The Yucatan Peninsula is high on the list of unique places to visit for bird
watchers. Altogether, 537 bird species, belonging to 74 families, have been
registered within the three states of Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatan.
Of these, 58 are considered vagrants and occasional visitors. The total species
count represents 50% of all the bird recorded for Mexico and 58% of the number
of bird species registered in the United States and Canada.
The already diverse local bird fauna is enriched measurably by the fact that the
peninsula serves as major thoroughfare for migratory birds headed south in the
fall and north in the spring. These long distance travelers seek a reprieve from
the harsh northern winters, spreading themselves out all the way from southern
Mexico to South America. Altogether, 217 species from the north have found
their way to the Yucatan, 35 as vagrants and occasional visitors, while 128
overwinter regular each year, including some with a year round resident
population.
Another group of northern migrants, numbering 54 species, are predominately
transient though the peninsula, using it to rest and refuel before continuing
their journey. However, here again there are exceptions as small populations of
some of these birds overwinter while two species maintain small breeding
population during the summer months.
The high number of vagrants to the region has to do with the combination of
tropical storms and "northers" during the speak of the fall migration in
September and October, which cause havoc with flight plants.
There are also unique but regular summer visitors from the Caribbean area that
include sooty and Bridled Terns, Brown Noddy and the White-crowned Pigeon, that
nest on offshore islands and atolls. Other summer visitors include several
flycatchers and a vireo, which fly north from South America to nest during the
northern hemisphere's spring and summer months.
The Yucatan Peninsula regions is also unique for its number of endemic bird
species (14) and subspecies (aproxx.100), caused by its relatively late
emergence from the sea and isolation from the interior of the country. Two
more species are for the most part confined to the peninsula, but have small
disjunct populations elsewhere.
When speaking of the distribution of the region's unique fauna, it is necessary
to include the Peten regions of northern Guatemala, parts of Belize and even, at
times, the western part of the state of Tabasco. Only Cozumel Island can claim
exclusive rights to 3 endemic species not found anywhere else in the world;
Cozumel Emerald, Cozumel Vireo and Cozumel Thrasher.
It is also home to the Caribbean species of Western Spindalis, found nowhere
else in Mexico, as well as the Smooth-billed Ani, which spread to the mainland
around Puerto Morelos as a result of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. There are
a number of interesting endemic subspecies on the island as well, including
Cozumel Wren, Golden Walblers, Rufous-browed Peppershrike and the Bananaquit,
with is also found on the Quintana Roo mainland coast.
In addition to the Cozumel specialties, the other 11 endemic species are found
throughout the region, as described above, including: Ocellated Turkey,
Yellow-lored (Yucatan) Parrot, Yucatan Poorwill, Yucatan Nightjar, Red-vented
(Yucatan) Woodpecker, Yucatan Flycatcher, Yucatan Jay, Yucatan Wren, Black
Catbird, Rose-throated Tanager and Orange Oriole.
The Black-throated (Yucatan) Bobwhite could also be considered an endemic except
for a few disjunct populations, including one in Honduras. Another such species
is the Mexican Sheartail, which apart from the north coast of the peninsula is
only found in central Veracruz.
The Affinity that the coastal vegetation of the peninsula has with the Caribbean
region provides habitat for birds from that region that are found nowhere else
in Mexico.
These include: Zenaida Dove, White-crowned Pigeon, Caribbean Dove, Caribbean
Elaenia, Yucatan Vireo, Stripe-headed Tanager, and, unfortunately, of recent
introduction, the Shiny cowbird The White-lored Gnatcatcher has a n equally
unusual distribution, found only on the north coast of the state of Yucatan in
eastern Mexico, while also inhabiting parts of the west coast of Mexico and
Central America.
There are approximately 40 natural protected areas covering almost 9,000,000
acres on the Yucatan Peninsula. These sites include both terrestrial and marine
habitats, public and private reserves. In addition, a total of 24 sites on
the peninsula are federally designated Important Bird Areas (IBAs). All but 17
species on the Yucatan Peninsula bird list are found within natural protected
areas. This demonstrates the valuable role they play in conserving habitat
important to birds throughout the region.
The beat way to see the maximum number of species is to visit the reserves
located within the seven different zones outlined on the map appearing on the
inside cover. There include:
1.- The wetlands on the southwest coast of Campeche, particularly in the area of
Palizada in the Laguna de Terminos Reserve.
2.- The forested hummocks or petenes on the northwest coast of Campeche and
Yucatan, as well as the wetlands along the north coast on Yucatan from Celestun
to El Cuyo, as found in the reserves of Los Petenes in Campeche and Ria Celestun
and Ria Lagartos in Yucatan.
3.- The interior of the state of Yucatan, where low scrub forest predominates,
is well represented in the Cuxtal Municipal Ecological Reserve on the south side
of the city of Merida.
4.- The north and east coast of Quintana Roo from Isla Holbox in the Yum Balam
Reserve, to Xcalak on the Belize border. This area includes the seabird
rookeries of Isla Contoy along with the coastal forest influenced by Antillean
species, as found in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve and along the entire coast
of the mainland to Scalak.
5.- The island of Cozumel, which incorporates several protected areas including
Chankanab Lagoon and Park and the Colombia Lagoon Reserve.
6.- The forested interior of central and northern Quintana Roo, including the
northeast corner of the state of Yucatan. The interior parts of both the Sian
Ka'an and Ria Lagartos reserves are representative of this vegetation.
7.- Along the base of the peninsula, where rainfall is greater and the forest is
higher, there is a biological corredor that serves to mix the Yucatan fauna with
that from the Peten region of Guatemala. Consequentjy, the Calakmul Reserve and
surrounding area provides the opportunity to observe species not found elsewhere
on the peninsula .
