Birding Oaxaca 2004 - Introduction


Contents
Introduction
Map
Valles Centrale
Carribean Slope
Pacific Slope
Wrapup
Bird List
Resources

In February 2004, we spent ten days birding parts of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. You could spend a lifetime birding Oaxaca and not exhaust its possibilities. Our ten days there did less than scratch the surface of Oaxaca's potential. But our trip may help you decide to visit this interesting but comparatively unknown birding destination.

Oaxaca is a mountainous state, near the southern end of Mexico. Much of it is rugged mountains to 3,000 meters, deeply carved into steep-walled canyons and sharp ridges. It is bordered on the north by Veracruz, on the east by Chiapas, on the west by Guerrero and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. It is ethnically, geographically and economically diverse. The diverse habitats support a wide variety of birds.

We explored four habitats:

  1. the Valles Centrale, in and around Oaxaca, including the impressive Zapotec ruins at Monte Alban;
  2. the slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental, north and east of Oaxaca City;
  3. the rainforest slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental and limestone hills of the Gulf of Mexico side of the Occidentals; and
  4. the mangrove swamps and dry forests of the Pacific side of the Sierre Madre de Sur

The links to the left and the Oaxaca map will allow you to navigate through these various habitats and look at the journal entries for each area. At the bottom right corner of each age is a link to the next page in chronological order.

We want to send special thanks to our friends and guides in Oaxaca, Roque Antonio Santiago and Ramiro Aragon Perez. For more information about them try the Resources link.

Copyright 2004
Jim & Nancy DeWitt
Valles Centrale
01 Feb