This birding tour, an extended holiday version of our standard Oaxaca tour, adds a visit to the Pacific Coast and offers excellent birding in an area of Mexico with a high concentration of endemic species. With features including a city with a rich archaeological and cultural heritage, short drives to numerous birding areas, and the possibility of seeing more than twenty Mexican endemics, it's one of our perennial favorites.

The beautiful city of Oaxaca might itself be considered old were it not for the fact that the scenic semi-arid valley in which it stands is studded with the truly ancient cities of the pre-Columbian Zapotec culture. The imposing ruins of Monte Alban, overlooking the present-day city of Oaxaca, and Yagul, in the giant cactus forest southeast of the city, are reminders that a complex and advanced civilization flourished here millennia before the arrival of European conquistadors. The present-day Zapotecs, many still clothed in colorful traditional dress, are living testimony to the concurrent existence of several different and distinctive cultures in modern Oaxaca.

Hummingbird fans! See our Hummer Slideshow plus a listing of all our best itineraries for 30, 40, even 50 or more hummingbirds on a tour.

Oaxaca is located at the crossroads of several major biogeographic regions of Mexico, and its bird life is influenced by all of these. Among the resultant mixture are two-dozen species endemic to Mexico, including West Mexican Chachalaca, Boucard's and Gray-barred wrens, Dusky and Beautiful hummingbirds, Bridled and Oaxaca sparrows, Gray-breasted Woodpecker, Russet Nightingale-Thrush, Red Warbler, and Slaty and Dwarf vireos. We'll look to see them against Oaxaca's rich backdrop of culture and ruins.

Our itinerary will conclude with a few additional days in the Puerto Escondido area along the Pacific Coast for a different avifauna, with the possibility of Mexican specialties including Red-breasted Chat, Orange-breasted Bunting, Citreoline Trogon, Yellow-winged Cacique, and White-throated Magpie-Jay on the coast and in the mountains the endemic Blue-capped Hummingbird and "Wagler's" Toucanet, as well as Ruddy Foliage-gleaner and Gray-collared Becard.

Download an itinerary, triplist(s), request space, and see more about this tour...