All the birds of the
Yucatan Peninsula:
12 days
The states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatan as well as northern Guatemala and Belize form the Yucatan Peninsula Biotic Province, for this region, 18 endemics and near-endemics birds have been recorded. Also the Yucatan Peninsula is an excellent place to find many specialities from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
This 12-day itinerary (with 10 full days) offers more opportunities to see more birds at a relaxed pace, allowing ample time for photography.
Day 1: Arrival day - Pick un in Cancun Airport
We will pick you up at Cancun airport and transfer to the hotel in Puerto Morelos, a charming little Caribbean town and one of the oldest ports in Quintana Roo. Depending on your arrival time we can plan to go birding in the evening to try some crepuscular and nocturnal birds. We will have dinner together and will review the itinerary of the trip and answer any questions you may have.
Day 2: Puerto Morelos - Rio Lagartos
We will start birding in Puerto Morelos Reserve, a well preserved medium forest area where our targets will be the Yucatan Flycatcher, Green-backed Sparrow, Orange Oriole, Rose-throated Tanager among other ~70 species that we will see in the morning. An early lunch will be provided by a local family. Then we will drive to Rio Lagartos where we will take a boat tour in the mangrove ria to search for the American Flamingo, Mangrove Warbler, Clapper Rail, several species of herons, egrets, terns, shorebirds and more. Once the sun goes down and still in the boat we will look for the Yucatan Nightjar, bird difficult to find in other places.
Day 3: Rio Lagartos and Valladolid
This morning we will be birding in the coastal sand dune and mangrove vegetation at Rio Lagartos Reserve, a site with a very particular habitat, home of restricted range birds. The Mexican Sheartail, Yucatan Wren, Black-throated Bobwhite, Zenaida Dove, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Lesser Roadrunner will be some of the birds we will search. After lunch we will drive to Valladolid area an in the evening we will try for crepuscular and night birds, the main target is the Yucatan Poorwill.
Day 4: Valladolid - Ek Balam
This day we will start birding in Xocen Reserve, with avery active trail where we will have chances to find several forest species like Thicket Tinamou, Mayan Antthrush, Rose-throated Tanager, Gray-throated Chat and several others. In the afternoon we will visit the archaeological site of Ek Balam, with tall trees we can find several species of orioles, warblers and and other canopy birds from the top of a pyramid. If necesary we have another chance to try Yucatan Poorwill and Middle-american Screech Owl.
Day 5: Chichen-Itza - Merida
We will take advantage of the first hours of the morning birding near Chichen Itza archaeological site, we will focus on the species of the area that we still need to find. After this we will arrive to Chichen Itza where we will be guided by an specialst in the Mayan Culture. After lunch we will drive to Merida to search for the Yucatan Gnatcatcher an endemic restricted to Northwest of the Peninsula.
Day 6: Merida - Campeche
This day we will drive to Campeche state, making several stops on the way. First we will visit a small reserve south of Merida city, then we will stop near Campeche city in a beautiful reserve with water springs and a lagoon. Finally we will visit Miguel Colorado cenotes with good habitat for forest birds in the surroundings. We will sleep near Escarcega to be near of our next day birding spot.
Day 7: Mamantel - Bat Cave
The main birding activity of this day will be In Mamantel river, we will take a boat in search for the Sungrebe, but with chances to see several other birds like Ringed Kingfisher, American pygmy Kingfisher, Crane Hawk, Least Grebe. We will move to Calakmul area and in the evening we will visit the bat cave, an amazing show of millions of bats going out of its cave, usually we can see raptors hunting them.
Day 8: Calakmul
Full day birding at Calakmul Reserve, with an incredibly vast biodiversity, there's lots to discover in one the largest tropical forest in the Mayan region. We will go to the Archaeological Zone of Calakmul, and on the way we will stop at several spots to see interesting species such as Ocellated Turkey, Yellow-lored Parrot, Ornate Hawk-eagle, Mayan Antthrush, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Red-capped Manakin and Blue Bunting are just some of the amazing species we can find in this magic reserve in the south of the Peninsula.
Day 9: Dos Naciones
Full day birding at Dos Naciones Calakmul, this town is located 70 kilometers south of Xpujil near Guatemala border. This birding hotspot present many opportunities to find birds with limited distribution in the Yucatan Peninsula, its main distribution is in Chiapas state or Guatemala. Target species are: White collared Manakin, Rufous Tailed Jacamar, Yellow Bellied Tyrannulet, Toddy Motmot, King Vulture, Stripe-throated Hermit, Dusky Antbird and others.
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Day 10: Hormiguero - Kohunlich - Tulum
Early morning birding in the Hormiguero area and archaeological site, we will visit some small lagoons with chances for the Russet-naped Wood Rail, Northern Jacanas, Keel-billed Toucan, also we can find interesting forest birds like Northern-barred Woodcreeper, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Plain Xenops and many other birds that like the fruits and seeds of the trees in the area. Afterwards we are going to the archaeological site of Kohunlich with amazing ceremonial and residential Mayan buildings, we will have chances to find the Gray-headed Dove, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker, Red-capped Manakin, White-necked Puffbird among others. Then we will drive to Tulum area where we will spend the night.
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Day 11: Cozumel Island
On this day we will travel by ferry to the amazing island of Cozumel, where we will explore al day in the forest, mangroves and coastal dunes. The Cozumel Emerald and the Cozumel Vireo will be our main objectives, but the island is home of many more species, as well as endemic subspecies and interesting caribbean specialties. We will have our meals in the Island, and then we will return to Playa del Carmen where we will spend the night.
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Day 12: Airport drop off
Depending on the time of your flight ticket, we may be able to go birding at some places near the airport before drop you off. Sites near airport: Puerto Morelos reserve or Malecon Tajamar