Yucatan Birding Tour

Day 1 — Cancun

On arrival at Cancun airport, you will be met and transferred the short distance to your overnight hotel.

Day 2 — Cancun to Merida (Stops Enroute)

After breakfast, you will be collected from your hotel by your Driver / Guide for the short drive south to the Jardín Botánico Dr. Alfredo Barrera Marín in Puerto Morelos, one of the Riviera Maya’s finest birding spots.

Here, where shaded trails wind through tropical forest, a canopy observation tower and quiet paths are reliable locations from which to spot a number of common Yucatan birds as well as a resident troop of spider monkeys.

Departing the coast and heading inland along the Ruta de los Cenotes, there will be time for a short forest-birding stop as well an optional swim in a cenote, before you continue to your base for the next 3 nights, the city of Merida.

Key bird species: Turquoise-browed Motmot, Yucatan Woodpecker, Collared Aracari, Black-headed Trogon, Yellow-winged Tanager, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.

Day 3 — Merida (Day trip to Celestun)

Departing Merida after breakfast, it is an approximate 80-minute drive to the Gulf Coast and the Celestún Biosphere Reserve, a vast estuary of mangrove, lagoon and barrier beach. On arrival, you will board your private boat for a tour through mangrove channels to the flocks of American Flamingos, together with herons, egrets, pelicans and shorebirds.

Flamingo numbers are highest in the winter months — roughly November to March, peaking from December to February — when many thousands gather to feed.

Returning to shore, you will enjoy a seafood lunch in the coastal village of Celestun before spending the afternoon birding in the coastal scrub and dunes, seeking out a number of endemic Yucatan species.

Key bird species: American Flamingo, Reddish Egret, Boat-billed Heron, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Mangrove Warbler, Mexican Sheartail, Yucatan Wren, Black Catbird

Day 4 — Merida (Day trip to Uxmal & Hacienda Yaxcopoil)

After an earlyish breakfast, this morning you will depart Merida and head south for approximately 90 minutes to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Uxmal.

The largest of the Puuc cities which dotted the region, Uxmal is known for the Pyramid of the Magician, the Nunnery Quadrangle, the Governor’s Palace and, in more general terms, for its beautiful architecture.

With no cenotes nearby, the city relied on chultunes (cisterns) for water, and its stonework is covered in masks of the rain god Chaac.

The wooded grounds and quiet plaza edges make Uxmal one of the finest archaeological sites in the region for birding, with dry-forest species active in the morning.

After lunch close to Uxmal, you begin the journey back towards Merida but with a couple of stops along the way. First up is the Muna Mirador, the highest point in a region known for being almost entirely flat. In addition to the views, there is also a good Maya owned shop selling locally-made crafts.

From Muna, it is a further 30-minute drive to Hacienda Yaxcopoil, a 17^th century that was once one of the largest henequen estates in the entire Yucatan Peninsula. Today, it is an atmospheric ruin and museum whose main house, machine room and chapel reflect the legacy of the region’s ‘green gold’ boom and bust.

The ruins, gardens and surrounding bush are also home to a variety of bird species.

Key bird species: Ocellated Turkey, Black-throated Bobwhite, Gray-throated Chat, Collared Aracari, Plain Chachalaca, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Yucatan Jay.

Day 5 — Merida to Valladolid via Izamal

After checking out of your hotel, the morning starts with visits to birding hotspots around Mérida, including Misné Balam, an area of low forest and scrub north of the city that is home to a variety of species and which is well-known to local birders.

You will then continue through henequén (agave) plantations and field edges for open-country and edge-birds rarely seen in the forest.

Up next is the famous ‘Yellow City’ of Izamal, with its picturesque colonial streets and the great Franciscan convent of San Antonio de Padua built atop a former Maya pyramid.

As well as enjoying lunch at a restaurant in town, there will be an opportunity to partake of some urban birding amongst Izamal’s plazas and gardens.

You will then continue to your base for the next 3 nights, the charming colonial town of Valladolid, arriving in the late afternoon.

Key bird species: Yucatan Woodpecker, Orange Oriole, Altamira Oriole, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Yucatan Jay, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Cave Swallow

Day 6 — Valladolid (Day trip to Rio Lagartos)

Departing Valladolid after an early breakfast, it is an approximate 90-minute drive due north to the Río Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, a mosaic of mangrove, salt flat and shallow lagoon on the coast and one of the finest birding sites in the Yucatán.

Aboard your private boat, you will visit the flamingo colony, together with herons, spoonbills, pelicans and shorebirds not to mention numerous basking crocodiles. Amongst the coastal scrub, you will also stand a good chance of spotting the Mexican Sheartail and Yucatan Wren.

Río Lagartos is the region’s main flamingo breeding ground with birds present year-round. However, unlike Celestun, numbers peak from April to July with nesting and chicks around May and June, when tens of thousands gather.

In addition to the Biosphere, you will also visit the adjoining Las Coloradas salt operation whose evaporation ponds glow vivid pink.

After enjoying a fresh seafood lunch in the fishing village you will return to Valladolid, arriving back in the late afternoon.

Key bird species: American Flamingo, Reddish Egret, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Jabiru (seasonal), Mexican Sheartail, Yucatan Wren (+ American Crocodile)

Day 7 — Valladolid (Day trip to Ek Balam)

This morning, after a relatively early start, you will again head north out of Valladolid, to visit the nearby Maya site of Ek Balam.

This compact but spectacular Maya city crowned by a tall acropolis whose summit preserves an extraordinary stucco frieze of winged figures. Unlike Uxmal & nearby Chichen Itza, Ek Balam is one of the few Maya sites where visitors are permitted to climb to the top of the pyramid and to enjoy the 360 degree panoramic views from the top.

The wooded site and surrounding low forest are also excellent for birding, and the nearby Cenote X’Canché offers an optional swim in a jungle setting.

You will then return to Valladolid where the rest of the afternoon is at leisure, allowing you to either relax at your hotel or explore the town’s key attractions such as San Bernardino Convent. For a more nature based experience, consider visiting the Xkopek Bee Park on the town’s southern edge.

Key bird species: Gray-throated Chat, Rose-throated Tanager, Yucatan Flycatcher, Black-headed Trogon, Yucatan Jay, Turquoise-browed Motmot.

Day 8 — Valladolid to Cancun Airport / Beach

Depending on your post tour arrangements, you will depart Valladolid for the journey back to Cancun airport or the beach hotel of your choice.

If time allows, enroute there will be an opportunity to visit the Punta Laguna Nature Reserve, home to a wide variety of birdlife as well as both spider and howler monkeys.