November 9-18, 2025 with Micah Riegner & Jorge Montejo-Diaz
Jorge and I launched this Chiapas itinerary after the pandemic and it's been running strong since. We had an invitational group this past February, so we decided to run this advertised tour in November, knowing well that November is a great time to see hummingbirds (and other specialties!) in southern Mexico. Despite a cold front that swept through for several days and some windy days at the isthmus, we pulled off a great tour, seeing a good mix of resident and migrant species, from Pink-headed Warblers and Blue-throated Motmots up in the highlands to Giant Wrens and Rose-bellied Buntings along the coast, but certainly the highlight of the trip was our encounter with Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridges, a lifer for both guides.
Day one we convened in Tuxtla and spent the late afternoon birding our hotel grounds: White-fronted Amazons were on the move with a few Red-lored Amazons mixed in. With the cold front in the forecast, we decided to spend the next morning at Sumidero Canyon rather than visit Reserva El Ocote, which can get miserably socked in during stormy weather and boy, did we make the right decision! We had a nice overcast morning at Sumidero, not too hot, not too cold, and enjoyed great views of Red-breasted Chats, White-lored Gnatcatchers, Russet-crowned Motmots, a female Blue Seedeater, some Canivet’s Emeralds, a Plain-capped Starthroat and an Eastern Phoebe, a first record for Chiapas! Along a side trail we saw a close Collared Trogon, then Vanessa spotted us a Middle American Screech-Owl roosting deep in a vine tangle. Way to go Vanessa! At Mirador Los Chiapas, the overlook at the end of the road, we saw Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and a Fan-tailed Warbler following some army ants. We scoped some Brown Pelicans that were just specks at the bottom of the canyon. We had a buffet lunch in the picturesque town of Chiapa de Corzo, then we drove up the “hill” to San Cristobal.
With a lingering cold front, we braved some miserable weather the morning we visited Montetik, but miraculously we saw our main targets, those being Blue-and-white Mockingbird, Pink-headed Warbler, Blue-throated Motmot, Garnet-throated Hummingbird, Amethyst-throated Mountain-Gem, Unicolored Jay and, last-but-not least, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, a pair of them as a matter of fact. We had lunch at a nice plaza in San Cristobal, explored a bit around town, then we met up with Valente, a local guide, and went to the site for Belted Flycatcher. The birds were around, but we had a darn tough time getting them into view—some of us got some glimpses of these truly skulky flycatchers as they zipped from bush to bush. As it got dark, we returned to Montetik where we pulled up a close Bearded Screech-Owl singing at the edge of the road.
The next day we dropped considerably in elevation to Reserva El Ocote where we enjoyed the first blue skies in days and my best ever views of Nava’s Wren. The thing just sat out for ages on its limestone pinnacle! Other birds that morning included Spot-breasted Wren, Green Shrike-Vireo in a Cecropia, White-winged Tanager, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, tons of Black-faced Grosbeaks, several White-crowned Parrots, and a White-browed Gnatcatcher, a species new for the tour. We did lunch in Ocozocuautla, then we drove to the town of Arriaga. On our way down, we picked up our first Rose-bellied Bunting—always a crowd pleaser.
We birded again above Arriaga the following morning finding several more Rose-bellied Buntings, Citreoline Trogon, Orange-breasted Buntings, and some Cinnamon-tailed Sparrows, despite some howling winds. In the afternoon we drove toward Cabeza del Torro along the coast, where we saw numerous waterbirds and a Pacific Screech-Owl, right at dusk.
El Castaño, where we normally do our mangrove canoe trip, was closed, so we birded on the road to Paredon, where we connected with the most important coastal specialties: Giant Wren, White-bellied Chachalaca, and Spot-breasted Oriole. It was neat to watch some Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures eating palm fruits. We then checked out some mangroves near Puerto Arista and pulled out a Mangrove Cuckoo, Common Yellowthroats, Northern Waterthrush and several overwintering Northern Parulas. At our lunch spot, we saw more Giant Wrens, a close Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and a female Painted Bunting before continuing on to Mapastepec where we saw Yellow-naped Amazons, Southern Lapwings and Double-striped Thick-knees in the late afternoon. Right at dusk, Jorge spotted a Northern Potoo sitting on a fence post along the road.
One of my favorite mornings of the tour is the morning we visit El Paval in the foothills of Reserva El Triunfo. As we were heading out of town, Jorge, the driver, noticed the tire pressure light on, so he stopped to check it out and, sure enough, we had a flat. Thankfully, we were pulled over right where 3 taxis were already lined up, so we hired them to take us to where we needed to go while Jorge worked on the tire. At El Paval we saw both White-faced and Gray-crowned Ground Sparrows (used to be called White-eared Ground Sparrow), Tody and Lesson’s Motmots, Long-tailed Manakins, Chestnut-capped Warblers, Vaux’s Swifts, Streak-headed Woodcreepers and a cooperative Fan-tailed Warbler strutting around on the ground. By the time we returned to the trailhead, Jorge was there to pick us up, having fixed the flat tire. We had lunch back at the hotel, then we drove to Union Juarez making a mandatory ice cream stop in Tapachula. While we were enjoying our ice cream, I noticed the tire was still leaking, so we drove to the nearest Vulcanizadora to get it fixed again. The kids there kept us entertained while the father worked on the tire. By the time we reached Union Juarez, it was getting dark, so we went straight to our hotel to get checked in.
Our first morning at Volcan Tacana, we birded the road that leads up to Chiquihuites where we saw Rufous Sabrewings, Emerald-chinned, Sparkling-tailed and Blue-tailed Hummers, Elegant Euphonias and a super close Rufous-browed Wren. We came back to the same road in the late afternoon to see one of the more range-restricted birds of the tour: Azure-rumped Tanager. It took some effort, but before dark, we found a small flock of them feeding on fruits along the road.
Jorge and I had a surprise in store for the final morning at Tacana. Several weeks prior to the tour, Toledo, a local guide in Chiquihuites, had told us of some Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridges he had been feeding and habituating near his house. We were super curious to see what this was about. He led us down a steep trail that switchbacked down the mountain and he strung a camo tarp across two trees for us to stand behind. He then dumped a coke bottle full of black beans that he had soaked overnight and started whistling. Within a few minutes a pair of Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridges scrambled down the slope and out onto the rock where he had dumped the beans. And not only that, a White-faced Quail-Dove joined them too! What an epic show, and lifer for me and Jorge! We watched them until they finished eating, and then we clambered up to the main road where we spent the rest of the morning enjoying more views of Sparkling-tailed Hummingbirds, a Northern Emerald Toucanet, another Blue Seedeater, Blue-crowned Chlorophonias, Blue-winged Warbler, Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireos, Band-backed Wrens building a nest, and a Middle American Leaftosser that Toledo alerted us to. We drove back to Union Juarez, loaded up bags, then had lunch on the main plaza before driving back down to our hotel in Tapachula. We checked into the rooms then spent the late afternoon birding the grounds where we finally caught up with Turquoise-browed Motmot, ironically, the easiest of the Chiapas motmots. We also saw several Orchard, Altamira and Baltimore Orioles, more Giant Wrens and White-bellied Chachalacas, Orange-chinned Parakeets and White-fronted Parrots.
Jorge and I would like to thank numerous people who made this tour such a success. First a shout-out goes to Caroline in our office for lining everything up for us. We’d like to thank Jorge, our trusted driver who has been driving for Field Guides for over 20 years now, and the warm and welcoming staff and local guides who took such good care of us throughout our time in southern Mexico. We’d like to thank you all for joining us and we invite you to come bird with us again—anyone for El Triunfo in 2027? Horned Guans await!
Mammals
Southern Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis)
Red-bellied Squirrel (Sciurus aureogaster)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/442230
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/elt25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Micah