BIRDING YUCATAN

Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula is considered one of the worlds best bird watching sites. The area is characterized by such diverse eco-systems as pristine white beaches, shallow mangrove lined water estuaries, and tropical rain forests all of which are home to a great variety of birds. The Yucatan bird list contains over half of all of Mexico’s bird species plus a surprisingly high percentage of endemic birds. Our guided tour itineraries represent the best birding sites that the area has to offer:

Coastal Explorer

This field trip takes you to the coastal wetlands of the Yucatan Gulf coast. We board a small shaded boat that will take us to the more remote parts of the estuaries including Isla Pajaros, a protected wildlife sanctuary. Of the 520 bird species known to exist in the Yucatan at least 155 feed, nest or rest here some time during the year. Exploring the coastal mangroves we are likely to find frigate birds, white ibis, snowy egrets, double crested cormorants, reddish egrets, roseate spoonbills, white pelicans, gray pelicans, boat billed herons, the occasional wood stork, and of course flamingos.

Jungle Explorer

After a short ride by multi-terrain vehicle and a brief walk through the rain forest we enter the protected area of Yum Balam. Here we change into kayaks to enter the floating jungle and to listen to the sounds of the jungle. This area is a bird watchers paradise as it is home to many exotic species, such as Ocellated Turkey, Crested Caracara, Laughing Falcon, White-fronted Parrot, Olive-throated Parakeet, Squirrel Cuckoo, Pygmy-owl, Violaceous Trogon, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Masked Tityra, Yucatan Jay and many more.

See some video of this fantastic adventure: