Second time to Puerto Vallarta, first time was 25 years ago. Wow, things sure have changed. Bigger and more congested, but still very appealing and safe. Took a few birding tours with Claudia "Maggie" Leño from Wings for our World. Claudia was great and she knew all the local birding hotspots. It was a boobylicious vacation.
In all, we saw 115 species of which 52 were lifers, 10 Mexican endemics.
Of all the birds we saw, these are our top six favourites, in no particular order (and it wasn't easy choosing)
Endemics, are species are unique to Costa Rica (or to Central America) and do not occur naturally anywhere else on the planet. We were fortunate to have seen10. Here is the legend:
Mexican ENDEMICS photographed
Mexican ENDEMICS seen/heard but not photographed
Chachalacas, Guans
West Mexican Chachalaca
Woodpeckers
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker
Vireos
Golden Vireo
Jays, Magpies, Crows, Ravens
Black-throated Magpie-Jay
San Blas Jay
Wrens
Happy Wren
Catbirds, Mockingbirds
Blue Mockingbird
Thrushes
Rufous-backed Robin
Finches, Euphonias
West Mexican Euphonia
Blackbirds
Yellow-winged Cacique
We saw so many different species that, we have separated photos into groups to ease the viewing.
Lifers are shown in red
Black Skimmer
Black-throated Magpie-Jay
Blue Mockingbird
Blue-footed Booby
Boat-billed Heron
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Cinnamon-bellied Saltator
Cocos Booby
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker
Great Kiskadee
Great-tailed Grackle
Green Kingfisher
Happy Wren
Heermann's Gull
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Laughing Gull
Least Grebe
Lineated Woodpecker
MacGillivray's Warbler
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
Cinnamon Woodpecker
Clay-colored Thrush
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Collared Aracari
Common Black Hawk
Common Chlorospingus
Crested Guan
Crested Owl
Double-striped Thick-knee
Dusky-faced Tanager
Fasciated Antshrike
Flame-colored Tanager
Gartered Trogon
Golden-hooded Tanager
Gray-capped Flycatcher
Gray-cowled Wood-Rail
Gray-headed Chachalaca
Great Green Macaw
Great Kiskadee
Great Potoo
Great-tailed Grackle
Green Hermit
Green Honeycreeper
Green Ibis
Green Kingfisher
Green Thorntail
Green-crowned Brilliant
Groove-billed Ani
Keel-billed Toucan
Laughing Falcon
Lesser Violetear
Lesson's Motmot
Lineated Woodpecker
Magnificent Frigatebird
Mangrove Swallow
Mealy Parrot
Montezuma Oropendola
Mottled Owl
Mountain Thrush
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Emerald-Toucanet
Northern Jacana
Northern Tropical Pewee
Olive-backed Euphonia
Olive-throated Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Pale-vented Pigeon
Palm Tanager
Red-billed Pigeon
Red-headed Barbet
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Red-throated Ant-Tanager
Roadside Hawk
Royal Tern
Ruddy Ground Dove
Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush
Rufous Motmot
Rufous-backed Wren
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Scarlet Macaw
Scarlet-rumped Cacique
Scarlet-rumped Tanager
Scintillant Hummingbird
Semiplumbeous Hawk
Shining Honeycreeper
Silver-throated Tanager
Slaty-tailed Trogon
Social Flycatcher
Southern Lapwing
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Spectacled Owl
Spotted Antbird
Spotted Wood-Quail
Squirrel Cuckoo
Streak-backed Oriole
Thick-billed Seed-Finch
Torrent Tyrannulet
Tropical Kingbird
Tropical Mockingbird
Variable Seedeater
Violet Sabrewing
Violet-headed Hummingbird
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
White Ibis
White-necked Jacobin
White-tailed Kite
White-whiskered Puffbird
White-winged Dove
Yellow-headed Caracara
Yellow-throated Toucan
Species, below, are often or sometimes seen in Niagara or Ontario.
Baltimore Oriole
Broad-winged Hawk
Brown Pelican
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Laughing Gull
Little Blue Heron
Louisiana Waterthrush
Muscovy Duck
Osprey
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-winged Blackbird
Ruddy Turnstone
Semipalmated Plover
Snowy Egret
Summer Tanager
Tricolored Heron
Whimbrel
Willet
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Birds that were too fast or too far
to photograph or just simply camera shy
Lifers are shown in red
Amazon Kingfisher
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-headed Tanager
Black Guan
Black Phoebe
Black Vulture
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Black-breasted Wood-Quail
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-faced Solitaire
Black-headed Trogon
Black-striped Sparrow
Buff-fronted Quail-Dove
Canebrake Wren
Chestnut-capped Brushfinch
Cinnamon Becard
Cinnamon-bellied Saltator
Collared Trogon
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Crested Caracara
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Flame-throated Warbler
Giant Cowbird
Golden-browed Chlorophonia
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren
Gray-rumped Swift
Green-breasted Mango
House Sparrow
King Vulture
Lesser Elaenia
Lesser Greenlet
Long-billed Hermit
Melodious Blackbird
Mountain Elaenia
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper
Orange-billed Sparrow
Philadelphia Vireo
Plain-brown Woodcreeper
Red-lored Parrot
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ringed Kingfisher
Rock Pigeon
Ruddy Treerunner
Slate-throated Redstart
Southern House Wren
Spotted Sandpiper
Stripe-tailed Hummingbird
Sulphur-winged Parakeet
Townsend's Warbler
Tufted Flycatcher
Turkey Vulture
Western Cattle Egret
White-breasted Wood-Wren
White-collared Swift
White-eared Ground-Sparrow
White-ruffed Manakin
White-throated Crake
Wood Thrush
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-throated Euphonia