Jalisco, Mexico
Viva Mexico
19.2252° N, 104.7040° W
Bird nerds notes
This was our third trip to Jalisco Mexico but only our second as birders. Our routine was to go birding in the morning, then have coffee and breakfast, swim in the ocean to cool-off, afternoon snack (possibly ceviche), more birding, then dinner (likely tacos). On this trip we got a stronger sense that the area is one of Mexico's premier spots for birds! We met another birding couple and ventured out to Barranca El Choncho; a semi-famous canyon that follows a creek up into some grazing land and has 238 species reported on e-bird. We also birded Laguna del Tule, Selva de Melaque--Senda Mirador, and Estero La Manzanilla. We saw many of the birds we were hoping to with the exception of boat-billed heron but we find it's always good to have a reason to bo back.
Bird Photos
Conditions
- February
- sunny
- celsius
First sightings (lifers) 21x
- Ash-throated Flycatcher
- Black-throated gray warbler
- Broad-billed hummingbird
- Brown-crested Flycatcher
- Gray hawk
- Great black hawk
- Lilac-crowned parrot
- Muscovy duck
- Pacific Slope Flycatcher
- Purplish-backed Jay
- Masked tityra
- Sinaloa wren
- Social flycatcher
- Reddish egret
- Rose-throated becard
- Royal tern
- Streak-backed oriole
- Thick-billed kingbird
- Tropical kingbird
- Varied bunting
- Yellow-breasted chat
More adventures
Although our guides showed belted kingfishers in the area we are pretty sure we saw ringed kingfishers instead
Painted buntings' Spanish name is colorín sietecolores which roughly means brightly coloured 7 colours
A lifer sighting on this trip was the reddish egret which was hanging out close to a crocodile
Orange-breasted buntings are one of the coolest birds anywhere -- they also match our brand colours
We were able to identify all the shorebirds we saw (including whimbrels) which was pretty cool
One of the oldest domesticated fowl species in the world, the muscovy duck was already being kept by native people in Peru and Paraguay when the early Spanish explorers arrived
We thought we were watching a black and white warbler but the photos later showed a black-throated gray warbler -- another lifer!
The male painted bunting can make the cover of birding magazines but the female is interesting as well
One of the many flycatchers we saw in Mexico was the social flycatcher -- at least it is easy to identify
The trail-head where we'd venture into the mountains was always full of birds including stripe-headed sparrows
The slender snowy egret sets off immaculate white plumage with black legs and brilliant yellow feet
