Birding Oaxaca 2004 - Valles Centrale - 02 Feb
Contents
Introduction
Map
Valles Centrale
02 Feb
03 Feb
Carribean Slope
Pacific Slope
Bird List
Resources
02 Feb 04 Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
We were up at 6:00 AM to meet Roque Antonio Santiago, our guide for the next few days. We picked up our friend, Ramiro, as well and birded north and west up into the Sierra Madre Occidental, on the dry, southerly slopes. The vegetation changed as we gained altitude: scrub oak and shrubs on the valley floor and lower slopes, scrub oak mixed with a variety of pines higher up, and just pines on the upper slopes and summits.
Roque knows the area very well, and led us to some selected spots. In developed areas, there are large numbers of Cattle Egrets and Great-tailed Grackles, but not far out of town the variety picked up. It was hard to get used to the numbers of Vermillion Flycatchers and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers; those are exceptional birds in the U.S.
We gradually worked our way up to Guajimoloyas, near the summit of the Sierra Madre Occidental, at 3,042 meters. We found Brown Creeper, Pine Warbler and Chestnut-capped Brushfinch, but missed the Mexican Chickadee.
In the afternoon, we explored and birded Monte Alban, the monumental Zapotecan ruins south of Oaxaca City. The gruesome friezes and sheer size remind you that the mountain was leveled and the pyramids built by slaves, and that thousands of Indians were sacrificed.
 Nancy and Roque Mixed pine forest |
Oaxaca isn't as badly trashed as the areas of northern Mexico and Baja California I've seen. But close in to the cities and towns, there is still a discouraging amount of trash and garbage.
The steepness of the mountains makes for twisting, steep roads. Roque drives a Jeep Wrangler, and is less aggressive than some of the other drivers. But the drivers and the roads combine to make me leery of driving the mountain roads myself. Roque lives in Teotitlan, a village east of Oaxaca City that we'll visit tomorrow. He is mostly Zapotec; English is his third language. |
 Looking down from the South Pyramid to the northwest Monte Alban, Oaxaca |
At Monte Alban, we saw our only Rock Wrens of the entire trip, as well as White-tailed kite, Black-vented Oriole and Vaux Swift. After much work, we decided there was a Loggerhead Shrike, and once again the Vermillion Flycatchers were everywhere.
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Bird List
| HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS Cattle Egret NEW WORLD VULTURES Black Vulture Turkey Vulture HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES White-tailed Kite FALCONS AND CARACARAS American Kestrel SANDPIPERS Spotted Sandpiper PIGEONS AND DOVES Mourning Dove Inca Dove SWIFTS Vaux's Swift HUMMINGBIRDS White-eared Hummingbird Berylline Hummingbird WOODPECKERS Acorn Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker TYRANT FLYCATCHERS Greenish Elaenia Tufted Flycatcher Dusky Flycatcher Pine Flycatcher Cordilleran Flycatcher Vermilion Flycatcher Cassin's Kingbird Great Kiskadee CROWS AND JAYS Mexican Jay VIREOS AND ALLIES Slaty Vireo Warbling Vireo SHRIKES Loggerhead Shrike WAXWINGS AND SILKY-FLYCATCHERS Gray Silky-flycatcher THRUSHES Brown-backed Solitaire Russet Nightingale-Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin |
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS Northern Mockingbird CREEPERS Brown Creeper WRENS Rock Wren Bewick's Wren House Wren GNATCATCHERS Blue-gray Gnatcatcher SWALLOWS Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow KINGLETS Ruby-crowned Kinglet OLIVE WARBLER Olive Warbler SISKINS, CROSSBILLS AND ALLIES Lesser Goldfinch NEW WORLD WARBLERS Orange-crowned Warbler Virginia's Warbler Crescent-chested Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Townsend's Warbler Hermit Warbler Pine Warbler Black-and-white Warbler MacGillivray's Warbler Wilson's Warbler Red-faced Warbler Red Warbler Painted Redstart Slate-throated Redstart Rufous-capped Warbler BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES Lincoln's Sparrow Yellow-eyed Junco White-throated Towhee Rufous-capped Brush-Finch Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch Western Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES Black-vented Oriole Great-tailed Grackle |
Jim & Nancy DeWitt