Belize: Birds and Butterflies Mar 16—24, 2008
Posted by Michael O'Brien
Michael O'Brien
Michael O'Brien is a freelance artist, author, and environmental consultant living in Cape May, New Jersey. He has traveled extensively throughout North and Central Ame...Related Trips
Situated at the base of the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize offers an interesting mix of Neotropical residents and North American migrants, making it an ideal introduction to birding in the tropics. The fact that the country still holds 70% of its native habitat makes it an even more appealing destination for naturalists.
Our March 2008 Belize: Birds & Butterflies tour was a delight. We sampled a variety of habitats—lowland broadleaf forest, pine-savannah, freshwater marsh and lagoons, and agricultural fields—where we found a wonderful diversity of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. And, for students of archaeology, our visits to Altun Ha, Lamanai, and Chan Chich each provided an interesting window into the civilization that thrived here until about 900 AD. Along the way, we stayed at two fabulous lodges—Bird's Eye View and Chan Chich—each with delicious food, a friendly, accommodating staff, and their own unique style and setting. We could have stayed much longer at each!
We began just north of Belize City and stopped first at Mayan Wells. This wonderful property is always a favorite of ours, both because the birding and butterflying are so good, and also because they serve the best "Belizean Plate" lunch we've had anywhere! But first the birding. We enjoyed nice views of Gray Hawk; Olive-throated Parakeet; Green-breasted Mango; Rufous-tailed Hummingbird; Golden-fronted and Golden-olive woodpeckers; Boat-billed, Social, and Piratic flycatchers; Couch's Kingbird; Rose-throated Becard; Masked Tityra; Blue-gray and Yellow-winged tanagers; Red-legged Honeycreeper; and Yellow-throated Euphonia. The grounds here are just as good for butterflies and some of our highlights included Broad-banded and Thoas swallowtails, Orange-barred Sulphur, Gold-bordered Hairstreak, Fox-face Lemmark, Mexican and Gulf fritillaries, Julia Heliconian, Ruddy Daggerwing, and Three-part Sister.
A new feature this year at Mayan Wells was a butterfly house where we were able to see all life stages of a variety of dazzling butterflies including Heart-spotted Heliconian, Mexican Bluewing, Malachite, and Common Morpho. We spent the afternoon exploring the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha and were given an informative tour by our guide Lacelle. We also found numerous interesting butterflies there including Regal Greatstreak (one of the most beautiful butterflies on earth!), Common Lemmark, Erato Heliconian, Theona Checkerspot, Orange Banner, and Mangrove and Tropical buckeyes. A walk through the woods to a little pond produced sightings of several interesting dragonflies, as well as Central American ameiva, Morelet's crocodile, a cooperative pair of Spot-breasted Wrens, and several warbler species.
At the end of this full day we headed to our lodge at Crooked Tree, but on the way we made a special detour off the Northern Highway to see a Jabiru nest. The birds were present and performing well, but we were distracted by a number of other interesting sightings. For one thing, we saw our first Yucatan black howler, a species we would see or hear on every day of the tour. Also, butterflies were still active and we found a number of new species including Pale Ministreak, Chiapas Stripestreak, Banded Orange Heliconian, Brilliant Blue-Skipper, and Veined White-Skipper.
We spent our second day entirely at Crooked Tree Sanctuary, starting in the pine-savannah and cashew groves that dominate the uplands. Local expert Glenn Crawford accompanied us, and helped us find many nice birds. Highlights in this bird-rich area included Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Pale-vented Pigeon, White-fronted and Yellow-headed parrots, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Yucatan Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Vermilion Flycatcher (they were just everywhere!), Yucatan Jay, Gray-breasted Martin, Yellow-throated and Grace's warblers (in the same tree!), and Yellow-backed Oriole. Some of the more interesting butterflies there included Ghost and Barred yellows, Band-celled Sister, Two-spotted Prepona, Plain Satyr, and Orange-spotted Skipper.
In the afternoon, we took a delightful boat ride through Crooked Tree Lagoon and Black Creek—an outing that was fondly remembered by many as the highlight of the trip. Due to perfect (falling) water levels, the number of wading birds in the lagoon was simply staggering: thousands of herons and egrets; hundreds of Neotropic Cormorants, White Ibises, Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, American Coots, and Northern Jacanas; and dozens of Jabirus, Limpkins, and other species. It was amazing to drift through the quiet waters past these vast numbers of birds, listening to them call and watching them feed. Not surprisingly, kingfishers were also abundant here, and we found four species including an amazing five American Pygmy Kingfishers (this tied our record count here!). Other highlights on the boat trip included Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Boat-billed Heron, Snail Kite, Great Black-Hawk, Sungrebe (heard only, but a really cool lifer vocalization for the leaders!), Prothonotary Warbler, and Yellow-tailed Oriole. Not exactly a highlight, but memorable just the same, was getting stuck in the shallows and watching Glenn jump overboard to push us free—thanks Glenn!
On our third day we visited Lamanai, again accompanied by Glenn Crawford. En route, we passed through the Mennonite farm country and saw a very different set of birds including White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Mourning Dove, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, hundreds of swallows, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Blue-black Grassquit, Variable Seedeater, and Eastern Meadowlark. A real highlight was stopping by a little pond that was packed with ducks and shorebirds along with two beautiful Gray-necked Wood-Rails. At Lamanai we had our first taste of forest birding and found many dazzling birds such as Violaceous and Black-headed trogons, White-whiskered Puffbird, Keel-billed Toucan, Chestnut-colored and Lineated woodpeckers, Tawny-winged and Ivory-billed woodcreepers, Barred Antshrike, and a nice warbler flock including both Blue-winged and Golden-winged. We also found Lamanai to be excellent for butterflies with highlights including Mexican Cycadian; Confused and Rusty-banded groundstreaks; Tiger-eye Hairstreak; Tiger Heliconian; Orion Cecropian; Red Rim, Gray, Variable, and Guatemalan crackers; Malachite; Pearly Leafwing; Potrillo Skipper; and an unidentified skipper that we named (for now) the "Lamanai Silverpatch."
After a final morning at Crooked Tree, highlighted by more Yucatan Jays and a stunning Black-collared Hawk, we took a late morning flight to Gallon Jug and thus entered a completely different world. For those who have not been to Chan Chich, there are few words to describe how marvelous it is: vast wilderness, natural beauty, and abundant wildlife juxtaposed with first-rate accommodations and restaurant and an incredibly friendly staff. It is always a delight to visit here, no matter what we see. But we saw plenty! During just four days, we found nearly 200 species of birds and about 75 species of butterflies. Every morning and evening we were greeted by the raucous calls of Mealy and Red-lored parrots as they traveled to and from roosts near the main plaza. Montezuma Oropendolas did their bizarre acrobatic displays and bubbling calls at their nest tree. Long-billed and Stripe-throated hermits visited blooming heliconians by the verandah (and occasionally our lunch table!). The very rare Ocellated Turkeys wandered around the main plaza, seemingly oblivious to our presence. Bat Falcons and Plumbeous Kites perched on sticks above our cabanas while Black Hawk-Eagle, Roadside Hawk, and Double-toothed Kite soared overhead. Keel-billed Toucans, Collared Aracaris, and Masked Tityras appeared on treetops during the cooler hours. Rival troops of Yucatan black howlers broke the nighttime silence to roar. All this and much more right at the main plaza!
The marvelous trail system at Chan Chich brought us to surprisingly varied habitats. The Sac Be and Loggers Trails along Chan Chich Creek provided access to pools where a variety of birds came to bathe. Here we were treated to excellent views of Agami Heron, Purple-crowned Fairy, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Royal and Ochre-bellied flycatchers, Rufous Piha, Red-capped Manakin, Wood Thrush, Northern and Louisiana waterthrushes, Kentucky and Hooded warblers, and Gray-headed Tanager. Along forest trails we found several small ant swarms that were tended by Plain Xenops; Tawny-winged, Ruddy, Northern Barred, and Ivory-billed woodcreepers; Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher; Lesser and Tawny-crowned greenlets; Dot-winged Antwren; and Red-crowned and Red-throated ant-tanagers. Among the unexcavated temples at the Upper Plaza we had wonderful views of Blue-crowned Motmot, and also found numerous Seba's short-tailed bats roosting in the looter's trench. Our night drive to Gallon Jug was just marvelous, with sightings of Great Curassow, Barn Owl, Common Pauraque, Yucatan Nightjar, Northern Potoo, and gray fox highlighting a two-hour trip.
Despite cloudy weather on our first day, butterflying was also excellent. At Chan Chich Creek and Rio Bravo we saw hundreds of puddling Florida Whites, along with Apricot Sulphur, Ruddy and Many-banded daggerwings, and a stunning Bow-lined Kite-Swallowtail (the latter beat out the pair of White Hawks soaring overhead at the same time!). At the Escarpment, an isolated hilltop meadow surrounded by forest, we saw an interesting array of butterflies including Bordered Patch, Green Heliconian, One-spotted Prepona, Plain and Teleus longtails, and Dyson's Silverpatch. Along Sylvester Road and the nearby service area we found Painted White, Black-barred Cross-streak, Mayan Crescent, Guatemalan Tegosa, Little Banner, Common Morpho, Square-spotted Polythrix, Giant Sicklewing, Dingy Mylon, and Manuel's Skipper. Even right by our lunch table we saw some fine butterflies such as Common Theope, Tiger and Banded Orange heliconians, the ubiquitous but lovely Banded Peacock, and Common Glassywing. Along the way, we found many other interesting critters such as Central American spider monkey, Deppe's squirrel, Mexican vine snake, ghost anole, and brown basilisk. There was always something to look at!