With such an amazing number of diverse ecosystems and sheer quantity of remaining forest cover, Honduras is a true paradise for tropical birders. There are 30 distinct cloud forests, huge swaths of tropical jungle, pine forest, mangrove wetlands, arid and thorn forests, and other habitats. The most up-to-date count is 714 species, and with the country only gradually being thoroughly investigated, that number is going up every year.
Cloud forests, such a rare and unique high-altitude environment of oak and avocado trees covered in bromeliads and vines and wreathed in mist, attract a number of unusual avian residents. Everyone’s favorite is of course the brilliantly colored resplendent quetzal, hard to find in Guatemala and Costa Rica but easily spotted in a couple of dozen locations in Honduras.
At La Tigra, right outside of Tegucigalpa, seasoned birders can look for specialties like the blue-and-white mockingbird, rufous-browed wren, wine-throated hummingbird, bushy-crested jay, and green-breasted mountain-gem. The more dense forests at Celaque are home to the highland guan, slate-colored solitaire, black robin, spotted nightingale-thrush, mountain trogon, and numerous hummingbirds, while the lucky birder may encounter rarities like the blue-throated motmot, slaty finch, and maroon-chested ground-dove.
Out in the forest reserves at Sierra de Agalta or La Muralla in the far-flung Olancho region, resplendent quetzals are a dime a dozen. More unusual species include the three-wattled bellbird, spectacled and black-and-white owls, the king vulture, 12 woodcreeper species, crested and highland guans, the great curassow, tody and broad-billed motmots, and a host of relatively tame cloud forest birds.
The rainforests of the Mosquitia contain more than 500 species, including at least 45 at the northern limits of their ranges. These include the harpy eagle (largest of New World eagles), great green and scarlet macaws, the agami heron, jabiru (a stork with a three-meter wing span), black-and-white hawk-eagle, rufous motmot, great jacamar, white-fronted nunbird, green-and-rufous kingfisher, snowcap, and chestnut-mandible toucan. The easily accessible botanical gardens at Lancetilla, near Tela, and at Pico Bonito, are packed with toucans, trogons, motmots, tanagers, orioles, parrots, eagles, owls, and all manner of obscure (and entertainingly named) specialties like rufous piha, lovely cotinga, purple-crowned fairy, great potoo, and many others.
Transition zones between highland forests and the tropical lowlands, in particular the area around Lago de Yojoa, are superlative places to spot species from both areas, as well as local species like various ducks, tanagers, orioles, motmots, toucans, and many others. The trails in Cerro Azul/Meambár, right next to the lake, are one of the best places to spot the keel-billed motmot, one of Central America’s most sought-after birds.
The mangrove wetlands and coastline of northern Honduras, especially at Punta Sal and Punta Izopo near Tela and Cuero y Salado near La Ceiba, are another favored environment for birds. These coastal wetlands are havens for large numbers of pelicans (white and brown), roseate spoonbills, white ibis, magnificent frigatebirds, herons, egrets, gulls, terns, plovers, sandpipers, and rare rails and crakes.
The best source of information about birds and birding in Honduras is www.birdinghonduras.com, put together by veteran Honduran birders Mark Bonta and David L. Anderson. Bonta, in particular, supplied the great majority of information on birds and places to bird for this travel guide. Bonta and Anderson lead birding tours and also wrote the Birder’s Guide to Honduras, with extensive bird-finding tips and the official checklist of Honduran species.
Another great resource is Robert Gallardo, who also has an excellent website, www.birdsofhonduras.com. Gallardo also leads birding tours and organized a Mesoamerican Bird Festival in February 2009 at Lago de Yojoa that he hopes to make an annual event. Other useful resources include the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn, and Birds of Mexico and Central America, by Ber van Perlo, both published in 2006.
© Chris Humphrey and Amy E. Robertson from Moon Honduras, 5th Edition