Skip to navigation, or go to main content.

Steve Howell on his recently completed tour, Mexico: Oaxaca and Western Chiapas



April 11: Steve Howell on his recently completed tour, Mexico: Oaxaca and Western Chiapas

The biogeography of this region is complex, with much still to learn, as we found out. Species ranged from blatant, such as this Red Warbler...

 

...this dazzling Green Shrike-Vireo...

 

...and the gasp-inspiring Rosita’s Bunting, ...

 

...to the cryptic, such as these Pine Siskins (huh?). Well, actually a separate species, yet to be formally split—perhaps to be named Chiapas Siskin or Ash-breasted Siskin...

 

...plus this Sclater’s Woodcreeper (a vocally distinct but as-yet-unsplit taxon of Strong-billed Woodcreeper)...

 

...and this Ridgway’s Flycatcher, hidden in plain view within Nutting’s Flycatcher (the two taxa differ strikingly in voice, as well as in habitat and plumage).

 

Birding in the sun on quiet backroads in Mexico, the  land of wrens, jays, and sparrows...

 

...produced many great birds, including this impressive Giant Wren...

 

...the diminutive Dwarf Jay...

 

...and the very local Oaxaca Sparrow.

All in all, an amazing trip.

Posted: April 11, 2017