22 - 29 May 1996
by Ron & Marcia Braun
We didn't have very much information for birding Honduras, so we decided it keep it simple and just bird the northern part. This also allowed fulfillment of a long standing desire to visit the Mayan ruins at Copan. Craig Faanes 1991 trip report (no longer available from ABA) proved helpful, as well as some general information from the Internet.
Wednesday, May 22, 1996 Arrived in San Pedro Sula (SPS) at about 1:15 pm after a 2 1/2 hour flight from Houston via Tegucigalpa. Avis was slow but friendly, and spoke English. There is a bank, but no money exchange, in the airport. Black market money changers, speaking excellent English, cruised about with big wads of cash. We exchanged at 11 lempiras (L$) to the USD. A very low-key, friendly airport. Our US reserved auto, 4X4, A/C, unlimited mileage Mitsubishi Montero turned (not unexpectedly) into a Nissan Pathfinder Sport with other qualities as advertised. Drive-out, with insurance, was US$501 for the week, as reserved. (We didn't mind the switch, except for the rather weak A/C.) We bought a Texaco map at a premium from someone at the airport and then left immediately for Tela.
Between SPS and Tela, we were stopped at a police roadblock where they checked for the laminated car identity card (in the glove compartment) and triangulars -- reflectors every car is required to carry, in case of a road breakdown. When it became clear that we had no triangulars, the policeman decided to take L$50 in lieu of a ticket -- and as ransom for our car papers and Ron s driver s license. (My own theory of Latin American driving preparations is to get an international driving license for $10 or $15 and be prepared to lose it to the first policeman.) But L$50 was cheap. However, we did politely refuse to purchase what looked like raffle tickets for a cow, suggesting (again politely) that he use the L$50 we had just given him. We bought two triangulars at the next Texaco for L$65.
We arrived at the Lancetilla Botanical Garden (LBG) entrance road, just before the downtown Tela turnoff, at 3:15 pm, but it was already closed. The sign listed the hours as 7:30 - 2:30 lunes a domingo, and the armed guard said, Ma=F1ana. We checked into the A/Ced Hotel Caribe for L$160. They had Mastercard and Visa signs on the door, but wouldn t take one from a foreign bank. Then, we returned to the main road and birded the Parque National Puento Sol entrance road (near the LBG entrance & sign) until sundown. There were several marshy areas with a BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON, lots of JACANAS, ROSEATE SPOONBILLS, etc. There were a few PLAIN CHACHALACAS in the trees, loads of RED-BILLED PIGEONS flying overhead, and seedeaters, and grassquits singing on the roadsides. Several tree-fulls of YELLOW-HEADED PARROTS settled in noisily in the evening. (The few birds we saw well had pale bills with yellow foreheads and a small amount of yellow at the nape, with a small amount of red showing at the bend of the wing; as described for the `hondurensis group in Howell & Webb. Pale bills were visible on a number of the flying individuals.) Back in town, we ate dinner, dying of heat and humidity, in the Hotel Presidente, on the town square. We returned to our A/C room to complete our list.
Thursday, May 23, 1996
Up at 5:30 for cold showers, then birded the Puento Sol entrance road till 7:30 am, before returning to LBG, where the guard took our entrance fee of US$5 each (locals pay L$5). We birded the entrance road, walking often on trails into the woods. GREAT ANTSHRIKES called and one investigated our presence, WHITE-COLLARED MANAKINS displayed, SCARLET- RUMPED TANAGERS flashed their bright red, and a NORTHERN BENTBILL put in an appearance, along with TURQUOISE-BROWED MOTMOTS (Supposedly, the Grey-headed Piprites can be found in LBG also). The gardens were popular with SOCIAL, KISKADEE, & BOAT-BILLED FLYCATCHERS, as well as SOUTHERN HOUSE WREN. A little beyond the gardens were BUFF- THROATED and STREAK-HEADED WOODCREEPERS and BUFF-THROATED FOLIAGE-GLEANER. Heat, humidity, and hunger finally got to us at 1:00 pm, so we headed to a roadside restaurant near the Tela turnoff for lunch. Later we returned to the Puento Sol road intent on driving all the way to the park, but turned back due to heat and muddy road. More of the same marsh birds, but the locals had herded cattle into our favorite marsh.
At about 2:30 pm we hit the main road for the drive to La Ceiba, arriving at about 4:30 pm. It was carnival week, so we considered ourselves lucky to get a 4-person room at LaQuinta for L$550 . A room with one double bed would have cost L$350. We cooled off in the bar with cervesas National and our lists, then had dinner in the Maxim s Restaurant at the hotel. It was expensive but they took plastic. There were lots of Americans staying there for the carnival and as a stopover on their way to the Bay Islands. Afraid of eating local food, most of them were heading to Burger King for dinner! (I later found a post card of La Ceiba, proudly showing off the Kentucky Fried Chicken.)
Friday, May 24, 1996
Breakfast at the hotel at 6 am, after the usual cold showers. We started up the Yaruca Road at 7:30. Faanes had luckily found a Green-breasted Mountain-Gem in 1991 at the landslide which closed the road going over the mountains from La Ceiba to Olanchito. (The mountain-gem is a near endemic; its range is only Honduras and Nicaragua.) Although maps currently for sale in Honduras show the road going through, it is still closed just beyond the long, road-side town of Yaruca, and deteriorating rapidly along most of the 20-mile route. The first few miles looked like great habitat but in spite of the morning hours, were not very birdy. Unfortunately, beyond this stretch, everything has been pretty much cut over. Parque National Rico Benito, about 8 miles from the pavement, has just a small sign -- no parking and no trails visible --. It was the only good-looking habitat in the area, but decidedly distant. Farther along, we walked a trail at a forested creek crossing, about 17 miles from the pavement. We had both TURQUOISE and BLUE-CROWNED MOTMOTS, more WHITE-COLLARED MANAKINS, IVORY-BILLED WOODCREEPER, both MONTEZUMA and CHESTNUT-HEADED OROPENDOLAS, etc., but no Green-breasted Mountain-gem. (This whole stretch of road is too low in elevation, even if there were decent habitat.) The road is slow-going and for very high ground clearance vehicles only, if not 4-wheel drive. We would suggest spending time early in the morning birding only the lower few miles of the Yaruca Road for that reason.
In the afternoon we drove to Olanchito via Sava. We arrived at Olanchito at mid-afternoon and stopped for lunch before following Faanes directions to the Honduran Emerald spot. We birded there between 4 - 5 pm, staying on the trail between the two fences. About 500 meters down the trail we found a female HONDURAN EMERALD, which chased off an approaching male. We got to study her, but only got brief views of the male(s), since she would immediately run him off. We returned to Olanchito and asked at a couple of hotels. Our choices were L$50 for no A/C or L$110 with A/C. We stayed at the hotel Villa Aguan, which still had one A/C room available, but no hot water in any rooMs. We spent the evening searching for a missing rechargeable tape recorder battery -- and decided we must have dropped it on the creek trail along the Yaruca road!
Saturday, May 25, 1996
A driving day -- terrible for birds! We got back to the Honduran Emerald spot by 6 am, hoping to photograph and study the gorgeous male (The male(s) we saw looked more like the plate in A Distributional Survey of the Birds of Honduras by Burt L. Monroe, Jr. rather than Webb s depiction in A Guide to the Birds of Mexico.... ). It was a good plan, but the woods were dead except for insect clicks and cicada chorus. We walked further than the previous afternoon, from 6 - 7:15 am, but only saw a CINNAMON HUMMER. (Craig Faanes found Honduran Emerald late in the day also... so that may be the best time.)
We had decided to drive though Yoro to El Progresso. The road was dirt, but we drove 60 mph, with a 4-lane wide road all to ourselves. We found out why when we topped a rise and found a river cutting across the road. We watched locals wade and ride the ferry -- a horse led by another rider. The water was above the horses knees, with some deeper areas -- and fast. Other drivers came in pick-ups and looked, but didn t try to cross. We asked a local driver if we could get through to El Progresso. His shaking head & the direction of his point said only back the way we had come, along the coast. (The dirt road was labeled summer only on our map...)
On our way back, since we were passing right by the Yaruca road, we decide to drive up to where the missing battery should be waiting in the leaf litter at a White- collared Manakin lek (which we mistakenly estimated to be only about 8 miles from the pavement; in reality it was 17 miles!). A thorough search of the trail produced no battery, but many of the same birds we had previously. Coming out was slow since a local truck-type bus wouldn t let us pass. We arrived at the pavement at about 3 pm -- hot in many ways. We got a room in El Progresso, at the Hotel Villa Real for L$300 with A/C. After a cold shower (no hot water), Salva Vida beers and dinner, we felt better in spite of a terrible birding day.
Sunday, May 26, 1996
An Internet search and various guidebooks had given us a list of some area parks which sounded good. Parque National Cusuco is just off the main road to the Copan ruins; above the town of Cofradia. We hit the road at 5:30 am, drove to Cofradia, and after many questions, found the road up to the park at about 7 am. From Cofradia, it was 13.8 miles and about 2.5 hours (including birding stops) to the park. The road from the control gate climbs almost 400 meters without stopping in the first 2.5 miles, going from dry oaks to pine forest. We stopped in the pines for Red- throated Parakeets. We got to the small town of Buenos Aires (10 miles from the control gate) at 8:30 am then drove another 3.5 miles to the park, arriving at 9:15 am. We had a confusing time with a young man who offered to guide us and protect us from snakes and other dangers. When we declined, he insisted that we pay US$10 each to walk the trails. After that, he told us it was mandatory that he accompany us. On the short trail through a very small patch of wet forest with tree ferns, we saw several GREEN- THROATED MOUNTAIN-GEMS, and would have probably gotten looks at a NIGHTINGALE WREN if we weren t too intimidated by our unfriendly guide to leave the trail. No quetzals, although they are supposed to be in the area. We visited briefly with a group of people on tour from SPS, all stopping to admire a huge horned beetle. They apparently had done no better on birds. Mosquitoes and biting gnats were plentiful.
On the way down, a group of 9 SWALLOW-TAILED KITES put on quite a show, breaking small branches out of the roadside treetops, often at eyelevel. (Our full-frame photos all turned out blurred by their speed and intervening branches, but they made for great memories anyway.)
We got back to the pavement around 3:45 pm and proceeded to just outside the town of Copan Ruinas, where we stayed at Hacienda El Jaral Ecotourism Lodge for US$54 -- but they took credit cards! It is very nice, with planned activities, cable, and movies on request. Instead, we walked down to the heron rookery at dusk (lots of cattle egrets, but too dark to tell if there were any other species), had dinner in the restaurant, did our list, and hit the sack.
Monday, May 27, 1996
We enjoyed El Jaral, had a leisurely breakfast, and left to find the Copan ruins about 9 am. We drove around the picturesque town of Copan Ruinas and figured out that we had overlooked the small sign for the ruins just before the town. We got to the ruins around 10 am. The ruins are supposed to be larger than Tikal in area, and are famous for their hieroglyphic staircase. We didn't find them as spectacular as Tikal, but we did have them pretty much to ourselves. The new museum was not yet open, but appeared promising. Blue-crowned Motmots were nesting in an excavation at the base of a pyramid. During a relatively hard rain storm, we took refuge with a couple of Honduran tourists and several of the workmen doing excavations. It was interesting listening to them talk about the ruins and Mayas. The workmen had the same profiles as on the stel=E9. We walked the nature trail, where most of the activity was in the form of mosquitoes, and left about 1:30 pm for the drive to Gracias. The nature trails, both at El Jaral and Copan, might be better earlier in the morning.
From our approach, the turn-off to Gracias was unmarked. We also found no signs for the detour around the lengthy section of road closed by a major landslide and currently being dug out by a road crew. At Gracias, we found a room at Hotel Eric (L$74.90). This was the only place in Honduras where people used coins. The hotel had point-of- use hot water heaters, which I flunked figuring out. The hotel was clean, with a fan, and inhabited by lots of German and Dutch hikers. We had dinner at Restaurante Los Lentas, on the square, so that we could get directions to Parque National Celaque from the Dutch woman who owned the restaurant -- and spoke English.
Tuesday, May 28, 1996
We left the hotel at 4:30 am for an early start to PN Celaque. We got on the wrong road and drove 14 miles (one way) before realizing our mistake. In the town of El Campo, a local charmed us into giving him a ride to Gracias. We enjoyed him until we realized that he had stolen our belt-clip water bottle. We found the park entrance by 7:30 am -- it was supposed to be a 25 - 30 minute drive from town, if you know where you re going. We birded the entrance trail up to the visitor center (about 1400 m. elevation) arriving at 8:10 am. Miguel, who owns land within the park, opened the office to sell us warm Pepsi. He offered to guide us to the quetzals -- a three hour walk up the mountain. We agreed to one hour for L$90, but his constant promise of better birds just a little higher up got us up to the 1800 meter elevation sign where the forest changes from pine and pine-oak to cloud forest. It was 11:50 am and very quiet. Miguel knew where some of the birds nested along the trail, but insisted that the Collared Trogans were quetzals. (Don t let him borrow your binoculars. When a BUSHY-CRESTED JAY showed up, Miguel was too engrossed to hear my pleas for my binocs, so I missed it, and Ron got a brief look, while trying to hand his binocs over to me.) We turned back, arriving at the visitor center at 1:45 pm. Miguel had a sign at the turn-off to his house offering meals, but we were just thirsty, without our water bottle. We chatted about pumas, and his owning his land long before they made it a park, and drank more Pepsis with pan dulce before leaving in the rain for the walk back to the car. Ron handed Miguel L$400 for his 4 hours of guide-service and he gave back L$100! We recorded the mileage and directions from Gracias, then drove to La Entrada for the night. The Hotel San Carlos had one A/C room left, on the 4th floor, and no elevator on the night when we had to drag everything to the room for the final pack before the airport.
Wednesday, May 29, 1996
We tried to sleep in, but had adapted to an early schedule. We enjoyed hot showers and waited for the restaurant to open at 7 am. We checked at various gas stations for other or more-up-to-date roadmaps. Texaco is evidently the only map, and it was the same as ours -- 1994 edition, for L$20. We stopped at the post office in La Entrada to mail our post cards. The post office consisted of one man sitting behind one desk in a tiny room. He took my money and said he would mail them when he got stamps, then dropped them into a drawer...(they eventually arrived however). We were heading out of town by 8:45 am. We dropped off our car at Avis at 11 am. We waited in the heat, watching people, until our Continental flight left at 1:50 pm.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Several Hondurans observed that their country has been terribly deforested in recent years -- one woman said we should have come before 1990. The major land use we saw was cattle grazing.
Birding areas are far and few between. All land seemed to be protected with barbed wire fences and no pase signs. We didn t see many places to just pull off and follow trails. Just covering the northern corner of the country took a lot of driving.
According to one guidebook, 12% of Honduran roads are paved. One of our guidebooks explained that since the U.S. presence and aid have declined, road maintenance has fallen off. We found that road maps show roads which have been closed for years. Always ask whether the roads really go through. Road signs are evidently not a big priority, so detours, road closings, etc. can be a surprise. In many areas the roads were great and traffic tended to speed up, only to come across a washout, a lane fallen off, or similar unmarked hazard.
Texaco evidently has the only maps. We asked at other places. The Texaco map was 1994 and much in need of updating, but still better than the map we bought in Houston. We wondered what summer-only roads were until we tried one and found a major river crossing with no bridge.
The entrance road to the LBG is good birding. Perhaps the gate guard would allow people to walk the road early -- we didn t ask.
PN Cusuco is convenient to SPS and has good birding all along the road up to the park. The cloud forest section seemed quite small, but was the easiest cloud forest to reach since we basically drove to it (but it requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle). PN Celaque was all hiking, and slow, so we didn t spend any time in cloud forest once we had hiked up to it. Guides at both places didn t seem to know birds, but Miguel at Celaque was very interested. We didn t have a bird book on the trail with us, but wish we d had one with Spanish names, so we could discuss more.
We were glad that we had 4-wheel drive and high clearance, allowing us to go where we wanted. It is however possible to get tours from SPS to the ruins and to PN Cusuco.
We changed money at the airport and at hotels, all for the same rate, and all with no hassle.
Many hotels have A/C in a few rooms, but no hot water. One hotel turned on the hot water at 8 pm, so it is a good idea to ask. Our hotel prices ranged from $11 to $55 USD per night.
Food is relatively cheap.
Directions to some locations:
PARQUE NATIONAL CUSUCO
From the main highway between San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, turn west towards La Entrada and Copan Ruinas (the turn-off is shortly after the toll booth and at a gas station on the right when driving from San Pedro Sula; if approaching from the Tegucigalpa side, the turn-off is 9.25 miles past Villanueva). Proceed a distance of 8.55 miles on the La Entrada highway to a paved road to the right into the town of Cofradia (this turn-off is 0.45 miles past a Texaco station on the right). Proceed 0.35 miles and turn right at the town square (theoretically, one could proceed straight here but the street was blocked in a short distance by what appeared to be rather permanent rubble, hence the jog). Turn left at the end of the square and directly in front of the Village People store. Once past the square, turn left at the fifth street to the left (0.2 mile from the square). At the sixth street to the right (about 0.2 miles), turn right and go 1.0 mile (past the Altos de Cofradia billboard) to the Casada de Control (gate and guard shack - this point is 1.95 miles from the La Entrada highway turn-off). After checking in with the guard, the drive to the park is about 1.5 hours (not counting birding stops) and REQUIRES (presumably the guard won t let you in) a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Bear left at the village of Buenes Aries (10 miles from the Casada de Control).
PARQUE NATIONAL CELAQUE (from San Pedro Sula/Copan Ruinas)
At the Y highway intersection in La Entrada, take National Route 18 towards Santa Rosa de Copan (note: this is NOT the road to Copan Ruinas). Approximately 24-25 miles from the intersection and BEFORE reaching Santa Rosa (the map shows the road going out of Santa Rosa), a paved road (Department Route 6) goes off to the left towards Gracias. Unfortunately, there are no signs (at least from the La Entrada side) at the intersection (neither for Gracias or a route number). The intersection may be further recognized by the bus stop food stand and numerous billboards, all on the southeast corner of the intersection. After turning left towards Gracias, proceed approximately 28 miles to where the pavement ends at a Y intersection with a Texaco gas station in the yoke of the Y. (At the time we passed this way there was a derumbes maj=F3r (major landslide) blocking the road near San Juan; roughly half way to Gracias.
The detour through San Juan on gravel road was unmarked but fairly self-evident.) At the Texaco station bear to the left onto a cobblestone boulevard leading through downtown Gracias. Four tenths of a mile from the end of the pavement, a street to the left will get you to the Hotel Eric (about 1/2 block from the main street and on the left) where we spent the night (other rooms occupied by European trekers). If not interested in spending time in Gracias, proceed straight through town to where the street you are on dead-ends at a rather broad dirt (and badly chug-holed) street (this street is a dirt bypass road around town and is the same as the road to the right of the Texaco gas station in the Y - the bypass was in such poor condition we did not travel on it and found the path through town, although somewhat more complicated, much easier on our car). The total distance from the end of the pavement, through town to the dead-end just mentioned is 0.85 mile. At the dead-end, jog to the right (about a half block on the dirt bypass street) then turn left at the next intersection. This is the road to El Campo.
Proceed on the El Campo road only 0.1 mile before bearing to the right at an inconspicuous Y intersection (a key element missing in our directions from the Restaurante Los Lentas). Proceed 0.25 miles and then turn right onto another dirt path. In about the equivalent of a US city block this path dead-ends into another dirt road. Turn left and proceed a short distance past a white building on the right. Turn right on the road between the white building and a white church. Just past the church (now on your left), a low adobe wall begins to the right of the road. Proceed to the end of the adobe wall (about 0.1 mile - there are two breaks in the right side adobe wall; the first a gated road and the second an entrance to a house - also a taller adobe wall begins on the left) and turn right off of the road you are on. Follow this road for 3.1 miles to a sign for PN Celaque. We parked here and walked the remaining 0.5 mile or so to the headquarters. The total distance from the park sign to the by-pass road jog is 3.8 miles. There is another hotel, Hotel Iris, on the street into downtown Gracias at the by-pass - El Campo road intersection. We did not investigate. Theoretically, one could reach Gracias from Tegucigalpa directly via Intibuca; however you are on your own on this route.
HONDURAN EMERALD SPOT
Since Craig Faanes report may no longer be generally available, here are his directions, updated to reflect changes as we found them. Follow the main coast road from Tela to Olanchito via La Ceiba, Jutiapa, and Sava (the direct road from La Ceiba to Olanchito, although shown on maps, is permanently closed - additionally, the road from Yoro to Olanchito via Arenal may not be a viable option most of the year). As you approach Olanchito from Sava, a prominent Texaco station will be on the left and with road (and signs) for Olanchito to the right. Proceed straight ahead (do not turn for Olanchito). When the pavement ends in a short distance, follow the gravel/dirt road until it joins another gravel/dirt road from the right (perhaps 2 km from the Texaco station - this right-hand road leads to downtown Olanchito also). Turn left (west) at the junction. About 4.9 km from the last intersection you will see on your right (north) a double fence line proceeding off at a sharp perpendicular angle to the road (a double fence line is two barbed wire fences spaced only about 8-10 feet apart and running parallel - all along this section of gravel/dirt road there will be the usual single barbed wire fence running parallel with the road itself). Proceed 0.1 km further west where you will see a second double fence line perpendicular to the road; this one heads almost straight north. Park here and walk along the trail between the parallel fences into the thorn forest.
Species Seen on the trip:
Tinamus
major
Great Tinamou heard only
Crypturellus
soui
Little Tinamou heard only
Phalacrocorax
brasilianus
Neotropic Cormorant
Dendrocygna
autumnalis
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Cairina
moschata
Muscovy Duck
Egretta
thula
Snowy Egret
Casmerodius
albus
Great Egret
Bubulcus
ibis
Cattle Egret
Butorides
virescens
Green Heron
Nyctanassa
violacea
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Tigrisoma
mexicanum
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
Eudocimus
albus
White Ibis
Ajaia
ajaja
Roseate Spoonbill
Mycteria
americana
Wood Stork
Coragyps
atratus
Black Vulture
Cathartes
aura
Turkey Vulture
Elanoides
forficatus
Swallow-tailed Kite
Elanus
leucurus
White-tailed Kite
Asturina
plagiata
Gray Hawk
Buteo
magnirostris
Roadside Hawk
Buteo
jamaicensis
Red-tailed Hawk
Polyborus
plancus
Crested Caracara
Falco
sparverius
American Kestrel
Ortalis
vetula
Plain Chachalaca
Colinus
cristatus
Crested Bobwhite
Porphyrio
martinicus
Purple Gallinule
Jacana
spinosa
Northern Jacana
Sterna
maxima
Royal Tern
Columba
livia
Rock Dove
Columba
flavirostris
Red-billed Pigeon
Zenaida
asiatica
White-winged Dove
Columbina
inca
Inca Dove
Columbina
passerina
Common Ground-Dove
Columbina
talpacoti
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Claravis
pretiosa
Blue Ground-Dove
Aratinga
holochlora
Green Parakeet
Aratinga
nana
Olive-throated Parakeet
Bolborhynchus
lineola
Barred Parakeet heard only
Amazona
albifrons
White-fronted Parrot
Amazona
oratrix
Yellow-headed Parrot
Crotophaga
sulcirostris
Groove-billed Ani
Geococcyx
velox
Lesser Roadrunner
Streptoprocne
zonaris
White-collared Swift
Phaethornis
superciliosus
Long-tailed Hermit
Phaethornis
longuemareus
Little Hermit
Anthracothorax
prevostii
Green-breasted Mango
Hylocharis
leucotis
White-eared Hummingbird
Amazilia
luciae
Honduran Emerald
Amazilia
cyanocephala
Azure-crowned Hummingbird
Amazilia
rutila
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Amazilia
tzacatl
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Lampornis
sybillae
Green-breasted Mountain-gem
Trogon
collaris
Collared Trogon
Megaceryle
torquata
Ringed Kingfisher
Chloroceryle
amazona
Amazon Kingfisher
Chloroceryle
americana
Green Kingfisher
Eumomota
superciliosa
Turquoise-browed Motmot
Momotus
momota
Blue-crowned Motmot
Aulacorhynchus
prasinus
Emerald Toucanet
Pteroglossus
torquatus
Collared Aracari
Ramphastos
sulfuratus
Keel-billed Toucan
Melanerpes
formicivorus
Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes
aurifrons
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Piculus rubiginosus
rubiginosus Golden-olive Woodpecker
Colaptes
auratus
Northern Flicker
Sittasomus
griseicapillus
Olivaceous Woodcreeper
Xiphocolaptes
promeropirhynchus
Strong-billed Woodcreeper
Xiphorhynchus
guttatus
Buff-throated Woodcreeper
Lepidocolaptes
souleyetii
Streak-headed Woodcreeper
Taraba
major
Great Antshrike
Thamnophilus
doliatus
Barred Antshrike heard only
Manacus
candei
White-collared Manakin
Camptostoma
imberbe
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Contopus
pertinax
Greater Pewee
Contopus
cinereus
Tropical Pewee
Sayornis
nigricans
Black Phoebe
Attila
spadiceus
Bright-rumped Attila heard only
Myiarchus
tyrannulus
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Tyrannus
melancholicus
Tropical Kingbird
Megarynchus
pitangua
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Myiodynastes
maculatus
Streaked Flycatcher
Myiodynastes
luteiventris
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
Myiozetetes
similis
Social Flycatcher
Pitangus
sulphuratus
Great Kiskadee
Tityra
semifasciata
Masked Tityra
Tityra
inquisitor
Black-crowned Tityra
Cyanolyca
cucullata
Azure-hooded Jay
Psilorhinus
morio
Brown Jay
Sialia
sialis
Eastern Bluebird
Myadestes
unicolor
Slate-colored Solitaire
Turdus
grayi
Clay-colored Robin
Thryothorus
maculipectus
Spot-breasted Wren
Troglodytes aedon
musculus
Southern House-Wren
Uropsila
leucogastra
White-bellied Wren
Polioptila
albiloris
White-lored Gnatcatcher
Progne
chalybea
Gray-breasted Martin
Stelgidopteryx
serripennis
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Passer
domesticus
House Sparrow
Carduelis
notata
Black-headed Siskin
Dendroica
graciae
Grace's Warbler
Myioborus
pictus
Painted Redstart
Myioborus
miniatus
Slate-throated Redstart
Basileuterus
rufifrons
Rufous-capped Warbler
Aimophila
rufescens
Rusty Sparrow
Atlapetes
brunneinucha
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Chlorospingus
ophthalmicus
Common Bush-Tanager
Habia
fuscicauda
Red-throated Ant-Tanager
Piranga
flava
Hepatic Tanager
Ramphocelus
sanguinolentus
Crimson-collared Tanager
Ramphocelus
passerinii
Scarlet-rumped Tanager
Thraupis
episcopus
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis
abbas
Yellow-winged Tanager
Euphonia
affinis
Scrub Euphonia
Euphonia
hirundinacea
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Cyanerpes
cyaneus
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Volatinia
jacarina
Blue-black Grassquit
Sporophila
torqueola
White-collared Seedeater
Tiaris
olivacea
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Saltator
atriceps
Black-headed Saltator
Saltator
maximus
Buff-throated Saltator
Saltator
coerulescens
Grayish Saltator
Psarocolius
wagleri
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
Gymnostinops
montezuma
Montezuma Oropendola
Icterus
chrysater
Yellow-backed Oriole
Icterus
gularis
Altamira Oriole
Agelaius
phoeniceus
Red-winged Blackbird
Dives
dives
Melodious Blackbird
Quiscalus
mexicanus
Great-tailed Grackle
Molothrus
aeneus
Bronzed Cowbird
Marcia Braun
Houston, TX
braun_m@hccs.cc.tx.us