OLANCHITO to CHORRERA & LIST 
HONDURAS

Region (Compass)

Lat:00^o00´S/00^o00´W ha topography msl 
Protected/registered status 
Best Time for visit (6th January, 2005)

Birding Site Guide

Olanchito was reached by bus in 2 hours from La Ceiba, a large town on the northern coast of Honduras. I planned to visit in a day trip leaving La Ceiba at 6:30am but missed the last bus back at 3pm so had to stay the night after spending the day birding. There are a few places to stay in Olanchito and it would have been better to used it as a base to get an earlier start. From the Esso station on the main street in Olanchito, I walked about 2.3km west where there was another smaller Esso station at an inverted Y-junction where the road met up with the unpaved Route 23. From here it was exactly 5km (on the right hand side) to the site where the Honduran Emerald has been seen. It is apparently difficult to see here and proved so. I had a brief glimpse of a hummingbird but nothing more. I saw none of the plant the bird is associated with, Pedelantus. This has long bare stems without leaves and hangs down from trees like dreadlocks. The next site I tried was described on the website www.mayanbirding.com. It was 17.4 from the Y-junction but the directions were complicated and I got lost, finding the site by accident. The following may be easier if travelling by public transport. Take a bus heading to La Lyma from Olanchito and get off at the village of Chorrera. It is only 17km but takes a detour via another town and took about an hour. Don't worry when you turn off the highway. The bus rejoins it further along. In Chorrera there is a concrete bus stop on the right hand side reading 'Bienvenidos a Chorrera' in big letters. From here it is 400m to a turning on the left. At this point a wire goes over the road and there is a lampost on the left and a large white sign on a gate. Walk 500m straight on this track. There is a field of clumpy grass on the right and just after this comes to a end there is a pile of metal scrap on the left followed by a couple of big trees with Pedelantus in them. This is where I saw the Honduran Emerald. The small hut with a blue wooden door (mentioned on Mayan Birding) is 500m further along on the left. The thorn forest here didn't appear to have any Pedelantus although it said there was a lot on the website. I saw 49 species in the area including 2 lifers.

 
Species seen

• Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
• Snowy Egret Egretta thula
• Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
• Wood Stork Mycteria americana Between Choluteca and Nicaraguan border
• Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
• Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
• Gray Hawk Asturina nitida
• Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
• Northern Jacana Jacana spinosa
• Red-billed Pigeon Patagioenas flavirostris
• White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
• Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
• Ruddy Ground-Dove Columbina talpacoti
• Inca Dove Columbina inca
• White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
• White-fronted Parrot ? Amazona albifrons
• Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris
• Pauraque ? Nyctidromus albicollis
• White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris
• Honduran Emerald Polyerata luciae Endemic Critically endangered
• Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
• Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus
• Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus
• Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
• Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis
• Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
• Tree Swallow ? Tachycineta bicolor
• House Wren ? Troglodytes aedon
• Tropical Mockingbird Mimus gilvus
• White-lored Gnatcatcher Polioptila albiloris
• Brown Jay Cyanocorax morio
• White-eyed Vireo ? Vireo griseus
• Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons
• Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia
• Magnolia Warbler Dendroica magnolia
• Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
• Gray-crowned Yellowthroat Geothlypis poliocephala
• Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina
• White-collared Seedeater Sporophila torqueola
• Yellow-faced Grassquit Tiaris olivacea
• Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
• Painted Bunting Passerina ciris
• Melodious Blackbird Dives dives
• Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
• Altamira Oriole Icterus gularis
• Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
• Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
• Montezuma Oropendola Gymnostinops montezuma Between Olanchito and La Ceiba
• House Sparrow Passer domesticus Introduced species

Other Fauna 
A total of -- species of mammals. 

There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles. 

Flora 

Author: Charles Hesse

www.birdingsiteguide.com