Bird portraits

Black-throated Green-warbler

Bird pictures have always different rewarding moments, but the opportunity to show a portrait is simply indescribable. These two pictures are a sample of migrant bird images I’ve taken during my birding trips in Guatemalan highlands in the last three years.

Blue-headed Vireo

Photo by Maynor Ovando

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Birding in San Miguel Village

Miguel Marin, an expert member of Bird Watching Guatemala Project

Photo by Maynor Ovando

San Miguel is a small village just five minutes in a boat ride from Flores Island in Petén lowlands. And like many places in Guatemala is a great birding hotspot. Miguel Marin is an extraordinary birder and a terrific birding guide who lives in this small bird paradise.

Mangrove Swallow

After years leading birding groups he has got an extra sense to find birds, sometimes people say that Miguel has a treat with birds because just in the moment he speaks about a bird, it comes in front of your eyes. He knows perfectly every bird that can be found in his domains and as members of the Bird Watching Guatemala birding staff I took a couple of hours to walk with him around the place.

Northern Jacana

I was thinking that my chances to get many birds were low because of the rainy weather but my expert friend had no problem to show me 52 bird species in this short visit.
Miguel has been recording patiently every bird since he’s able and to the date the bird list reaches 214 bird species, including Royal Flycatcher he found for the first time two days ago.

Social Flycatcher

I was thinking that my chances to get many birds were low because of the rainy weather but my expert friend had no problem to show me 52 bird species in this short visit.

Blue-gray Tanager

Miguel has been recording patiently every bird since he’s able and to the date the bird list reaches 214 bird species, including Royal Flycatcher he found for the first time two days ago.

This is San Miguel bird list updated to October 22th.

1 Great Tinamou
2 Thicket Tinamou
3 Slaty-breasted Tinamou
4 Least Grebe
5 Pied-billed Grebe
6 Brown Pelican
7 Neotropic Cormorant
8 Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
9 Great Blue Heron
10 Great Egret
11 Snowy Egret
12 Little Blue Heron
13 Cattle Egret
14 Green Heron
15 Black-crowned Night-Heron
16 Boat-billed Heron
17 Black Vulture
18 Turkey Vulture
19 King Vulture
20 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
21 Osprey
22 Hook-billed Kite
23 White-tailed Kite
24 Double-toothed Kite
25 Gray Hawk
26 Roadside Hawk
27 Black Hawk-Eagle
28 Laughing Falcon
29 Bat Falcon
30 Plain Chachalaca
31 Great Curassow
32 Ruddy Crake
33 Gray-necked Wood-Rail
34 Sora
35 Purple Gallinule
36 Common Moorhen
37 American Coot
38 Limpkin
39 Black-necked Stilt
40 Northern Jacana
41 Laughing Gull
42 Black Skimmer
43 Rock Dove
44 Scaled Pigeon
45 Red-billed Pigeon
46 White-winged Dove
47 Ruddy Ground-Dove
48 Blue Ground-Dove
49 White-tipped Dove
50 Gray-headed Dove
51 Olive-throated Parakeet
52 Brown-hooded Parrot
53 White-crowned Parrot
54 White-fronted Parrot
55 Red-lored Parrot
56 Black-billed Cuckoo
57 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
58 Squirrel Cuckoo
59 Groove-billed Ani
60 Central American Pygmy-Owl
61 Mottled Owl
62 Lesser Nighthawk
63 Common Pauraque
64 Whip-poor-will
65 Vaux's Swift
66 Stripe-throated Hermit
67 Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
68 Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
69 Green-breasted Mango
70 Canivet's Emerald
71 White-bellied Emerald
72 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
73 Buff-bellied Hummingbird
74 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
75 Black-headed Trogon
76 Violaceous Trogon
77 Collared Trogon
78 Blue-crowned Motmot
79 Ringed Kingfisher
80 Belted Kingfisher
81 Green Kingfisher
82 American Pygmy Kingfisher
83 Rufous-tailed Jacamar
84 Collared Aracari
85 Keel-billed Toucan
86 Golden-fronted Woodpecker
87 Smoky-brown Woodpecker
88 Golden-olive Woodpecker
89 Chestnut-colored Woodpecker
90 Lineated Woodpecker
91 Pale-billed Woodpecker
92 Plain Xenops
93 Tawny-winged Woodcreeper
94 Ruddy Woodcreeper
95 Olivaceous Woodcreeper
96 Northern Barred-Woodcreeper
97 Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
98 Great Antshrike
99 Barred Antshrike
100 Plain Antvireo
101 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
102 Greenish Elaenia
103 Yellow-bellied Elaenia
104 Northern Bentbill
105 Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher
106 Common Tody-Flycatcher
107 Yellow-olive Flycatcher
108 Stub-tailed Spadebill
109 Royal Flycatcher
110 Greater Pewee
111 Eastern Wood-Pewee
112 Tropical Pewee
113 Least Flycatcher
114 Bright-rumped Attila
115 Dusky-capped Flycatcher
116 Great Crested Flycatcher
117 Brown-crested Flycatcher
118 Great Kiskadee
119 Boat-billed Flycatcher
120 Social Flycatcher
121 Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
122 Piratic Flycatcher
123 Tropical Kingbird
124 Eastern Kingbird
125 Rose-throated Becard
126 Masked Tityra
127 White-collared Manakin
128 Red-capped Manakin
129 White-eyed Vireo
130 Mangrove Vireo
131 Yellow-throated Vireo
132 Warbling Vireo
133 Philadelphia Vireo
134 Red-eyed Vireo
135 Yellow-green Vireo
136 Lesser Greenlet
137 Green Jay
138 Brown Jay
139 Yucatan Jay
140 Purple Martin
141 Gray-breasted Martin
142 Mangrove Swallow
143 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
144 Barn Swallow
145 Spot-breasted Wren
146 Carolina Wren
147 House Wren
148 White-bellied Wren
149 Long-billed Gnatwren
150 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
151 Tropical Gnatcatcher
152 Swainson's Thrush
153 Wood Thrush
154 Clay-colored Robin
155 Gray Catbird
156 Olive Warbler
157 Blue-winged Warbler
158 Golden-winged Warbler
159 Tennessee Warbler
160 Northern Parula
161 Yellow Warbler
162 Chestnut-sided Warbler
163 Magnolia Warbler
164 Yellow-rumped Warbler
165 Black-throated Green Warbler
166 Blackburnian Warbler
167 Yellow-throated Warbler
168 Bay-breasted Warbler
169 Black-and-white Warbler
170 American Redstart
171 Prothonotary Warbler
172 Worm-eating Warbler
173 Ovenbird
174 Northern Waterthrush
175 Kentucky Warbler
176 Common Yellowthroat
177 Hooded Warbler
178 Wilson's Warbler
179 Yellow-breasted Chat
180 Gray-throated Chat
181 Red-legged Honeycreeper
182 Gray-headed Tanager
183 Red-throated Ant-Tanager
184 Summer Tanager
185 Western Tanager
186 Crimson-collared Tanager
187 Blue-gray Tanager
188 Yellow-winged Tanager
189 Scrub Euphonia
190 Yellow-throated Euphonia
191 Olive-backed Euphonia
192 Blue-black Grassquit
193 White-collared Seedeater
194 Yellow-faced Grassquit
195 Green-backed Sparrow
196 Botteri's Sparrow
197 Grayish Saltator
198 Black-headed Saltator
199 Northern Cardinal
200 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
201 Blue-black Grosbeak
202 Blue Bunting
203 Indigo Bunting
204 Dickcissel
205 Red-winged Blackbird
206 Eastern Meadowlark
207 Melodious Blackbird
208 Great-tailed Grackle
209 Giant Cowbird
210 Black-cowled Oriole
211 Orchard Oriole
212 Yellow-tailed Oriole
213 Baltimore Oriole
214 Yellow-billed Cacique

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La primera ave migratoria de la temporada

Louisiana Waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla)

La primera ave migratoria que observé esta temporada en Guatemala fue un Louisiana Waterthrush en mi visita al sitio arqueológico El Perú - Waká el 4 de agosto de este año. Curiosamente esta especie y el Magnolia Warbler fueron los últimos que observé a finales de mayo.



Observando y tomando nota de los acontecimientos de cuales somos testigos podemos colaborar a demostrar los cambios que ocurren en las diferentes poblaciones animales del mundo.



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Ixpanpajul

Lemuel, Melvin and me birding at Ixpanpajul

Photo by Maynor Ovando

A couple of weeks ago I joined to Melvin and Lemuel, two of the best birding guides in Guatemala, to an early birding walk in Ecological Park Ixpanpajul. We started at 6:00 in the morning and the sound of Blue-crowned Motmot, Clay-colored Robin and Great Tinamou was announcing the sunrise.

Vermillion Flycatcher (female)

The first bird in sight was a female Vermillion Flycatcher and then a complete flycatcher parade was in front of our eyes, including Yellowish Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee and Tropical Kingbird.
Through the dense vegetation surrounding the trail we observed Green-backed Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Red-throated Ant-tanager, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper and Olivaceous Woodcreeper.

Bronzed Cowbird

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Blue-gray Tanagers, Bronzed Cowbirds and hundreds of Northern Rough-winged Swallows were easy to see. Two hours later the bird list included 52 of the 250+ bird species found in this park.

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Birding in the rain

Bare- throated Tiger-heron

Last days have been rainy and wet on Guatemala’s highlands and the direct effect on Peten lowlands is flood on areas along rivers. I went with my friends Melvin and Diego from Martsam Tour & Travel to birding around Ceibal and the experience was extraordinary. Hundreds of aquatic and shorebirds feeding on the extended ponds like Great-blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret and Bare-throated Tiger Heron.

Gray-necked Wood-rail

Through the bushes we saw Ruddy Crake, Mangrove Vireo, Gray-necked Wood-rail and Least Grebe. Over clean branches we had this great sight of the Amazon Kingfisher and a couple of Snail Kite.

Amazon Kingfisher

By the end of the day we had a bird list of 98 species.

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Aventura por la selva

Rio San Pedro

© Maynor Ovando

En los días recientes tuve la extraordinaria oportunidad de visitar una región de la Reserva de Biosfera Maya de Guatemala, el sitio arqueológico El Perú. Una auténtica aventura que necesitó transportarnos en un microbús desde Flores, tomar una lancha en la comunidad de Paso Caballos para navegar el Río San Pedro y caminar 5 kilómetros a través de la selva.

Descubriendo el entorno

© Maynor Ovando

Tuve el honor de compartir el viaje con la familia Schroeder, visitantes norteamericanos que buscaban conocer más acerca de los mayas y tener una experiencia cercana a la naturaleza. Además de practicar sus habilidades con el idioma español.

Campamento del Instituti de Arqueología, Etnología e Historia

© Maynor Ovando

Sitio arqueológico El Perú
© Maynor Ovando

El entorno natural y las atenciones de nuestro guía comunitario complementan perfectamente la experiencia de visitar una antigua ciudad Maya oculta en el medio del bosque tropical lluvioso. Pavos Ocelados, mariposas Morphos, ranas y monos… una lista completa criaturas viviendo en su entorno natural. Una perfecta combinación de arqueología y ecoturismo.

Un mono araña observando a nuestro grupo.
© Maynor Ovando

Hasta pronto amigos!

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Listado de aves

Mis amigos Bill Thompson y Julie Zickefoose.

En Guatemala se pueden observar aves en todas partes. Siendo el país relativamente pequeño y con tantas especies de aves, casi en cualquier lugar se pueden ver al menos 10 especies.

Sin mucho esfuerzo se pueden observar en las Ciudad de Guatemala:
Zopilote de cabeza negra (Black Vulture)
Zopilote de cabeza roja (Turkey Vulture)
Zanate (Great-tailed Grackle)
Cenzontle (Clay-colored Robin)
Palomas de Castilla (Rock Dove)
Chocoyo (Pacific Parakeet)
2 especies de Coronaditos (Rufous-collared Sparrow)
(House Sparrow)
1 especie de Gorrión ó Colibrí (White-eared Hummingbird)
1 especie de Mosquero (Social Flycatcher)

Coronadito (Rufous-collared Sparrow)

El anterior es un listado de aves para la Ciudad de Guatemala (Bird Checklist en inglés) y no es más que la lista de las aves que se han observado con certeza en un lugar determinado, ya sea un parque, una ciudad, un departamento o un país.

Zanate (Great-tailed Grackle)

Los pajareros llevan meticulosamente listas de las aves que han visto en diferentes lugares, viajes y finalmente las que han visto a lo largo de su vida (Lifelist).

Zopilote de Cabeza Negra (Black Vulture)

Estos son auténticos ejemplos de aves citadinas.

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Nombres de las aves

¿Chiltote ó Chorcha?

Si tienen un par de minutos para ver las fotos que presentamos en este espacio, notarán que los nombres de las aves mostradas están en inglés. Para los conocedores del tema no es nada nuevo pero si usted está empezando a participar de la actividad de observar aves, déjeme explicarle.

Los nombres comunes de las aves varían de país a país, incluso de región a región en el mismo país. Durante mi infancia mi papá me enseñó el nombre común de algunas aves, por ejemplo, mientras visitabamos el oriente del país me dijo que un ave anaranjada de garganta negra, con alas negras y manchas blancas se llama Chorcha. Años después, viajando por la costa sur le pregunté a un administrador de una finca cafetalera si en el área se encontraban las Chorchas y me respondió que no. Al describirle el ave me dijo que Chorchas seguramente no, pero por la descripción lo que iba a encontrar eran Chiltotes. Al final es claro que se trata de la misma ave.

Por esta razón los científicos han utilizado un sistema de nomenclatura que llamamos Nombre Científico, para nombrar todos los seres que pueblan el mundo y para el caso se basan en un sistema en idioma latín que identifica el Género y la Especie de cada individuo. Esta forma impide que haya dos seres con el mismo nombre. Para el caso de las Chorchas del oriente de Guatemala o Chiltotes en la costa sur, el Nombre Científico de la especie es Icterus gularis.

Para muchas personas que no científicas y que disfrutan observando aves el uso del latín es un poco engorroso y tomando en cuenta que la mayor cantidad de observadores de aves provienen de países que hablan inglés, se estableció un sistema unificado que identifica los tipos de aves y sus características principales en un idioma que se conoce en todo el mundo. Así pues, el nombre en inglés para las Chorchas ó Chiltotes es Altamira Oriole.

Altamira Oriole (Icterus gularis)

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New 7 Wonders of Nature

Atitlan Lake

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Have you heard about the New 7 Wonders of Nature? It’s a global campaign to choose 7 nature sites to declare them Treasures of the World.
Atitlan Lake is a nominated candidate for this contest and it makes sense due to the beautiful views you can get in every angle you have of it. But birders have a better reason to support this nomination: the incredible bird diversity.

Resplendent Quetzal

Only around Atitlan Lake you can tick in a couple of days an amazing bird list like this:
Belted Flycatcher
Azure-rumped Tanager
Horned Guan
Resplendent Quetzal
Blue-tailed Hummingbird
Slender Sheartail
Rufous Sabrewing
Bar-winged Oriole
Bushy-crested Jay
Pink-headed Warbler
Hooded Grosbeak
Highland Guan
Green-throated Mountain-gem
Blue-throated Motmot
Rufous-collared Robin
Black Robin
Black-capped Swallow
Rufous-browed Wren
Black-throated Jay
Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo
Prevost’s Ground-sparrow
Unicolored Jay
Yellow-eyed Junco
Black-capped Siskin
Northern Flicker (Guatemalan race)
Long-tailed Manakin and more than 150 bird species more…

Rufous-collared Robin

Do you agree? So please join us and vote for Atitlan Lake… for the right reason.

Bushy-crested Jay

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¿Bird Watching?

Observadores de Aves en Parque Ecológico Hun Nal Ye

© Maynor Ovando

La observación de aves o Bird Watching es una actividad relativamente nueva en Guatemala. Muchas veces hemos visto turistas de diferentes partes del mundo con cámaras y binoculares en mano, buscando en los árboles de parques y al lado de las carreteras, sin saber que tanto ven. Esta es una rama del ecoturismo en que las personas visitan parques para observar aves libres en la naturalesza.

Nuestro país tiene una gran riqueza de especies de aves, mas de 700, de las cuales alrededor de 500 viven permanentemente en nuestro territorio y las demás pasan el invierno boreal en estas tierras cálidas y regresan a sus territorios norteños para procrear.

Acompáñenos desde este sitio en nuestros diversos viajes de campo a “pajarear” y comparta los increíbles tesoros que la naturaleza del país tiene para ofrecer.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Cheje de frente dorada)

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Doves

Blue Ground-dove

Many times we have a poor concept of some bird species. Vultures have a bad reputation because they made the “dirty job” of nature. They are not good singers or colorful of pretty… but they are efficient.

Doves are seen almost in the same way because many hear the word dove and think in a Rock Dove. People even call them “air rats” because their abundance in almost every city in the world. But when you can show how diverse are members of Columbidae family they will start to think different.
Guatemala has 20 dove species and I digiscoped these doves in a birding trip to El Zotz Biotope in Petén lowlands.

White-tipped Dove

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Top ten birds in Guatemala

A troop of birders in Peten lowlands

Photo by Maynor Ovando

As many of you already know there are more than 710 bird species from which about 200 are neartic migrants. The question many people is rounding their minds is: What are the best ticks I can expect to add in Guatemala during a birding trip?

I like to have a top ten bird list in mind for these occasions:
1. Horned Guan
2. Pink-headed Warbler
3. Azure-rumped Tanager
4. Belted Flycatcher
5. Blue-throated Motmot
6. Resplendent Quetzal
7. Bushy-crested Jay
8. Bar-winged Oriole
9. Green-throated Mountain-gem
10. Rufous-browed Wren

Blue-throated Motmot

Bushy-crested Jay

Rufous-browed Wren

And there are like 25 more with almost the same restricted distribution that can be seen in Western and Central highlands.But if you are visiting Northern lowland of Petén the bird list should be:
1. Gray-throated Chat
2. Ocellated Turkey
3. Green-backed Sparrow
4. Orange-breasted Falcon
5. Yucatan Jay
6. Lovely Cotinga
7. White-fronted Parrot
8. Pale-billed Woodpecker
9. Rose-throated Tanager
10. White-collared Manakin

Ocellated Turkey

Orange-breasted Falcon

Pale-billed Woodpecker

Of course there are many beautiful and nice birds but these are authentic trophies for keen birders.

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Land of volcanoes

Lake Atitlan Guardians: Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Southern Guatemala has a chain formed by volcanoes. They shape the landscape of the foothills from Pacific slope to the highlands; this barrier is responsible for most of the endemism of northern Central America. Birds like Azure-rumped Tanager and Horned Guan are restricted to some volcanic areas between Mexico and Guatemala.

Atitlan Volcano

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Three from the 33 volcanoes in the country are active. Pacaya Volcano is the nearest to Guatemala City and is the most visited. Fuego Volcano is near Antigua Guatemala and Santiaguito Volcano in southwestern is the most active and dangerous.

San Pedro Volcano

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Hiking and birding on volcanoes is just great. All volcanoes has been decalared protected areas and most of them are National Parks that offers services and security to visitors.

Fuego Volcano

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Pacaya Volcano

Photo by Lemuel Valle

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Colorful birds

A typical handicrafts store

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Guatemala is a unique place in the world; diversity is easily observed in our landscape, nature and people. With 23 ethnic groups and languages we have so many different ways to express ourselves and find the answer to our problems as birds do in a mixed foraging flock in the rainforest.

Textiles

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Something extraordinary about how we see life is the way craftsman use colors. Textiles and handicrafts are the best examples and birds are common motive of inspiration.

Bird motives in textiles

Photo by Maynor Ovando

It’s not hard to understand why if you have the chance to walk in a forest trail and enjoy the sight of amazing colorful birds like Ocellated Turkey, Scarlet Macaw, Keel-billed Toucan or Resplendent Quetzal.

Scarlet Macaw

Photo by Benedicto Grijalva

Keel-billed Toucan


Ocellated Turkey

Resplendent Quetzal

Even if you are not a birder you can’t miss them!

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MoSI

Black-throated Green-warbler (female)

Photo by Maynor Ovando

MoSI is the abbreviation for Monitoreo de Sobreviviencia Invernal - Monitoring Overwintering Survival Program is a research managed by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) along Latin America to estimate statistics of overwintering and survival rates and indices of physical conditions of a group of 25 target bird species.
The MoSI program is based in a protocol of 5 pulses of mist net operation in an area of at least 20 ha, called a “MoSI Station”. This station is placed in a habitat of interest where the target bird species can be captured in good numbers.

Wing feather examination

Photo by Maynor Ovando

A pulse is equivalent to 16 mist nets operated during 3 consecutive days; it means 15 days of work for a winter season. The protocol ask for specific information like weight, sex, age (determined by feather examination and skull pneumatization) and finally banding individuals to track them in future pulses.

All data collected are sent to IBP to analyze them and take the proper actions in conservation efforts.

Banding birds for monitoring

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Guatemala has been part of this program and many ornithologists an birders has been involved in training workshops to collaborate with this important task. These pictures were taken in a MoSI station in a pine-oak forest in Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve.

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Birding around Flores, Peten

Peten Itza Lake

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Flores is the capital of the northernmost department of Guatemala, Peten. If you travel to visit any Maya city like Tikal or Yaxhá, you can’t miss this small and beautiful town. Flores is an island, bordered by Petén Itzá Lake and there’s a lot of options to take a tour on the lake or have a ride in a car to visit neighbor towns.

Last Wednesday I decided to go birding around Flores Island, so I tried to have the two sides of the coin birding in water and land.

I started in a boat at 6:00 am to look for wading birds for 3 hours, this is my bird list:
Pied-billed Greebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Jacana
Purple Gallinule
Limpkin
Green Heron
Little Blue Heron
Ringed Kingfisher
Snail Kite
Mangrove Swallow
Great-tailed Grackle
Laughing Gull
Amazon Kingfisher
Great Egret
Bat Falcon
Social Flycatcher
Rock Dove
Common Moorhen
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Olive-throated Parakeet
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Blue-gray Tanager

Juvenile Little Blue Heron and Northern Jacana

Mangrove Swallow

At 9:00 am I got back to have breakfast and then took a car to El Remate, a town midway to Tikal National Park.

El Remate

Photo by Maynor Ovando

This is the bird list I got on the road:
Roadside Hawk
Vermillion Flycatcher (in front of International Airport Mundo Maya)
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Gray-breasted Martin
Tropical Kingbird
Gray Hawk
Groove-billed Ani
White-collared Seedeater
Ruddy Ground-dove
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Black-headed Trogon
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Plumbeous Kite
Bronzed Cowbird
Yellow Warbler

Ruddy Ground-dove

Tropical Kingbird

By noon I went back to Flores again. Just great birding!


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Birds and predators

Yellow-throated Euphonia (male)

Photo by Benedicto Grijalva

Last week I visited Ceibal by boat. Walking near the river looking for birds I saw a couple of Yellow-throated Euphonia flying fiercely near to me. My friend Benedicto told me we should be near their chicks, so we put our attention to neighbor trees. In the root of an epiphyte plant three chicks were perfectly hidden from predators.

Yellow-throated Euphonia chicks

Photo by Maynor Ovando

We walk 5 meters ahead and looked back to the nest when Benedicto told me again about something unusual in a tree branch… “Why does that branch look so strange?” and immediately answered “It’s a Mazacuata!”

A 6 ft. Boa constrictor taking the sun next to Euphonia's nest

Photo by Maynor Ovando

In Guatemala the common name for a Boa constrictor is Mazacuata. The snake was perfectly camouflage in a mango tree. Lay on a branch and taking a sun bath, just getting enough energy to look for the next food.

Mazacuata, the local name of Boa constrictor.

Photo by Maynor Ovando

If you pay attention enough each time you go outside for birding, you can find some other animal species that are looking for them too.

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The Horned Guan Quest...

Visitor Center at San Pedro Volcano Ecological Park

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Guatemala’s most wanted bird to see bird is definitely Horned Guan. One of the most threatened bird in the world, confined to some deciduous forest above 6000 ft. In field this means volcanoes and the easiest access place to look for it is San Pedro Volcano.

A wonderful groups of birding friends looking for the mythic Horned Guan...

Front: Maynor Ovando, Eduardo Galicia, Barbara Dowell, Bryan Bland, Alexis Cerezo

Back: Lemuel Valle, Jeff Gordon, Dave DeSante, Chandler Robbins

March 2007

Photo by Byron Gonzalez

This is me walking in the trails.

Photo by Benedicto Grijalva

The hike takes 4 hours at a birding pace because the site is full of birds; my bird list has more than 150 bird species including Unicolored Jay, Blue-throated Motmot, Bushy-crested Jay, Mountain Trogon, Prevost’s Ground-sparrow, Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo, Yellow-eyed Junco, Gray-breasted Wood-wren, Slate-throated Redstart and many Neartic migrants…

Slate-throated Redstart

Photo by Benedicto Grijalva

Even though the physical effort is high and the trail has steps most of the path, but the amazing views of Atitlan Lake, the great birds on the way, the chance to observe this cracid and the adrenaline rushing in your blood makes the trip worth it.

Steps along the trail...

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Views of Atitlan Lake

Photo by Maynor Ovando

After 4 hours hiking this is a "good sign"...

Photo by Maynor Ovando

A priceless reward after hard hiking...

Photo by Lemuel Valle

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More than just birds

Atitlan Lake

Photo by Maynor Ovando

All of us enjoy birds… no doubts about it, but Guatemala has a particular advantage when you travel along the country, because there’s no birding site without an amazing complement to explore.

Antigua Guatemala

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Guatemala has over 720 bird species, 35 regional endemic birds to southern Mexico and northern Central America, 21 Maya descendent ethnic groups who share their culture everyday; Antigua Guatemala, one of the most famous Colonial City in America; an endless list of Maya archaeological sites, an incredible ecosystems diversity, amazing natural treasures like Atitlan Lake and the most modern and biggest city in Central America.

Guatemala City

Photo by Maynor Ovando

So you can find a lot of possibilities to combine a birding trip with extraordinary complements like living Maya cultures in the western highlands visit ancient Maya Cities like Yaxha in northern lowlands or look for one of Guatemalan star, the Horned Guan, and enjoy sunset with a cup of the best coffee in the world at Lake Atitlan shores.

Archaeology, history, live culture, textiles, handcrafts, landscapes, splendorous nature and Guatemalan friendship plus birds… sounds like paradise, in this corner of the world we like to call “Eternal Spring Country”.

Orchid

Photo by Maynor Ovando

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American Ornithologists’ Union

American Ornithologists' Union Website

This organization commonly called AOU is the oldest one in America dedicated to the formal study of birds. This year the AOU celebrates its 125th Anniversary, during these years its members have developed an extended and diverse ornithological society open to scientific ornithologists, students, conservationists and birders.

The AOU website provide excellent information about birds in North America and one of the most important work shared is the Check-list of North and South American Birds. The Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of North and Middle American Birds produces an official Check-list of North American Birds, with the purpose of creating a standard classification and nomenclature.

Actually the check-list includes 2046 bird species known in the geographic area from North Pole to boundary shared by Panama and Colombia, including Hawaiian Islands and some Antillean Islands.

Every year Guatemalans check the publication proposed for AOU Committee in order to maintain update our bird lists, because in the last two years changes have affected birds regional endemic to North Central America, like splitting genera Megascops from Otus, which means that the new scientific name of the Bearded Screech-Owl is Mesgascops barbarus; or genus Asturina merged into Buteo which changes the scientific name of a common raptor in Guatemala, GrayHawk, to Buteo nitidus.

Gray Hawk (Buteo nitidus)

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Foothill birds

Guatemalan Pacific Slope

Many of the most captivating birds in Guatemala are found in foothills forest in south western Guatemala. This area is placed in the middle of western highlands and the pacific slope, around 3,000 ft. asl, the humidity and warm temperatures makes this zone ideal for walking in the trails and birding all day long.

Foothills vegetation

Picture by Maynor Ovando

Birds like Yellow-naped Parrot, White-bellied Chachalaca or Blue-tailed Hummingbird are fairly common and a diversity of other tropical birds makes the experience unforgettable.

Yellow-naped Parrot

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Birding in the Pacific Slope

Xetulul Park

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Last weekend I visited Guatemalan Pacific Coast. This is always a good chance for birding even if you don’t plan to visit Private Nature Reserves or National Parks.

I went to a theme park named Xetulul and the trip took 3 hours from Guatemala City, so I decided to account only the species that I could observe on the road or inside the park.

This is my bird list:
Great-tailed Grackle
Gray Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Crested Caracara
White-throated Magpie-jay
Chestnut-collared Swift
White-collared Swift
Melodious Blackbird
Altamira Oriole
Pacific Parakeet
Cinnamon Hummingbird
House Wren
Tropical Kingbird
Social Flycatcher
Cattle Egret
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Clay-colored Robin
House Sparrow

Crested Caracara

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Clay-colored Robin

Photo by Benedicto Grijalva

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Where is he from?

Great Kiskadee

Most people who like go outside and enjoy bird watching can identify the bird in the picture, a Great Kiskadee. Many birders know that the name comes from the song of this common and widely distributed flycatcher. But no one can say where he is come from… Little differences in songs exist in birds that breeds in different countries and is more obvious when you use a bird song tape. If you have a record of a bird taken in different countries, birds will ignore the sound like they do with a parrot call.

I found this little friend in Río Dulce, Guatemala.

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Wading birds

Herons and Egrets are representative from wetlands, rivers, lagoons and ponds. In a typical birding trip along La Pasión River you can find at least ten species perched in marsh vegetation.

Vegetation along La Pasión River

Photo by Maynor Ovando

A very common member of this kind is the Green Heron, when you observe it while hunting, you can notice how spoils the neck and slings it to catch a prey so fast that the human eye can’t follow the movement.

Green Heron

Another numerous bird is the Cattle Egret, an African species widespread along the World. Most times observed in pastures following insects, but it’s not a strange near water bodies too.

Cattle Egret

Guatemala, with its great variety of ecosystems, it’s always an invitation to visit any corner and enjoy a complete bunch of birds.

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Bird songs and calls

Xeno-canto website

One of the most fascinating facts about birds is their ability to perform songs and calls, a kind of language unique for each species, so specific that we can identify them just by hear.

It’s really amazing to know that in wide spread bird species there are sound differences for these songs. So a Great Kiskadee from USA has a different accent that a Guatemalan one.

A web site you can’t miss if you want to learn about bird songs is Xeno-canto, an incredible database with sounds from all over the Neotropic. This community has increased its collection enough to include a section for Africa and Asia.

You can contribute uploading mp3 sounds if you have any, participate in forums, share sonograms, upload pictures and many other activities. Or simply look for sounds you are interested in and get a better knowledge.

Right now Guatemala is poorly represented in this project, but all of us have the opportunity to get info from our birding trips and add new items.

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Bird pictures

Birding in Guatemala is always a delightful activity. Walk through the forest in the mountains or in the lowlands jungle is a single different experience each time and the memories you are getting every minute last forever.

Lemuel spotting a woodcreper in Corazón del Bosque

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Benedicto birding in Yaxha

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Taking a bird picture became a treasure you can have always with you and can show different things:

• A proof that you saw a rare bird

Pink-headed Warbler

• The beauty of a nature scene

Blue-winged Teal

• Or an artistic way to look a bird
  
  
  

Eastern Bluebird

It doesn’t matter how you can take a picture, the main goal is to have a moment freeze in time ready to share with friends…

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Weather

Rainy season in Guatemala started in May and will be finish in late October and a good weather forecast is really important when you are planning a birding trip. Bird behavior is affected by low temperatures and high humidity; it is really hard bird watching with poor light.

Have you ever try birding like this?

The good thing is that in Guatemala rain is predictable in the most important birding areas. Usually in Western Highlands mornings are clear and warm, great for birding! Afternoons and nights are stormy and rainy and give a chance to travel to different places or visit towns and get close to live Mayan cultures

Perfect weather for birding in the morning...

In Northern Lowlands all time is good for rain, morning, afternoon or night, but short in time. Maybe you started to walk early in the morning with no clouds in the sky and just when you are in the middle of the forest, suddenly a hard rain begins and lasts for an hour or so, but then clouds disappear and you can continue again in the trail.

Sunset at Flores City, Peten

Take a minute and look for weather forecast every time you go out, websites like Weather Channel are good options to be prepared anywhere you go.

Weather Channel screen

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Father's Day

Happy Father's Day

Today in Guatemala we celebrate Father’s Day and I want to tribute to all men in this special occasion considering that birds are extraordinary parents, as we are.
During a birding trip to Ceibal Archaeological Site I got this picture of a Black-cheeked Woodpecker male in its nest built in a dead tree or “tocon” as we said in Spanish.
Woodpecker male and female take care of the little chicks, helpless, blind and featherless creatures, and work usually for three weeks until they leave the nest. Finally when they decide to move the nest to a better place, other birds take the “free space” and use it to grow their own families, like Toucans and Trogons.

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Not a first report...

Yucatan Poorwill

Yucatan Poorwill… that’s what Guatemalan Ornithological Society (Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología SGO) said about my report of a Tawny-collared Nightjar. The id key was the white fore collar and white spots on the primaries.

Even though it is an important sighting, not all the time an endemic bird from Yucatan Peninsula is observed so well.

I tried hard looking for an image of this bird but nobody had one, just a couple of paintings but the colors are not accurate, really a shame. So here I’m posting two images to compare if you need in the future.

The white fore collar is well shown here...

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Ebird Guatemala

Ebird is an extraordinary tool for birders and a great opportunity to share with all the World the bird richness in Guatemala. This is a program from Cornell Lab of Ornithology and started as a mechanism for US birders to report what they found in their birding fieldtrips and started to grow to the most important birding hotspots out of the United States. A few months ago a group of birders in Guatemala led by Carol C. Anderson implemented Ebird Guatemala in order to report accurately observations made in our country.
This portal let you send your observations in each place and keep a record of your lifelist, bird list for that place, historical reports and let other birders use that information to prepare charts with frequencies, distributions, etc.
Please visit the website and join us to have better information of bird populations in Guatemala.

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Hawks, Kites and Falcons

Roadside Hawk

Hawks are the most common raptors in Guatemala, not including vultures of course. The local name for hawks, kites and falcons is “Gavilán” and most people think they are all the same because they just look at them when flying.

During migrations thousand of hawks fly over the country and most Guatemalans talk about “Azacuanes” but nobody say that they are different species traveling and looking for winter territories. Azacuanes are very important in culture because it is a sign that rainy season is short to start in April-May or near to end in October-November.

Plumbeous Kite

No matter what name you use birding and observe these magnificent birds of prey, is just captivating, hawks are perfect symbols of strength, freedom and power.

Laughing Falcon

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Prince Vulture

Juvenile King Vulture

Sometimes during a birding trip I’ve found what most people think are common situations, but many times the result is extraordinary. I visited Ceibal this Tuesday and when I was in the entrance road my friend David saw some vultures on the ground, he told me they were Turkey Vultures but I noticed one really different to the others, immediately I thought “That’s a Juvenile King Vulture!”

David took his camera and got some nice pictures and I armed my scope and digiscoped some like this one.

I haven’t had a chance to see one like this and it is great to observe the big differences between a juvenile and an adult.

It means that if an older one is a King Vulture a young one is a Prince Vulture, isn’t it?

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Breeding time

Vermillion Flycatcher's Nest

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Rainy season in Guatemala is always a nice occasion to birding, the biology in the whole expression in surrounding you everywhere and the perfect example is bird breeding.

During my last visit to Flores Petén, I had the wonderful opportunity to observe a breeding couple of Vermillion Flycatcher. I got the nest and took a picture but this time I went directly to the tree and found a couple of chicks. The female and male were flying around to protect their descendant.

Two little chicks

Photo by Maynor Ovando

I’ll try to have a record of the chicks development and share with you the experience.

Feed me!
Photo by Maynor Ovando

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Traveling

Temple I, Tikal

Photo by Maynor Ovando

I’m traveling to Petén again to visit Ceibal. It will be a rainy day along the way because Arthur tropical depression, meanwhile I share this picture of Temple I in Tikal National Park.

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Mountain Pygmy-owl

Mountain Pygmy-owl

Pygmy owls are a complex group of birds. The American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) considers Northern Pygmy-owl split into two groups: Californicum Group for birds resident in Southern Alaska to Southern New Mexico and Gnoma Group to birds found in mountains of Mexico, Guatemala and Central Honduras.

Based on genetic and vocal differences Heidrich et al (1995) considered different species, so many people call Mountain Pygmy-owl to the Gnoma group.

This owl is 6 inches in length, active daytime and very similar to other Glaucidium Owls. A really nice website with a lot of info is Owling.com. You can check it out and have more details about this and other members of the family.

HEIDRICH, P., C. KONIG, AND M. WINK. 1995. Bioakustik, Taxonomie und molekulare Systematik amerikanischer Sperlingskäuze (Strigidae: Glaucidium spp.). Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk., Ser. A, 534: 1-47.

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Mountain Trogon

Birding in highlands is a surprising experience, if you have been in lowlands you know how many different colored species you can observe in a couple of hours, but in the mountains it is just a challenge to look for birds, mostly green or blue, through the green trees.

My friends Bill Thompson III (left) and Simon Thompson birding in Cerro Alux

Can you see the bird?

Guatemala’s national bird is Resplendent Quetzal but no so many people have watched it, in most cases because they don’t know where and when to look for, but a lot of people has heard and seen a Mountain Trogon. In many communities the common name for this trogon is “Quetzalillo” which means little quetzal.

I really like the elegant form of these birds, the magic combination of colors, the unmistakable sound of the call, the adrenaline running in my blood when finally I can spot it and enjoy the sight.

Mountain Trogon

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Highlands

Highlands

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Guatemala has a lot of good reasons to travel along. The diversity of landscapes is one of them. The size of the country allows taking a car and visiting a thorn scrub area in one hour ride and enjoying a perfect cloud forest two hours later.

I’ve been traveling and working in lowlands of Petén in the north of Guatemala but I live in Guatemala City in the middle of central highlands so I usually go birding and look for the regional endemic birds of northern Central America.

There’s like 35 five species you can find between Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Western Honduras and Western El Salvador and more than 30 are found in the highlands, birds like Blue-throated Motmot, Black-capped Swallow, Bushy-crested Jay, Pink-headed Warbler, Green-throated Mountain-gem, Bar-winged Oriole, Black-throated Jay, Rufous-collared Thrush or the mythical Horned Guan.

I will go birding in Alta Verapaz area in a few days to meet these jewels and I will post some pictures in a few days.

Green-throated Mountain-gem

Rufous-collared Thrush

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Birding pal

Lemuel looking for a Peregrine Falcon

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Lemuel Valle is a biologist, expert in mammals, extraordinary birding tour leader but above all is a really good friend. I met him in High School and we have been close friends since. As consultant he has worked with all environmental agencies and conservationist organizations in Guatemala like The Nature Conservancy, Defensores de la Naturaleza, FUNDAECO and many more. He has led many research teams around Guatemala for San Carlos University and Del Valle University.

We have shared many birding trips looking for regional endemic bird populations, including Pink-headed Warbler or Horned Guan as well as migrant species like Golden-cheeked Warbler and Cerulean Warbler. The best part is that we always get a story to tell with all the adventures we have.

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Chichicua (Spilotes pullatus)

Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes pullatus)

Chichicua is the common name for Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes pullatus), member of Colubridae family, a well known snake in Guatemala. It’s an arboreal, non venomous snake who has a very distinctive behavior when feels in danger: expels a strong smell and inflates its neck vertically to seem lethal. That’s why when someone in Guatemala is really angry we say “angry like Chichicua…”

Lemuel handling the snake

During a visit to Uaxactún, we found this one crossing the road and Lemuel handled it to show us the beauty of the colors and the incredible way to self defense.

Benedicto taking some pictures

As you can see birding is just the perfect reason to go outdoors and enjoy nature in all ways...

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El Zotz

Mexican Funnel-eared Bat

Zotz is the Mayan Word for “bat”. The biggest bat colony in Guatemala lives in the caves found in this Nature Reserve and this is one of the species found here, Mexican Funnel-eared bat (Natalus stramineus). This bat is member of Natalidae family, an insect specialist eater wide spread from Mexico to Brazil.

There are many bat species in the area but the most incredible spectacle is to observe millions of these creatures going out from caves at sunset. Look at Bat Falcons and owls waiting around the cliff and predating the colony is absolutely amazing…

Natalus stramineus

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First report...?

Tawny-collared Nightjar

I’m posting these comments just after send a message to Guatemalan Ornithological Society to validate my identification of this bird: Tawny-collared Nightjar…
I saw the bird in El Zotz Biotope on May 18th 2008 with my friends Benedicto and Lemuel, I digiscoped this picture and some other with a Vortex 20-60x80 scope and a Canon Powershot A430 and Benedicto took some more with a Canon EOS Rebel.

I can’t wait for the confirmation… meanwhile I will gather all the info to complete this report.

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Birding and friends

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Benedicto and Lemuel

Friendship is the best part of birding. Look at a Vermillion Flycatcher’s nest is not the same thing if you can’t share the experience and fortunately I almost always travel with my friends Benedicto and Lemuel.

In the future they will share pictures and comments in this space, so this is an informal way to introduce this wonderful guys to you.

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Nice sightings

Indigo Bunting

As I told you on the last days, during my visit to El Zotz I found some bird species I supposed were far away Guatemala, but nature has always surprises and I’m glad to have the opportunity to watch them…

This is the best picture I took of a Indigo Bunting my little friend who convinced me that not always the things happened as people say.



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Resident birds

Great-tailed Grackle

Each time you decide to go birding, even if you think you are not, you wish to see unusual species… and nothing else, but one of the most rewarding experience is to check out for common species. Guatemala City is a place nested in highlands, five thousand feet level, and sometimes in the proper time you can find something extraordinary like a Red Crossbill but when you put your attention in how many species are living near your house you hardly believe it at first time.

Walking and looking 2 hours in the small parks thru Historic Center I listed 21 species:

Great-tailed Grackle
Melodious Blackbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Clay-colored Robin
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
House Sparrow
Rufous-collared Sparrow
White-winged Dove
Rock Dove
Azure-crowned Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Gray-silky Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Blue-gray Tanager
Yellow-winged Tanager
House Wren
Black-headed Siskin
Pacific Parakeet
Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Visiting forested parks bordering the city you can have a lot more… and I will tell you soon my experience in Cayalá and Cerro Alux…

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Migratory birds

Wood Thrush

I'm going to Ceibal tomorrow morning and I have a big expectation to looking for birds that are not supposed to be here in Guatemala at this time… I’ve been seen some Magnolia Warblers and a pair of Black-and-White Warblers so I’ll check if they’re still here. A friend of mine Eduardo Galicia from Mexico told me about some juvenile birds that stay in winter territories because they won’t breed…

Maybe they are in this situation.

Anyway I’ll have wide opened my eyes to watch for them and I will tell you in a couple of days…







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Hummingbird feeders...

Amethyst-throated Hummingbird

Photo by Maynor Ovando

There are 38 Hummingbird species in Guatemala, from little jewells like Black-crested Coquette to the huge Violet Sabrewing and each time more people are interested in the use of feeders to observe these marvels of nature.

If you want to use them, nectar recipe is simple: one part of sugar and four parts of water, boil this mix to eliminate bacteria and mold. Cool and fill the feeder and please don't add any color dye...

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Birding in Ceibal

El Ceibal

Photo by Maynor Ovando

Traveling and birding in Guatemala is an extraordinary experience, you can visit shores in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, visit semi-arid forest, cloud forest in the highlands or explore Tropical Rainforest lowlands in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. During regular visits to El Ceibal archeological site we have had the opportunity to enjoy the amazing sort of birds that live in southern Peten area. This place is bordered by La Pasión River and this makes great to look for shore and aquatic birds, herons and more.

La Pasión River
Photo by Maynor Ovando

If you want to have a great birding journey include a visit to this place and be prepared to have views like these:

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Posted by Maynor Ovando






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