Bird Watching Guatemala Blog

Mis amigos Bill Thompson y Julie Zickefoose . En Guatemala se pueden observar aves en todas partes. Siendo el país relativamente pequeño y con tantas especies de aves, casi en cualquier lugar se pueden ver al menos 10 especies. Sin mucho esfuerzo se pueden observar en las Ciudad de Guatemala: Zopilote de cabeza negra (Black Vulture) Zopilote de cabeza roja (Turkey Vulture) Zanate (Great-tailed Grackle) Cenzontle (Clay-colored Robin) Palomas de Castilla (Rock Dove) Chocoyo (Pacific Parakeet) 2 especies de Coronaditos (Rufous-collared Sparrow) (House Sparrow) 1 especie de Gorrión ó Colibrí (White-eared Hummingbird) 1 especie de Mosquero (Social Flycatcher) Coronadito (Rufous-collared Sparrow) El anterior es un listado de aves para la Ciudad de Guatemala (Bird Checklist en inglés) y no es más que la lista de las aves que se han observado con certeza en un lugar determinado, ya sea un parque, una ciudad, un departamento o un país. Zanate (Great-tailed Grackle) Los pajareros llevan meticu

¿Chiltote ó Chorcha? Si tienen un par de minutos para ver las fotos que presentamos en este espacio, notarán que los nombres de las aves mostradas están en inglés. Para los conocedores del tema no es nada nuevo pero si usted está empezando a participar de la actividad de observar aves, déjeme explicarle. Los nombres comunes de las aves varían de país a país, incluso de región a región en el mismo país. Durante mi infancia mi papá me enseñó el nombre común de algunas aves, por ejemplo, mientras visitabamos el oriente del país me dijo que un ave anaranjada de garganta negra, con alas negras y manchas blancas se llama Chorcha. Años después, viajando por la costa sur le pregunté a un administrador de una finca cafetalera si en el área se encontraban las Chorchas y me respondió que no. Al describirle el ave me dijo que Chorchas seguramente no, pero por la descripción lo que iba a encontrar eran Chiltotes. Al final es claro que se trata de la misma ave. Por esta razón los científicos han ut

Atitlan Lake Photo by Maynor Ovando Have you heard about the New 7 Wonders of Nature? It’s a global campaign to choose 7 nature sites to declare them Treasures of the World. Atitlan Lake is a nominated candidate for this contest and it makes sense due to the beautiful views you can get in every angle you have of it. But birders have a better reason to support this nomination: the incredible bird diversity. Resplendent Quetzal Only around Atitlan Lake you can tick in a couple of days an amazing bird list like this: Belted Flycatcher Azure-rumped Tanager Horned Guan Resplendent Quetzal Blue-tailed Hummingbird Slender Sheartail Rufous Sabrewing Bar-winged Oriole Bushy-crested Jay Pink-headed Warbler Hooded Grosbeak Highland Guan Green-throated Mountain-gem Blue-throated Motmot Rufous-collared Robin Black Robin Black-capped Swallow Rufous-browed Wren Black-throated Jay Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo Prevost’s Ground-sparrow Unicolored Jay Yellow-eyed Junco Black-capped Siskin Northern Flicke

Observadores de Aves en Parque Ecológico Hun Nal Ye © Maynor Ovando La observación de aves o Bird Watching es una actividad relativamente nueva en Guatemala. Muchas veces hemos visto turistas de diferentes partes del mundo con cámaras y binoculares en mano, buscando en los árboles de parques y al lado de las carreteras, sin saber que tanto ven. Esta es una rama del ecoturismo en que las personas visitan parques para observar aves libres en la naturalesza. Nuestro país tiene una gran riqueza de especies de aves, mas de 700, de las cuales alrededor de 500 viven permanentemente en nuestro territorio y las demás pasan el invierno boreal en estas tierras cálidas y regresan a sus territorios norteños para procrear. Acompáñenos desde este sitio en nuestros diversos viajes de campo a “pajarear” y comparta los increíbles tesoros que la naturaleza del país tiene para ofrecer. Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Cheje de frente dorada) Posted by Maynor Ovando www.birdwatchingguatemala.com is a regist

Blue Ground-dove Many times we have a poor concept of some bird species. Vultures have a bad reputation because they made the “dirty job” of nature. They are not good singers or colorful of pretty… but they are efficient. Doves are seen almost in the same way because many hear the word dove and think in a Rock Dove. People even call them “air rats” because their abundance in almost every city in the world. But when you can show how diverse are members of Columbidae family they will start to think different. Guatemala has 20 dove species and I digiscoped these doves in a birding trip to El Zotz Biotope in Petén lowlands. White-tipped Dove Posted by Maynor Ovando www.birdwatchingguatemala.com is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 www.birdwatchingguatemala.com www.martsam.com

A troop of birders in Peten lowlands Photo by Maynor Ovando As many of you already know there are more than 710 bird species from which about 200 are neartic migrants. The question many people is rounding their minds is: What are the best ticks I can expect to add in Guatemala during a birding trip? I like to have a top ten bird list in mind for these occasions: 1. Horned Guan 2. Pink-headed Warbler 3. Azure-rumped Tanager 4. Belted Flycatcher 5. Blue-throated Motmot 6. Resplendent Quetzal 7. Bushy-crested Jay 8. Bar-winged Oriole 9. Green-throated Mountain-gem 10. Rufous-browed Wren Blue-throated Motmot Bushy-crested Jay Rufous-browed Wren And there are like 25 more with almost the same restricted distribution that can be seen in Western and Central highlands.But if you are visiting Northern lowland of Petén the bird list should be: 1. Gray-throated Chat 2. Ocellated Turkey 3. Green-backed Sparrow 4. Orange-breasted Falcon 5. Yucatan Jay 6. Lovely Cotinga 7. White-fronted Parrot 8

Lake Atitlan Guardians: Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro Photo by Maynor Ovando Southern Guatemala has a chain formed by volcanoes. They shape the landscape of the foothills from Pacific slope to the highlands; this barrier is responsible for most of the endemism of northern Central America. Birds like Azure-rumped Tanager and Horned Guan are restricted to some volcanic areas between Mexico and Guatemala. Atitlan Volcano Photo by Maynor Ovando Three from the 33 volcanoes in the country are active. Pacaya Volcano is the nearest to Guatemala City and is the most visited. Fuego Volcano is near Antigua Guatemala and Santiaguito Volcano in southwestern is the most active and dangerous. San Pedro Volcano Photo by Maynor Ovando Hiking and birding on volcanoes is just great. All volcanoes has been decalared protected areas and most of them are National Parks that offers services and security to visitors. Fuego Volcano Photo by Maynor Ovando Pacaya Volcano Photo by Lemuel Valle Posted by Ma

A typical handicrafts store Photo by Maynor Ovando Guatemala is a unique place in the world; diversity is easily observed in our landscape, nature and people. With 23 ethnic groups and languages we have so many different ways to express ourselves and find the answer to our problems as birds do in a mixed foraging flock in the rainforest. Textiles Photo by Maynor Ovando Something extraordinary about how we see life is the way craftsman use colors. Textiles and handicrafts are the best examples and birds are common motive of inspiration. Bird motives in textiles Photo by Maynor Ovando It’s not hard to understand why if you have the chance to walk in a forest trail and enjoy the sight of amazing colorful birds like Ocellated Turkey, Scarlet Macaw, Keel-billed Toucan or Resplendent Quetzal. Scarlet Macaw Photo by Benedicto Grijalva Keel-billed Toucan Ocellated Turkey Resplendent Quetzal Even if you are not a birder you can’t miss them! Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatem

Black-throated Green-warbler (female) Photo by Maynor Ovando MoSI is the abbreviation for Monitoreo de Sobreviviencia Invernal - Monitoring Overwintering Survival Program is a research managed by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) along Latin America to estimate statistics of overwintering and survival rates and indices of physical conditions of a group of 25 target bird species. The MoSI program is based in a protocol of 5 pulses of mist net operation in an area of at least 20 ha, called a “MoSI Station”. This station is placed in a habitat of interest where the target bird species can be captured in good numbers. Wing feather examination Photo by Maynor Ovando A pulse is equivalent to 16 mist nets operated during 3 consecutive days; it means 15 days of work for a winter season. The protocol ask for specific information like weight, sex, age (determined by feather examination and skull pneumatization) and finally banding individuals to track them in future pulses. All data c

Bronzed Cowbird Taking bird pictures from nature is a real challenge. Most of us want to have a sharp and perfect image but it is hard to get because circumstances are changing always. Hundreds of shots are not good, even are not good enough to recognize the bird and we usually delete them, but many of them have a story behind or can be seen in a different perspective, artistic or funny… I took this image of a Bronzed Cowbird in a birding walk around Uaxactun, a Pre Classic Maya City, the weather was stormy and the light conditions were incredibly poor, but looking at the bird trying to dry its feathers made me remember those days when I watched birds just in cartoons. It’s just like a funny bird in a cartoon. Posted by Maynor Ovando www.birdwatchingguatemala.com is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 www.birdwatchingguatemala.com www.martsam.com

Peten Itza Lake Photo by Maynor Ovando Flores is the capital of the northernmost department of Guatemala, Peten. If you travel to visit any Maya city like Tikal or Yaxhá, you can’t miss this small and beautiful town. Flores is an island, bordered by Petén Itzá Lake and there’s a lot of options to take a tour on the lake or have a ride in a car to visit neighbor towns. Last Wednesday I decided to go birding around Flores Island, so I tried to have the two sides of the coin birding in water and land. I started in a boat at 6:00 am to look for wading birds for 3 hours, this is my bird list: Pied-billed Greebe Neotropic Cormorant Northern Jacana Purple Gallinule Limpkin Green Heron Little Blue Heron Ringed Kingfisher Snail Kite Mangrove Swallow Great-tailed Grackle Laughing Gull Amazon Kingfisher Great Egret Bat Falcon Social Flycatcher Rock Dove Common Moorhen Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Olive-throated Parakeet Yellow-throated Euphonia Blue-gray Tanager Juvenile Little Blue Heron and No

Yellow-throated Euphonia (male) Photo by Benedicto Grijalva Last week I visited Ceibal by boat. Walking near the river looking for birds I saw a couple of Yellow-throated Euphonia flying fiercely near to me. My friend Benedicto told me we should be near their chicks, so we put our attention to neighbor trees. In the root of an epiphyte plant three chicks were perfectly hidden from predators. Yellow-throated Euphonia chicks Photo by Maynor Ovando We walk 5 meters ahead and looked back to the nest when Benedicto told me again about something unusual in a tree branch… “Why does that branch look so strange?” and immediately answered “It’s a Mazacuata!” A 6 ft. Boa constrictor taking the sun next to Euphonia's nest Photo by Maynor Ovando In Guatemala the common name for a Boa constrictor is Mazacuata. The snake was perfectly camouflage in a mango tree. Lay on a branch and taking a sun bath, just getting enough energy to look for the next food. Mazacuata, the local name of Boa

Visitor Center at San Pedro Volcano Ecological Park Photo by Maynor Ovando Guatemala’s most wanted bird to see bird is definitely Horned Guan. One of the most threatened bird in the world, confined to some deciduous forest above 6000 ft. In field this means volcanoes and the easiest access place to look for it is San Pedro Volcano. A wonderful groups of birding friends looking for the mythic Horned Guan... Front: Maynor Ovando, Eduardo Galicia, Barbara Dowell, Bryan Bland, Alexis Cerezo Back: Lemuel Valle, Jeff Gordon, Dave DeSante, Chandler Robbins March 2007 Photo by Byron Gonzalez This is me walking in the trails. Photo by Benedicto Grijalva The hike takes 4 hours at a birding pace because the site is full of birds; my bird list has more than 150 bird species including Unicolored Jay, Blue-throated Motmot, Bushy-crested Jay, Mountain Trogon, Prevost’s Ground-sparrow, Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo, Yellow-eyed Junco, Gray-breasted Wood-wren, Slate-throated Redstart and many Neartic mig