February 7-15, 2025 with Chris Benesh & Alex Sundvall
Belize is a country just starting out on its ecotourism journey. Often forgotten about amongst the Central American titans like Panama or Costa Rica, Belize offers some incredible birding opportunities closer to home and some species are easier to find in this small lowland country than anywhere else in their range. This tour is short and sweet, barely a week long, and showcases two of Belize’s premier attractions for birding: Lamanai Outpost and Black Rock Lodge, with a special day trip down to the Mayan city of Caracol. We crammed a ton of birding into our time, finding nearly 300 different species of birds. When discussing our 3 favorite birds for the trip, nearly everyone had different species, which just shows the high quality of birds and experiences we got to have during our brief time here. We all more or less settled on the two highlights of our time at the Slate Creek Overlook as our number 1 and 2 birds of the trip: Incredibly close views of the massive King Vulture, and a handful of Swallow-tailed Kites acrobatically feeding and swirling over our heads. Our third favorite bird for the trip was right upon arrival, a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron above our boat as we cruised the New River to Lamanai. Despite everyone loving our time at Slate Creek, our agreed upon favorite experience of the trip was our near nightly ventures out on the New River Lagoon at Lamanai for the Spotlight Safaris.
From Chris and I and all of us at Field Guides, thank you for choosing us for your Belize adventure. It was wonderful to have such a kind and patient group that was ready for anything! Rain or shine, night or day, you were prepared and excited! We saw some amazing things, and made memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you again and we hope to see you again soon!
Day 1: After the final flights got in, and everyone went through customs, we wasted no time by getting right on the road and heading toward the Lamanai Boat Launch! It was just about an hour's drive from the airport, and there was plenty to see along the way! As soon as we left the airport there were birds. Tropical Mockingbirds were perched on the barbed wire fences, Tropical Kingbirds were flycatching, and even a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was seen! We made a brief stop at Ladyville Pond where we saw a massive Morelet’s Crocodile and a big family of Northern Jacanas. As we continued on our way, we spotted a young Snail Kite sitting on a powerline. We quickly turned around and it gave us great views! After a bit more driving, we arrived at the Lamanai boat launch where we met our local guide Eduardo and transferred our luggage from the van to the boat to make our way to the lodge. While that was happening, we were treated to lovely views of a male Black-headed Trogon sitting right out in the open! As we came to learn, these birds were surprisingly common in this area! But the first one is always so nice. From here, we got on the boat and had a 25-mile journey down the New River to our lodge. So many new birds were being seen left and right: 3 species of Parrots, 3 species of Kingfishers, Keel-billed Toucan, more Snail Kites, Bat Falcon, and 10 species of waders! Among those was everyone’s highlight for the day, an exquisite Bare-throated Tiger-Heron right above the boat in all its glory. Showing off its fine vermiculations and intricate patterning, it was truly a sight to behold and one that stuck with us the whole trip. As it turned to night, Limpkins started caterwauling from every direction and Boat-billed Herons and Lesser Nighthawks were flying all around us. What a fabulous way to kick off the tour!
Day 2: Our first full day of birding started early with a pre-breakfast outing walking around the nearby community of Indian Church. Highlights here were more fantastic looks at Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed Toucans, Masked Tityra, Lineated Woodpecker, Red-lored and White-fronted Amazons. Black-cowled and Hooded Orioles, and a sweep of the 3 Saltators. We also saw our first of many Blue-black Grassquits, Yellow-winged Tanagers, Magnolia Warblers, Yellow-throated Euphonias. Southern House and Spot-breasted Wrens, Lesser Greenlets, Social Flycatchers, Dusky-capped Flycatchers. Barred Antshrikes, Roadside Hawks, and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds. What a morning! And it was all before breakfast! This set the pace for our time at Lamanai: pre-breakfast birding, later breakfast with a full morning of birding afterwards, later lunch, a couple hour siesta during the heat of the day, and then an afternoon birding session before dinner with most nights also having an after-dinner activity. Much to do and many birds to see! Our morning activity today was to take a 2-minute boat ride up the lagoon to the namesake Mayan site of Lamanai. Lamanai means "submerged crocodile" in Mayan, and it was one of the longest occupied settlements in the region, with inhabitants as late as the 1800s. Lamanai has some incredibly well-preserved temple structures that you can climb, which a few brave group members did! The view was incredible, but our legs were definitely a little sore from the feat! There were plenty of birds around as well, with highlights like Brown-crested Flycatcher; Olivaceous, Tawny-winged, Ivory-billed, and Northern Barred-Woodcreepers; Eye-ringed Flatbill, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Gartered Trogons, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-crowned Parrots, Worm-eating Warbler, and Red-throated Ant-Tanagers. After lunch and a brief siesta, we headed out again for the afternoon walking the lodge trail to the airstrip. The two major highlights on this walk were an incredible flyover of a Gray-headed Kite and stunning views of Yucatan Flycatcher. We also had a high flyover of Magnificent Frigatebird, Scaled Pigeon, calling Blue Ground Doves, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Merlin, Gray-breasted Martins, some perched Olive-throated Parakeets, and a Stripe-throated Hermit. After dinner, we took our first spotlight safari around the New Lagoon. We had some incredible highlights, including a fairly low Yucatan Nighthawk and Northern Potoo, a rare female Great Curassow roosting high up in a tree, and a roosting American Pygmy Kingfisher right over the water's edge. On the way back to the lodge, we heard and then saw a Mottled Owl in a big tree at the edge of the lagoon. Another fantastic way to cap off a very long day!
Day 3: Our pre-breakfast walk was the same as our afternoon walk yesterday: the trail out to the airstrip. While we didn’t make it quite as far, we saw quite a few more birds due to the time of day! A few of the big highlights here were Pale-billed Woodpecker, Bright-rumped Attila, Mayan Antthrush, Long-billed Gnatwren, a Gray-headed Tanager, Northern Bentbill, and a pair of incredibly cooperative White-necked Puffbirds. After breakfast, we headed by car to some local rice fields. There were huge groups of waders and waterfowl here, with the most unique being a distant flyby of a huge Jabiru! There were also Blue-winged Teal, a quick flyby Purple Gallinule, Glossy and White Ibis, Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures, more Snail Kites, White-tailed Hawks, and a few more Fork-tailed Flycatchers. Farther up the road, Eduardo spots a distant falcon that ends up being an Aplomado Falcon! We were all able to get out of the van quickly and enjoy wonderful scope views of a perched pair. He also spotted a distant Black-collared Hawk, but unfortunately it was just van views of this rufescent broad winged raptor. Farther still along the road around some of the farms of Indian Creek Village, we happened upon a handful of Vermilion Flycatchers and both Bronzed and Giant Cowbirds. There was also a good mix of shorebirds around a small farm pond including Long-billed Dowitchers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, and Black-necked Stilts. We even had a flyby Grassland Yellow-Finch that landed right by the van! For the afternoon, we boated back to the Mayan site of Lamanai and walked some of the back trails to the entrance road, walking all the way back to the lodge. It was only about 1.5 miles, but after all the walking we’d been doing the past couple days it felt like a lot! We did have lots of great birds at least, including Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Swainson’s and Blue-winged Warblers, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Northern Plain-Xenops (of the recently split Plain Xenops complex), Smoky-brown Woodpecker, and a gorgeous adult male Northern Harrier! After a few long days, we decided against doing an after dinner activity today and had an early(ish) night.
Day 4: Our final full birding day at Lamanai, we headed out again pre-breakfast by boat towards the savanna. The drier habitat here had a host of new birds for us. Walking around the savanna was incredibly scenic with tall grasses and sparse tall trees. Highlights here were Gray-crowned Yellowthroats, a singing Yellow-backed Oriole, the local breeding population of both Grasshopper and Botteri’s Sparrow, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray and White-browed Gnatcatchers, Rufous-browed Peppershrikes, Yellow-headed and Yellow-lored Amazons, Yucatan and Acorn Woodpeckers, Azure-crowned Hummingbird, Plain-breasted Ground Doves, and we even flushed a couple coveys of Black-throated Bobwhites! Many of these birds we never had again, so this early morning venture was crucial! After breakfast we headed back to the Mayan site of Lamanai where we played cleanup for any of the possible birds we had missed so far. One of the birds we had only heard briefly so far and not seen was Northern Schiffornis, and with a little bit of patience we absolutely nailed it! Another two birds we really nailed down on this final morning at Lamanai were Black-headed Shrike-Tanager and Golden-olive Woodpecker. We were also in the presence of a couple Tropical Royal Flycatchers, unfortunately they never landed long to really get incredible looks at. For the afternoon, we did our most difficult activity yet: the sunset cocktail cruise. Lounging under the covered boat we were served drinks as we birded the New Lagoon. Again, just cleaning up on a few birds we were missing, we heard a distant Thicket Tinamou, saw a pair of Jabirus making new ones and building a nest, and had fantastic looks at an adorable White-throated Flycatcher! For our final evening at Lamanai, we decided to take another spotlight safari to a different arm of the lagoon to try our luck with adding some new species. The first new one we added were a pair of Russet-naped Wood-Rails roosting up in a tree. Soon after, Eduardo spotted a Sungrebe! These weird birds are finfoots, and one of only 3 species in the entire world, and the only member in the New World. They are incredibly prehistoric, with the male having pouches to carry the young under his wings, and can even fly off with them! Almost like a bird marsupial. We also heard a distant Middle American Screech-Owl and Mottled Owl calling. A fantastic way to end our final evening at Lamanai!
Day 5: Even though today was a travel day to Black Rock Lodge, that was only after lunch! We still had a whole morning of birding! We took a break for pre-breakfast to allow folks to pack and sleep a little longer, and then after breakfast headed by boat towards Irish Creek to cruise this arm of the New Lagoon. This ended up being our best morning of birding for the entire tour, with 85 species by the end of the checklist! Some of the major highlights among the new birds for the trip were Crested Guans, a perched Great Black Hawk, even better views of Yucatan Woodpecker, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker, Black Catbirds, Gray-throated Chat, Prothonotary Warbler, and absolutely incredible views of Scaled Pigeon. Eduardo said that it was by far his best view of the species. A fitting way to end our time in this magical slice of Belize. After lunch, we said farewell to Lamanai and boarded our small charter plane to Black Rock Lodge. Once we landed, we were picked up by our new local guide Isaías and taken by bus to Black Rock, nestled in some protected foothills rainforest. We settled into our rooms and did a little pre-dinner birding on the balcony overlooking the Macal River. The difference in birdlife was immediately noticeable with a pair of White-necked Jacobins protecting one of the feeders from every other hummingbird coming around. There were both Long-billed and Stripe-throated Hermits buzzing around the flowers, a Northern Tropical Pewee flycatching under us, and a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron patrolling the river.
Day 6: Just like at Lamanai, we met pre-breakfast for some birding around the lodge grounds. Collared Aracaris, Yellow-winged Tanagers, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, and even a Russet-naped Wood-Rail were visiting the feeders. A pair of Amazon Kingfishers flew around the river joined by Mangrove and the local cave-swelling subspecies of Northern Rough-winged Swallows. From up on the balcony, we spotted a Rufous-capped Warbler, a rarity for the area (they’re more in the high elevation pine forests, not down in the valleys). After breakfast, we took a longer walk down the trails towards Vaca falls. As the day was heating up, we did quite well with raptors seeing Black Hawk-Eagle, Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Double-toothed Kite, King Vultures, and another Great Black Hawk! After a near miss yesterday, we also got everyone caught up with White-collared Manakin with a lovely male perching for good views. We also had a ridiculously cooperative White-necked Puffbird, perching just above the trail over our heads! After lunch and a brief siesta, we were told a surprise was waiting for us. Isaías’s son Jeffrey found a roosting Mottled Owl in a citrus tree! We got absolutely stunning views of this good-sized neotropical owl. From here, we headed by van to bird the entrance road hoping to target a few new birds for the list. We were ultimately unsuccessful in getting our targets, but we did get Indigo Buntings, more White-browed Gnatcatchers, another great view of Yucatan Flycatcher, and a Yellow-bellied Elaenia.
Day 7: Today was our first of two long full days of birding: early breakfast with a picnic lunch to spend the full day out in the field. The goal today was to bird the more highland dry pine forests of the Mountain Pine Ridge. Our first stop on the way was in the lowlands still however, where we finally got views of Mangrove Vireo, Blue Bunting, and Blue Grosbeak, and we heard Cabanis’s Wren! The main stop of the morning however was up in the highlands at the Slate Creek Lookout. This incredible overlook is prime for watching raptors, and it certainly delivered! As soon as we arrived, a trio of Swallow-tailed Kites were dancing overhead catching bugs and playing in the thermals. They are truly some of the most elegant birds in the world. The next new bird to come soaring over was a migrating Broad-winged Hawk! A Pheasant Cuckoo briefly wailed below us and a Green Shrike-Vireo called in response, almost Titmouse like. A huge group of large White-collared Swifts began to fly through, some coming right overhead. As the vultures began to swirl in the thermals, we quickly noticed a pair of giants among them. While one bird split off from the group, the other King Vulture eventually flew right towards us and soared right over our heads, giving us some of the best views we could have asked for. The other raptor highlights stayed distant, but we still got great views of Black Hawk-Eagle, Double-toothed Kite, and a couple pairs of White Hawks! We even got to watch copulation and nest building occur for the latter! On our way walking back to the van, we also saw a Grace’s Warbler, one of the denizens of the mountain pine forest. Before we stopped for our picnic lunch, we took a quick detour down a side road to try for some of the other pine forest specialties. And we absolutely cleaned house! A striking Golden-hooded Tanager at eye level, the liver colored Hepatic Tanager up in a tree for scope views, the Central American Plumbeous Vireo (sometimes split off as its own species, rightly so, and called Gray-headed Vireo), a noisy flock of Black-headed Siskins drinking water from a puddle in the road, and another Grace’s Warbler were all seen in just a short amount of time. After lunch, we went a little higher into the mountains to try for Rusty Sparrow, but they just didn’t want to play. As we came back down from the mountains in the afternoon, we stopped at one of Isaías’s friend's houses that had a nice spread of fruit. While not many birds were visiting in the late afternoon hour, we did get our first views of Green Jays! These Jays in the Yucatan area are sometimes split from the other populations as a separate species (Mayan Jay) and have noticeably yellower bellies and bright yellow eyes compared to their cousins you might have seen in south Texas.
Day 8: Today was our final day of birding, so we didn’t want to waste it! We planned for an even longer day than yesterday, going all the way down to the Mayan city-state of Caracol for the full day. When we got into the reserve, we stopped quickly on the side of the road and were instantly surrounded by the sounds of birds. A pair of Crested Guans perched just off the road for great scope views of these massive birds, a Fawn-throated Foliage-gleaner called in the overgrown ditch, briefly being seen, a pair of Cinnamon Becards were seen well way at the top of a tree, Orange-billed Sparrows and Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers called just out of sight, and our first pair of Mealy Amazons flew over. Now for the main attraction for the day, the massive city-state of Caracol. This city once housed over 100,000 people and stretched all the way into Guatemala. The temples they have uncovered are massive and still fairly well preserved. Some of the wells in the city still hold water even to this day! And the birding there is spectacular! This was the first and only place we saw so many incredible species of birds. We had all three possible Belizean Motmots: Lesson’s, Tody, and the very range restricted Keel-billed Motmot! We also got incredible views of both male and female Slaty-tailed Trogons! While we were watching the Keel-billed Motmot, a Slaty-breasted Tinamou was giving its whistled wails somewhere around us. Right at the start of the trail, a group of Dot-winged Antwrens foraged above us. And possibly the bird of the day, a Russet Antshrike just sat right above our heads. This species is constantly on the move, and rarely sits still even for a second. But this one just sat and stared at us. Only 3 videos exist of the species on the Macaulay Library, and all are short snippets because they are always moving, but Isaías was able to get over a minute of footage. After our morning of birding and a late picnic lunch in the park, we headed back towards Black Rock, first taking another detour down a different side road where we finally got a Rusty Sparrow, mostly heard except for the lucky few of us that got brief glimpses as it came out of the dense thickets. We also had an incredible encounter with a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl! A nice way to end our final day of birding together in Belize.
Day 9: While this was primarily a travel day, I would be remiss to not add the incredible experience of a Ruddy Quail-Dove under the feeders at the lodge. This is a normally very secretive species, so having one at a feeder is pretty ridiculous. We just missed it the first time at the feeders, but today right before we left one came out for a few minutes to our delight! Then it was a long drive to the airport and where our paths diverged!
Mammals:
Proboscis Bat (Rhynconycteris naso)
Yucatan Black Howler Monkey (Alouatta pigra)
Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)
Yucatan Squirrel (Sciurus yucatanensis)
Deppe's Squirrel (Sciurus deppei)
Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine (Coendou mexicanus)
Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata)
White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica)
Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu)
Reptiles
Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)
Black Spiny-tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura similis)
Brown Basilisk (Basiliscus vittatus)
Mexican Parrot Snake (Leptophis mexicanus)
Variable Coral Snake (Micrurus diastema)
Morelet's Crocodile (Crocodylus moreleti)
Cane Toad (Rhinella marina)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/340549
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/bze25aTRIPLIST.pdf
-- Chris and Alex