Bird Watching Guatemala Blog

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...

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...