. Our staff travel agents can book your air travel for this tour. Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information.
HONDURAS
Tour for the endemic Honduran Emerald plus arid Pacific-slope, Central Highland, and Caribbean lowland coverage; remarkable topography, history, culture, and a trip list of nearly 300 species!
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| 2009 March 7-15 with Jesse Fagan & Rose Ann Rowlett |
2010 March 6-14 |
from Tegucigalpa. Limit: 14
Accommodations from comfortably rustic to a five-star ecolodge; moderate to strenuous terrain with a good deal of walking; cool in the highlands to hot and humid in lowlands. Our staff travel agents can book your air travel for this tour. Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information. This tour may be combined with our GUATEMALA: SHADE-GROWN BIRDING trip.
See our triplist for 2008
The second-largest country in Central America, Honduras boasts over 720 species of birds, including the endemic Honduran Emerald. We’ll begin in the Central American highlands at La Tigra National Park above the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The cloud forest and surrounding fincas are a great location for many northern Central American endemics including Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge, Green-breasted Mountain-gem (a near endemic), Bushy-crested Jay, Rufous-browed Wren, and Blue-and-white Mockingbird. The birding is fun and relaxing as we continue looking for other near endemics and highland specialties like White-breasted Hawk (the chionogaster race of Sharp-shinned believed by many to be a separate species), White-faced Quail-Dove, Sparkling-tailed and Wine-throated hummingbirds, Scaled Antpitta, and Slate-colored Solitaire. Just a short drive away, we’ll visit arid thorn forest for several Pacific-slope specialties—Orange-fronted Parakeet, White-throated Magpie-Jay, White-lored Gnatcatcher, and Lesser Ground-Cuckoo.
From the highlands we’ll head north crossing the Continental Divide, sampling the extensive pine-savannah near Zambrano, before stopping at Lake Yojoa, the wettest spot in the country. Surrounded by spectacular peaks and two national parks, this large lake with bordering wetlands is ideal for locating rare crakes, Spotted Rail, and Masked Duck. A visit to nearby Cerro Azul-Meambar National Park and the Embalse de Yure will give us opportunities for Rufous-breasted Spinetail, Prevost’s Ground Sparrow, and our first chance at the elusive Keel-billed Motmot.
The tour continues along the North Coast in the bustling and colorful Caribbean town of Tela. We’ll visit coastal mangroves and a Garifuna village for live music, as well as the Lancetilla Botanical Gardens. A sampling of Caribbean lowland birds found at Lancetilla includes Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Black-crowned Tityra, Cocoa Woodcreeper, and Great Antshrike. Continuing east along the Caribbean coast to Pico Bonito National Park, we’ll see the Cordillera Nombre de Dios rise up spectacularly on our right. This range has experienced little ornithological coverage and many areas have not been surveyed. We’ll stay at the world-class Pico Bonito Lodge where quality tropical rainforest is found just beyond the pool. A few noteworthy species we could see on the lodge’s property include Sunbittern, Tawny-faced Quail, Black-crested Coquette, Keel-billed and Tody motmots, the very rare Gray-headed Piprites, and Lovely Cotinga. In the evening, we’ll look for Vermiculated Screech-Owl, Mottled Owl, and, if we’re lucky, the mysterious Crested Owl. Our final day will find us in the arid Aguan Valley, in the rainshadow of the North Coast mountains, enjoying scope-filling views of the Honduran Emerald!
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Contact our office by e-mail in Austin, Texas at fieldguides@fieldguides.com.
- 1+ 800-728-4953
- 1+ 512-263-7295
- 1+ 512-263-0117 (fax)
Field Guides Incorporated, 9433 Bee Cave Road, Building 1, Suite 150, Austin, TX 78733
Copyright © 2008 Field Guides Incorporated
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