Birding in Yucatan Tips (1 Viewer)

[Raegan]

I'm going on a vacation to Cancun with my mostly non-birding family in November. I only have so much sway over the family so I can't do any trips that are too far out from Cancun. This unfortunely excludes Rio Lagartos from my itinerary. I'd like to do one or two trips close by and one big one further out (I'm thinking Coba or Muyil). I'd also like to book one of my trips with a local birding guide. For the closer trip I am thinking Reserva Toh and/or Puerto Morelos. Of course other suggestions are very welcome. I am wondering which location I would benefit from using a local guide the most, and which guides you recommend. Also, what are these places like? Easy to navigate? Trail quality? Bird activity? Any information is useful for me. If there are any places that are especially good for herons, ibis, spoonbills, etc I'd love to hear of it. I'd also like to know if you would recommend Coba or Muyil. And is Reserva Toh even open? I can't find much information about it.

Feel free to answer any of the questions I have and add any tips for me! Thanks!

 

[Maroon Jay]

At any of the ruins, check around the edge of the site, near the forest. Most tourists stay near the pyramids and ruins. I have found lots of birds at the edges of the sites.

 

[THE_FERN]

Do you have latitude to go to Cozumel? I'd recommend that

 

[Jos Stratford]

Do you have latitude to go to Cozumel? I'd recommend that

👍
Nice trip for family too, cool boat trip and beaches for them if required, birding very close by for you

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Yucatan is a pretty easy place for birding. If you can find any area of trees/ forest near you then you should get a lot of good birds, including some endemics. I'd also recommend going to Cozumel if you can, even for a day trip. Really lovely birding and very varied with some nice endemics.

Coba was good. There are some approachable Ocellated Turkeys around and nice forest. There's also the lake, which has waterbirds and can be good for rails.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

I'd definitely recommend Coba.

And a non-birding tip: If you rent a car, splurge for the full insurance coverage (he said, speaking from experience).

 

[YuShan]

Coba was great (especially because it is also nice for non-birding family). Not just the archaeological site but also the lake nearby is good birding. Chichen Itza also great birding and spectacular pyramid. I saw many birds in Felipe Carrillo Puerto but there may not be much to do for family. I loved Celestún too for birding. Perhaps an option if family likes the beach.

 

[THE_FERN]

Obviously incomplete, but with stuff about Cozumel

Yucatán - BirdForum Opus

www.birdforum.net

 

[Julian H]

Staying in Cancun, your trips will be limited to areas close to there such as the Botanical Gardens and Reserva Toh, both of which I heard are good, but I have not visited.

I have done two Nov trips, both detailed with images and ebird checklists below:

Mexico-November 2017

This won’t be a great piece of literary birding prose, but just a few notes and pix of a recent trip to Mexico for a Thanksgiving break. Ingrid and I wanted to escape the northeastern cold and so …

naturescapeimages.wordpress.com

Mexico, 24th November – 1st December 2019

Being kid-free at Thanksgiving 2019, we returned to Mexico for a week of rest and relaxation birding. Work had been hectic for both of us and with fond memories of our last trip to Tulum in 2017, w…

naturescapeimages.wordpress.com

If you spend a day, going to Coba, I highly recommend doing the road that runs west from the town of Francisco Uh Mah, south of Coba. Not sure what has happened since I went but it was amazing and gets you into great habitat. Be there at sunrise or before it gets light for Yucatan Poor will. Coba gets busy with tourists from the cruise boats that day trip from Cancun so you will find it busy with tourists late morning.

Muyil and the areas around the ruins are really birdy and I would recommend that.

Tulum ruins are the easiest place to get Orange Oriole. Most place need to be done early morning so you'll have to pick and choose the places you visit.

I never hired a guide but research birds and calls and do it myself. Trails and birding are easy. The Yucatan is really birdy and fantastic place.

One scam to be aware of if you rent a car.

If you hand the petrol attendant 500 pesos note, he can deftly switch it and show you a 50 pesos note and say you only gave him 50. In the early morning, when you are tired you might fall for this...this happened to me, but I had taken a cell phone pic of the cash before I handed it to him. Just watch for that one!

 

[lgonz1008]

I did a weekend trip in July with my family a couple of years back, like everyone else says, Coba is a great site with the forest trails in the nearby town providing my largest checklist of the trip that didn't involve water birds.

If you only have a couple of days/mornings, then Coba and Reserva Toh will do you good and they are close to Cancun, if you are fine with the long drive time, then Rio Lagartos is realistic like how I did it (just expect to depart at 4AM and get back by 8PM): Birding the Yucatan Peninsula in July, 2021 (4th of July Weekend)

 

[Yayyywork]

I'd definitely recommend Coba.

And a non-birding tip: If you rent a car, splurge for the full insurance coverage (he said, speaking from experience).

Can you provide some more details? Planning to rent a car for a portion of an upcoming trip to the Yucatan

 

[w.travis]

I'm going on a vacation to Cancun with my mostly non-birding family in November. I only have so much sway over the family so I can't do any trips that are too far out from Cancun. This unfortunely excludes Rio Lagartos from my itinerary. I'd like to do one or two trips close by and one big one further out (I'm thinking Coba or Muyil). I'd also like to book one of my trips with a local birding guide. For the closer trip I am thinking Reserva Toh and/or Puerto Morelos. Of course other suggestions are very welcome. I am wondering which location I would benefit from using a local guide the most, and which guides you recommend. Also, what are these places like? Easy to navigate? Trail quality? Bird activity? Any information is useful for me. If there are any places that are especially good for herons, ibis, spoonbills, etc I'd love to hear of it. I'd also like to know if you would recommend Coba or Muyil. And is Reserva Toh even open? I can't find much information about it.

Feel free to answer any of the questions I have and add any tips for me! Thanks!

Any of the ruins are good. Pm me if you want specifics. The only birding guide I've ever hired was this guy. Absolutely amazing day. Can't recommend enough. My wife who isn't really even a birder went and had a great time.

BIRDING with STEVEN

Wonderful bird-watching tours. The Yucatan Península has around 550 bird species registered. That is more than 50% of all bird species of Mexico. 14 of them are endemic. We will be birding in different habitats like archeological sites, natural parks, mangroves, jungle and local villages.

www.birdingwithsteven.com

 

[w.travis]

Just looked at my trip report with Steven. Over 80 species and many I never saw around the ruins or resorts.