Oaxaca
Posted by Héctor Gómez de Silva
Héctor Gómez de Silva
Héctor Gómez de Silva began birding at age eight in New York City. He published his first article about birds at age 15 while in Kenya, where he lived for six...Oaxaca has the highest number of bird species recorded and the highest number of Mexican endemics of any state in Mexico. Our Oaxaca tour is designed to see a good proportion of these?over 250 species and over 25 endemics?while visiting most of the vegetation zones that occur in Mexico. Some of our birding areas are at or near interesting cultural sites, such as the hand-weaving village of Teotitlán del Valle, the pre-Hispanic ruins of Yagul, Mitla, and Monte Albán, and the Tule tree of Guinness Book of World Records fame, due to the extraordinary girth of its trunk (though it is not a particularly tall tree). Additionally, Oaxaca is renowned for its cuisine, from arrachera (specially tasty and tender flank steak) and black mole sauce (made from many ingredients including chocolate) to fried grasshoppers and huitlacoche.
Special birds in the Valley of Oaxaca include Oaxaca Sparrow, Pileated Flycatcher, Dusky and Beautiful hummingbirds, Gray-breasted Woodpecker, Boucard’s Wren, Ocellated Thrasher, Bridled Sparrow, Black-vented Oriole, and White-throated Towhee. Farther afield in the valley are Green-fronted Hummingbirds and the nearly endemic Thick-billed Kingbird, White-lored Gnatcatchers, Rufous-naped Wrens, and Streak-backed Orioles. In the highland forest above the Oaxaca Valley there are Dwarf Jays, Gray-barred Wrens, Red Warblers, Collared Towhees, Blue Mockingbirds, and many others. Around Tuxtepec the bird diversity is very high, and endemics and near-endemics include Rufous-breasted Spinetail, Sumichrast’s and White-bellied wrens, Rufous-capped Warbler, and Yellow-winged Tanager. Lastly, in the lower montane and cloud forests above Tuxtepec there are many special birds including White-bellied Emerald, Berylline and Bumblebee hummingbirds, Unicolored Jays, Slate-colored Solitaires, and Blue-crowned Chlorophonias.
The most memorable moments of our 2006 Oaxaca tour include the cute Tufted Flycatcher, Red Warbler, and Red-faced Warbler on its wintering grounds; a variety of birds (including the handsome endemic Bridled Sparrow) sunning themselves on top of candelabra cactus that form a kind of forest at Yagul; a beautiful male Elegant Trogon that flew across the highway in front of our van and perched on a fencepost in full view; excellent looks at the handsome Golden-browed Warbler, Slate-throated and Painted redstarts, and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch coming in to a spring in the otherwise dry Jilguero Arroyo; a Oaxaca Sparrow feeding side by side with its look-alike, a Rufous-crowned Sparrow; the cooperative male Bumblebee Hummingbird and Collared Trogon between Tuxtepec and Oaxaca; the world’s best view of the usually skulking Rufous-breasted Spinetail; and even the very loud Sumichrast’s Wren singing from somewhere in its limestone castle, not allowing itself to be seen.
Is it possible to fall in love with a bird, to be mesmerized by its beauty? At least two birds made us fall in love during our Pacific Oaxaca Extension: the Orange-breasted Bunting and the exhibitionist Red-breasted Chat. We also were fortunate to have outstanding looks at the very rarely seen Collared Forest-Falcon and Blue-capped Hummingbird, the latter endemic to Oaxaca.
In February the climate in Oaxaca is at its best. This tour is attractive to casual birders with little experience south of the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as to widely-traveled birders searching for hard-to-find endemics. The Pacific Oaxaca Extension is designed to add yet more Mexican endemic species, including some real gems.