El Cielo, Biosphere Reserve
Gomez Farias is a small city right in the middle of Tamaulipas State. It is surrounded by mountains and located close to one of the seven Biosphere Natural Reserves of Mexico: El Cielo.
Across its impressive elevation range of 200 to 2,700 meters, the natural reserve showcases a remarkable transformation in vegetation, allowing birding in different spots. Consider a multi-day option to have greater chances to visit every different spot and encounter different great species.
El Cielo, Gomez Farias
During this single-day tour, we'll enter El Cielo Biosphere Reserve. We'll use special 4x4 trucks to explore different heights and find many bird species. We'll start low, at 350 meters above sea level, and make birding stops as we climb to 1500 meters. Look out for interesting birds like the Singing Quail, the Ornate Hawk-Eagle, the Great Curassow, and the Crested Guan!
Around Alta Cima (which is 950 meters high), we'll try to find the Tamaulipas Pygmy-Owl and the Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush. We might also see a Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, the Gray-collared Becard, or even a Solitary Eagle soaring above!
Pick-up time: 1.5 hours before sunrise
Drop-off time: Around 5 pm
Number of birds we can see in the day: 60 - 70 species
Vegetation types visited: humid forest wetlands and riparian vegetation.
Tour style: Ideal for every birdersand photographer. Consider altitud variation durind the day.
In the afternoon, we'll continue birding near San José, which is a small town deep in the forest, located at an elevation of 1300 meters above the sea level. Keep an eye out for the Black-headed Siskin and the Fan-tailed Warbler. Finally, we'll head downhill to Gomez Farias. Here, we can try to spot any missing nightbirds we haven't seen yet, like the Tawny-collared Nightjar or the Stygian Owl.
Two-day tour option:
Take into consideration two days of birding in this natural reserve to take a small boat trip on the Bocatoma River, a beautiful crystal-clear water river. This is a good spot to find birds like the Sungrebe, Amazon Kingfisher, Belted Kingfisher, Boat-billed Heron, and Muscovy Duck.
