We spend a morning walking through the ruins of Chichén Itzá.
Photo: Rich Hoyer -
We spend a morning walking through the ruins of Chichén Itzá. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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The striking Yucatan Jay is a quintessential part of our Yucatan and Cozumel tour. Photo: Steve Howell
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Large populations of American Flamingo live in the Yucatan Peninsula, and we take a boat ride to get close views. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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A Bare-throated Tiger-Heron fails to blend in amongst the mangroves. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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Bat Falcons find nesting niches amidst the Maya ruins of Chichén Itzá. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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We make an effort to find Boat-billed Heron on our mangrove boat ride on the northern Yucatan coast. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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A Gartered Trogon offers a taste of the tropics in the taller forests of the southern part of the peninsula. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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Endemic to the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula is the Mexican Sheartail. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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A Reddish Egret finds shelter in a flock of Laughing Gulls on the Ria Lagartos estuary. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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We usually spot the lovely Rose-throated Becard on several days of the tour. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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The Ruddy Crakes of Cozumel Island seem to be more confiding than populations on the mainland. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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Unlike motmots of the rain forest, the Turquoise-browed Motmot prefers open woodland and even the scrubby deserts of the northern Yucatan. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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We bird the Yucatan and Cozumel where many migrants such as Yellow-throated Warbler come for the winter. Photo: Rich Hoyer
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The petite Yucatan Woodpecker also sports a relatively short bill and a tuft of yellow feathers above the bill. Photo: Rich Hoyer
Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is famous for its spectacular Maya ruins, warm climate, and delicious regional cuisine. It is also a notable center of bird endemism with species such as Black-throated (Yucatan) Bobwhite, Yellow-lored (Yucatan) Parrot, Yucatan Woodpecker, Yucatan Wren, and the recently split Yucatan Gnatcatcher. This tour distills the best of the Yucatan into a short, unhurried trip that takes in the peninsula’s dry forest, coastal scrub, lagoons, mangroves, and tall humid forest before ending on Isla Cozumel, with its Caribbean flavor, island endemics, and great snorkeling. At this season many migrant warblers from eastern North America are present, and flocks of resident flamingos feed among throngs of migrant shorebirds.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6:30 pm at our hotel south of Cancún. Night in Puerto Morelos.
Day 2: Today we’ll drive south, birding at an attractive botanical garden in the morning, and then continuing south to the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, our base for two nights in the Zona Maya. After lunch and a short siesta we’ll head out to bird in the forest and forest edge near town, staying out after dark in hope of encountering a Yucatan Poorwill or some other nocturnal critters. Night in Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
Day 3: We’ll have a full day’s birding in the rich forests near town, where species include Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, Keel-billed Toucan, Northern Bentbill, White-browed Gnatcatcher, Blue Bunting, and the very local Gray-throated Chat and Rose-throated Tanager. We even have a fair chance of coming across a swarm of army ants, which should be attended by Ruddy and Northern Barred Woodcreepers. Night in Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
Day 4: We’ll spend the morning birdwatching in the forest near our hotel, where we’re sure to add some new species. After lunch we’ll drive north to the picturesque Yucatan town of Valladolid. Night in Valladolid.
Day 5: This morning we’ll drive to the nearby ruins of Chichén Itzá, where the surrounding woodland will provide another taste of the Yucatan’s distinctive avifauna. Birds here include Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Cinnamon Hummingbird, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Yucatan Jay, and Orange Oriole. There will be time to view the ruins, the remains of one of the most complex of all Late Classic Maya ceremonial centers. After lunch we’ll head north toward Dzilam de Bravo, which hosts a healthy population of the recently split Yucatan Gnatcatcher. Once we are successful, we’ll head east to Rio Lagartos, our base for the next two nights. Night in Rio Lagartos.
Day 6: Today we’ll bird locally around Rio Lagartos. The arid scrub here is home to two very local endemics, the tiny Mexican Sheartail and the garrulous Yucatan Wren, both of which we should see. We’ll take a boat trip through mangrove-fringed lagoons in search of American Flamingo, Reddish Egret and Boat-billed Heron. After lunch we’ll visit nearby coastal areas adjacent to a huge salt works, home to Snowy Plover, Zenaida Dove, and flocks of migrant shorebirds that support wintering Peregrine Falcon and Merlin. Night in Rio Lagartos.
Day 7: With another morning around Rio Lagartos, we’ll bird locally targeting anything that we may have perhaps missed previously. We’ll then drive to Playa del Carmen for a ferry ride to the Caribbean island of Cozumel. Night in Cozumel.
Day 8: Mexico’s Cozumel Island has an interesting mix of Caribbean, Yucatan Peninsula, and island-endemic birds. We’ll spend a leisurely day exploring the island in search of White-crowned Pigeon, Cozumel Emerald, Caribbean Elaenia, Black Catbird, Yucatan and Cozumel Vireos, the very distinctive and endemic form of House Wren, Western Spindalis, and the distinctive races (or species?) of Bananaquit and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Wintering migrants include Palm, Prairie, Cape May, Yellow-throated, and Swainson’s Warblers. Night in Cozumel.
Day 9: The tour concludes this morning in Cozumel. We’ll have an optional early morning walk to look for anything we may have missed before returning to the hotel and our transfer to the airport for flights homeward.
Updated: 14 December 2023
Prices
- 2026 Tour Price Not Yet Available
- (2023 Tour Price $3,350)
Notes
Questions? Tour Manager: Erin Olmstead. Call 1-866-547-9868 (US or Canada) or (01) 520-320-9868 or click here to email.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a 4% discount. Details here.
This tour is limited to seven participants with one leader.