This is a provisional checklist based on one short visit in March of 1992. Many other bird species can be found in the Bacalar region, especially in migration, but this list will give you an idea of what to expect and where to expect it. Most of the scrub birds and some of the forest birds can be expected on the grounds of the Hotel. Remember to bird early in the hot tropical day!
FOR GOOD SCRUB BIRDING within walking distance of the hot simply walk south (to your left leaving the hotel) about 200 yards until you reach the Playa Centroamericana sign on your left. Turn right there, following a dirt track that leads in about 100 yards to a large orchard of lime trees. Walk around the edges of the orchard, staying close to the surrounding forest. Also, before reaching the orchard you will cross under some power lines; a path follows the lines several miles in either direction and passes through good scrub and second-growth habitat.
FOR GOOD FOREST BIRDING near the hotel, go north (right out of the hotel) for four miles until you reach the Campo Experimental Forestal on your right. A dirt track goes in toward the lake for about two miles, passing through good forest habitat. You may have to ask permission of the watchman to get into the Campo before office hours. Ask the day before or check with the hotel. For more forest birding, turn left onto a bumpy dirt track one mile before the Campo where there is a sign for a nature reserve five miles up the road. This federal reserve contains good forest, and inside the fences biologists work raising Great Curassows and Crested Guans for later release into the wild. Worth a visit! |
