Mexico trip report - Quintana Roo (Puerto Morelos/Coba only)- December 2009 Birding Trip Report - Birding the Americas Trip Report Repository

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 “A Bird-Finding Guide to Mexico”. In addition, I found a small, potentially interesting trail, which I have not seen reported elsewhere.

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.

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 5 km 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 7 a.m. 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.

I hired a car (Europcar, based in the Paradisus Riviera Cancun Resort which is 2 km 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 6 a.m.. 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 8 a.m., 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 0.8 km 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.

PM = coastal, mangroves and inland to the botanical gardens and the Ruta de los Cenotes

Species	PM	Coba
Thicket Tinamou Crypurellus cinnamomeus		X
Pied-billed Grebe Tachybaptus podiceps		X
American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos	X
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus	X
Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens	X
Great Blue Heron Ardea Herodias		X
Great Egret Egretta alba	X	X
Green Heron Butorides virescens		X
Wood Stork Mycteria Americana		X
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus	X	X
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura	X	X
Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris	X
Short-tailed Hawk Buteo brachyurus	X
Bat Falcon Falco rufigularis		X
Plain Chacalaca Ortalis vetula	X
Limpkin Aramus guarauna		X
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia	X
Sanderling Calidris alba	X
Laughing Gull Larus atricilla	X
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis	X
Caspian Tern Sterna caspia	X
Mourning Dove Zenaida Macroura	X
Blue Ground-Dove Claravis pretiosa		X
Aztec Parakeet Aratinga astec	X
White-fronted Parrot Amazona albifrons		X
Yucatan Parrot Amazona xantholora	X
Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana		X
Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga culcirostris	X
Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga Ani		X
Canivet’s Emerald Chlorostilbon canivetii	X	X
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia yucatanensis	X
Black-headed Trogon Trogon melanocephalus		X
Violaceous Trogon Trogon violaceus		X
Turquoise-browed Motmot Eumomata superciliosa		X
Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon		X
Yucatan Woodpecker Centurus pygmaeus		X
Olivaceous Woodcreeper Sittasomus griseicapillus		X
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus flavigaster		X
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Empidonax flaviventris		X
Bright-rumped Attila Attila spadiceus		X
Yucatan Flycatcher Myiarchus yucatanensis	X
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus	X	X
Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis	X	X
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus	X	X
Rose-throated Becard Pachyramphus aglaiae		X
Ridgway’s Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ridgwayi		X
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas	X
Brown Jay Cyanocorax morio	X
Yucatan Jay Cyanocorax yucatanicus	X	X
Spot-breasted Wren Thryothorus maculipectus		X
White-browed Wren Thryothorus albinucha	X
Tropical Gnatcatcher Polioptila plumbea		X
Clay-colored Thrush Turdus grayi		X
Black Catbird Dumetella glabrirostris	X	X
Tropical Mockingbird Melanotis gilvus	X	X
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus	X	X
Mangrove Vireo Vireo pallens	X
Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons		X
Yellow-green Vireo Vireo flavoviridis		X
Yucatan Vireo Vireo magister		X
Tawny-crowned Greenlet Hylophilus ochraceipceps		X
Rufous-browed Peppershrike Cyclarhis gujanensis		X
Blue-winged Warbler Vermivora pinus	X
Northern Parula Parula americana	X
Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia	X
Mangrove Warbler Dendroica petechia erithachorides	X
Magnolia Warbler Dendroica magnolia	X
Black-throated Green-Warbler Dendroica virens		X
Yellow-throated Warbler Dendroica dominica	X	X
Black-and-White Warbler Mniotilta varia	X	X
American Redstart Setophaga ruticilla	X	X
Northern Waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis		X
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas	X	X
Hooded Warbler Wilsonia citrine	X
Red-legged Honeycreeper Cyanerpes cyaneus		X
Yellow-throated Euphonia Euphonia hirundinacea		X
Red-throated Ant-Tanager Habia fusciauda		X
Summer Tanager Piranga rubra	X
Blue Bunting Passerina caerulea		X
Melodious Blackbird Dives dives	X	X
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus	X	X
Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus	X
Black-cowled Oriole Icterus dominicensis	X
Hooded Oriole Icterus cucullatus	X	X
Yellow-backed Oriole Icterus chrysater		X
Yellow-tailed Oriole Icterus mesomelas	X
Orange Oriole Icterus auratus	X
Altimira Oriole Icterus gularis	X
Yellow-billed Cacique Amblycercus holocericeus		X