Birding Hotspots Mexico

Yucatan

Rio Lagartos is a little village on the shore of the Ria Lagartos Lagoon. The lagoon is a nature reserve recognized as an internationally important birding area. The main attraction here is the flamingos, but you will see many other birds. The most commonly seen are the Common Black Hawk, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Wood Stork, Boat-billed Heron, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Groove-billed Ani, and Laughing Falcon. In addition, I got some great shots of Wood Storks right in the village on the shore of the lagoon.

Furthermore, inland from the village, you might see Black-throated Bobwhite, Gray Hawk, Groove-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Mexican Sheartail, Cinnamon Hummingbird, Turquoise-browed Motmot.

A short drive to a place called Las Coloradas might also get you Zenaida Dove and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture.   A total of 395 species have been seen in the lagoon and surrounding area.

See the guides and accommodation pages for more information.
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Nayarit

The list of birds that you might see is too long to list here. On a recent trip, I saw 145 species in a few days. Although I had done a lot of birding all over Mexico previously, this total included 40 lifers, of which 15 were Mexican endemics. If you have not birded much in Mexico, your count will be much higher. Just a few of the best birds are Black-throated Magpie Jay, Black-vented Oriole, Bee Hummingbird, Colima Pygmy-Owl, Military Macaw, the stunning Pale-billed Woodpecker, and the beautiful Mexican Woodnymph.

A nocturnal tour on the local river will get you the awesome Northern Potoo. See the guides page for San Blas to arrange boat and land tours. 

A pelagic trip to Elephant Rock from San Blas will get you the Blue-footed Booby as well as close encounters with a lot of marine life, including dolphins, sea turtles, whales and Whale Sharks. See pelagic tours for more info on Elephant Rock.

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