Dave B Smith
Well-known member
Sumidero Canyon
Last weekend we went with another couple to bird the Sumidero Canyon in Tuxtla-Gutierrez, Chiapas and then on to San Cristobal de Las Casas. Tuxtla is a six and a half hour drive from our home so we left just after noon on Friday in order to arrive before dark. As we pulled into town we got our first bird, a beautiful Passerini’s (Scarlet-rumped) Tanager. We checked into the hotel just before 8 and got cleaned up and headed to the lobby bar to “unwind” from the long drive over mountain roads. On the way down we looked out through the hotel lobby atrium and saw a pair of nighthawks flying around. A quick trip back to the room for the bins and we ID’d them, Lesser Nighthawks. We got great views of them as they flew over the lights on the hotel roof which really illuminated them. Then it was a few drinks and dinner to be ready for an early start.
Getting up in the morning we heard parakeets outside of our room. Sure enough, Green Parakeets on our window ledge! First lifer of the trip. We had a quick breakfast and then were on our way up to the Sumidero Canyon. The town of Tuxtla-Gutierrez is at an elevation of 550 M. When you start going up the Sumidero just outside of town, you climb from that elevation to 1500 M. We stopped at all the overlooks on the way up the canyon for the canyon views and the birds. At our first stop, Mirador (overlook) La Ceiba, we found Spot-breasted Wren, Streak-backed Oriole and Varied Bunting. The next stop was the La Coyota (the Coyote) Mirador where we had breathtaking views of the canyon below and then as my friend and I looked for a shady spot to wait for the wives, we got a Lesser Roadrunner. Beep Beep. How appropriate for the site. (from the Roadrunner cartoons in the US). It was frozen on a rock about 20 feet away looking at us. The wives arrived just as it left and continued to miss this bird on the next two sightings during the trip as well.
We continued higher and got great views of a singing Yellow Grosbeak at the next stop, as well as a nest of Boat-billed Flycatcher. We arrived at the top of the canyon where we found (Southern) House Wren, Yellow-throated Euphonia, and Plain Chachalaca as well as some cool refreshments at the overlook café.
Coming back down the canyon we stopped at a heavily wooded trail back to another overlook. We got Violaceous Trogon, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush and Bar-winged Oriole. Then we drove to the bottom of the canyon and took a boat trip on the river to see it from below.
The boat trips had just closed when we arrived but we found a hungry captain and got a trip for just the four of us. What a fantastic view of the canyon and also with our own boat, was a great way to bird. Picked up Brown Pelican, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and many more as well as deer, spider monkeys, and crocodiles! We arrived back at the landing just before dark and headed back to the hotel for dinner and bed.
The next morning we skipped breakfast to get an early start to San Cristobal. We had a few miles of “autopista” but soon were back on a local mountain road and we slowly climbed to the 3000 M elevation of San Cristobal. This was Montane Cloud Forest and some really good birding. We stopped frequently whenever we found a safe place to pull off that looked “birdy”. By the time we reached town we already had about 8 lifers! We had a Sunday brunch in town then spent several hours seeing the sights in town. We only regretted not having planned to spend the night, it was a beautiful place and I already want to go back! Then we left town in the direction of Chamula and birded several areas there. About 10 K outside of San Cristobal we arrived at a small indigenous village. Everyone in town was dressed the same (the only difference being boys and girls costumes) in clothing with very intricate designs. The main industry appeared to be cut flowers and even though it was Sunday, folks were working the fields, cutting, and transporting the flowers to town. This village was full of unforgettable sights.
We continued on this (tiny) road and eventually found our way back to the main highway to return to Tuxtla. We had a little rain at this point so missed some birding but did manage to pick up the Russet-crowned Motmot as we arrived back in Tuxtla.
The next morning we went to the Tuxtla Zoo but unfortunately it was closed on Mondays. We found some other back roads higher up behind the zoo and did find one more lifer there, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, before leaving and heading back home.
This was a new area for us and I can highly recommend it for both the scenery and the birds. People were very friendly everywhere and hotels and food were good.
We had a total of 60 species of which 15 were lifers (*). Below is the trip list:
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite (Heard only)
Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Band-tailed Pigeon
Inca Dove
Green Parakeet *
Olive-throated Parakeet
Lesser Roadrunner *
Groove-billed Ani
BarnOwl *
Lesser Nighthawk
White-eared Hummingbird
Amethyst-throated Hummingbird *
Violaceous Trogon
Russet-crowned Motmot
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Greenish Elaenia *
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rufous-browed Peppershrike *
Steller's Jay *
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Green Jay
Unicolored Jay *
Mangrove Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Brown-backed Solitaire *
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush *
Clay-colored Robin
Rufous-collared Robin *
Slate-throated Redstart
Golden-browed Warbler *
Passerini's Tanager
Blue-black Grassquit
White-collared Seedeater
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Black-headed Saltator
Yellow Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Varied Bunting *
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Bar-winged Oriole *
Streak-backed Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Yellow-throated Euphonia
House Finch
Black-headed Siskin *
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Last weekend we went with another couple to bird the Sumidero Canyon in Tuxtla-Gutierrez, Chiapas and then on to San Cristobal de Las Casas. Tuxtla is a six and a half hour drive from our home so we left just after noon on Friday in order to arrive before dark. As we pulled into town we got our first bird, a beautiful Passerini’s (Scarlet-rumped) Tanager. We checked into the hotel just before 8 and got cleaned up and headed to the lobby bar to “unwind” from the long drive over mountain roads. On the way down we looked out through the hotel lobby atrium and saw a pair of nighthawks flying around. A quick trip back to the room for the bins and we ID’d them, Lesser Nighthawks. We got great views of them as they flew over the lights on the hotel roof which really illuminated them. Then it was a few drinks and dinner to be ready for an early start.
Getting up in the morning we heard parakeets outside of our room. Sure enough, Green Parakeets on our window ledge! First lifer of the trip. We had a quick breakfast and then were on our way up to the Sumidero Canyon. The town of Tuxtla-Gutierrez is at an elevation of 550 M. When you start going up the Sumidero just outside of town, you climb from that elevation to 1500 M. We stopped at all the overlooks on the way up the canyon for the canyon views and the birds. At our first stop, Mirador (overlook) La Ceiba, we found Spot-breasted Wren, Streak-backed Oriole and Varied Bunting. The next stop was the La Coyota (the Coyote) Mirador where we had breathtaking views of the canyon below and then as my friend and I looked for a shady spot to wait for the wives, we got a Lesser Roadrunner. Beep Beep. How appropriate for the site. (from the Roadrunner cartoons in the US). It was frozen on a rock about 20 feet away looking at us. The wives arrived just as it left and continued to miss this bird on the next two sightings during the trip as well.
We continued higher and got great views of a singing Yellow Grosbeak at the next stop, as well as a nest of Boat-billed Flycatcher. We arrived at the top of the canyon where we found (Southern) House Wren, Yellow-throated Euphonia, and Plain Chachalaca as well as some cool refreshments at the overlook café.
Coming back down the canyon we stopped at a heavily wooded trail back to another overlook. We got Violaceous Trogon, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush and Bar-winged Oriole. Then we drove to the bottom of the canyon and took a boat trip on the river to see it from below.
The boat trips had just closed when we arrived but we found a hungry captain and got a trip for just the four of us. What a fantastic view of the canyon and also with our own boat, was a great way to bird. Picked up Brown Pelican, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and many more as well as deer, spider monkeys, and crocodiles! We arrived back at the landing just before dark and headed back to the hotel for dinner and bed.
The next morning we skipped breakfast to get an early start to San Cristobal. We had a few miles of “autopista” but soon were back on a local mountain road and we slowly climbed to the 3000 M elevation of San Cristobal. This was Montane Cloud Forest and some really good birding. We stopped frequently whenever we found a safe place to pull off that looked “birdy”. By the time we reached town we already had about 8 lifers! We had a Sunday brunch in town then spent several hours seeing the sights in town. We only regretted not having planned to spend the night, it was a beautiful place and I already want to go back! Then we left town in the direction of Chamula and birded several areas there. About 10 K outside of San Cristobal we arrived at a small indigenous village. Everyone in town was dressed the same (the only difference being boys and girls costumes) in clothing with very intricate designs. The main industry appeared to be cut flowers and even though it was Sunday, folks were working the fields, cutting, and transporting the flowers to town. This village was full of unforgettable sights.
We continued on this (tiny) road and eventually found our way back to the main highway to return to Tuxtla. We had a little rain at this point so missed some birding but did manage to pick up the Russet-crowned Motmot as we arrived back in Tuxtla.
The next morning we went to the Tuxtla Zoo but unfortunately it was closed on Mondays. We found some other back roads higher up behind the zoo and did find one more lifer there, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, before leaving and heading back home.
This was a new area for us and I can highly recommend it for both the scenery and the birds. People were very friendly everywhere and hotels and food were good.
We had a total of 60 species of which 15 were lifers (*). Below is the trip list:
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite (Heard only)
Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Band-tailed Pigeon
Inca Dove
Green Parakeet *
Olive-throated Parakeet
Lesser Roadrunner *
Groove-billed Ani
BarnOwl *
Lesser Nighthawk
White-eared Hummingbird
Amethyst-throated Hummingbird *
Violaceous Trogon
Russet-crowned Motmot
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Greenish Elaenia *
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rufous-browed Peppershrike *
Steller's Jay *
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Green Jay
Unicolored Jay *
Mangrove Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Brown-backed Solitaire *
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush *
Clay-colored Robin
Rufous-collared Robin *
Slate-throated Redstart
Golden-browed Warbler *
Passerini's Tanager
Blue-black Grassquit
White-collared Seedeater
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Black-headed Saltator
Yellow Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Varied Bunting *
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Bar-winged Oriole *
Streak-backed Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Yellow-throated Euphonia
House Finch
Black-headed Siskin *
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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