March 8-19, 2025 with Dan Lane & Chris Benesh
The 2025 Oaxaca’s Pacific & Atlantic Slopes tour began with a morning meetup to bird the grounds of the Mision de los Angeles Hotel in Oaxaca City. Among the highlights were a Blue Mockingbird, Painted Bunting, Dusky and Berylline hummingbirds, and White-throated Towhee. We then began our journey down the Pacific slope. A comfort stop at Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz yielded three Gray-breasted Martins. Around midday we reached the Cabanas Puesta del Sol, our home for the next two nights. Our afternoon birding here was shrouded in fog, but still productive with some 17 species. In the afternoon we headed to the Cabana Mora side road near San Jose del Pacifico. There was a nice mix of warblers here (including Crescent-chested, Golden-browed, and Red), and a couple of Red-headed Tanagers. We had both Chestnut-capped and Rufous-capped brushfinches here. as well.
The following morning, we began birding near our lodging, followed by a visit to the “jay track”, a wonderful side road where we had a remarkable encounter with the rare White-throated Jay. There were quite a few other highlights here, including a wonderful male Bumblebee Hummingbird, Mountain Trogon, a young Black Thrush, and others. This was followed with an afternoon visit to another side road. That evening we worked on seeing a Mexican Whip-Poor-Will at our lodging.
Our third morning began with more birding at our lodging, then packing up and heading south along Highway 175, stopping at km 158 for an extended birding stop. Here we had several hummingbirds, including Amethyst-throated Mountain-gem, Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo, Brown-backed Solitaire, Orange-billed and Russet nightingale-thrushes, White-throated Thrush, and more. Then we made a short stop at Finca de Cafe for the Wagler’s form of Northern Emerald-Toucanet. Then we were off to the Pluma Hidalgo Road for an extended birding stop. After lunch we birded along a beautiful side road at La Soledad. Perhaps our most exciting find here was a responsive Ruddy Foliage-gleaner. Continuing down the Pacific slope we passed miles and miles of wonderful habitat. We stopped in at a site near Hagia Sofia where we connected with several new species including Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Yellow-winged Cacique, and some wonderful orioles. From there it was on to our hotel in Huatulco.
The next day was our pelagic trip out in the offshore waters of the Pacific. There was a nice mix of species seen, including a young Red-billed Tropicbird, Black Storm-Petrel, Pink-footed, Wedge-tailed, Galapagos, and Black-vented shearwaters, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Cocos and Blue-footed boobies, and Pomarine Jaeger. The marine mammals were also spectacular, with three different species of dolphins and a brief sighting of Bryde’s Whale. Mating Olive Ridley Sea Turtles were an amazing sight. Later that afternoon we visited Huatulco National Park. Some of the goodies here included Cinnamon Hummingbird, Citreoline Trogon, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Russet-naped Wren, and the long-crested form of Northern Cardinal. Once the sun set, we turned our focus to nightbirds. We had a calling Pauraque, a Northern Potoo, and super Mottled Owl. We also checked another nearby site and connected with Pacific Screech-Owl (subspecies lambi).
Day 5 began with some birding along the Sector E Trail. Some of the highlights included Turquoise-crowned Hummingbird, Citreoline Trogon, Russet-crowned Motmot, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Lilac-crowned and White-fronted amazons, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, various flycatchers, White-throated Magpie-Jays, White-lored Gnatcatchers, Russet-naped Wrens, and eye-popping views of Red-breasted Chat and Orange-breasted Bunting. Next was the Cacaluta boardwalk, where we had a fabulous Lesser Ground-Cuckoo experience, a wonderful Flammulated Flycatcher, and a viewable Colima Pygmy-Owl. Then it was time for us to travel eastward toward Tehuantepec. We checked the Salinas de Playa Colorada in the mid-day sun. But there was a nice mix of coastal species. Further on we stopped at Playa Santa Maria Xandani, with several species of plovers including Collared, and American Golden. A handsome Franklin’s Gull was mixed in with Laughing, and there was a nice flock of Black Skimmers. A few herons, a mini flight of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and a Stripe-headed Sparrow rounded things out. The afternoon was capped with a sighting of Double-striped Thick-knee.
The next morning featured some really special localized species. We headed to Ojos de Agua to spend some time viewing a waterhole and surrounding thorn scrub. The star of the morning was Rose-bellied Bunting (affectionately known as Rosita’s Bunting), a large Passerina bunting that dwarfed the nearby Orange-breasted Buntings. Cinnamon-tailed Sparrows also showed well here, and we managed to find a male Beautiful Hummingbird as well. We had flyover Zone-tailed and Short-tailed hawks, and managed to see a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl here. We found some Least Grebes nearby while birding along a canal. A quick check of Humedal La Ventosa yielded a pile of Blue-winged Teal and Black-necked Stilts. Then it was time for a long drive to make to it our next destination on the Atlantic slope. Along the drive we spotted a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture before arriving in Tuxtepec for the night.
Day 7 saw us heading to a spot known as La Joya, off of the Camino La Guadalupe. This was a fabulous site and we recorded some 83 species there in the morning. There were so many great birds, perhaps the highlight being the Sumichrast’s Wren that showed so well for us. There were four species of trogon here. Also, Lesson’s Motmot, three species of woodcreeper, Northern Plain-Xenops, a multitude of flycatchers and flycatcher allies, Black-faced Grosbeak, Red-legged Honeycreeper, and a hybrid Brewster’s Warbler. In the afternoon, we headed to some lowland marsh areas in Veracruz near Cosamaloapan. There was a nice mix of marsh birds here. Spotting a nesting Bare-throated Tiger-Heron was a treat, some Fork-tailed Flycatchers, Gray-crowned Yellowthroats, as well as the pale Fuerte’s form of Orchard Oriole. Also a huge migrating flight of Turkey Vultures high overhead.
We spent the first part of the following morning birding the San Martin Zoyolapam Road in some good Atlantic foothills habitat. Crested Guan showed well for us there. We had Tody and Lesson’s motmots here, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Fawn-throated Foliage-gleaner, a great Rusty Sparrow, and a colony of Montezuma Oropendulas. Continuing on the Highway toward Oaxaca we made a stop with Azure-hooded Jays and Slate-colored Solitaire, as well as White-naped Brushfinch and Yellow-billed Cacique. Also nearby we had Pheasant Cuckoo, Green Shrike-Vireo, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, and a Blue-crowned Chlorophonia. At our highest elevation we reached over 4700 feet.
Day 9 found us birding once again in the bird rich Atlantic lowlands. At our main morning birding site we tallied over 90 species of birds! Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Forest-Falcon, Dusky Antbird, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, and Spot-breasted Wren were just a sampling of the variety. Our next major stop was birding Camino Cerro Marin, up over 1200 feet elevation. Here we tallied some 45 species. Here we added Squirrel Cuckoo (birds here belong to Common Squirrel-Cuckoo following a recent AOS split). Then it was back to Tuxtepec for one last night.
Our final birding day found us heading back to Oaxaca City. Along the way we found Northern Emerald-Toucanet, Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, Golden-crowned Warbler, and Flame-colored Tanager. Next was Azure-hooded Jay and Unicolored Jay at subsequent stops. Getting up into the pine-oak zone brought with it a number of new species for us. Lunch at the Colibri Restaurant had Gray-barred Wren, Audubon’s Oriole, Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, and Rufous-capped Brushfinch.
This trip is the perfect complement to the Field Guides Oaxaca Valley tour for those wanting to further explore Mexico’s most biologically diverse state. Thanks to all of you for joining Dan and me on this adventure. I hope you all came away with some appreciation for what Mexico has to offer the naturalist. Wishing all of you the best in birding.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/342156
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/oac25TRIPLIST.pdf
- Chris (and Dan).