A Birding Tour
in
northern & eastern
Honduras

February 18-28, 2006

(tour: FON/HN-1, '06)

Itinerary & price follows.

A tour with some remote, wild areas, filled with birds, 
but not often birded.
(Birding, as it were, in a tropical frontier)
  

   Honduras, the second-largest country in Central America, is a land of mountains and forests, of beaches and coral, of mangroves and wilderness.
    It has a veritable cornucopia of habitats, with a pristine quality to much of the environment.
    It is the most mountainous of Central American countries. It has the largest extent of remaining forest in Central America, about 40 per cent of the land area. Tropical rain forest covers the lowlands of the Caribbean side.
    Honduras has more beaches than any other Central American country, with over 500 miles of coastline, much of it laden with mangroves. Caribbean coast beaches have white sand. On along the Pacific, black sand.   
    A number of natural habitats will be visited during this birding tour. 
Just over 700 species of birds have been recorded in Honduras (probably more occur). 
    Among the 700-plus: Harpy Eagle, Jabiru, Scarlet Macaw and various parrots, toucans and trogons, motmots and manakins.
    Honduras is largely undiscovered probably because it is widely misunderstood. You may wish to visit Honduras so as to visit a fine "natural destination" to which few people have been.
    

Itinerary  (price follows):

Sat. Feb 18   Arrival San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Transfer to hotel. Overnight in San Pedro Sula.

Sun. Feb 19  Travel, just over an hour, to Tela, a town on the Caribbean coast. In the afternoon, a visit to the nearby Los Micos Lagoon, separated from the sea by narrow tongue of sand. The lagoon is surrounded by mangroves.  In the area there are many canals and cays, with a nice assortment of plant-life and birds, including Boat-billed and possibly Agami Herons, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis and other waterbirds. We've seen Jabiru in this area in the past. Again, we’ll explore the region, seeing the birds, in the mangroves and lagoons and along the canals, by boat. Nearby, at dusk, we'll do some birding where during our last tour we found Yucatan Nightjar (a rarity in Honduras, only found to be in the country as recently as 1990). 
Overnight in Tela.

Along the Caribbean coast (a place called Miami).

Mon. Feb 20  Early in the morning we’ll visit the Lancetilla Gardens, founded over 70 years ago as an experimental botanical site. In these gardens, in which there are various hardwoods, flowering plants, and tropical fruit trees, there are many birds, including: becards, attilas, tityras, and maybe a cotinga. Also an assortment of hummingbirds such as the Purple-crowned-Fairy, along with numerous toucans, trogons, tanagers, honeycreepers, euphonias, motmots, parrots, wrens, flycatchers, and antbirds. We'll have a full day of birding in this bird-rich area, that's been the site of the one annual Audubon bird count in Honduras, chosen of course to be there for a good reason. 
Overnight again in Tela.

Tue. Feb 21   After some good morning bird, travel east, again just over an hour, to the area of the Pico Bonito National Park, where the good birding will continue. There will be a visit to the Zacate Waterfalls, where if the timing is right, we should see White-collared Swifts. Other birds in the area could include Sunbittern, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, and Buff-rumped Warbler. We'll overnight, near Ceiba, in fine facilities and a fine birding environment.

Keel-billed Toucan

Wed. Feb 22  Most of the day, this day, there will be birding and exploration in the area of Pico Bonito National Park. At the edge of the park, we'll bird among coffee and cacao plantations, and in the adjacent forest. These habitats, needless to say, will provide some great  birding. Among the many birds, species would include numerous hummingbirds, trogons, motmots, flycatchers, and tanagers. Among the motmots, could be two especially nice to see: the Tody and the Keel-billed. In the late -afternoon, travel by road to Olanchito. Overnight accommodations there will be more modest, but we'll be near some prime birding.

Thu. Feb 23    Birding this day in the Upper Aguan Valley, a dry area, with tall prickly pear, organpipe cacti, and thorn forest. In the last of these, our prime avian target, a hummingbird called the Honduran Emerald. Of the 700-plus species of birds that have been recorded in Honduras, there's only one endemic. It's the Honduran Emerald, a rarity considered critically threatened by Birdlife International. It was known from 11 specimens taken prior to 1950 and was not seen again until 1988. Now it's known to be in the Upper Aguan Valley, as are isolated subspecies of the White-bellied Wren and Green-backed Sparrow. Other birds in the area include: Thicket Tinamou, Double-striped Thick-knee, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, Lesser Roadrunner, and White-lored Gnatcatcher. 
Overnight again in Olanchito.

Fri. Feb 24   Starting this day, a venture to one of the wildest, most remote areas there is, with pristine birding. We'll be going to La Moskitia, the largest wilderness in Central America. The vast area has exciting wildlife such as jaguars, anteaters, tapirs, peccaries, manatees, and crocodiles, and birds of the wilderness such as Harpy and Crested Eagles, and Scarlet and Great Green Macaws. (A listing of the exciting bird possibilities in the La Moskitia area follows, at the end of this itinerary.) People that live in the area are the indigenous Miskitos, isolated, with their own culture and language (the Spanish language in their part of Honduras is a distant second). We'll be going to the Rio Plantano Biosphere Reserve, a large protected area, established as a United Nations World Heritage Site in 1982. We'll travel by plane from Le Ceiba to Palacios (at the edge of the reserve), and will venture into the reserve by boat (there are no roads). We'll return on a flight to Le Ceiba on Mon. Feb 27.

The following morning, on Tue. Feb 28, we'll fly in the morning to the international airport at San Pedro Sula for departure home from Honduras.

Price: US$ 2,025 per person, based upon double occupancy:

Single supplement: $185 (may not be applicable in La Moskitia)

Price includes:

"Focus on Nature Tours" can arrange air travel, seeking the best possible air fare.

A deposit of US$ 400, per person, will assure a place on the tour.

SOME BIRDS IN THE WILDERNESS AREA OF "LA MOSKITIA"
in the area of the Rio Plantano Reserve

Codes:

(F: in flooded an primary forest)
(LM: in the area of the community of Las Marias)
(PC: from Palacios east along the coast)
(PS: in pine savannah habitat)
(R: along the river, the Rio Plantano)
(UP: upriver from Las Marias)

Note: At least 40 species of primarily South American birds reach their northern limit in La Moskitia. Some, such as the Ocellated Poorwill and Bronzy Hermit, have just recently been discovered there.

Least Grebe (R)
Slaty-breasted Tinamou (F)
Neotropic Cormorant  (PC)
Anhinga (PC)
Magnificent Frigatebird (PC)
9 species of herons (R)
Tricolored Heron (PC)
Agami Heron (F,UP)
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (PC)
Boat-billed Heron (F)
Rufescent Tiger-Heron (F)
Green Ibis (R)
White Ibis (PC)
Wood Stork (PC,R)
Jabiru (PC)
Muscovy Duck (PC)
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (PS)
King Vulture (R)
Osprey (R)
Gray-headed Kite (F)
Plumbeous Kite (R)
Bicolored Hawk (UP)
Black-collared Hawk (R)
Semiplumbeous Hawk (UP)
White Hawk (F)
Common Black Hawk (PC)
Black Hawk-Eagle (LM)
Ornate Hawk-Eagle (UP)
Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle (UP)
Crested Eagle (UP)
Harpy Eagle (UP)
American Kestrel (PS)
Bat Falcon (R)
Gray-headed Chachalaca (LM)
Crested Guan (LM,UP)
Great Curassow (LM)
Tawny-faced Quail (LM)
Gray-necked Wood-Rail (R)
White-throated Crake (R)
Purple Gallinule (PC)
Sungrebe (R)
Sunbittern (UP)
Limpkin (PC)
Collared Plover (R)
Scaled Pigeon (LM)
Pale-vented Pigeon (F)
Short-billed Pigeon (F,LM)
Gray-fronted Dove (LM)
Blue Ground-Dove (F)
Ruddy Quail-Dove (F)
Scarlet Macaw (LM,UP)
Great Green Macaw (LM,UP)
Brown-hooded Parrot (LM)
White-crowned Parrot (F) 
Red-lored Parrot (PC)
Yellow-naped Parrot (PC)
Mealy Parrot (F)
Mangrove Cuckoo (PC)
Black-and-White Owl (LM)
Vermiculated Screech-Owl (PC)
Stygian Owl (PS)
Common Nighthawk (PS)
Pauraque (PC)
Ocellated Poorwill (UP)
Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift (UP) 
Band-tailed Barbthroat (F)
Bronzy Hermit (LM,UP)
White-necked Jacobin (R)
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (R,UP)
Green-breasted Mango (PC,R)
Violet-crowned Woodnymph (R)
Violet Sabrewing (R)
Violet-headed Hummingbird (UP)
Cinnamon Hummingbird (PC)
Blue-throated Goldentail (LM)
Snowcap (UP)
Long-billed Starthroat (LM)
Ringed Kingfisher (PC)
Green-and-rufous Kingfisher (F)
Black-headed Trogon (PC)
Black-throated Trogon (LM)
White-fronted Nunbird (LM,UP)
White-whiskered Puffbird (LM)
White-necked Puffbird (F)
Blue-crowned Motmot (LM)
Keel-billed Motmot (LM)
Broad-billed Motmot (LM,UP)
Rufous Motmot (LM,UP)
Rufous-tailed Jacamar (F,LM)
Yellow-eared Toucanet (F)
Keel-billed Toucan (LM)
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan (LM,UP)
Olivaceous Piculet (LM)
Acorn Woodpecker (PS)
Black-cheeked Woodpecker (PC)
Chestnut-colored Woodpecker (F)
Rufous-winged Woodpecker (UP)
Spectacled Foliage-gleaner (LM)
Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner (LM)
Plain Xenops (F)
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper (LM)
Cocoa (formerly Buff-throated) Woodcreeper (LM)
Ruddy Woodcreeper (LM)
Wedge-billed Woodcreeeper (LM)
Fasciated Antshrike (LM)
Barred Antshrike (PC)
Western Slaty-Antshrike (F)
Checker-throated Antwren (LM)
Dot-winged Antwren (LM)
Bare-crowned Antbird (LM)
Ocellated Antbird (LM)
Black-faced Antthrush (LM)
Thicket Antpitta (LM in thicket brush)
Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet (LM)
Common Tody-Flycatcher (LM)
Long-tailed Tyrant (LM)
Fork-tailed Flycatcher (PC,PS)
Vermilion Flycatcher (PS)
Northern Royal-Flycatcher (UP)
Gray-capped Flycatcher (LM)
White-ringed Flycatcher (R,LM)
Northern Bentbill (LM)
Rufous Mourner (LM)
Bright-rumped Attila (LM)
Black Phoebe (R)
Rufous Piha (F)
Snowy Cotinga (UP)
White-collared Manakin (F)
Thrush-like Schiffornis (LM)
Mangrove Vireo (PC)
Lesser Greenlet (F)
Mangrove Swallow (PC,R)
Eastern Bluebird (PS)
Grace's Warbler (PS)
Yellow-crowned Euphonia (UP)
Olive-backed Euphonia (F)
Tawny-crested Tanager (UP)
Northern Hepatic-Tanager (PS)
Passerini's (formerly Scarlet-rumped) Tanager (PC)
Crimson-collared Tanager (PC)
Rufous-winged Tanager (UP)
Golden-hooded Tanager (F)
Blue Dacnis (LM)
Red-legged Honeycreeper (F)
Shining Honeycreeper (UP)
Variable Seedeater (LM)
Grassland Yellow-Finch (PC) (a Moskitia speciality)
Botteri's Sparrow (PS)
Black-striped Sparrow (PC,LM)
Buff-throated Saltator (R)
Black-faced Grosbeak (LM)
Slate-colored Grosbeak (UP)
Black-cowled Oriole (PC)
Spot-breasted Oriole (PC)
Montezuma Oropendola (PC)
Scarlet-rumped Cacique (UP)
Giant Cowbird (R)
Red-winged Blackbird (PC,R)
Red Crossbill (PS)

List based on information in the fine new book, "Birding Honduras, A Checklist & Guide", by Mark Bonta and David Anderson.

To Top of Page.