Dates and Cost
No scheduled dates at this time. Please contact us if you are interested in this trip.Images
About This Trip
The city of Veracruz became the first permanent Spanish settlement on the mainland of North America when Cortez landed there in 1519, and as they say, the rest is history! To this dayVeracruz holds the title of the most important port city in Mexico. Geographically speaking, Veracruz is a long, narrow state that runs north and south with the Gulf of Mexico on the east, and the Sierra Madre Oriental to the west. It may rival Oaxaca and Chiapas for the most interesting bird diversity in the country, with about 650 species listed within its borders. It has recently become well-known to birders for the impressive display of raptor migration that takes place along the coast of the state each fall. Not so well-known is the phenomenon of small bird migration that is happening at the same time; about 30 warblers are possible to see in just a half days drive! This tour will give us ample time to watch the spectacle of raptor migration on a number of occasions, and we will spend one afternoon with a cold beer on the roof of the hotel watching the raptors soar by. Although the hawk-watch is a must see, most of our efforts will focus on the huge variety of birds found throughout the state. Our trip starts in the lowlands to the south of the city, where we will scan the vast short grassland habitat for Grassland Yellow-finch, Pinnated Bittern, Double-striped Thick-knee,Yellow-headed Vultures and Rufous-breasted Spinetail. We head farther south to the Los Tuxtlas region, an isolated and small mountain range right on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, that holds one of the largest lakes in Mexico, Lake Catemaco. Here we will search the remnant of the most northerly true rain forest for an abundance of birds, and we’ll do a boat trip on Laguna de Sontecomapan. Some of the birds on from the impressive species list for the area include Ruddy Crake, Tuxtla Quail-Dove, Long-tailed Sabrewing, Canivet’s Emerald, Mexican Antthrush, and Plain-breasted Brushfinch. Our night birding expedition could produce Spectacled and Black and White Owl. Although this is a tour in the state of Veracruz, we pop into the wonderful cloud forest habitat in the mountains above Tuxtepec, Oaxaca. For all practical purposes, this part of Oaxaca relates more to what is going on in Veracruz! This portion of the state has been geographically cut off from Oaxaca by the Sierra, and even now, the winding road to Oaxaca City is hardly a super highway! Wonderful birds and beautiful scenery are everywhere! We will be looking for Azure-hooded, Uni-colored and Dwarf Jays, Long-tailed Wood-partridge, Hooded Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo and Gray-barred Wren. Our final morning in Tuxtepec will give us a chance to find the extremely rare Sumichrast’s Wren. Then we are off to the beautiful city of Xalapa where will spend three full days exploring the area up and down- from the cloud forest at Las Mina to the more arid high elevation pine forests of Cofre del Perote and the lower coffee plantations and thornscrub. While in Xalapa, we will also visit the world class anthropology museum, complete with Olmec heads, as well as a wonderful botanical garden loaded with birds!Accommodations
The lodging spots are s varied as the birdlife. From business hotels and a lakeside ‘resort’ to eco-lodges and high rise hotels, we choose the best possible options everywhere we go. Throughout the trip, we sample the fine Veracruzana cuisine. This trip starts and ends in Veracruz City.To book your trip or for more information, please contact us by email or call 888-383-0062.
