first
safe location and walked back to find a beautiful male
Mountain Trogon. At the same
location, we had better looks at
Brown-backed
Solitaire than we had the two prior days. At one point,
three separate males surrounded us with birdsong.
Our next stop was the dry valley just below Gueletao de
Juárez. A small flock of
Cinnamon-rumped
Seedeaters flushed off the side of the trail and included a
couple nicely-plumaged males. Flycatchers were quite obvious in
this arid habitat, and we spent a good deal of time admiring the
cracking male
Vermilion Flycatchers and
more subtly beautiful
Thick-billed
Kingbirds. A Gray Flycatcher put in a brief but diagnostic
appearance as well. In the scrub, we had glimpses of another
Oaxaca Sparrow while a beautiful
male Spotted Towhee sang nearby. A few people had a look at a
bright orange male Hepatic Tanager. On the way back to the van,
we flushed a different group of small finch-like birds, including
Blue-black and
Yellow-faced Grassquits. A
quick stop at the river yielded Green Kingfisher and Black Phoebe.
A stop at the continental divide gave us an amazing view of the
Gulf-slope lowlands and the clouds we were about to drive
through. Before our decent, a
Hooded
Yellowthroat sang from the stunted bushes just below the summit,
but he wouldn’t come out.
We had lunch in the humid pine-oak belt above the cloudforest. If
was pretty quiet here, but a large flock of
White-collared Swifts circled
overhead, and we heard a
Northern
Emerald-Toucanet. Other stops in this habitat produced
“White-eared” Red Warblers, a
poorly-seen
Garnet-throated
Hummingbird, the first of many
“Hidalgo”
Common Bush-Tanagers, and a very angry male
Bumblebee Hummingbird.
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Bumblebee Hummingbird
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Bumblebee
Hummingbird |
As we descended into the fog, a beautiful, haunting song left no doubt
that we’d arrived in high quality cloudforest.
Slate-colored Solitaires were
serenading us, and we took a couple minutes to appreciate what may be
Mexico’s most beautiful bird song. We also heard
Crested Guan and
Barred Forest-Falcon from deep
within the mist. A small flock of
Unicolored Jays flew over the road
and landed in a tree, but only a few people were able to get on them
before they took off.
The cloudforest was pretty socked in, so we decided to head on down to
the subtropical and tropical rainforest in the foothills below.
Our last stop of the day was incredibly birdy. A large band of
passerines came into our whistling and included
Spot-breasted Wren, Tropical Parula,
Black-throated Green Warbler, American Redstart,
Red-throated Ant-Tanager,
White-winged Tanager,
Yellow-winged Tanager, and
Yellow-billed Cacique. At one
point, a group of
Spotted Wood-Quail
started singing upslope. After a few minutes, a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
flew in, seemingly to approve of our imitation of its song. While
all this was going on, a
Ruddy Crake
started calling from the tall grass alongside the road. We left the
speakers on the road and walked back 40 meters or so, hoping that the
bird would walk out onto the road, but it was not to be.
Day
7: Tuxtepec
It was overcast and just the tiniest bit misty, which proved perfect
conditions for birding, as the birds were incredibly active until after
1 p.m.! A
Green-breasted Mango
shot over the group upon our arrival, but most were unable to get on
it. Instead, we all had good looks at
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird while a
Laughing Falcon called in the
distance. An odd sneezing sound from the tangle across the road
led us to a singing
Rufous-breasted
Spinetail. With a little persistence we were able to get
very nice views of the bird. Orioles proved to be the most
obvious birds of the day, with roving flocks of them scouring the
vine-covered hillsides for flowers to suck dry. Species seen
include
Black-cowled, Orchard,
Yellow-tailed, and
Altamira. Many other species joined the oriole flocks, including
Melodious Blackbird, Clay-colored Robin, Groove-billed Ani,
Rose-throated Becard,
Violaceous
Trogon, Band-backed Wren, and the breathtaking
Crimson-collared Tanager. They had
to work quickly though, because
Black-headed,
Grayish, and
Buff-throated Saltators were working
hard to eat the flowers just as quickly!
The hillside treetops above us made nice perches for a
Crane Hawk, a
Collared Forest-Falcon, and a pair
of
White-crowned Parrots.
Even the weedy grainfields were full of birds. We combed through
flocks of Indigo Buntings and Variable Seedeaters to find the scarcer
Painted Buntings and White-collared Seedeaters. There were even
warblers like Northern Parula and Yellow-breasted Chat feeding on the
ground. Loud screaming drew our attention to a flock of about 40
Aztec Parakeets destroying a
farmer’s corn crop. We also noticed a small group of Couch’s
Kingbirds feeding in the stubble field across the road. It was
noon by now, and this seemed to be cue needed for the loud and showy
birds to come out. First, a flock of Brown Jays flew over.
Then a
Keel-billed Toucan
started calling from up the hillside. Eventually, some judicious
tap-played brought a pair down into view and we enjoyed the crazy bills
patterns of these birds through the telescope. The same happened
with flocks of
Montezuma Oropendola
and
Collared Araçari.
The oropendolas were especially nice, as they displayed for us, singing
while simultaneously falling upside down on their perches!

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White-crowned
Parrot
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Keel-billed
Toucan
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After a late lunch back at the hotel restaurant, a few of us set out
again, this time back up into the foothills. From the bridge just
north of town we had amazing looks at both
Ridgway’s Rough-winged and
Mangrove Swallows. Our unique
position allowed us to see things one might not normally, like the
dark-tipped undertail coverts of the former and the white tertial edges
of the latter. Driving into the foothills, we noticed that it was
pouring almost everywhere except where we were headed. We kept
our fingers crossed, and it seemed to have worked. At a large
bend in the road, we found a flowerbank abuzz with hummers.
White-bellied and
Canivet’s Emeralds were new, as were
Stripe-throated and
Long-billed Hermits. Even a
Bananaquit came by to sip from the
flowers. Just up the road, a small fruiting bush attracted a pair
of the unique-looking
Olive-backed
Euphonia. As we watched the euphonies, a small green bird
with bright orange legs darted through. It was a female
White-collared Manakin!
Eventually, we had amazing looks at both sexes. We had nice
studied of a flock on Brown Jays, including one light morph bird.
The last bird of the day was a dull-colored but relatively rare one,
Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant. The
rain began later that night—we were being hit by a
norte.
Day
8: Tuxtepec to Oaxaca
It was back over the mountains today. We’d originally planned to
concentrate on the cloudforest, but the
norte forced us abandon that
plan and rendered the entire Gulf-slope miserably wet.
Nevertheless, we started at the previous day’s manakin spot, and were
rewarded with a repeat performance by the
White-collared Manakins. A
flashy male
Violet Sabrewing
put in a spectacular yet brief appearance. Next we witnessed one
of the most memorable moments of the trip: a
Stripe-throated Hermit flew up to
an adult male Summer Tanager and proceeded to hover in front of and
even follow the bright red tanager!
We were pretty much rained out for the rest of the Gulf-slope portion
of our journey. A brief stop in the windy valley below Gueletao
produced two new trip birds: a Lincoln’s Sparrow and a
Violet-crowned Hummingbird, the
latter at the very southern extent of its range.
Finally, we stopped in the dry scrub just above Oaxaca to try for Dwarf
and Slaty Vireos. We did find one
Dwarf Vireo singing up the hillside,
but it was quite windy, and the bird wouldn’t show. We were
determined to come back and try again for this bird in the morning.
Day
9: Oaxaca and Yagul
We started the morning looking for the Dwarf Vireo we’d located by
voice the evening before. It was still singing but again refused
to show itself. We did get brief views of another
Oaxaca Sparrow, though. A very showy
little
Slate-throated Whitestart (of
the unique red-bellied Mexican subspecies) made its way up a
wash. Though it couldn’t really compete with the whitestart, we
called in and had very nice looks at a Northern
Beardless-Tyrannulet. Back at the van, a pair of
Bridled Sparrows was singing away,
and we enjoyed them in the scope at close range, even snapping a few
photos.
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Bridled
Sparrow
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Gray-breasted
Woodpecker
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Up the road, we stopped along the creek, where we found a
“Russet-backed” Swainson’s Thrush feeding on the ground under a tree
that held a gorgeous male
Painted
Whitestart.
On the way back to Oaxaca, we stopped at a grove of blooming coral
beans to look for orioles. We were not disappointed, as we
watched a flock of nearly 40 orioles for the next half hour.
Hooded, Bullock’s, and
Black-vented
Orioles were joined by a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Berylline
and
Dusky Hummingbirds.
As the orioles were moving on, we noticed a mimid singing across a
clearing. With just a little encouragement, we got to see a
beautiful
Blue Mockingbird singing
on an exposed branch in the full sunlight!
After a leisurely lunch, some of us made the trip to the ruins of
Yagul. Known for its cactus forest, we accordingly had wonderful
views of
Gray-breasted Woodpecker.
White-throated Towhees seemed
to be even more common than usual. A loud metallic call drew our
attention to a Virginia’s Warbler in the scrub, and a Curve-billed
Thrasher kept vigil over its territory from atop a cactus. We
decided to wait a few minutes next to a blooming pipe
cactus and were rewarded with close views of a
Beautiful Hummingbird.
Finally, we noticed what looked like beautiful orange and red jewels
glistening in the sun; closer inspection revealed dozens of sap
globules and reminded us why Mexico is famous for its amber.
Day
10: Sierra de Miahuatlán
Part of the Sierra Madre del Sur, this
coastal mountain range runs along the Pacific (southern) coast of
Oaxaca; it is very isolated and thus is an intriguing center of
highland endemism. Our first stop was just over the pass on the
Pacific side in high-elevation pine forest. The first thing we
noticed was a large flock Western Tanagers flycatching in the tops of
the pines. We saw over 50 of them in the next half hour. A
handful of
Tufted Flycatchers
joined the tanager. A passing mixed flock contained Olive
Warbler,
Crescent-chested Warbler,
Hutton’s Vireo, and Townsend’s Warbler. Hummingbirds were feeding
on a flower-covered hillside above our heads. We found
Green Violet-ear and
Bumblebee, Rufous, and Broad-tailed
Hummingbirds.

We stopped next in a moister and more
temperate forest that was
dominated by broad-leafed trees. We again found Tufted
Flycatchers, and they were the most obvious birds at the location, as
they made continuous sallies out over the trail. A
Rufous-capped Brush-finch popped up
in a bush, giving us good looks at this Mexican endemic.
Hummingbirds were as numerous at this location as the last, but here we
picked our first of the sierra’s endemics, the
“Violet-throated” subspecies of
Amethyst-throated Hummingbird. A displaying male
Bumblebee Hummingbird was also fun
to watch. A small group of
Black-headed
Siskins teased us as they jumped, singing, from tree to tree,
but our persistence paid off. A very flitty
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer led
us back to the van.
Lunch was enjoyed in the odd pine savannah/cloud-forest mosaic
near La
Soledad. A beautiful eighty-eight butterfly kept landing on the
road while we ate, but it had to compete with a pair of
Rufous-capped Warblers for our
attention. A couple of us were lucky enough to see a female
Red-headed Tanager, but she didn’t
stick around. As we descended into a tongue of the denser
cloudforest, we immediately located an
Olivaceous
Woodcreeper. While that was going on, one of us saw a
Blue-capped Hummingbird feeding on a
huge pink morning glory, but it disappeared before the rest could get
on it. We then noticed a lot of activity at a bend in the
trail. There were dozens of birds:
White-throated Robins,
Golden-crowned Warblers, Western
Tanagers. We’d had the amazing luck of happening into a giant
army ant swarm! Over the next hour we watched intently and
had extremely close views of 22 different bird species, including
Red-headed Tanager (gorgeous males),
Greenish Elaenia,
Ochre-breasted Flycatcher,
Green Jay, Brown-backed Solitaire,
“Russet-backed” Swainson’s Thrush, Nashville Warbler, Hermit Warbler,
Black-and-white Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler,
Fan-tailed Warbler,
Golden-browed Warbler,
Slate-throated Whitestart,
“Guerrero”
Common Bush-Tanager, “Northern” Hepatic Tanager, and
Chestnut-capped Brush-finch.
Eventually, the ants (and the birds) moved on, so we resumed the search
for Blue-capped Hummingbird. We decided to wait at the large
flower it had been seen at before, but we couldn’t find it. Then
the culprit spoke up, as a Black-headed Saltator poked its head out
from behind the morning glory vine, pink flower in beak. Still,
we were confident the bird would return, and we were rewarded with
incredible views of an adult male
Blue-capped
Hummingbird and his white tail, both perched and feeding.
This is certainly the most-sought-after of the sierra’s endemics, so we
continued downslope feeing very satisfied.
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Blue-capped
Hummingbird
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Blue-capped
Hummingbird |
The plan was to continue on to the hotel, since we’d be birding the
Pacific lowland thornforest habitat the next couple days, but a flock
of
White-throated Magpie-Jays
ended that idea when they flew over the van. A brief stretch at
this location also produced
Plain-capped
Starthroat,
Orange-fronted
Parakeet, and
Yellow-winged
Cacique.
We arrived at the hotel in Puerto Ángel at sunset and watched as
Magnificent Frigatebirds and
Gray-breasted
Martins flew into roost against a gorgeous red sky over the
Pacific.
Day
11: The Pacific Ocean and Zipolite
This was the morning slated for our big pelagic trip. The boat
left the bay just after sunrise, and right away we started
seeing the distinctive Pacific subspecies of
Brown Booby as well as
Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Black
Tern. These were by far the most common birds of the day.
The boat went around the white stack off of Zipolite, and there we
found three beautiful
Red-billed
Tropicbirds among the thousands of boobies. We headed
straight out to deep water, where we put out an oil slick. Before long,
a
Black Storm-Petrel flew in,
offering close studies of its subtle plumage, structural, and
behavioral field marks. A flock of Sterna terns wasn’t too
surprising, but its make-up was. It consisted of both Common and
Arctic Terns, the latter being far
from their supposéd wintering grounds. An adult
Pomarine Jaeger with full tail
streamers flew behind, waiting for the terns to find it some
food. Sea-turtles were common, showing what a success the Mexican
government has had by protecting the nearby Mazunte nesting
population. We then returned to inshore waters to look for more
shearwaters. Our persistence was rewarded with
6 Townsend’s Shearwaters (a Mexican
endemic) and 12
Galápagos
Shearwaters. They all allowed close approach, and we
tarried as long as we could, admiring their subtle beauty and comparing
them to the Wedge-tails they were mixed in with. Finally, on the
way back to shore, we were greeted by a friendly pod of a couple
hundred common dolphins.
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adult male brewsteri Brown Booby
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Wedge-tailed & Townsend's (back right)
Shearwaters
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Wedge-tailed & Galápagos (4 at
middle distance) Shearwaters |
common dolphins
|
Back on land, those who opted not to take the pelagic trip were treated
to close views of orioles at the hotel, including Altamira Oriole, as
well as the dawn exodus of swallows, which included both
Gray-breasted Martins and
Mangrove Swallows.
After a mid-afternoon siesta, we traveled into the thornforest near
Zipolite for some evening birding. Highlights included
Lineated Woodpecker,
Rufous-naped Wren, Brown-crested
Flycatcher, Painted Bunting, and
Doubleday’s
Hummingbird. A flock of
West
Mexican Chachalacas created quite a racket across the valley,
but they wouldn’t show. The most exciting bird of this venture
was certainly a singing
Lesser
Ground-Cuckoo. It popped up in the top of a bush
eventually, but only for a split-second. Better views were
certainly desired.
Day 12:
Zipolite and La Ventanilla
We returned to our
ground-cuckoo location to give it another try. We
found it difficult to tear ourselves away from the highway, as a flock
of
Yellow-winged Caciques played
in the treetops. We also found
Happy
Wren,
Streak-backed Oriole,
Bell’s Vireo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
Banded Wren, and
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker.
Inside the thornforest, we were soon harassed by a troop of
White-lored Gnatcatchers and later a
family group of
White-throated
Magpie-Jays. Providing a stark contrast to the dry brown
that surrounded us, a cracking adult male
Orange-breasted Bunting fed on one
of the paths. We scoped the white stack from a high bluff, so
even those who didn’t come on the pelagic were able to see
Red-billed Tropicbirds and Brown
Boobies. Nearby, a male
Citreoline
Trogon was sitting quietly, but keen eyes picked him out.
The ground-cuckoo wasn’t interested in playing this morning, but we
were rewarded with an even more impressive bird. At the same
location, we heard a muted whistling from within the tangles.
After only seconds of playback, we were being treated to point-blank
views of a singing male
Red-breasted
Chat—what luck to have one singing on its own! Though not
as impressive, we were happy to find a pair of Olive Sparrows feeding
next to the van as we returned to carry on to the next location.
 |

|
Red-breasted
Chat
|
White-throated
Magpie-Jay |
The crashing surf at San Augustanillo beckoned, and we stopped to scope
the beach and rocks. We found
Elegant
Tern, Brown Pelican, Laughing Gulls, Royal Tern, and
Wandering Tattler.
We enjoyed lunch at La Ventanilla, which proved to be a great idea, as
he restaurant is adjacent to a dripping pipe set in some bushes.
For most of the meal, we were joined by a
Rufous-backed Robin feeding in the
mud. Other lunchtime visitors included
Cinnamon Hummingbird,
Yellow-winged Cacique, and
Rufous-naped Wren.
With lunch over, we embarked on a leisurely canoe ride through the
mangroves. Our knowledgeable captain knew the locations of the
local roosting birds, and we were treated to very close views of
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Snowy Egret, Anhinga, White Ibis, and
Boat-billed Heron. The
mangroves are also home to a variety of smaller birds. We noted
Yellow Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Great Kiskadee, Northern
Rough-winged Swallow, Willow Flycatcher, Green Kingfisher, and
Northern Jaçana. At one
point a very large crocodile swam frighteningly close to the
canoe! A pair of squabbling green iguanas captured our interest
for a moment. The last stop on the canoe ride was a coastal
estuary. It was full of birds, including Tricolored Heron,
Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Plover, Neotropic Cormorant, Green
Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, and Blue-winged Teal. Right before we
got back to the landing, a
Common
Black-Hawk screamed and soared overhead.
A quick trip into the foothills this evening produced stunning scope
views of a
Russet-crowned Motmot,
as well as some flyover
Scrub
Euphonias. At dinner we were serenaded by a
Colima Pygmy-Owl calling upslope
from the hotel, but everyone wanted to rest for the travel day tomorrow.
Day
13: Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca
This morning we returned to Oaxaca, but via Puerto Escondido and Sola
de Vega. In the lowlands, we had good looks at
Ruddy Ground-Dove during a restroom
break, and were continually entertained by flock-after-flock of
White-throated Magpie-Jays.
Once above Puerto Escondido, we started to get into some nice humid
tropical forest. Our main target here was Cinnamon-sided
Hummingbird, but it was not to be found. Still, the stop was very
productive. We had another amazing view of
Russet-crowned Motmot for
starters! A fruiting tree provided food for
Masked Tityra, Black-headed
Saltator,
Rufous-backed Robin,
Red-billed Pigeon,
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker,
Yellow-winged Cacique, and
Streak-backed Oriole. A little whisting brought in some small
birds. Highlights included Painted Bunting, Warbling Vireo,
Cinnamon Hummingbird, and
Scrub Euphonia.
 |
 |
Russet-crowned
Motmot
|
Wagler's
Emerald-Toucanet
|
As we ascended the coastal range, we entered a large chunk of beautiful
subtropical broadleafed forest. Our target was
Wagler’s Emerald-Toucanet, and we
heard one right away, but it didn’t come in to playback. We did
find a pair of comical Acorn Woodpeckers, though. Then came what
for many was the bird of a trip; we looked up to see a spectacular
adult
Black Hawk-Eagle
circling literally feet over the treetops! It provided splendid
views for a good minute before disappearing over the next ridge.
A final stop on the coastal slope in some subtropical pine forest
finally produced unobstructed scope views of
Wagler’s Emerald-Toucanet, our last
of the sierra’s endemics.
We pushed on to Oaxaca City, where we heartily enjoyed a final meal of
delicious Oaxacan food tallied the list. Thus ended a very
successful, not to mention fun, tour.