Photos with this report (click to enlarge) | |||
 Mexican Red-bellied Squirrel |
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Background:
This was a short trip that both Jamie and I had wanted to do for some time now. We are accustomed to taking at least one trip, for at least a month, at least every other year, and we were well due to go somewhere…anywhere…. that our limited budgets could handle at this point. As we are, or recently have been students, the time of year is often very limited, as was the case here, having to visit during the dead of the summer season (maybe not the best idea for the region), but we take what we can get and both enjoy just being out of the country, surrounded in great scenery and soaking up the experiences of seeing a few new birds. We have both birded extensively in Western Mexico (trip report out there somewhere from 2001 trip with friend Forrest Rowland), as well as Belize, thus we did not break ourselves to see many of the tropical lowland and thorn forest species on either side of the mountains from Oaxaca City. We both speak varying degrees of Spanish and between the two of us, we had no communication issues at all with locals and the ability to confirm directions while on the road indefinitely saved time and us from getting lost.
Timing:
The timing of the trip was not optimal at all. The birds were present, but very few, if any, were vocalizing and this made locating many of the species fairly difficult. Hummingbirds, as often the case for us in summer in Mexico, proved difficult as we were unable to locate any good highland flower banks with more than one or two species attending. One positive about the time of year is that we were able to catch the start of the southbound Neotropical bird migration from places farther north.
Weather was really quite nice for pretty much the entire trip. It only rained once on us during the latter part of our trip in the Arriaga region but rainstorms occurred daily in the late-afternoon in Mexico City area, though not so frequently over the ridge on the Cuernavaca side. Cloud forests were overcast to partly sunny with some mist/rain at times….seemingly good birding conditions but very quite for the most part.
Safety / Political Climate:
We were heading into this trip with the knowledge that both Mexico City and Oaxaca City were both in the throws of extensive protesting and political demonstrations. Coverage of the situation in the United States made both situations sound out-of-control and possibly dangerous. I had heard at least once before the trip that there was a chance that the Mexico City airport (which I was flying into) and Oaxaca airport (both flying out of) could both be taken over by the protestors and closed. As is almost always the case with American media, the situation was surely overstated and while the details of downtown (zocalo) and street closures was correct, we did not encounter the type of violent situation in either city that the media had previously painted. I spent time in the zocalos of each city, among the demonstrators, their tents and roadblocks and did not feel unsafe at all. In Oaxaca (a bit worse of a situation than Mexico City) we saw remains of burned objects and nighttime roadblocks all over the city and on its outskirts but nowhere else in the state. Most of these rocks and burning items were removed before sunrise and thus posed no problem for daily travel.
Apart from the protesting, the only issue worth reporting was an encounter that we had with two “policia” in the beach town of Puerto Escondido. We were walking after just after dark near the north end of Playa Zicatela (main surfing beach) and were approached by two men with nightsticks and dressed as police. They attempted to surround, block and corner us (hard to do on an open beach) and demand identification, information, drugs, etc. Their actions were completely unprovoked and definitely leading to an attack or robbery situation. We resisted compliance and when one tried to physically grab my arm, we took a few swift steps away from them and they did not give pursuit. Apparently they determined that we were not drunk enough for them and made unfit targets at the time. I later saw them the next day doing the same thing to a young Mexican surfer in broad daylight on the pedestrian mall. This is an area known for sketchy activity and we can confirm that it’s out there and thus, be careful in these areas if you go!
Resources:
• Trip reports from www.surfbirds.com
• A Bird Finding Guide to Mexico by Steve Howell (sites numbers listed after locations below for reference)
• A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America by Howell & Webb
• Lonely Planet Mexico
• Guia Roja roadmap to the state of Oaxaca (okay, but I recommend the O-ring bound Guia Roja
road atlas to Mexico if you can get it).
* Google Earth – Free download from http://earth.google.com/ was used to get an idea of what some of the birding sites would look like before the trip. Useful for preparation for some of the solo public transport birding that I did on my own. Coordinates will be given for some sites below(*) which can be copied and pasted into the “Fly to” search box on Google Earth for viewing.
Itinerary:
The first part of the trip was made on the solo and using public transportation for five days in the Mexico City area before making my way to Oaxaca City, picking up a rental and then picking up Jamie from the airport the night of the 16th. The morning following his arrival, we set out birding in, more-or-less, a large circuit around the state of Oaxaca, starting in the valley and birding north along Rte. 175 towards Tuxtepec, southeast from Tuxtepec (Rte. 147 to Rte. 185) towards coastal Chiapas (Rte. 190 to Rte. 200), back across the isthmus and along the coast to Puerto Escondido (Rte. 200) and then finally back up over the mountains and into Oaxaca City (Rte. 175).
Driving Info:
We reserved a Nissan Tsuru from Hertz online however when I got there, all they had for us was a 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible. We grudgingly took it but returned it the next day for the same car but a non convertible (tiny rear window of convertible gave poor visibility). The car was not as gas economical as the Tsuru, had lower clearance and stood out like a sore thumb everywhere we went. In the end, we pushed the car to its limits and had no mechanical or tire problems and the car’s extra power did help to pass big trucks and buses on the highways.
The trip entailed several days of longer drives, but all driving was done during often hot daylight hours, between a good morning and evening of birding at target sites. We had no problems with driving any of the roads in Mexico. Topes (large speed bumps) were very common and you’re lucky to find a decent stretch without them. Fortunately, most topes were marked with signs advising drivers at least 100 meters ahead of time or were painted with stripes on them to make easier to spot. There were, however, a few that were neither signed nor painted and would have been hard to spot had we not seen traffic ahead slowing down before we got to them. A good general rule is to slow down and expect them at every town. As far as the roads go, Rte. 175 was VERY curvy between Oaxaca and Valle Nacional, as well as the stretch over the mountains on either side of La Solidad further south towards to coast. Rte. 185, 190 and 200 over the isthmus were flat and had speed limits of around 110 kph (70 mph+) which allowed us to cover some parts quite quickly. There was one military checkpoint in Oaxaca state, southeast of Tapanatepec in which they requested to search the car and bags for firearms and drugs coming from Chiapas (no checkpoint on eastbound side). One other checkpoint was encountered near where Rte. 200 meets Rte.175 near Pochutla in southern Oaxaca, but we were simply waived through.
Birds & Other life:
We had a total of 232 species for the entire trip, 14 of which were heard only (nightbirds, woodpartridge, etc). Big misses included Bumblebee Hummingbird, Green-fronted (Cinnimon-sided) Hummingbird, Ocellated Thrasher and Hooded Yellowthroat. Mammals were very few but we did see Red-bellied Squirrels (common in Mexico City parks), a large rodent sp. common at Yagul, cottontail sp. at Yagul, bat species on the coast, Coral Snake sp. near Valle Nacional, numerous geckos keeping us entertained indoors most nights and a plethora of lizard species all over (wish I had a field guide for them!).
Trip Details:
Arrival
I flew into Mexico City via Continental Airlines and arrived around 2:30 pm. I chose to take the Pullman de Morelos express bus (90 pesos; 1 ½ to 2 hours) direct from the airport to Cuernavaca. Having never birded the area before, I decided that Cuernavaca may be a more comfortable base for searching for many of my target species than Mexico City, plus I had always wanted to visit Cuernavaca, so I sprung for the opportunity. I was happy with this decision as it probably saved me a lot of time getting to birding sites that may have been lost in Mexico City’s morning traffic. Nights were spent at the Hotel Espana at Av. Morelos and Rayon near the center of Cuernavaca. Rooms were clean and had fan and television, 150 pesos/night for rooms with shared bathroom…..plus they have Canyon Wrens singing from the church walls across the street in the mornings.
* Hotel Espana, Cuernavaca: 18°55'19.77"N,99°14'15.73"W
La Cima (Site 8.4)
My first morning of birding in Mexico and was keen to get up to La Cima. I took the Pullman de Morelos 2nd class bus towards Mexico City from their bus terminal south of the zocalo in downtown Cuernavaca (Abasolo y Netzahualcoyotl) which left at 8:00 am (buses ply this route every 30 mins). Tell the people at the counter you’re going until La Cima (18 pesos; 45 mins) so you aren’t charged full fare. I sat in the front of the bus and paid careful attention to the KM markings where visible. I saw the track at KM 43.5 (as mentioned in Howell) and hollered but the bus was unable to let me off until we had finished going through the curve. Once off, I had about 500 meters of backtracking on foot along the highway to get back to the dirt track that heads off through the fields. I easily found several Sierra Madre Sparrows in the bunchgrass on the left side of this track, just as in passes a plowed field and starts to curve to the right. The habitat is all bunchgrass at this point and has been fenced off from the road on the left-hand side. Part of the fence had been knocked down and I stepped in, ascended a small hill and sat on a rock in a small basin of habitat soaking up the views of several singing birds as once. After having my fill, I walked back to where the track meets the highway and had a sparrow right along the side of the highway about 60 meters (towards Cuernavaca) from the intersection. Striped Sparrows were very common in the open plowed areas.
I hiked up the road in hopes of spending some time among the pines to look for Strickland’s Woodpecker. I spent 5 hours or so walking tracks going back from the KM 44 track (not mentioned in Howell). Saw many birds but not the woodpecker. This track is a mixture of fields on one side and woods on the other. I returned the following afternoon and got off at the KM 45 track as mentioned in Howell. The area here is more open pine woods and grasses compared to the KM 44 section. I eventually found Strickland’s Woodpecker in a pine along the edge of a field about 1.5 km’s straight back along the main track.
* KM 43.5 track (Sierra Madre Sparrow): 19° 6'21.33"N,99°11'50.14"W
* KM 44 track: 19° 6'16.25"N,99°12'6.65"W
* KM 45 track: 19° 5'38.06"N,99°12'48.59"W
* Strickland’s Woodpecker sighting: 19° 6'4.97"N,99°13'19.03"W
Species of interest:
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Pygmy Nuthatch
Steller’s Jay
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
Tufted Flycatcher
Strickland’s Woodpecker
Grey Silky
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
Hutton’s Vireo
Olive Warbler
Red Warbler
Rufous-sided (Green-backed) Towhee
Striped Sparrow
Sierra Madre Sparrow
Lerma Marshes (Site 8.8)
Today I set out early for the Lerma Marshes from the Estrella Blanca bus station (Morelos and Arista) just a few blocks north of the centro in Cuernavaca. I purchased a ticket to Toluca for $52 pesos but should be less, as I paid full fare and got off before Toluca. One should be able to ask for a ticket to “el trebol” (the cloverleaf) north of San Nicolas Coatepec (see Howell’s map) for less; buses leave at least hourly. Either way, watch out for the overpass at the “trebol” (2 hrs from Cuernavaca) and get off there…many local people tend to jump-off at this point too. From here it is best to walk up the hill, back and to the right, to the covered roadside bus stop for traffic on the overpassing road headed southwest towards Almoloya del Rio. The crossroads to the main road into Almoloya are not that far at all and any bus heading in this direction will pass by there for sure. Tell the bus driver you're going to the “crucero de Almoloya” (the crossroads) which is directly after the first tope (5 pesos by bus). Cabs wait here to take people up to the town. I just asked the to be taken to “El Lago” (the lake) and was charged 5 pesos. The driver dropped me off right at the parking area which is the start of the “volcanic dirt road that runs to the left alongside the marshes” as described in Howell. There are basketball courts to the right nearby and many people were fishing and walking on the causeway.
I walked the road to the left and heard then had great views of a male Black-polled Yellowthroat, my target, right in the first small patches of reeds on the right side of the road and just after a small house-type structure. This was only about 100 meters or less down the road from where the taxi dropped me off. The reeds are not right on the edge of the road, so it was very necessary to walk down off the road and over the short grass to the lake edge to get any worthwhile views. Striped Sparrows were common in the area.
* “El Trebol”: 19° 9'43.36"N,99°27'52.94"W
* Crucero de Almoloya: 19° 9'21.33"N,99°28'28.16"W
* Parking area at the lake; Almoloya del Rio: 19° 9'17.29"N,99°29'32.09"W
To Mexico City
Woke up late from my celebratory night out and eventually made it onto a bus headed for Mexico City (Pullman de Morelos; 50 pesos). The bus ride ended at the South Terminal in Mexico City and from there it was an easy, although a bit crowded, ride on the metro to the Sevilla stop on the pink line and the Hostel Casa Vieja (130 pesos/shared room), not even a block away from the stop. This was my base for the next two nights and is a recommended place to sleep. The other guests were all young backpacker / Spanish school types and all were very friendly. No birding done today. A note about the metro in Mexico City: contrary to the warning of restrictions given in the Lonely Planet Mexico book regarding luggage in the metro, it was not a problem for myself, nor anyone I spoke with, to bring large backpack-type bags or moderate sized luggage onto the metro. The cost of riding the metro is 2 pesos, including any transfers.
* Mexico City Zocalo (without the protester’s tents): 19°25'59.80"N,99° 7'56.20"W
Bosque Tlalpan (Site 8.2)
My one good morning in Mexico City saw me up early and heading for Bosque Tlalpan, taking the metro to the yellow-green line and all the way south to its terminus at the Universidad station. From there I hailed a cab and requested to be taken to Bosque Tlalpan (20 pesos) where he left me in the parking lot. Within the park (free admission) there were more people jogging than I have ever seen outside of the United States. It was great to see so many taking charge of their health and physical fitness. I birded the trails of the park for 5 to 6 hours in hopes of Ocellated Thrasher and Hooded Yellowthroat but found neither. Upon leaving I walked back out to Avenida Insurgentes and (with the help of some locals) got on a small van combi (3 pesos) destined for the Universidad metro stop and then returned to the hostel.
* Bosque Tlalpan: 19°17'43.37"N,99°11'34.50"W
Species of interest:
White-eared Hummingbird
Berylline Hummingbird
Greater Pewee
Grey Silky
Rufous-capped Warbler
Varied Bunting
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Abeille’s Oriole
Audubon’s Oriole (family group seen; not shown to occur in Howell and Webb but is the only yellow oriole with more limited black on head that they even resembled)
To Oaxaca City
Took metro to TAPO bus station and purchased ticket (340 pesos) to Oaxaca City (almost 6 hrs). Picked up rental car, established a room at the Paulina Hostel (120 pesos; dorm style/bunks; free car park) near the centro then picked up Jamie at the airport around 10pm. No birding done today.
* Oaxaca City Zocalo: 17° 3'38.80"N,96°43'32.31"W
Monte Alban (Site 11.1)
We birded Monte Alban for our first morning in Oaxaca. This is a well documented birding and tourist site and directions were fine by Howell’s descriptions though there was road construction along some of the roads within city limits and we arrived after a short delay. As directed in Howell’s guide, Monte Alban is best birded via the footpaths along the edge of the ruins through the scrub covered hillside. We were unable to locate or access these from the parking lot and had to enter the ruins to do so. We looked hard, but I suppose we could have just missed them. My advice would be to bird the road up before the parking lot and then as soon as the ruins open (45 pesos), head straight for the north east (back right) corner from the entrance and explore the footpaths down from there.
* Monte Alban: 17° 2'49.32"N,96°46'4.82"W
Species of interest:
Berylline Hummingbird
Gray-breasted Woodpecker
Western Wood-Pewee
Canyon Wren (on ruins!)
Rock Wren (on ruins!)
Blue Mockingbird
White-throated Towhee
Teotitlan del Valle (Site 11.2)
The dirt road leading up out of Teotitlan del Valle is easy to locate and well covered in reports and guidebooks. We birded here one late morning and two late afternoons, driving all the way up past the oak-pine zone and into a pine dominated elevation near a small settlement (Benito Juarez?) at one point. The reservoir was full but held nothing other than Least Grebes. We saw several groups of people collecting (cutting) firewood in the lower more arid parts of the road (around the first bend that Howell mentions). We had hoped for the Ocellated Thrasher here but couldn’t pull it off. A huge mixed species flock in the oak-pine zone kept us occupied and had a few Neotropical migrants.
* Town of Teotitlan del Valle: 17° 1'49.79"N,96°31'13.62"W
* Scrubby vally curve on Teotitlan del Valle Rd: 17° 3'49.87"N,96°31'3.70"W
Species of interest:
Berylline Hummingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Gray-breasted Woodpecker
Curve-billed Thrasher
White-striped Woodcreeper
Greater Pewee
Bridled Titmouse
Gray-barred Wren
Hutton’s Vireo
Crescent-chested Warbler
Painted Redstart
Louisiana Waterthrush
Slate-throated Redstart
Wilson’s Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Oaxaca Sparrow
Bridled Sparrow
White-throated Towhee
Black-vented Oriole
Rufous-backed Thrush
Hepatic Tanager
Yagul
Spent one morning and one late afternoon at this site and easily found several of the valley specialties. All were found about 1 KM from the highway where we parked the car and walked down the dirt tracks on either side of the road as well as the one further up the hill (50 meters) and on the left-hand side. After things heated up, we decided to visit the ruins (30 pesos each) and walk the trail up to the mirador. This did not get us any new birds for the list but was cool to see.
* Yagul Ruins and road to them: 16°57'17.06"N,96°27'4.85"W
Species of interest:
White-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
Common Ground-Dove
Gray-breasted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Pileated Flycatcher
Beautiful Hummingbird
Dusky Hummingbird
Berylline Hummingbird
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Boucard’s Wren
White-throated Towhee
Orchard Oriole
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Grosbeak
Rte. 175 North & Cerro San Felipe (Sites 11.4 & 11.5)
We spent one morning making short stops on the drive up Rte. 175 looking for Oaxaca Sparrow on our way to Cerro San Felipe. We were able to pish one out at some random stop within the areas mentioned in Howell’s guide. We birded only the northern (left-hand side) road at Cerro San Felipe and were charged a fee upon exit of 50 pesos per person. Dwarf Jays were a tough find but we eventually caught up with a group of 5 to 6 in with Gray-barred Wrens about 2.5 kms up the left fork towards Corral de Piedras after the road splits at 7.4kms…..the Wood-Partridge was heard along this stretch too. We talked to several locals in a truck who explained the area as a community park run by the local communities and said that they have cabins for use which can be used by birders looking to spend the night in the area. I believe the cabins were said to be around 150 pesos a night and are located off of a different left-hand fork around km 5 or 6, on the main road, which we saw signs for.
Species of Interest:
Long-tailed Wood-Partridge (Heard)
White-eared Hummingbird
Green Violetear
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Dwarf Jay
Gray-barred Wren
Brown-backed Solitare
Golden-browed Warbler
Olive Warbler
Crescent-chested Warbler
Slate-throated Redstart
Red Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Rufous-capped Brush-Finch
Oaxaca Sparrow
Valle Nacional (Site 11.7)
We spent the second half of the Cerro San Felipe day birding our way down the slope into Valle Nacional. I was very impressed with the setting of the town…how can it be completely surrounded by mountains like that?! We ended up staying two full days and three nights in the area and used the brand-new Hotel Valle Real as our base. This is a great option for birders in the area as it sounds like pickings were pretty slim in this department in the past. I spoke with the owner and he had just opened the place up 10 days before we arrived. Every room was clean, had a TV and best of all…each has an air conditioner…and a pretty high-tech one at that, which seemed to be the owner’s pride and biggest selling point as, according to him, the other new hotel in town (there are three now) doesn’t have any. The room was 320 pesos per night for a double and has a locked car park in the back. When entering town, you pass over the big bridge over the river and turn down the second main right-hand turn by which the road passes directly through town and on towards Tuxtepec. The hotel is on the left side of the street directly across from the corner of the centro and church and has a big sign hanging overhead with the name on it.
We spent our first and last mornings looking for Sumichrast’s Wren in the hills south of Tuxtepec. We scored on the wren the first morning but Jamie had unsatisfactory views so we went back for better ones. This bird was one of my favorites of the trip because it’s just such a weird, creepy little wren and it has such a unique habitat there in the forest….really unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. We spent the rest of our time birding the Nueva Esperanza Road and another dirt road further up the highway that goes down the valley off the left-hand side of the road (going away from Valle Nacional), which were both lowland type habitats. Much time was also spent in the cloud forest elevations higher up but birding was slow going there and we didn’t even hear a whole lot. Word of warning: at one point along the cloud forest stretch there is a left hand bend (when going uphill, away from Valle Nacional) where there is a shelter looking thing with a number of small plastic signs hanging from it and a trail heading off downhill into the forest behind it. We walked this trail, which had random educational type signs about the forest all along it and it seemed like a good birding trail though we saw nothing. On our way back up we were met by two men with machetes who told us we needed to gain permission (free) at La Esperanza further downhill. They claimed there would be a fine if this wasn’t done. Upon further examination of the signs hanging up at the trailhead, I did see where this was mentioned though, in the end, we did not do so since we were not planning on returning.
* Valle Nacional: 17°46'30.96"N,96°18'30.69"W
Species of Interest:
Collared Forest-Falcon (two heard)
Plain Chachalaca
White-tipped Dove
White-faced Quail-Dove
Short-billed Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
White-crowned Parrot
Olive-throated Parakeet
Chestnut-collared Swift
Stripe-throated Hermit
Azure-crowned Hummingbird
White-bellied Emerald
Long-billed Starthroat
Green-breasted Mango
Black-crested Coquette
Violaceous Trogon
Keel-billed Toucan
Collared Aracari
Blue-crowned Motmot
Scaly-throated Foliage-Gleaner
Buff-throated Folliage-Gleaner
Long-billed Gnatwren
Barred Antshrike
Sepia-capped Flycatcher
Unicolored Jay
Spot-breasted Wren
Sumichrast’s Wren
Band-backed Wren
Slate-colored Solitare
Rufous-capped Warbler
Golden-browed Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Olive-backed Euphonia
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Green Honeycreeper
Yellow-winged Tanager
Red-throated Ant-Tanager
White-winged Tanager
Rusty Sparrow
Montezuma Oropendola
Black-cowled Oriole
Puerto Arista (Site 12.3)
We left about 1:00 pm from Tuxtepec and drove straight down to Puerto Arista along the coast of Chiapas with only a few stops to get gas, eat or try for various bird species on the way. I don’t remember exactly, but it was probably about a good 5 ½ hours of driving in total. The scenery along the way, especially in southeastern Oaxaca and western Chiapas was great. Upon our arrival we set out right away searching for the Giant Wren in the immediate vicinity of the crossroads to Boca del Cielo as mentioned by Howell. We were unsuccessful here and started towards the direction of Cabeza del Toro and Boca del Cielo to look down that way. We stopped to check a large bird in a tree and in turn spotted three Giant Wrens bathing in a puddle on the ground close to the roadside. We parked the car off the road ahead and walked back to get more views of them. Just as we were about to leave, Jamie mentioned that some guys with guns were walking towards us. Sure enough, two soldiers with machine guns were walking across the lawn of the place where we had been watching the wrens. Apparently we were so excited to see the wrens that we didn’t even notice that the place we were peering into was a building for the Mexican marines. Oops. They looked at our identification and we explained that they have a cool bird in their yard that lives hardly anywhere else and we left it at that. No harm, no foul. This place is on the left side of the road after about 200 meters when driving from the intersection and is before Cabeza del Toro. There is a large grass yard with a dirt driveway (in which we saw the wrens) and a building or two further back from the road. They were also seen in the hedgy bushes on the right edge of the yard. We left there satisfied, checked the lagoons (mentioned in Howell) from the road and got a room at Jose’s Camping Cabanas (see Lonely Planet) for around 100 pesos each.
* Puerto Arista: 15°55'59.56"N,93°48'34.48"W
* Giant Wren Sighting: 15°56'28.17"N,93°47'31.21"W
Species of Interest:
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Whimbrel
Black-necked Stilt
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Plain Wren
Giant Wren
Streak-backed Oriole
Tapanatepec foothills (Site 11.15)
We stopped briefly at the Tapanatepec foothills on our way to Puerto Arista but the rain started and we decided to return the next morning instead. We tried to bird the Arrianga foothills (site 12.2) that morning as well but decided that the road that goes through them had too much traffic to bird along. Tapanatepec foothills along Rte. 190 were a joy to bird as there was minimal traffic compared to Arrianga. We spent about 1 ½ to 2 hrs in total between both visits to the KM 10 pulloff mentioned by Howell at Tapanatepec. We birded the habitat along the road in either direction from the pulloff. The buntings were on the left side of the road (when going up) directly at the pulloff.
* Tapanatepec foothills KM 10 site: 16°24'7.97"N,94° 7'15.16"W
Species of Interest:
Green/Pacific Parakeet (didn’t see perched)
Canivet’s Emerald
Russet-crowned Motmot
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Rufous-naped Wren
Banded Wren
Orange-breasted Bunting
Rosita’s Bunting (male, female and imm. male)
La Venta
La Venta is a small town along Rte. 190 which is 15 kms east of where Rte. 190 joins Rte. 185 at La Ventosa. There is a highway exit for the one main entry into town and if you take this exit and turn left (if traveling east), back under the highway and away from the town, the road goes north towards El Porvenir and past a big wind farm. The first 3 kms along the road are good for Sumichrast’s Sparrow. Around 2 kms I saw a bird fly into a bush on the side of the road, I pished loudly and the sparrow came right out and perched on the side of the road on the pavement. We had great views of it and another as they played in the bushes at roadside and we never even had to leave the car! We stopped here twice, briefly, and each time there was gale force winds (hence the wind farm).
* La Venta windfarm area: 16°34'55.76"N,94°48'57.90"W
La Solidad (Site 11.9)
We birded one morning in the area, making stops between Linda Vista and the La Soledad trail as described in Howell. We walked the trail down to the clearing of the second house and a side trail down to the river. We saw several Blue-capped Hummingbirds along the trail about ½ km down and one feeding on the hillside along the highway opposite the trailhead. We made attempts to locate the logging road for the White-throated Jay further north but were not able to search as extensively as we had wished as it was getting late and the cold and rain were setting in.
Species of Interest:
Berylline Hummingbird
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Blue-capped Hummingbird
Mountain Trogon
Acorn Woodpecker
Blue Mockingbird
Golden-browed Warbler
Red-legged Honeycreeper
San Jose del Pacifico
Opting to stay in the mountains rather than take our chances with a city hotel between La Solidad and Oaxaca City, we splurged for a comfortable cabin (500 pesos; double w/fireplace) just after the town of San Jose del Pacifico so that we could get settled in before nighfall. I don’t remember the name of the collection of cabins proper, but when heading towards Oaxaca City, there is a large sign and two entrances on the left hand side of the road, less than 1km (estimate) past the town of San Jose del Pacifico. They also have cheaper cabins for 300 pesos (single bed no fireplace) and 400 pesos (single w/fireplace) and a small restaurant as well. They had some nice flower beds and even a hummingbird feeder (first I’ve ever seen in Mexico!) in front of the restaurant, though only several common species present. Still, this may be worthwhile stop for lunch or a coffee just to sift through the hummingbirds if you’re in route to/from La Solidad. The elevation here is around 2,700 meters (8,200 feet) and is mainly pine dominated forest.
Species of Interest:
Whiskered Screech-Owl (heard)
Northern Saw-Whet Owl (heard)
Mexican Whip-poor-will (heard)
Berylline Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Green Violetear
Brown-backed Solitare
Rufous-crowned Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
White-throated Towhee
Rufous-capped Brush-Finch
Puerto Escondido
We always like to have at least a day of relaxing on our trips and this was it. We spent two nights at this popular surf town and took a short break from birding to just kick-back and enjoy some of what Mexico is famous for….its beaches. The place is not very touristy (at least not on the Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco level), except for the international backpacker and surfing types and was rather laid back. We only paid 300 pesos/night for a clean double room, less than half a block from the beach. We did manage to pick up a few birds for the trip list in the form of Cinnamon Hummingbird, Gray-breasted Martin, Wood Stork and Royal Tern. We didn’t quite wake up in time to bird the road connecting Oaxaca City with Puerto Escondido, though we had thought about it. Puerto Escondido is only 45 mins to 1 hour on Rte. 200 west of the Rte. 175 junction.
* Puerto Escondido: 15°51'34.42"N,97° 4'7.05"W
232 species seen.
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Magnificent Frigatebird
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Wood Stork
White-faced Ibis
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck
Ruddy Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Collared Forest-Falcon (H)
Cooper's Hawk
Roadside Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Crested Caracara
Plain Chachalaca
West Mexican Chachalaca
Long-tailed Wood-Partridge (H)
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Whimbrel
Greater Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Willet
Royal Tern
Rock Dove
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Short-billed Pigeon
White-faced Quail-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Olive-throated Parakeet
White-crowned Parrot
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (H)
Whiskered Screech-Owl (H)
Northern Saw-Whet Owl (H)
Mexican Whip-poor-will (H)
Paraque (H)
Groove-billed Ani
Chestnut-collared Swift
White-collared Swift
Stripe-throated Hermit
Green Violet-ear
Green-breasted Mango
Canivet's Emerald
Blue-capped Hummingbird
Dusky Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Cinnamon Hummingbird
White-bellied Emerald
Azure-crowned Hummingbird
Berylline Hummingbird
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Long-billed Starthroat
Beautiful Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Black-crested Coquette
Northern Violaceous Trogon
Mountain Trogon
Russet-crowned Motmot
Blue-crowned Motmot
Collared Aracari
Acorn Woodpecker
Gray-breasted Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Strickland's Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner
Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner
White-striped Woodcreeper
Greenish Elaenia
Sepia-capped Flycatcher
Pileated Flycatcher
Tufted Flycatcher
Greater Pewee
Western Wood-Pewee
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Cassin's Kingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Gray-breasted Martin
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Gray Silky-flycatcher
Band-backed Wren
Gray-barred Wren
Giant Wren
Rufous-naped Wren
Boucard's Wren
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Sumichrast's Wren
Spot-breasted Wren
Banded Wren
Plain Wren
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
White-breasted Wood-Wren
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren
Tropical Mockingbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Blue Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Western Bluebird
Brown-backed Solitaire
Slate-colored Solitaire
Clay-colored Robin
Rufous-backed Robin
American Robin
Barred Antshrike (H)
Long-billed Gnatwren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
White-lored Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bushtit
Mexican Chickadee
Bridled Titmouse
Pygmy Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Loggerhead Shrike
Steller's Jay
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Green Jay
Brown Jay
Dwarf Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Mexican Jay
Unicolored Jay
Common Raven
Hutton's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Lesser Greenlet
Olive Warbler
Crescent-chested Warbler
Tropical Parula
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Black-polled Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Red Warbler
Painted Redstart
Slate-throated Redstart
Golden-crowned Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Golden-browed Warbler
Common Bush-Tanager
Red-throated Ant-Tanager
Northern Hepatic Tanager
White-winged Tanager
Western Tanager
Crimson-collared Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Yellow-winged Tanager
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Olive-backed Euphonia
Green Honeycreeper
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Bananaquit
Blue-black Grassquit
White-collared Seedeater
Ruddy-breasted Seedeater
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
Rufous-capped Brush-Finch
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Olive Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Canyon Towhee
White-throated Towhee
Bridled Sparrow
Stripe-headed Sparrow
Cinnamon-tailed Sparrow
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Oaxaca Sparrow
Rusty Sparrow
Striped Sparrow
Sierra Madre Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Botteri’s Sparrow (H)
Yellow-eyed Junco
Grayish Saltator
Buff-throated Saltator
Black-headed Saltator
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Varied Bunting
Rose-bellied Bunting
Orange-breasted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Melodious Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
Streak-backed Oriole
Black-backed Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Black-cowled Oriole
Black-vented Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Montezuma Oropendola
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow