EL PARAISO & LIST
MEXICO
GUERRERO (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography to 1,600m
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit (25-27th October, 2004)
Birding Site Guide
A good base to explore the sierra is Atoyac, where there are plenty of hotels and places to eat. Buses going along the coastal highway can drop you off at San Jeronimo where you can take a combi or colective taxi to Atoyac which take 10 minutes and cost N$5. We stayed at the Hotel Alameda which was N$140 for a double with TV. There may also be a place to stay in the small town of Paraiso but it is not really necessary as minibuses go along the paved road every half an hour from 06.00 and take just an hour. I got off before entering the town of Paraiso and started walking back along towards Atoyac. I found the critically endangered endemic Short-crested Coquette feeding on a tree with many pruple flowers. A Golden-crowned Emerald was also feeding on the tree and kept chasing the coquette away. Before the road goes down into the town a dirt track goes off to the left skirting the town. This is not the road mentioned in the site guide which leaves from in the town. The flowering bushes here had excellent birding in the early morning. After about 3km, the road forks with the main route carrying on to the right. A couple of km along here I saw the endangered endemic White-tailed Hummingbird feeding on small yellow flowers about 2m off the ground by the roadside. On our last day of birding we took the right fork and carried on up into the sierra, walking and hitching. Look out for large flocks of Lilac-crowned Parrots, Especially at dusk. It is 18km to the tiny village of Nueva Dehli where there are even a couple of houses that serve as restaurants or shops. Nueva Delhi is at 1,600m altitude and is between 18 and 21km from El Paraiso. The cloud forest starts at about km 25. A pick-up is supposed to pass at 17.00 which you can get a ride back down on, although it passed us at 15:30. Another vehicle passed later on. The whole area has a bad reputation for safety. It did not feel too bad and there was a lot of military about. Ask locally about safety. 87 species including 18 lifers.
Species seen
- Snowy Egret Egretta thula
- Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
- Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
- Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
- Gray Hawk Asturina nitida
- Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
- Laughing Falcon Herpetotheres cachinnans
- West Mexican Chachalaca Ortalis poliocephala Endemic
- Rock Dove Columba livia Introduced species
- Red-billed Pigeon Patagioenas flavirostris
- Inca Dove Columbina inca
- White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
- Ruddy Quail-Dove Geotrygon montana
- Orange-fronted Parakeet Aratinga canicularis
- Lilac-crowned Parrot Amazona finschi Endemic
- Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana
- Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris
- Vaux's Swift Chaetura vauxi
- Short-crested Coquette Lophornis brachylophus Endemic Critically endangered
- Golden-crowned Emerald Chlorostilbon auriceps Endemic
- White-tailed Hummingbird Eupherusa poliocerca Endemic Vulnerable
- Berylline Hummingbird Saucerottia beryllina
- Magnificent Hummingbird Eugenes fulgens
- Plain-capped Starthroat Heliomaster constantii
- Mountain Trogon Trogon mexicanus
- Collared Trogon Trogon collaris
- Russet-crowned Motmot Momotus mexicanus
- Wagler’s Toucanet Aulacorhynchus wagleri Endemic
- Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
- Spot-crowned Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes affinis
- Greenish Elaenia Myiopagis viridicata
- Eye-ringed Flatbill Rhynchocyclus brevirostris
- Greater Pewee Contopus pertinax
- Pacific-slope Flycatcher Empidonax difficilis
- Buff-breasted Flycatcher Empidonax fulvifrons
- Dusky-capped Flycatcher Myiarchus tuberculifer
- Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
- Boat-billed Flycatcher Megarynchus pitangua
- Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis
- Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
- Rose-throated Becard Pachyramphus aglaiae
- Masked Tityra Tityra semifasciata
- Gray Silky-flycatcher Ptilogonys cinereus
- Happy Wren Thryothorus felix Endemic
- Gray-breasted Wood-Wren Henicorhina leucophrys
- Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
- Brown-backed Solitaire Myadestes occidentalis
- Rufous-backed Robin Turdus rufopalliatus Endemic
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
- White-throated Magpie-Jay Calocitta formosa
- Golden Vireo Vireo hypochryseus Endemic
- Nashville Warbler Vermivora ruficapilla
- Crescent-chested Warbler Parula superciliosa
- Townsend's Warbler Dendroica townsendi
- Hermit Warbler Dendroica occidentalis
- Grace's Warbler Dendroica graciae
- Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia
- MacGillivray's Warbler Oporornis tolmiei
- Wilson's Warbler Wilsonia pusilla
- Slate-throated Redstart Myioborus miniatus
- Fan-tailed Warbler Euthlypis lachrymosa
- Golden-crowned Warbler Basileuterus culicivorus
- Rufous-capped Warbler Basileuterus rufifrons
- Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
- Common Bush-Tanager Chlorospingus ophthalmicus
- Red-crowned Ant-Tanager Habia rubica
- Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
- Red-headed Tanager Piranga erythrocephala Endemic
- Red-legged Honeycreeper Cyanerpes cyaneus
- White-collared Seedeater Sporophila torqueola
- Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch Buarremon brunneinucha
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus
- Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
- Hooded Oriole Icterus cucullatus
- Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
- Bullock's Oriole Icterus bullockii
- Audubon's Oriole Icterus graduacauda
- Yellow-winged Cacique Cacicus melanicterus
- House Sparrow Passer domesticus Introduced species
- Green Heron ? Butorides virescens
- Common Black-Hawk ? Buteogallus anthracinus
- Calliope Hummingbird ? Stellula calliope
- Least Flycatcher ? Empidonax minimus
- Flame-colored Tanager ? Piranga bidentata
- Varied Bunting ? Passerina versicolor
- Collared Forest-Falcon h Micrastur semitorquatus
- Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea
Other Fauna
A total of -- species of mammals.
There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles.
Flora
Author: Charles Hesse
www.birdingsiteguide.com
