Mexico | Birding the Ruins of the Yucatán

Upon arrival at the Cozumel International Airport, after clearing customs and collecting your luggage, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Attend an orientation meeting and have dinner at the hotel.

Elevation - Sea level

This morning, set out for birding at the San Gervasio archaeological site on the north side of the island. The site, whose pre-Columbian name means "flat rock in the place of the swallows," was once a Maya religious center and administrative seat for the entire island. Watch for species like the Yucatan Vireo, Yucatan Woodpecker, Bananaquit, Cozumel Emerald, Green-breasted Mango, Ruddy Ground Dove, Mangrove Cuckoo, and Cozumel (House) Wren. Have lunch at a local restaurant. Spend the rest of the afternoon exploring and birding the southern end of the island. Later, return to the hotel with time to freshen up before a presentation on the birds of Cozumel and extinct species, followed by dinner.

Begin the day with early morning birding around the hotel gardens. After breakfast, check out and take the ferry from the pier in Cozumel to Playa del Carmen on the mainland; from there, continue south. Stop for lunch in the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto before arriving to Síijil Noh Há, a series of lagoons within the 3,000-acre Much Kanan K'áax Nature Reserve. Go birding along the trails around the lagoons, watching for Red-throated and Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers, Northern Jacana, Social Flycatcher, Mangrove Swallow, Melodious Blackbird, Brown Jay, and White-necked Puffbird, among others. Arrive at the hotel in Chetumal around 5 pm for check-in and dinner.

Elevation 33 feet

After breakfast, visit the archaeological site of Oxtankah, north of the city of Chetumal. Oxtankah is immersed in the tropical Caribbean forest and is the largest known Maya site on Chetumal Bay. Some of the species that may be seen here include Brown and Yucatan Jays, Caribbean Dove, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black-headed Trogon, and Rose-throated Becard. Have lunch at a local restaurant and then take a boat ride around Bacalar Lagoon, known as the "Lake of Seven Colors" due to its different shades of blue. During the ride, you may see Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Neotropic Cormorant, Limpkin, Northern Jacana, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, and White-fronted Parrot. Return to the pier and visit the colonial Fort of San Felipe for more birding. Back at the hotel, you'll have time at leisure to relax or watch for avian visitors in the hotel gardens. This evening, attend a lecture on birding in the Yucatán before dinner at the hotel.

Check out after breakfast and head further inland toward Xpujil, stopping for birding en route in the tropical forests at Caobas and Tres Garantías, near the border with Belize and Guatemala. Some target species here include White-crowned Parrot, Lineated and Pale-billed Woodpeckers, Plain Chachalaca, Purple Gallinule, Royal and Boat-billed Flycatchers, Green Kingfisher, Greenish Elaenia, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Collared and Black-headed Trogons, and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Continue to Xpujil for lunch, and then transfer about four miles west to Chicanná archaeological site for a field trip in the ruins. This site was once the political, economic, and religious center of the area known today as Rio Bec. The site's name translates to House of the Serpent Mouth, a reference to its most famous building; this temple's facade depicts the Monster of the Earth from Maya creation stories and is widely acknowledged to be among the best-preserved of its kind in the entirety of Mesoamerica. Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, and a variety of warblers, tanagers, hummingbirds, and raptors can be seen here. Check in at the hotel this afternoon with time for birding around the hotel's gardens. Be on the lookout for Crested Guan, Great Curassow, Russet-naped Wood-Rail, and Thicket Tinamou.

Elevation 853 feet

Rise early with a boxed breakfast for birding at Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Calakmul is within the 35-million-acre Mayan Forest, the largest contiguous tract of tropical forest outside the Amazon Basin, and provides refuge for many rare and endangered species. Within the reserve is the Calakmul archaeological site; the top of the complex's great pyramid offers a good vantage point to look for soaring raptors, such as Hook-billed and Gray-headed Kites, Black and Ornate Hawk-Eagles, and the magnificent King Vulture, which is the symbol of Calakmul. Other possibilities include regional endemic species such as the Ocellated Turkey and Rose-throated Tanager, as well as vulnerable birds like the Great Curassow. Have a picnic lunch before returning to the hotel this afternoon for more birding around the hotel gardens.

After early morning birding, breakfast, and check-out, proceed to the small but interesting Maya ruins at Hochob. Hochob is an excellent example of the Chenes architectural style, which flourished from about AD 100 to 1000 and is distinguished by smaller courtyards and ceremonial platforms and a lack of large pyramids. In the forests around Hochob you may be able to see Yucatan (Black-throated) Bobwhite, Lesser Roadrunner, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Ladder-backed and Yucatan Woodpeckers, Turquoise-browed and Lesson's Motmots, and Fork-tailed Flycatcher. Enjoy a picnic lunch on site and then continue the drive north to Uxmal. Check in at the hotel with time for birding around the grounds before dinner.

Elevation 177 feet

Morning birding at Uxmal site. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most impressive and important Maya archeological sites in the Yucatan. Typical of the Puuc style, the buildings are low horizontal structures with courtyards that are richly decorated with detailed sculptures made from thousands of perfectly polished stones. The ruins are clustered into 15 groups that spread from north to south, and highlights include the Pyramid of the Magician with its Plaza of the Birds, the Ball Court, the Governor's Palace, and the Great Pyramid. In the afternoon, bird the grounds of Hacienda Yunku before returning to the hotel for dinner and a lecture on birding in the Yucatan.

Begin the day with early morning birding, then have breakfast and check out. Depart for Celestun with a roadside stop for birding in the Chunchucmil community, where you may see Lesser Roadrunner, Russet-naped Wood-Rail, Northern Jacana, Squirrel Cuckoo, Caribbean Dove, and Blue-black Grassquit, among others. Upon arrival, have lunch and check in at the hotel. There will be a chance to seek out some species that are endemic to the north coast, such as Yucatan Wren and Mexican Sheartail, as well as other species like Yucatan Bobwhite, Yucatan Woodpecker, Black Catbird, White-lored Gnatcatcher, Buff-bellied and Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Mangrove (Yellow) Warbler, and Common Tody-Flycatcher. Next, listen to a lecture on local flamingo conservation efforts. Dinner at the hotel.

Elevation 19 feet

Early morning birding. After breakfast, take a boat ride down the Celestun River. Targets today include American Flamingos (which are most abundant from November to February but can be seen throughout the year), the elusive Rufous-necked Wood-Rail, Lesson's Motmot, Common Black Hawk, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Roseate Spoonbill, Boat-billed Heron, White Ibis, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, and others. After lunch in town, travel to Merida and check in at the hotel. Gather for a farewell dinner this evening.

Merida 33 feet

After breakfast transfer to the Merida International Airport for return flights home.