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

Posted by Maynor Ovando

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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.

Posted by Maynor Ovando

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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

Posted by Maynor Ovando

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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.

Posted by Maynor Ovando

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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.

Posted by Maynor Ovando

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