Birding tour of Belize, Feb. 3-13, 2025: a joint venture of St. Louis Audubon and Naturalist Journeys
Belize is a delightful small country with a landscape that varies from agricultural fields to wetlands to pine savanna to rainforest, with one small mountain range. Like other tropical areas, it harbors plants and animals in greater diversity than our temperate regions; it has, for example, a bird list of 606 species within a land area that is about one-eighth that of Missouri. With tourism now its number one business, the country is happy to welcome Americans and show them not only its wildlife but also its Mayan archeology and other cultural features. Naturalist Journeys, which runs 9-10 tours per year to this popular destination, shared one of those time slots with St. Louis Audubon for a private tour of the type they call “Three Great Lodges”—the latest in our new program of birding tours and the first outside the States. Eleven of us, with myself as coordinator, went from the airport in Belize City to three lodges in succession, transported throughout the trip by our friendly drivers from each lodge, who easily navigated the sometimes-problematic roads while serving as highly-skilled birding guides, leading every field trip and able to identify every song and call-note in the forest and every distant raptor in the sky. At each lodge, the accommodations were outstandingly comfortable, the food excellent, and the weather good (occasional rain but mostly overnight, temperature range 70-85).
Our long list of birds included some that were familiar from North America (e.g., many warblers that winter in Belize, herons that live there year-round); certain others that were familiar to people who have birded southern Texas or Arizona (Groove-billed Ani, White-tailed Hawk); and many more that are found only from Mexico southward and are thus brand-new to a North American. These include a wide variety of new hummingbirds, parrots, flycatchers, tanagers, blackbirds, raptors, etc., plus some whole families that are new, like the antbirds. As you might expect, our looks at these ranged from close scope studies—our guides were quick to get a scope on everything they could—to fleeting glimpses in the undergrowth or the forest canopy. The guides took us to a number of well-defined destinations where we spent hours, from rice fields to Mayan archeological sites, for highlights like a Pale-billed Woodpecker pounding on a tree at the Caracol site, or a Barred Antshrike dancing while it sang. Or they would jam on the brakes for ad hoc stops to see things that simply showed up, like a flock of Ocellated Turkeys out in a field, or a Gray-headed Kite overhead with vultures. It was fun to see birds like our own Hooded Warbler in a shrub next to the veranda, and fun, too, to see the guides themselves get excited about certain birds, some of them northern migrants like a Cedar Waxwing or a Swainson’s Hawk, and others local birds but still great finds, such as a huge Jabiru standing in a marsh, or a Mayan Antthrush walking out onto the trail after we had followed its song for twenty minutes.
To give full credit to our hosts, this was the itinerary: four days at Black Rock Lodge in the Cayo district, with Isaias Morataya and his son Jeffry; two days at Bocawina Rainforest Lodge in Stann Creek, with Roni Chan; and four more at Tanager Rainforest Lodge in Toledo, with Steve Choco and Mario Choco. (Belize is divided into six districts, and we watched birds in four of them, counting some time in the Belize district near the airport.)
The eBird link below details the 255 species of birds our group recorded, some with photos and audio, plus another nine species that were heard by the guides but never seen by any of us. If you’re new to eBird, be sure to click “Show All Details” on the right side of the list to expand the report and reveal where and when each of the birds was seen and how many at each spot.
https://ebird.org/tripreport/328280
While the trip was planned around birds, we did keep track of the mammals, reptiles, and amphibians we found, along with some butterflies as time permitted. Those lists can be seen here: Additional Belize Wildlife List
I’d be happy to answer any questions about this trip, what we saw, or what it was like, or hear your suggestions for future trips. Reach me at bill@stlouisaudubon.org.
