18 February - 27 February, 1999
by Dick Palmer
LOGISTICS:
Getting there:
Flew from Tucson via AeroLitoral to Hermosillo and then via AeroMexico from Hermosillo to Mazatlan. Round trip was $328.56 USD.
Transportation:
Rented two 4 door conventional Dodge Stratus cars for the trip for a total of $1,614.00. A very high rental rate from the so called Budget Rental Company, but the best we could do at the time. This included $13 per car per day insurance, $65 per day per car, and a 15% value added tax on the entire rental amount for the 9 days. This rental was during the Mazatlan Carnival time and cars were at a premium.
A high clearance vehicle was not needed at any time for this particular trip but a larger vehicle would have been better. We were a little cramped when we had 4 people in each car and then tried to get all the associated luggage in the trunks, but we made it.
We drove 1470 kilometers (per car) or about 913 miles during the 10 days. Gasoline was fairly easy to get but expensive. Currently the lowest grade (Magna) was going for 4.34 pesos per liter or about $1.65 in USD per gallon. Fill up your car before leaving the intersection of highway 15 and highway 40 at the kilometer 294 Pemex or you will pay much more per liter in the mountains when available. No Pemex in the mountains, gas comes out of 20 liter plastic jugs from some of the residents in the small towns. Our total gas bill came to $155.00 for both cars.
Lodging:
February 17 and February 27, Azteca Inn, Mazatlan $41.65 USD per night.
Good lodging for one night, somewhat noisy due to Carnival. The restaurant opens at 7:30 not 6:00 AM as advertised in their literature or as stated on a sign on the restaurant door.
February 18, 19, 20, and 21st, Villa Blanca Hotel, La Capilla de Taxte, Kilometer 233, on the Durango Highway 40.
This hotel is an excellent base for birding the Durango Highway. It is a little rustic but certainly adequate for a birders needs. The management took care of all our needs, all we had to do was ask. He was up and had breakfast ready for us by 6:00 AM each morning and never complained. If we wished he would have the evening meal ready whenever we asked and always on time.
Cost for 2 in a room $12.00 USD, one in a room $8.00 USD. Meals were also very reasonable. They do not have a telephone but at least some of the twelve rooms should almost always be available if you just show up. (A backup place to stay would be Daniel's in Copala at kilometer 249 some 10 miles back toward Mazatlan.)
February 22, 23, 24, and 25th, Hotel La Garza Canela, San Blas, Nayarit
I don't need to say much about this world famous base for birders. It still remains the best hotel in San Blas, Nayarit and the restaurant is unbeatable, much better than any we have in Green Valley, AZ. Cost for the hotel per night per room $59.00 USD which includes either a full breakfast or a large box lunch for each person.
Other expenses:
Boat trips were our other big expense for the trip. For three boat trips, one upriver on the San Cristobal, one down river on La Tovara, and a pelagic trip to Roca Elefante cost $39.00 USD per person including tips. Really not bad considering we were in the boats a total of 11 hours. Our guide for the river trips was Jose Luis Lopez and for the pelagic trip Antonio Palmas (Little Tony). They were both good. I had used both of them before and knew that they were reliable and had good equipment. Both speak fairly good English.
Areas Birded along Durango Highway 40:
KM 294 Junction of highway 15 from Mazatlan and highway 40 going
to Durango.
KM 285.1 Road to Pantitlan, good for thorn forest birds, lower elevation
birds.
KM 249 Village of Copala, stop in at Daniel's for lunch; excellent.
(Not open in the evenings.)
KM 248.3 Panuco Road, bird to the Minos de las Parjaros sign and walk
downhill on the mine road.
KM233 Villa Blanca Hotel, good birding around the hotel.
KM222.5 Potrerillos Road, bird south all the way to La Petaca.
KM204 Along highway 40 good for Tufted Jay early in the morning when
the sun hits the trees.
KM200.5 Barranca Rancho Libre, spend an entire day here, see the birding
guides.
KM198 town of El Palmito for lunch, gas
KM185.7 side road, not good this trip due to a forest fire, good for
Aztec Thrush in past.
Areas Birded around San Blas, Nayarit:
San Blas sewage pond area.
Upriver trip on the San Cristobal Estuary
River trip to La Tovara.
Ocean trip to Roca Elefante.
Matanchen beach side drive.
Lower forest road out of Singayta.
Road to La Bajada through La Palma to the coffee fincas.
Cerro de San Juan Ecological Reserve.
Shrimp ponds road to Chacalilla.
Fuerte San Basilio and the old cemetery.
Recommended references:
A Bird-Finding Guide to Mexico (1st edition), Steve N.G. Howell
Finding the Birds in Western Mexico (currently out of print),
Peter Alden
Where to Find Birds in San Blas, Nayarit (3rd edition), Rosalind
Novick and Lan Sing Wu
A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, 1st edition,
Howell and Webb
TRIP LIST:
SPECIES | SCIENTIFIC NAME | # | SIGNIFICANT LOCALES |
Least Grebe | Tachybaptus dominicus | 26 | - |
Pied-billed Grebe | Podilymbus podiceps | 3 | - |
Red-billed Tropicbird | Phaethon aethereus | 6 | -Roca Elefante |
Magnificent Frigatebird | Fregata magnificens | 242 | - |
Blue-footed Booby | Sula nebouxii | 150 | - |
Red-footed Booby | Sula sula | 5 | -San Blas, Roca Elefante |
Brown Booby | Sula leucogaster | 75 | - |
Neotropic Cormorant | Phalacrocorax brasilianus | 82 | - |
Anhinga | Anhinga anhinga | 42 | - |
American White Pelican | Pelecanus erythrorhynchos | 39 | - |
Brown Pelican | Pelecanus occidentalis | 343 | - |
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck | Dendrocygna autumnalis | 1000 | - |
Green-winged Teal (Common) | Anas crecca | 4 | - |
Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos diazi | 2 | - |
Blue-winged Teal | Anas discors | 11 | - |
Northern Shoveler | Anas clypeata | 4 | - |
Reddish Egret | Egretta rufescens | 2 | -Matanchen, Nayarit |
Tricolored Heron | Egretta tricolor | 13 | - |
Little Blue Heron | Egretta caerulea | 11 | - |
Snowy Egret | Egretta thula | 76 | - |
Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias | 21 | - |
Great Egret | Ardea alba | 180 | - |
Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis | 41 | - |
Green Heron | Butorides virescens | 128 | - |
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Nyctanassa violacea | 77 | - |
Black-crowned Night-Heron | Nycticorax nycticorax | 21 | - |
Boat-billed Heron | Cochlearius cochlearius | 10 | - |
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron | Tigrisoma mexicanum | 5 | -Rio San Cristobal, San Blas, Nay. |
White Ibis | Eudocimus albus | 70 | - |
White-faced Ibis | Plegadis chihi | 145 | - |
Roseate Spoonbill | Ajaia ajaja | 25 | - |
Wood Stork | Mycteria americana | 63 | - |
Black Vulture | Coragyps atratus | 336 | - |
Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura | 196 | - |
Osprey | Pandion haliaetus | 6 | - |
White-tailed Kite | Elanus leucurus | 5 | - |
Northern Harrier | Circus cyaneus | 2 | - |
Cooper's Hawk | Accipiter cooperii | 5 | - |
Common Black-Hawk | Buteogallus anthracinus | 10 | - |
Harris's Hawk | Parabuteo unicinctus | 12 | - |
Gray Hawk | Asturina nitida | 42 | - |
Short-tailed Hawk | Buteo brachyurus | 3 | -Singayta Forest |
Zone-tailed Hawk | Buteo albonotatus | 1 | -Singayta Forest |
Red-tailed Hawk | Buteo jamaicensis | 16 | - |
Crested Caracara | Caracara plancus | 8 | - |
Laughing Falcon | Herpetotheres cachinnans | 2 | -Lower Singayta forest |
Collared Forest-Falcon | Micrastur semitorquatus | 1 | -Matanchen-Miramar road |
American Kestrel | Falco sparverius | 77 | - |
Peregrine Falcon | Falco peregrinus | 1 | -Roca Elefante, San Blas |
Rufous-bellied Chachalaca | Ortalis wagleri | 9 | - |
Crested Guan | Penelope purpurascens | 1 H | -Barranca Km201, Durango hw |
Elegant Quail | Callipepla douglasii | 5 H | -Cerro de San Juan Ecological Reserve |
Purple Gallinule | Porphyrio martinicus | 3 | -Rio San Cristobal, San Blas |
Common Moorhen | Gallinula chloropus | 51 | - |
American Coot | Fulica americana | 245 | - |
Northern Jacana | Jacana spinosa | 14 | - |
Whimbrel | Numenius phaeopus | 9 | - |
Long-billed Curlew | Numenius americanus | 52 | - |
Greater Yellowlegs | Tringa melanoleuca | 11 | - |
Lesser Yellowlegs | Tringa flavipes | 2 | - |
Spotted Sandpiper | Tringa macularia | 2 | - |
Willet | Catoptrophorus semipalmatus | 13 | - |
Long-billed Dowitcher | Limnodromus scolopaceus | 52 | - |
Black-necked Stilt | Himantopus mexicanus | 171 | - |
American Avocet | Recurvirostra americana | 75 | - |
Black-bellied (Grey) Plover | Pluvialis squatarola | 1 | -Shrimp ponds road to Chacalilla |
Killdeer | Charadrius vociferus | 1 | - |
Heermann's Gull | Larus heermanni | 105 | - |
Ring-billed Gull | Larus delawarensis | 153 | - |
Herring Gull | Larus argentatus | 1 | - |
Laughing Gull | Larus atricilla | 159 | - |
Caspian Tern | Sterna caspia | 4 | - |
Royal Tern | Sterna maxima | 4 | - |
Forster's Tern | Sterna forsteri | 8 | - |
Rock Dove | Columba livia | 1082 | - |
Band-tailed Pigeon | Columba fasciata | 15 | - |
Red-billed Pigeon | Columba flavirostris | 5 | -Singayta forest |
Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | 11 | - |
White-winged Dove | Zenaida asiatica | 74 | - |
Inca Dove | Columbina inca | 34 | - |
Common Ground-Dove | Columbina passerina | 4 | - |
Ruddy Ground-Dove | Columbina talpacoti | 70 | - |
White-tipped Dove | Leptotila verreauxi | 16 | - |
Military Macaw | Ara militaris | 4 | -Seen three different times. Take Km 248.3 Panuco road to Mios los Pajaros road. |
Orange-fronted Parakeet | Aratinga canicularis | 40 | -San Blas |
Mexican Parrotlet | Forpus cyanopygius | 41 | -wide spread |
White-fronted Parrot | Amazona albifrons | 16 | -San Blas area |
Lilac-crowned Parrot | Amazona finschi | 4 | -San Blas |
Squirrel Cuckoo | Piaya cayana | 3 | -Fuerte San Basilio, San Blas |
Groove-billed Ani | Crotophaga sulcirostris | 195 | - |
Lesser Roadrunner | Geococcyx velox | 1 | -Km 285 Pantitlan road off Durango Highway 40 |
Mountain Pygmy-Owl | Glaucidium gnoma | 1 H | -Km 222.5 Potrerillos road off Durango hw |
Colima Pygmy-Owl | Glaucidium palmarum | 1 | -KM 222.5 Potrerillos road |
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl | Glaucidium brasilianum | 3 | -El Tovara boat trip, San Blas |
Northern Potoo | Nyctibius jamaicensis | 15 | -all El Tovara boat trip |
Lesser Nighthawk | Chordeiles acutipennis | 21 | -Matanchen and the El tovara boat trip. |
Pauraque | Nyctidromus albicollis | 5 | -El tovara boat trip and San Blas |
White-naped Swift | Streptoprocne semicollaris | 55 | -Km 233 Durango Highway 40 |
Vaux's Swift | Chaetura vauxi | 20 | - |
White-throated Swift | Aeronautes saxatalis | 10 | - |
Golden-crowned Emerald | Chlorostibon auriceps | 1 | -Km 248.3 Panuco road |
Broad-billed Hummingbird | Cynanthus latirostris | 3 | - |
Mexican Woodnymph | Thalurania ridgwayi | 2 | -Cerro de San Juan Ecological Reserve |
White-eared Hummingbird | Hylocharis leucotis | 37 | - |
Berylline Hummingbird | Amazilia beryllina | 14 | - |
Cinnamon Hummingbird | Amazilia rutila | 8 | - |
*Buff-bellied Hummingbird | Amazilia yucatanensis | 1 | -adult male, Km 285 Pantitlan road |
Violet-crowned Hummingbird | Amazilia violiceps | 1 | - |
Blue-throated Hummingbird | Lampornis clemenciae | 5 | - |
Plain-capped Starthroat | Heliomaster constantii | 1 | - |
Bumblebee Hummingbird | Atthis heloisa | 2 | -Cerro de San Juan Ecological Reserve |
*Allen's Hummingbird | Selasphorus sasin | 1 | -adult male, Cerro de San Juan Eco. Res. |
Citreoline Trogon | Trogon citreolus | 3 | -Lower Singayta forest, San Blas |
Mountain Trogon | Trogon mexicanus | 24 | -Km201area Durango Highway 40 |
Elegant Trogon | Trogon elegans | 4 | -Km285 Pantitlan Road |
Belted Kingfisher | Ceryle alcyon | 40 | - |
Green Kingfisher | Chloroceryle americana | 15 | - |
Acorn Woodpecker | Melanerpes formicivorus | 1 | - |
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker | Melanerpes chrysogenys | 24 | - |
Gila Woodpecker | Melanerpes uropygialis | 6 | - |
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Sphyrapicus varius | 2 | - |
Red-naped Sapsucker | Sphyrapicus nuchalis | 1 | - |
Strickland's Woodpecker | Picoides stricklandi | 2 | - |
Gray-crowned Woodpecker | Piculus auricularis | 1 H | - |
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker | Colaptes auratus | 1 | - |
Pale-billed Woodpecker | Campephilus guatemalensis | 6 | -Lower Singayta Forest |
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper | Xiphorhynchus flavigastera | 5 | - |
White-striped Woodcreeper | Lepidocolaptes leucogaster | 11 | - |
N. Beardless-Tyrannulet | Camptostoma imberbe | 1 H | - |
Tufted Flycatcher | Mitrephanes phaeocercus | 9 | - |
Greater Pewee | Contopus pertinax | 9 | - |
Western Wood-Pewee | Contopus sordidulus | 2 | - |
Pine Flycatcher | Empidonax affinis | 4 | -KM201 near Durango highway. |
Pacific-slope Flycatcher | Empidonax difficilis | 20 | - |
Buff-breasted Flycatcher | Empidonax fulvifrons | 1 | - |
Vermilion Flycatcher | Pyrocephalus rubinus | 3 | - |
Bright-rumped Attila | Attila spadiceus | 1 | -Lower Singayta Forest |
Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Myiarchus tuberculifer | 25 | - |
Nutting's Flycatcher | Myiarchus nuttingi | 2 | - |
Brown-crested Flycatcher | Myiarchus tyrannulus | 2 | - |
Tropical Kingbird | Tyrannus melancholicus | 21 | - |
Cassin's Kingbird | Tyrannus vociferans | 22 | - |
Thick-billed Kingbird | Tyrannus crassirostris | 23 | - |
Western Kingbird | Tyrannus verticalis | 2 | - |
*Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | Tyrannus forficatus | 3 | - |
Boat-billed Flycatcher | Megarynchus pitangua | 1 | -Nayarit-Sinaloa border area from hw 15 |
Social Flycatcher | Myiozetetes similis | 9 | - |
Great Kiskadee | Pitangus sulphuratus | 46 | - |
Rose-throated Becard | Pachyramphus aglaiae | 6 | - |
Masked Tityra | Tityra semifasciata | 24 | - |
Steller's Jay | Cyanocitta stelleri | 24 | - |
San Blas Jay | Cyanocorax sanblasianus | 1 | -Lower Singayta Forest, hard to find this year |
Tufted Jay | Cyanocorax dickeyi | 12 | -Km204 along the Durango Highway 40 |
Green Jay | Cyanocorax yncas | 4 | -Cerro de San Juan Ecological Reserve |
Black-throated Magpie-Jay | Calocitta colliei | 47 | - |
Sinaloa Crow | Corvus sinaloae | 3675 | - |
Common Raven | Corvus corax | 11 | - |
Hutton's Vireo | Vireo huttoni | 4 | - |
Mangrove Vireo | Vireo pallens | 1 | -up-river boat ride Rio San Cristobal, San Blas |
Golden Vireo | Vireo hypochryseus | 1 | - |
Cassin's Vireo | Vireo cassinii | 1 | - |
Plumbeous Vireo | Vireo plumbeus | 4 | - |
Yellow-green Vireo | Vireo flavoviridis | 1 | - |
Warbling Vireo | Vireo gilvus | 6 | - |
Loggerhead Shrike | Lanius ludovicianus | 5 | - |
Gray Silky-flycatcher | Ptilogonys cinereus | 20 | -Km 248.3 Panuco Road |
Eastern Bluebird | Sialia sialis | 5 | - |
Brown-backed Solitaire | Myadestes occidentalis | 13 | - |
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush | Catharus aurantiirostris | 1 | -Cerro de San Juan Eco. Res. |
Russet Nightingale-Thrush | Catharus occidentalis | 1 | -Cerro de San Juan Eco. Res. |
Hermit Thrush | Catharus guttatus | 8 | - |
White-throated Thrush | Turdus assimilis | 5 | -Km 201 |
Rufous-backed Robin | Turdus rufopalliatus | 1 | -Km 248.3 |
American Robin | Turdus migratorius | 8 | - |
Blue Mockingbird | Melanotis caerulescens | 3 | -Km 201 |
Northern Mockingbird | Mimus polyglottos | 11 | - |
Happy Wren | Thryothorus felix | 6 | - |
Sinaloa Wren | Thryothorus sinaloa | 2 | - |
House Wren | Troglodytes aedon | 4 | - |
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | Polioptila caerulea | 30 | - |
Black-capped Gnatcatcher | Polioptila nigriceps | 1 | -Km 285 |
Tree Swallow | Tachycineta bicolor | 2 | - |
Mangrove Swallow | Tachycineta albilinea | 21 | - |
Gray-breasted Martin | Progne chalybea | 6 | -Virgin Rock, San Blas, first migrants coming back |
N. Rough-winged Swallow | Stelgidopteryx serripennis | 71 | - |
Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica | 17 | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Regulus calendula | 21 | - |
Mexican Chickadee | Poecile sclateri | 2 | - |
Bridled Titmouse | Baeolophus wollweberi | 1 H | - |
House Sparrow | Passer domesticus | 20 | - |
Black-headed Siskin | Carduelis notata | 30 | - |
Lesser Goldfinch | Carduelis psaltria | 22 | - |
Olive Warbler | Peucedramus taeniatus | 1 | - |
*Tennessee Warbler | Vermivora peregrina | 5 | - |
Orange-crowned Warbler | Vermivora celata | 35 | - |
Nashville Warbler | Vermivora ruficapilla | 44 | - |
Virginia's Warbler | Vermivora virginiae | 1 | - |
Colima Warbler | Vermivora crissalis | 1 | -Cerro de San Juan Eco. Res. |
Lucy's Warbler | Vermivora luciae | 1 | - |
*Northern Parula | Parula americana | 1 | - |
Crescent-chested Warbler | Parula superciliosa | 4 | - |
Yellow Warbler | Dendroica petechia aestiva | 6 | - |
MangroveYellow Warbler | Dendroica petechia bryanti | 3 | -up-river boat trip San Cristobal |
Yellow-rumped Warbler | Dendroica coronata auduboni | 33 | - |
Black-throated Gray Warbler | Dendroica nigrescens | 10 | - |
Townsend's Warbler | Dendroica townsendi | 38 | - |
Hermit Warbler | Dendroica occidentalis | 3 | - |
Grace's Warbler | Dendroica graciae | 2 | - |
Black-and-white Warbler | Mniotilta varia | 7 | - |
American Redstart | Setophaga ruticilla | 9 | - |
*Worm-eating Warbler | Helmitheros vermivorus | 1 | -up-river boat trip San Cristobal |
Ovenbird | Seiurus aurocapillus | 1 H | - |
MacGillivray's Warbler | Oporornis tolmiei | 5 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | Geothlypis trichas | 8 | - |
Wilson's Warbler | Wilsonia pusilla | 55 | - |
Red-faced Warbler | Cardellina rubrifrons | 6 | - |
Red Warbler | Ergaticus ruber melanauris | 7 | -Km 201 |
Painted Redstart | Myioborus pictus | 3 | - |
Slate-throated Redstart | Myioborus miniatus | 42 | - |
Rufous-capped Warbler | Basileuterus rufifrons | 5 | - |
Golden-browed Warbler | Basileuterus belli | 2 | -Km 201 |
Yellow-breasted Chat | Icteria virens | 3 | - |
Lincoln's Sparrow | Melospiza lincolnii | 25 | - |
Yellow-eyed Junco | Junco phaeonotus | 11 | - |
Chipping Sparrow | Spizella passerina | 44 | - |
Stripe-headed Sparrow | Aimophila ruficauda | 6 | -Lower Singayta forest road near Singayta. |
Green-tailed Towhee | Pipilo chlorurus | 1 | - |
Spotted Towhee | Pipilo maculatus | 2 | - |
Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow | Melozone kieneri | 4 | -Cerro de San Juan Eco. Res. |
Rufous-capped Brush-Finch | Atlapetes pileatus | 1 | -Km 222.5 |
Flame-colored Tanager | Piranga bidentata | 2 | -Cerro de San Juan Eco. Res. |
Hepatic Tanager | Piranga flava | 7 | - |
Summer Tanager | Piranga rubra | 12 | - |
Red-headed Tanager | Piranga erythrocephala | 2 | -Km 201 |
White-collared Seedeater | Sporophila torqueola | 24 | -Chacalilla Road near San Blas |
Yellow Grosbeak | Pheucticus chrysopeplus | 6 | - |
*Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Pheucticus ludovicianus | 2 | - |
Black-headed Grosbeak | Pheucticus melanocephalus | 44 | - |
Grayish Saltator | Saltator coerulescens | 11 | - |
Blue Bunting | Cyanocompsa parellina | 3 | -Km 248.3 |
Blue Grosbeak | Guiraca caerulea | 1 | - |
Lazuli Bunting | Passerina amoena | 13 | - |
Varied Bunting | Passerina versicolor | 26 | - |
Painted Bunting | Passerina ciris | 11 | - |
Yellow-winged Cacique | Cacicus melanicterus | 90 | - |
Streak-backed Oriole | Icterus pustulatus | 19 | - |
Hooded Oriole | Icterus cucullatus | 2 | - |
Bullock's Oriole | Icterus bullockii | 2 | - |
Orchard Oriole | Icterus spurius | 4 | - |
Black-vented Oriole | Icterus wagleri | 7 | -Km 222.5 |
Scott's Oriole | Icterus parisorum | 1 | - |
Yellow-headed Blackbird | Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus | 150 | - |
Great-tailed Grackle | Quiscalus mexicanus | 415 | - |
12,378 birds, 252 species:
*The following accidental/vagrant sightings have been documented and copies of them are available from me upon request:
1. Allen's Hummingbird
2. Buff-bellied Hummingbird
3. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
4. Tennessee Warbler
5. Northern Parula
6. Worm-eating Warbler
7. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The list of my fellow participants is available from me upon request.
Dick Palmer
370 South Avenida de las Sabinas
Green Valley, Arizona 85614-4701
email: PalmerRD@aol.com