NW Mexico: Mazatlan & the Sierra Madre: Feb 21—27, 2009

This new tour begins in one of Pacific Mexico's loveliest destinations and seeks some of its most exotic and localized birds, in particular the storied Tufted Jay and Sierra Madre Sparrow.  It immediately precedes our February Short West Mexico tour, for those who would like to extend their birding adventure in Mexico. 

Our tour begins in Mazatlan, on the coast, and then works inland in the state of Sinaloa through varied habitats of coastal estuaries and foothill forest, and then on into the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Tufted Jay Preserve. The splendid Tufted Jays are just one of many birds in the preserve. We will fully explore this area, over the course of a full day, before we continue on to the neighboring state of Durango to search for the Sierra Madre Sparrow, a Mexican endemic bird with a miniscule overall range.

Among the many other birds that are typical of the Sierra Madre habitats we will visit during the course of our tour are Black-throated Magpie and Purplish-backed jays; Red-headed Tanager; Yellow Grosbeak; Streak-backed Oriole; Military Macaw; Lilac-crowned Parrot; Mexican Parrotlet; Cinnamon and White-eared hummingbirds; Citreoline and Mountain trogons; Red, Fan-tailed, Golden-browed, Crescent-chested, and other warblers; Ivory-billed and White-striped woodcreepers; Blue Mockingbird; Black-headed Siskin; Happy, Spotted, and Sinaloa wrens; Yellow-winged Cacique; Golden-cheeked and Gray-crowned woodpeckers; White-naped Swift; Flammulated and Tufted flycatchers; Brown-backed Solitaire; Sinaloa Crow; and such secretive birds of the thorn forest as Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Red-breasted Chat, and Elegant Quail.