Whether you’re visiting the tropics for the first time or are a well-traveled birder in search of Yucatán endemics, birding in Belize offers something for everyone. Its wide variety of habitats and huge protected areas allow for many great species to be found on this tour. It is a wonderful place to see many of the range restricted Yucatán endemics. With a diversity ranging from toucans, parrots, and motmots, to the Yucatán endemics, Belize is a great destination for birders!

Our tour will start at the wonderful La Milpa Ecolodge and Reserve. This lodge is in the Rio Bravo Conservation area and is one of the premier birding hotspots in the country. We will be looking for several Yucatan endemics in this area including Gray-throated Chat, Rose-throated Tanager, Ocellated Turkey, and Yucatan Poorwill. Great Curassows roam the grounds and we will be keeping an eye out for the rare Crested Eagle, as this is the best spot in Belize to see this special raptor.

From La Milpa, we will travel to the famous Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. Here we will mostly be birding by boat in this remarkable wetland. Diversity here is high and we will be looking for a few very special species as well. Here we aim to find the huge Jabiru, the endangered Yellow-headed Parrot, and the very secretive Agami Heron, among many other species.

From here, we will head to the Mountain Pine Ridge area, where we will be staying at the fantastic Black Rock Lodge. We’ll explore both the lodge’s property and the Caracol archaeological site. While in the mountains, we will have many target species, including Orange-breasted Falcon, Solitary Eagle, Stygian Owl, Scarlet Macaw, and both Keel-billed and Tody Motmots.

Our final stop on this tour will take us to the Cockscomb Basin. While birding this area, we will stay along the beautiful Caribbean coast. Our birding here will take us inland to both the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Mayflower Bocawina National Park. These lowland forests are packed with diversity and will greatly add to our bird list for the trip. Some of the many highlights could include White-collared Manakin, Dusky Antbird, Dot-winged Antwren, Slaty-breasted and Little Tinamous, Ruddy Quail-Dove, Black-faced Antthrush, Black-and-white and Spectacled Owls, and White-winged and Cinnamon Becards.