7 February - 6 March 2001

by Richard Carstensen

Between February 7th and March 6th, 2001, I completed a circuit through diverse bird habitats in western Mexico: Melaque - Autlán - Guadalajara - El Rosario - Mazamitla - Cuidad Guzman - Cuyutlán - Manzanillo.  The 1999 Howell birdfinding guide was extremely useful on this trip, as were trip logs and species lists from Blake’s Birding the Americas web site.  I’m adding my notes partly by way of thanks to others who preceded me, and partly to encourage alternative means of travel.  I got into almost all of the recommended locations via bus and occasional judicious hitchhiking, thus avoiding the high costs and frequent hassles reported by those who’ve used rental cars.  I’ll summarize my thoughts on buses at the end of this trip report, but throughout, I offer suggestions on this interesting travel option.

This was my 5th birding trip to the area I refer to as the San Blas-Guadalajara-Manzanillo triangle.  My sister lives in Guadalajara, and I try to visit her each winter, to spend time with Tina and her two young children, to exchange dry Mexican heat for the chilly wet winter of Southeast Alaska, and to chase birds.  Many of these birds are my own Alaskan breeding species.  If you were to "average out" the Howell-map winter distributions of the 30-or-so long distance migrants that breed near my home in Juneau, Alaska, you’d have a circle centered over Guadalajara.

Alaska Airlines added Manzanillo Airport to its Mexican destinations this year.  For birders this is a much mellower way to enter Pacific Mexico than via touristy Puerto Vallarta.  As Howell describes, sun-starved northern birders can plunge right into excellent marsh habitat a stone’s throw from the parking lot.  Arriving late in the day, and more anxious to locate a room than a lifer, I stuck out my thumb and was quickly whisked out to the highway in the back of a friendly pickup.  I saved my airport marsh birding for the end of the trip, which made for a wonderful sendoff during the 8-hour wait for my plane.

Taxis have a monopoly at this airport, which I don’t begrudge them, but neither do I want to spend as much on a short ride as for an entire night’s lodging in a decent hotel.  The highway and its buses are only 3 scenic miles from the airport, and I’d have been happy to walk that distance.  Since I don’t camp on Mexican trips, I’m able to fit everything I need in a day pack, plus large belt pack worn in front for items needed frequently, or too expensive to trust out of sight.

For the next 4 days I based out of Melaque.  The fine Hotel Santa Maria is $15/night.  (All following prices are US dollar equivalent).  On past visits I’ve tended to wallow in the beachfront tropical habitats for the majority of my stay.  I bird from first light to ~noon, then flee the muggy heat, swimming or working up notes in the shade until things cool off slightly in late afternoon.  A warm ocean is tempting to a Southeast Alaskan in February, but this time I vowed to spend most of my month in mountain habitats.  These held the majority of my most-wanted Mexican birds.  And anyway, you only need so much of humid 88-degrees.

From Melaque, I bused north to Barranca el Choncho, and southeast to Playa de Oro. Throughout the trip, I consistently found buses that left in the pre-dawn hours, dropping me at prime birding locations within 30 minutes before or after the first binocular light.With my minimal spanish, these bus forays took a lot of attention to kilometer markers, as quoted in Howell. Drivers sometimes didnt recognise the Howell names for these places but were always willing to stop when I said Aqui, por favor. Getting picked up later was usually easy, as long as I chose a safe pullout. Primera Plus long distance buses pass you by, but the frequent second class buses stop for waving gringos, and are more pleasant anyway than the Primeras which play nonstop loud violent American movies. I rarely waited longer than half an hour. Buses are absurdly cheap, and go almost everywhere except up the Microondas roads, which birders should want to walk anyway.

Whether youre busing or driving, Mexican topographic maps at the 1:250,000 scale are extremely useful. See Toldi trip report, 3/97, this website, for ordering information. I made sturdy color copies of just those sections I knew Id be travelling through. Folded into a shirt pocket, they saw almost as much use as the Howell and new Sibley bird guides.

On the coast I reunited with my Alaskan species like Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Wilsons Warbler and Lincolns Sparrow, and located some species new to me, like HOOK-BILLED KITE, WHITE-BELLIED WREN, RED-BREASTED CHAT, and BLUE BUNTING.

Next I bused up to Autln (~3000 feet elevation), about halfway to Guadalajara, which I used as a base to explore the Sierra Manantl n. Economical but somewhat hidden hotels are on the square downtown - no eye-catching signs for tourists.

On the road up the Microondas San Francisco, an easy bus ride north of town, found night-blooming cardon cactus, NUTTINGS FLYCATCHER, LUCIFER HUMMINGBIRD, BLACK-THROATED MAGPIE JAY, BLACK-CHESTED SPARROW, and FLAME-COLORED TANAGER.

The bus south back to Puerto los Mazos dropped me at the pass in the dark, two mornings in a row, perfectly timed for brisk walks up the Microondas road (4200 to 5200). At the top near the towers is a fairly small but incredibly birdy patch of epiphyte-draped oaks and enormous white figs. I sat for nearly an hour on the first morning watching flocks come and go from a 10-foot diameter fig and there were rarely fewer than 30 birds in the tree. Commonest were WHITE-THROATED THRUSHES, BROWN-BACKED SOLITAIRES and GRAY SILKIES. When I got up to go, I stepped beneath the tree and flushed half a dozen CRESTED GUANS whod been perched unnoticed near the trunk. They landed in the next tree, offering spectacular views. Also found: MOTTLED OWL, MEXICAN WOODNYMPH, AMETHYST-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREY-CROWNED WOODPECKER, GREEN JAY, CRESCENT CHESTED and RED-FACED WARBLERS (hanging out with northerners like TOWNSENDS, HERMIT and NASHVILLE) RED-HEADED TANAGER, and BLACK-HEADED SISKIN. In two days I found 8 life birds in this unique habitat, something that hasnt happened since my first Mexican trips, when almost everything was novel.

On my second day I continued for several miles beyond the microwave towers. The forests are less lush but fascinating, interspersed with pasture and isolated fruiting trees over 100 feet tall. Beneath small oaks I sat in the road with the Howell and Sibley bird guides spread open beside me, watching a 15-species mixed flock. Warblers, thrushes, flycatchers, tanagers, orioles and woodcreeper all descended into the duff for tiny insects that resembled blackflies but crunched like ants, covering my arms but not biting. In two days I never encountered a vehicle or pedestrian on this road.

My sister teaches at the American School in Guadalajara, and lives 5 minutes from the beautiful Parque Colomos. This large preserve, much loved by runners, reminds me of San Franciscos Golden Gate Park, and is similarly great for birds, including surprises (considering the 5000-foot temperate climate) like RUSSET-CROWNED MOTMOT, LILAC-CROWNED PARROT and SAN BLAS JAY. I prepared a habitat map and checklist of 75 species, as handouts for a birding inservice workshop for the American School Teachers. Also gave slide presentations on shared migratory birds and their habitats to several hundred students during my visit. As Richard Hutto emphasises, the percentage of overwintering migrant species in the avifauna of highland western Mexico is the highest reported worldwide; 52% of the bird species I found in Parque Colomos are at least partially migratory, and 33% are exclusively so. Ornithologist Oscar Reyna Bustos at Universidad de Guadalajara studies the ecology of such urban parks, largely because these are the best places to bring the plight of birds to the attention of the Mexican public.

In Guadalajara, I asked my sisters Mexican husband how best to explain my avian endeavors. He felt that miro - I look at - or busco - I search for - los pajaros, would be incomprehensible to many Mexicans. Gringos crazy enough to just wander around looking at inedible birds could seem almost threateningly loco to someone whos never heard of such a pastime. Miguel suggested estudio los pajaros, which carries somewhat more credibility. I did notice that people were quicker to nod when I used that phrase.

On our first weekend, Tina and her children and I took a package tour to the famous Monarch sanctuary at El Rosario in Michoacan. I had great hopes of seeing exciting new birds, as the sacred fir groves (Abies religiosa) hosting the butterfly congregations are at 10,000 feet, much higher than Id ever birded in Mexico. For some reason, however, the trail through the trinket stands up into the fir forest was almost birdless. Maybe the sight of so many toxic insects is repulsive to avian insectivores! Perhaps even more than the butterflies, I admired the Mexican tourists, by far the majority of the thousand-or-so bodies jammed onto the trail. Mexicans just laughed at the choking dust (guides passed out face-masks) and the snails pace at which microbuses and cattle trucks packed to overflowing with tour clients crawled up and down the inadequate roads. My niece and nephew ended up asleep in the aisle of our lurching bus, propped against the legs of impressed strangers.

The well-known highland birding destinations of western Mexico are generally accessed by car (or in my case bus) from middle-elevation cities like Autln or Ciudad Guzman. This works fine but feels somewhat like a work commute as opposed to a vacation. Ive long wanted to locate a small, attractive town high in the mountains with affordable hotels, from which I could step outside into a pine forest and see a Red Warbler. Tony Burton s Western Mexico, a Travellers Treasury has 5 pages on Mazamitla, 7300 feet, that caught my attention. At the end of my Guadalajara visit, Tina and the kids and I drove to this small town in the Sierra el Tigre south of Lake Chapala, where I said goodbye to them and settled into the most carefree birding of the trip.

The pine forest wasnt immediately outside my room - Hotel Sierra el Tigre, $14/night, best of trip - but I could walk there in about 10 minutes. The dirt and cobblestone road to Microondas Las Tablas climbs the 8500-foot ridge directly above town. Most of the long-needled pine forest here is selectively cut and quite open compared to that at Los Cazos, a gated community of weekend cabins south of town. The more closed pine forest at Cazos was relatively quiet, just occasional mixed warbler flocks and solitaire songs. But along the microwave tower road in the open pines with fuller shrub layer, I found my first good mountain birding of the trip. New birds for me were RUFOUS-CAPPED BRUSHFINCH, AUDUBONS ORIOLE, COLLARED TOWEE, and DWARF VIREO. And it was great to be back among highcountry species like SLATE-THROATED REDSTART, OLIVE WARBLER, PYGMY NUTHATCH and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

With regrets I left Mazamitla. I highly recommend this town for birders who value esthetics as much as the list - a couple, say, only one of whom is obsessed.

I confess, however, that I heard the list calling. Id been envying the names rattled off by visitors to the Volcan Colima. So I bused down to Ciudad Guzman, 4800 feet, and Hotel Flamingo near the central square, $7/night.

A good late-afternoon spot after morning excursions to the volcano is Laguna Zapotln, about 4 miles north from the square. Local buses are a little tricky but theres a shady jogger s path on the west side of the highway. Vast marshes fringe the lake. At one point I accidently flushed about a thousand YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS that sounded like a rising jet. Only CLARKES GREBE  of the trip.

From Guzman I bused first to El Floripondio. The normally impeccable directions in Howell need a few ammendments here. They state that the old El Floripondio sign had been replaced by Bienvenido a San Gabriel. This was not the case on my February 2001 visit; it is still signed El Floripondio. I confused my bus driver by giving both names. San Gabriel is farther northwest from the pass. Also, El Floripondio is not at Kilometer 76 but just after K-86; If Id believed the book rather than the driver Id have had a long walk back.

The El Floripondio road (7400 to 8500) is magnificent, and the extent of this superlative old-growth pine-oak forest is much greater than at Puerto los Mazos. Thats right, old growth! Dont ask me how such antiquity is achieved in this land of fire, but the forest is truly uneven-aged. Vigorous recruitment of shade-tolerant firs diversifies the understory, along with massive down logs that are usually quickly harvested in Mexico. Epiphitic cacti dangle from massive oak limbs, and a surprizing variety of flowering shrubs appear tolerant of the thick shade. Deer crashed away through the oak leaf litter and I stalked mere yards from loudly calling LONG-TAILED WOOD-PARTRIDGES without ever seeing them.

The moist, freshly graded dirt road was attractive to ground foragers like RUSSET NIGHTINGALE THRUSH and LINCOLNS SPARROW. Visually, the dominant birds of the walk were WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD and SLATE-THROATED REDSTART, both scanning from perches in the multicolored roadside flower banks. Life birds for me were MOUNTAIN TROGON, GREEN VIOLET-EAR,  and my most-wanted parulid, the RED WARBLER, an electrifying bird gleaning through a lavishly blooming bush with daisy-like yellow and white flowers. Other signature mountain birds included; WHITE-STRIPED WOODCREEPER, TUFTED FLYCATCHER, AMERICAN ROBIN, MEXICAN CHICKADEE, BUSHTIT and PINE SISKIN, along with my own RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, the long-distance record holder among the hummers. If I could pick one place among all the habitats I visited in Mexico to return to and camp for 2 months, it would be El Floripondio.

Next morning the bus dropped me in half-light at 6000 feet - the base of the road up the northeastern slope of the 14,000-foot Volcan Nevado de Colima. (This is not the road described in Howell up the neighboring Volcan de Fuego, but a better-maintained one. Best directions are in Ferry, 4/2000, this website) I climbed the first 1000 feet through open oak woodland with calling MOURNING DOVES and WEST MEXICAN CHACHALACAS, then hopped in the back of a 2-ton truck with 6 tree-planters and a cargo of little fir seedlings with roots encased in plastic bags. This, plus the workers heavy jackets and wool face masks informed me, in spite of the language barrier, that we were going high!

Clinging to the sidegates with one hand and tapping my altimeter with the other, I revelled in my luck. At 8500 feet my first AZTEC THRUSH flew from the road up into a pine. At 9500 a pair of LONG-TAILED WOOD-PARTRIDGES sprinted alongside the truck for 10 yards before veering into the brush. One of the workers grinned and made a hatchet motion as if chopping off heads. I pretended equal enthusiam, not hard since Ive done as much to Alaskan blue grouse.

On some of the switchbacks, as the forest thinned, the relief was dizzying. The view down to the plains of Guzman was more like that from a plane window than from an earthbound vehicle. At 10,500 the frost on wet, north-facing roadcuts made me uneasy about my socks-and-sandals combo, the only footgear I ever bring to Mexico. I resolved to get out at Las Joyas, 11,000 feet. No doubt there are great birds higher, but a 5000 foot vertical drop seemed like more than enough birding for one day. Donning a hooded pile jacket for the first time in weeks, I kept it on for the next two hours.

The most strikingly novel bird of the descent was the GRAY-BARRED WREN. A pair of these giant arboreal wrens were building a dome nest of twigs and moss, 30 feet up in a fir branch that arched directly out over the road. In behavior they resembled huge nuthatches, hitching up vertical trunks enveloped in foliose and fruticose lichens. The mesmerizing swirl of transverse and longitudinal streaks and bars makes these birds disappear against the lichen background the moment they stop moving. This drier, interior forest has fewer vascular epiphytes and more lichens than the humid cloud forest at Las Joyas.

Some species on the descent: BAND-TAILED PIGEON, HAMMONDS  and WESTERN FLYCATCHERS (few vocalizations, so like Howell I tended to lump this superspecies in my notes), and HUTTONS and CASSINS VIREOS. Great mixed warbler flocks including ORANGE-CROWNED, NASHVILLE, CRESCENT-CHESTED, AUDUBONS (dominant species at ~5000 feet but replaced here in numbers by TOWNSENDS) HERMIT, GRACES, SLATE-THROATED, RED, RED-FACED, and OLIVE. Usually the warblers were accompanied by residents like PYGMY NUTHATCH, BUSHTIT (black-eared form), LESSER GOLDFINCH, BLACK-HEADED and PINE SISKINS.

My trip ended with several days back on the tropical coast. In spite of the abundance of mangroves on coastal estuaries, its hard to find stands that are easy to bird on foot. I had no birding information for Cuyutln, southeast of Manzanillo, but it sounded like a mellow place to swim, with access to mangroves along the Estero Palo Verde, an easy walk southeast along the beach.

Cuyutl n is the most relaxing of the small coastal villages Ive visited, and second only to San Blas for diversity of good birding within an hour on foot. Hotel Morelos, at $10/night, made a good base. The Tortugario is a sea turtle restoration project on the estuary. Starting there (too early to take advantage of the boat tours they apparently offer), I traced the mangrove edge for about a mile, following dirt paths. Trip birds not found earlier in the Melaque area included: EARED GREBE, ROSEATE SPOONBILL, FULVOUS WHISTLING DUCK, WHITE-TAILED KITE (with the even commoner HOOKBILLS and CARACARA) RINGED KINGFISHER, CLIFF SWALLOW, SINALOA WREN, and BLACK-VENTED ORIOLE.

The last two nights in downtown Manzanillo (Hotel Emperador $10/night) were interesting culturally but a let-down after lovely Cuyutln. The power station outflow site, as Howell warns is possible, was dead,  or more accurately, had plenty of action but from only 3 common waterfront species. The thornscrub on the trail to Cerro Cruz directly above town was also surprisingly quiet even in early morning. After much casting around I finally located a very abused strip of mangroves and mudflat along the lagoon south of town. It was crowded with birds even in the mid-afternoon heat. Standing on incompletely incinerated garbage and dodging turds of mixed origin, I found my lifer STILT SANDPIPERS, and almost every large wader possible except the furtive ones.

On the morning of my 4PM departure from Manzanillo Airport, I took a predawn bus. It crawled through the hotel zone and reached the airport marshes long after first light, but I wasnt disappointed. At how many airports can you find 3 life birds a quarter mile from the parking lot, after a months intensive birding in the region? LIMPKIN, GREY-CROWNED YELLOWTHROAT  and WHITE-THROATED FLYCATCHER were new to me. All 3 Kingfishers - BELTED, GREEN and RINGED - use the marshes.While I was crouching in the thornscrub glassing a CITREOLINE TROGON at 6 yards (mindblowing blues on the tail base Id never noticed before) a mother and baby coatimundi  trotted 3 yards behind me. I missed the promised SPOT-BREASTED ORIOLES, but that will make future visits all the more enticing. In spite of its taxi monopoly, (Or because of it? Forces the budget-minded to walk, which is never a bad thing!) Manzanillo International is the most naturalist-friendly airport I know.

A few closing comments on buses: As I perused trip reports of birding ventures in Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit, I realized that almost everyone using rental cars, and even some who drove their own vehicles from the states, reported some problem: gear theft, damage, getting stuck, insurance fraud, police harassment, misinterpretation of one-way streets, etc. For me the initial disincentive was cost. While Mexican hotels and food are much cheaper than in the US, car rental is higher. Ethically, of course, its always nice to use public transportation when possible (not that Im any paragon of fuel economy back home). On a bus, I let the locally experienced driver do the navigating while I scan for hawks and kingbirds. Of course, I cant stop if I see something cool, but thats only an added safety feature; self-driven birders should pay higher auto insurance rates.

Rental car visitors complain about notoriously difficult navigation through Mexican towns and cities, but the streets are actually very logically laid out for pedestrians, to whom one-way streets are irrelevant. Bus stations are usually an easy walk from a towns central square, my first stop in search of reasonably priced (non-tourist-oriented) hotels. Nobody will speak English, but thats another plus.

In 5 lengthy trips through western Mexico by bus and on foot, Ive never been stopped or searched by police. In fact Ive often walked through checkpoints without so much as a glance from the officers.

If a dirt road has even a tiny village on it, a bus will go there. For birders of course, the most productive roads are those that climb steeply to microondas towers on ridgetops, and these lack public transportation. Rarely are they too far to walk, however, and I feel quite comfortable hitchhiking in such places. Once youre off the busy pavement, every 4th or 5th vehicle will stop for you. Sometimes, especially when Im feeling awkward about my lack of conversational finesse, I stick out my thumb only for trucks with already-occupied cabs. The bed of a pickup makes a great bird-scanning platform at slow speed on a mountain road, and it saves me and my host the strain of the language barrier.

A combination of busing, walking and occasional hitchhiking does expose you to some unpredictable conditions. But for a fit person who doesnt mind occasionally walking along the non-existant shoulder of a noisy highway in sometimes trying heat, humidity or wind, there are definite advantages. Call it adventure. You meet more Mexicans in less commercialized situations. No spanish? Pull out Howell and point to the species youve been finding. This is a fine way to discover how observant some of the country folks are.

I think its good for Mexicans to see some gringos getting around on their own two feet, or in the humbling posture of the raised thumb. Remember that when it comes to fossil fuel, none of us have honestly paid our way, and a bit of solicitation is good for the soul. If youre a solo female, or if you dont have a period of hitchhiking somewhere in your past, it may not be for you. It also may not fit tight birding schedules (Lessee, we have to see species x, y and z on day 4 or else...) But if youre that compulsive, youve probably stopped reading this.

Birders are not typical tourists. We go places that people on vacation wouldnt touch with rubber gloves. Initial reaction to birders is puzzlement and amusement, but most Americans, at least, have now met at least one birder whom they consider a reasonably normal human. I hope that happens in Mexico. Share your binoculars with anyone who shows interest, especially kids. Bring a slide show, if you have one. Write a guide booklet to the 30 commonest species of your favorite Mexican birding destination, and pass it out on your next visit. Pay back the birds.

SPECIES & LOCATIONS

ub = ubiquitous at almost all sites;
ub/C = ubiq on coast;
u/I = ubiq in interior

COASTAL SITES:

b/m = Barra/Melaque;
ar = Manz Airport;
or = Playa de Oro;
mn = Manzanillo;
cu = Cuyutln

INTERIOR SITES:

gd = Guadalajara;
ch = Barranca el Choncho;
mz = Puerto los Mazos;
au = Autl n;
sf = Microondas San Francisco;
vl = Volcan Colima;
s/z = L. de Sayula/Zapotln;
mt = Mazamitla;
p/o = Patzcuaro/Ocampo

Pied-billed Grebe - b/m s/z
Least Grebe - b/m s/z
Eared Grebe - cu
Clarks Grebe - s/z
Brown Booby - mn b/m or
American White Pelican - mn ar s/z
Brown Pelican - b/m mn cu
Neotropic Cormorant - b/m mn cu
Anhinga - b/m mn ar
Magnificent Frigatebird - ub/C
Great Blue Heron - ub
Great Egret - ub
Snowy Egret - ub
Little Blue Heron - ub/C
Tricolored Heron - ub/C
Cattle Egret - ub
Green Heron - ub
Black-crowned Night-heron - b/m ar gd
Yellow-crowned Night-heron - b/m mn
White Ibis - ub/C
White-faced Ibis - ub/C, p/o  s/z
Roseate Spoonbill - mn cu
Fulvous Whistling Duck - cu
Black-bellied Whistling Duck - ar
Green-winged Teal - s/z
Mexican Duck - gd s/z
Blue-winged Teal - mn cu
Cinnamon Teal - s/z
Northern Shoveler - s/z cu
Ruddy Duck - mn
Black Vulture - ub
Turkey Vulture - ub
Osprey - mn or
White-tailed Kite - cu
Hook-billed Kite - or cu
Northern Harrier  - s/z
Coopers Hawk - au
Common Black Hawk - ch b/m cu
Grey Hawk - sm cu
Roadside Hawk - cu
Short-tailed Hawk - b/m
Red-tailed Hawk - u/I
Crested Caracara - b/m or cu
Collared Forest-Falcon - mz
American Kestrel - ub
West Mexican Chachalaca - heard only: cu ar vl
Crested Guan - mz
Long-tailed Wood Partridge - vl
Clapper Rail - mn b/m
Sora - b/m
Purple Gallinule - b/m ar
Common Moorhen - u/C, p/o
American Coot - u
Limpkin - ar
Black-bellied Plover - mn
Killdeer - b/m s/z
Black-necked Stilt - u/C, s/z
American Avocet - cu
Northern Jacana - b/m cu s/z
Greater Yellowlegs - s/z cu b/m mn
Spotted Sandpiper - ub
Willet - b/m mn or
Whimbrel - cu mn
Marbled Godwit - mn
Bairds Sandpiper - mn
Western Sandpiper - mn s/z
Stilt Sandpiper - mn
Long-billed Dowitcher - s/z cu
Laughing Gull - b/m cu mn
Ring-billed Gull - p/o
Herring Gull - cu
Royal Tern - mn b/m or cu
Caspian Tern - cu ar
Rock Dove - ub
Band-tailed Pigeon - vl
White-winged Dove - ub/C, sf
Mourning Dove - vl
Inca Dove - ub
Common Ground-dove - u/C, gd
Ruddy Ground-dove - u/C
White-tipped dove - or
Lilac-crowned Parrot - b/m or gd
Mexican Parrotlet - b/m
Groove-billed Ani - ub/C, gd
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl - or
Mottled Owl - mz
Common Nighthawk - au
Vauxs Swift  - mz
White-throated Swift - p/o
Green Violet-ear - vl
Broad-billed Hummingbird - u/C, gd, sf
Mexican Woodnymph - mz
White-eared Hummingbird - mz vl
Cinnamon Hummingbird - ch or
Blue-throated Hummingbird - mz b/m cu
Amethyst-throated Hummingbird - mz
Magnificent Hummingbird - gd mz vl
Lucifer Hummingbird - gd sf
Rufous Hummingbird - tp mz vl
Citreoline Trogon - ch b/m or ar
Mountain Trogon - vl
Russet-crowned Motmot - gd
Ringed Kingfisher - cu ar
Belted Kingfisher  -  ar
Green Kingfisher - ar
Acorn Woodpecker  - mz
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker - ub/C
Golden-fronted Woodpecker - gd
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - mt
Ladder-backed Woodpecker - gd s/z vl
Grey-crowned Woodpecker  - mz
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper - mz
White-striped Woodcreeper - vl
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet - ch sf
Tufted Flycatcher - gd vl
Greater Pewee  - gd mz vl
Western Wood-Pewee  - mt
White-throated Flycatcher - ar
Hammonds Flycatcher - vl
Pacific-slope Flycatcher  - ub/C
Cordilleran Flycatcher - vl, gd?
Buff-breasted Flycatcher - p/o mz
Vermilion Flycatcher  - u
Dusky-capped Flycatcher  - ch mz
Ash-throated Flycatcher  - sf
Nuttings Flycatcher - sf mz
Brown-crested Flycatcher - mn ar
Great Kiskadee - ub
Social Flycatcher - mn b/m ar
Tropical Kingbird  - ub/C
Cassins Kingbird  - ub/I
Thick-billed Kingbird - b/m cu ar sf
Rose-throated Becard - cu gd ch
Masked Tityra  - ch mz or
Tree Swallow - s/z vl
Violet-green Swallow  - mz
Northern Rough-wngd Swallow - ch or
Cliff Swallow - cu
Barn Swallow  - b/m s/z cu mn ar
Black-throated Magpie-jay - sf
White-throated Magpie-jay - or
Green Jay - mz
San Blas Jay - ch cu
Grey-breasted Jay - mt
Common Raven - mz mt vl
Mexican Chickadee - vl
Bushtit - vl
Pygmy Nuthatch - mt vl
Grey-barred Wren - vl
Happy Wren - b/m
Sinaloa Wren - mn cu
White-bellied Wren - or cu
Bewicks Wren - gd
House Wren - gd mt
Brown-throated Wren - vl
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  - mt vl
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - ub
Black-capped Gnatcatcher - sf
Eastern Bluebird - mz mt
Brown-backed Solitaire - mz mt vl
Russet Nightingale Thrush  - vl
Swainsons Thrush - mt
White-throated Thrush - mz
Rufous-backed Thrush - u/C, gd
American Robin - gd mt vl
Aztec Thrush - vl
Blue Mockingbird - b/m gd mz mt
Northern Mockingbird - gd cu
Curve-billed Thrasher - gd
Cedar Waxwing - b/m gd
Grey Silkie - mz mt vl
Loggerhead Shrike  - au gd
Bells Vireo - ar
Dwarf Vireo - mt
Cassins Vireo - gd vl
Plumbeous Vireo - b/m mz gd mt
Huttons Vireo - vl
Golden Vireo - cu gd ch
Warbling Vireo  - u
Orange-crowned Warbler - u
Nashville Warbler   - u
Crescent-chested Warbler - mz vl
Tropical Parula - b/m or
Yellow Warbler - ub/C
Yellow-r (Audubons) Warbler - ub/I
Black-throated Gray W. - ub/I (ub/C on Dec trips)
Townsends Warbler - gd mz p/o mt vl
Hermit Warbler - mz mt vl
Graces Warbler - gd vl
Palm Warbler - ar
Black-and-white Warbler - b/m mn ar mz gd
American Redstart - b/m cu ar
Northern Waterthrush  - b/m cu ar
Louisiana Waterthrush - ch gd
MacGillivrays Warbler - cu (ub/C on Dec trips)
Common Yellowthroat - s/z b/m mn
Gray-crowned Yellowthroat - ar
Wilsons Warbler  - ub
Red-faced Warbler - mz my vl
Red Warbler - vl
Slate-throated Redstart - mz mt vl
Yellow-breasted Chat - b/m mn cu
Red-breasted Chat - b/m or
Olive Warbler - mt vl
Hepatic Tanager - mz mt vl
Summer Tanager - or mz vl
Western Tanager - or cu ar gd mz
Flame-colored Tanager - sf mz mt
Red-headed Tanager - mz
Greyish Saltator - ar
Black-headed Grosbeak - mz gd mt vl
Blue Bunting - ch b/m
Blue Grosbeak - b/m or cu mn gd mt
Indigo Bunting - b/m
Varied Bunting - mn b/m or cu sf
Orange-breasted Bunting - b/m mn cu
Painted Bunting - ch b/m
Rufous-capped Brushfinch - mt
Collared Towhee - mz vl
Canyon Towhee - gd p/o mt
White-collared Seedeater - b/m or mn
Ruddy-breasted Seedeater - b/m
Black-chested Sparrow - sf
Stripe-headed Sparrow - b/m mn ch au
Chipping Sparrow - gd mt
Lark Sparrow - b/m gd au
Lincolns Sparrow - b/m gd mz mt vl
Yellow-eyed Junco - mz vl
Red-winged Blackbird - s/z
Yellow-headed Blackbird - s/z
Brewers Blackbird  - cu
Great-tailed Grackle - ub
Brown-headed Cowbird - s/z
Orchard Oriole  - mn b/m
Hooded Oriole - mn gd
Black-vented Oriole - cu
Streaked-backed Oriole - ub/C, mz
Bullocks Oriole  - gd mt
Audubons Oriole - mt vl
Scotts Oriole - mt vl
Yellow-winged Cacique - ub/C, ch
House Finch - gd p/o mt vl
Pine Siskin - gd vl
Black-headed Siskin - mz vl
Lesser Goldfinch - u/I, b/m ar
House Sparrow - ub

TOTAL  245 species

Richard Carstensen
Box 21168
Juneau, Alaska, 99802
(907) 586-1272
rcarsten@hotmail.com