Summary
This is more of an appendix than a full trip report, for two reasons. First, this area is already well catalogued, with plenty of up-to-date birding information from other recent reports. Second, I only birded two areas, as I was very restricted by being on a family holiday with small children. However, I still think it’s worth posting this, as I went to the areas in early December, which isn’t the most popular month to visit, and perhaps consequently noted a number of species not listed in Steve Howell’s “Where to watch birds in Mexico”. In addition, I found a small, potentially interesting trail, which I have not seen reported elsewhere.
Sites visited
1. Ruta de los Cenotes and Jardins Botanicos, Puerto Morelos
2. Coba
Details
I can’t really add much of use to birders in terms of accommodation, car rental and other ancillary information as this was a packaged family holiday. However, I can observe that the previously ‘quiet’ Ruta de los Cenotes (see earlier reports) has now been well and truly discovered, hard-paved, promoted, and it is now a busy arterial route. Traffic isn’t heavy, but it is constant, carelessly rapid, and largely seems to be engaged in carrying tourists on ‘eco-trips’ to a number of dubious-sounding excursions into the ‘jungle’ and to the cenotes themselves. I wish this were a good thing for the environment, but I fear that it is not.
Trip 1. Puerto Morelos
A very early morning beach walk from the hotel to the town revealed little – this area is very heavily developed. However Mangrove Warbler was present in the 2km of swamps that separate all of the hotels from the main highway.
From the junction at this highway, cabs are ever-present. Mine took me 5km inland along the easily-found Ruta de los Cenotes, and I back-tracked to the junction on foot. This habitat appeared to promise relatively little, and lived up to that promise. Trees are low, and returning to the Jardins Botanicos (which are opposite the start of the road) meant the sun was rising into my eyes from 7am onwards. I will caution that small-scale development is starting at fairly regular intervals along this road, and I agree with a previous report that worthwhile birding probably really starts from 5km and then heads inland. There appear to be no reports of anyone ever birding this road into the interior, unless I have missed something in my hours of Internet research. Yucatan Jay was my highlight, but it’s not necessary to try this hard to see that species.
The Jardins Botanicos, which opened at 9am midweek, were quiet, punctuated by sporadic roving flocks of warblers and allies. Species to add to the list in Steve Howell’s Where to watch birds in Mexico were Canivet’s Emerald, a clear overhead Short-tailed Hawk, Yucatan Flycatcher, and many Yellow-throated Warblers.
Trip 2. Coba
I hired a car (Europcar, based in the Paradisus Riviera Cancun Resort which is 2km from Pt. Morelos; a basic Nissan 2WD 4 door sedan for $80USD; essentially the same price booking at the desk as it would have been online on the global Europcar site); took about 2 hours to arrive at 05.30. Dawn (e.g. usable light) in early December is approx 6am. Sadly no sign of night birds, despite extensive prowling through Coba and around the lake. Great-tailed Grackles cut out all other noise with their exuberant, quarrelsome crepuscular greetings.
Note that the Coba archaeological site itself didn’t open until 8am, not 7 as reported elsewhere. Check locally if you plan to visit. As I had time on my hands, and progress around the lake was impeded by the lack of a clear path, I drove back to the junction with the main Hwy to Tulum, and then directly across onto the ‘old’ road which leads to Cancun. After just 0.8km there is a signpost on the right, and I pulled up here, and birded the roadside for 90 minutes. On my visit there was a tremendous amount of activity, including Spider Monkeys, which suggests that this forest is relatively undisturbed. Road traffic was minimal (though high speed). Thicket Tinamou was very audible, more than one parrot species flew overhead, and small passerines were abundant. Species to add to the benchmark (Coba) list in Howell’s Where to watch birds in Mexico were Tropical Gnatcatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-green Vireo, Yucatan Vireo, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, and Blue Bunting.
Just before the sign-board at 0.8km I noticed a small trail on each side of the road. I tried both, and they continued for at least a kilometre without obvious signs of abuse (e.g. regular garbage, trash dumps, itinerant home-sites, or evidence of fires). In my experience of such trails, this suggests that they will probably, therefore, continue a lot further. This is where I encountered the monkeys, and I was very tempted to explore further, but I had come this far to visit Coba itself, so that drew me back. I would love to know what getting deeper into that forest revealed.
Inside the Coba complex, additional species to add to Howell’s list are Wood Stork (single specimen on the town lake edge), Bat Falcon (circling over the lake-edge inside the Coba site), a pair of Blue Ground-Doves, Violaceous Trogons (hunting right next to Black-headed Trogons), Rose-throated Becard, Red-legged Honeycreeper, and Yellow-backed Orioles associating with a large straggling flock of mixed species.
Thicket Tinamou - Crypurellus cinnamomeus
Pied-billed Grebe - Tachybaptus podiceps
American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Neotropic Cormorant - Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens
Great Blue Heron - Ardea Herodias
Great Egret - Egretta alba
Green Heron - Butorides virescens
Wood Stork - Mycteria Americana
Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
Roadside Hawk - Buteo magnirostris
Short-tailed Hawk - Buteo brachyurus
Bat Falcon - Falco rufigularis
Plain Chacalaca - Ortalis vetula
Limpkin - Aramus guarauna
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularia
Sanderling - Calidris alba
Laughing Gull - Larus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
Caspian Tern - Sterna caspia
Mourning Dove - Zenaida Macroura
Blue Ground-Dove - Claravis pretiosa
Aztec Parakeet - Aratinga astec
White-fronted Parrot - Amazona albifrons
Yucatan Parrot - Amazona xantholora
Squirrel Cuckoo - Piaya cayana
Groove-billed Ani - Crotophaga culcirostris
Smooth-billed Ani - Crotophaga Ani
Canivet’s Emerald - Chlorostilbon canivetii
Buff-bellied Hummingbird - Amazilia yucatanensis
Black-headed Trogon - Trogon melanocephalus
Violaceous Trogon - Trogon violaceus
Turquoise-browed Motmot - Eumomata superciliosa
Belted Kingfisher - Ceryle alcyon
Yucatan Woodpecker - Centurus pygmaeus
Olivaceous Woodcreeper - Sittasomus griseicapillus
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper - Xiphorhynchus flavigaster
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - Empidonax flaviventris
Bright-rumped Attila - Attila spadiceus
Yucatan Flycatcher - Myiarchus yucatanensis
Great Kiskadee - Pitangus sulphuratus
Social Flycatcher - Myiozetetes similis
Tropical Kingbird - Tyrannus melancholicus
Rose-throated Becard - Pachyramphus aglaiae
Ridgway’s Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx ridgwayi
Green Jay - Cyanocorax yncas
Brown Jay - Cyanocorax morio
Yucatan Jay - Cyanocorax yucatanicus
Spot-breasted Wren - Thryothorus maculipectus
White-browed Wren - Thryothorus albinucha
Tropical Gnatcatcher - Polioptila plumbea
Clay-colored Thrush - Turdus grayi
Black Catbird - Dumetella glabrirostris
Tropical Mockingbird - Melanotis gilvus
White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus
Mangrove Vireo - Vireo pallens
Yellow-throated Vireo - Vireo flavifrons
Yellow-green Vireo - Vireo flavoviridis
Yucatan Vireo - Vireo magister
Tawny-crowned Greenlet - Hylophilus ochraceipceps
Rufous-browed Peppershrike - Cyclarhis gujanensis
Blue-winged Warbler - Vermivora pinus
Northern Parula - Parula americana
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia
Mangrove Warbler - Dendroica petechia erithachorides
Magnolia Warbler - Dendroica magnolia
Black-throated Green-Warbler - Dendroica virens
Yellow-throated Warbler - Dendroica dominica
Black-and-White Warbler - Mniotilta varia
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla
Northern Waterthrush - Seiurus noveboracensis
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas
Hooded Warbler - Wilsonia citrine
Red-legged Honeycreeper - Cyanerpes cyaneus
Yellow-throated Euphonia - Euphonia hirundinacea
Red-throated Ant-Tanager - Habia fusciauda
Summer Tanager - Piranga rubra
Blue Bunting - Passerina caerulea
Melodious Blackbird - Dives dives
Great-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus mexicanus
Bronzed Cowbird - Molothrus aeneus
Black-cowled Oriole - Icterus dominicensis
Hooded Oriole - Icterus cucullatus
Yellow-backed Oriole - Icterus chrysater
Yellow-tailed Oriole - Icterus mesomelas
Orange Oriole - Icterus auratus
Altimira Oriole - Icterus gularis
Yellow-billed Cacique - Amblycercus holocericeus