Birdwathing at Cerro San Gil, Guatemala

Cerro San Gil

The Gulf of Honduras is a marine and terrestrial site located in eastern Guatemala. The Nature Conservancy and its partner, Fundación para el Desarrollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO), are working to conserve the Gulf of Honduras including the Cerro San Gil Protected Area, which is one of the last remaining tracts of very humid tropical forests within the Central American isthmus. Cerro San Gil also includes important fresh water springs, bird sanctuaries and mangroves.

Location Located on the Atlantic coast of Guatemala between Belize and Honduras, Cerro San Gil comprises more than 19,000 acres of lush rainforest in the Mico Mountains. Intense humidity and rainfall combined with elevations in excess of 3,900 feet have created a unique zone with extraordinary biological value.

AnimalsThe Gulf of Honduras is refuge to 56 species of mammals including the tapir, manatee and the jaguar and more than 50 species of reptiles and amphibians including:
Morelet's crocodile
Hawksbill turtle

More than 350 species of birds are found here, including the keel-billed motmot and the black and white hawk eagle. Over 90 neotropical migrants winter in the area and include the wood thrush and blue-winged warbler.

PlantsMangroves, sea grasses, flooded coastal forests.
The birdlife of the Caribbean Coast of Guatemala is the richest and most varied in the country. In the studies made of Cerro San Gil, 62 families, with 407 species of resident and migratory birds have been identified, which represent more than 58% of the total of Guatemala’s bird species.

The combination of physical factors such as humidity, temperature and altitude with biological factors, have made the Cerro San Gil a zone which is unique and of enormous biological value.

Proof of this is the high degree of endemism, as in the case of three endemic frogs, two salamanders, four trees and three palms been reported for this site (Anonymous, 1990).

This hill is traditionally identified as a water producer. The humidity transported by the winds from
the Caribbean is retained by the plant cover and over the hill there is a considerable displacement of currents of rain water which in turn contributes to the formation of 21 rivers (Anonymous, 1990).

Two rivers originate at the Cerro San Gil, the Tamejá and the Las Escobas. The generation of sweet water, without doubt, is the most valuable resource this forest provides to the people of northwestern Izabal, including the cities of Puerto Barrios and Santo Tomás de Castilla.

TOPOGRAPHY
At Cerro San Gil there are two regions with different climatic and geographic characteristics. The first 900 m.a.s.l. have the conditions of a tropical rain forest, while between 900 and 1200 m.a.s.l., the characteristics are those of a cloud forest. Its highest point is a place in the cloud forest called Samaria.The geological history of this place, in particular the succession of periods when the ocean advanced and receded, played a fundamental role in the definition of present habitats and ecosystems and, in particular, in the distribution and evolution of the local species of flora and fauna (Anonymous, 1990).

CLIMATEThe climate is hot and humid, with temperatures varying between 14º and 36º C. It rains during 212 days of the year and the absolute relative humidity is between 33.8 and 100%. Rainfall is 1800 mm per year on the southern slopes and up to 4000 mm per year on the Caribbean side (Weber & Bucklin, 1995).

BIRDING SPOTSOne of the greatest attractions of this place is the sounds of the birds. At dawn, you will awaken to their song and one of the most frequently heard is that of the Collared Forest-Falcon (Micrastur semitorquatus). From you cabin you can see the motmots and oropendolas, to mention only a couple.

It is very easy to see and/or hear special birds, such as the Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives) and the Ivory-billed Woodcreeper (Xyphorhynchus flavigaster), as well as to watch all the other species from anywhere in the Reserve. There are also species such as the Scaled Antpitta (Grallaria guatimalensis), which would be restricted to the cloud forest elsewhere, whereas at the Cerro San Gil you can find it almost from sea level to its maximum altitude of 1267 m.a.s.l.

At the Cerro San Gil there are two types of birds you can watch very well, one of them of the motmot group of which less than 4 species can be seen, and the other one is that of the birds of prey. According to some observers, Cerro San Gil is the best place to see them and among their species we can mention the Grey-headed Kite (Leptodon cayanensis), the Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus), the Crested Eagle (Morphnus guianensis), with the Solitary Eagle (Harpyhaliaetus solitarius) being one of the most difficult to observe.

Among the more colorful birds of the Reserve are the Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastus sulphuratus), the White-whiskered Puffbird (Malacoptila panamensis) and the Tody Motmot (Hylomanes momotula).

The best time of the year for bird watching is February through April, a time when you can find species of saltators or hummingbirds, such as the Long-tailed Hermit (Phaeothornis superciliosus), doing their nuptial show or “leks.”The Telephone Towers of Cerro San GilAn interesting part of the Cerro San Gil which lends itself particularly to bird watching are the telephone transmission towers.

To get to them you have to enter through the Port of Santo Tomás de Castilla, just as you do to get to Fundaeco. Take the Atlantic Highway (CA-9) to Santo Tomás de Castilla, where you have to turn left at the sign of the Hotel Green Bay, to Las Escobas.

This is an all weather road and reaches one of the highest parts of the Cerro San Gil, known as “Las Torres” (The Towers), because there are a number of telephone transmission towers there. (maya trail)

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