Common Birds of Mexico

Mexico's most mythologized bird — the ancient Maya regarded it as divine; El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas is one of the most reliable sites for the spectacular male.

A massive green macaw that roosts in cliff-face colonies — the Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) area concentrates hundreds of pairs that commute to fruiting trees at dawn.

One of the most bizarre birds in the Americas — a turkey-sized chickenlike bird with a bright red bony horn on top of its head, found in cloud forest above 1,800 m.

A Mexican endemic confined to cloud forest in the Sierra Madre Oriental — one of Mexico's most threatened birds, its loud dawn calling is the best detection method.

A large, racquet-tailed motmot with a unique keel on the upper bill surface — rare and sought-after in the lowland forests of southern Mexico and Central America.

A Mexican endemic woodpecker restricted to high-elevation pine forest in the Sierra Madre — boldly barred black and white, it creeps along large-diameter pine trunks.

Mexico's most outrageous jay — brilliant combinations of yellow, green, blue, and black make it the most colorful corvid in the Americas, common at forest edge feeders.

Mexico is a major wintering area — rich cinnamon-red drakes and powder-blue wing patches splash across the Pacific coast lagoons in impressive numbers.