BIRDING TIPS FOR THE HONDURAS BAY ISLANDS

The Bay Islands of Honduras are one of the top tourist destinations in Central America, drawing beach lovers from all over the globe for world class diving. For birders the Islands offer many pleasant walks through a variety of upland and beach habitats in search island specialties that you won’t find on the mainland, as well as common birds that make for a fine morning of birding. Finding information on birding the Bay Islands is much harder than finding birds once you get to the right spots, so here we provide some tips on where to go.

The Bay Islands can produce some incredible bird spectacles during migration, including fallouts after storms. Utila is the best place in Honduras to see Swainson’s Warbler, and produced only the second sighting for Lark Bunting for Honduras in 2006. For a complete list of migrant species on Utila look for the report by Sheri Glowinski Matamoros on our Research page. The report also has some information on places for birding Utila.

UTILA

Utila is a small island with few cars. The good thing about birding Utila is that walking is the way to go, and the birding spots featured here are easy to find.

Take Monkey Tail road straight up from the municipal dock. The road will pass through neighborhoods before entering disturbed habitats in different stages of succession. This is a good place to see Golden-fronted Woodpeckers and Brown-crested Flycatchers. Alternately, one can walk or drive the loop road around the west end of Utila to Pumpkin Hill, past the airport, and then back to town via Monkey Tail Road.

Mamilane Road starts at the fire station and winds through neighborhoods before leading to pastures and then quickly vanishing secondary forest. After passing the pastures there is a trail through the forest that goes through the old dump [garbage littering the ground] and then enters a red mangrove forest. Beware that the mosquitoes can be fierce in there. Look for Yucatan Vireo in open, shrubby situations, and White-crowned Pigeon in forests.

On the north side of Utila is Turtle Harbor. Here you will find a type of island savanna, and the last place to find the endemic subspecies of Plain Chachalaca. Access to Turtle Harbor is by chartering a boat. Anybody in Utila Town can help you find someone with a boat to hire.
Stop by any hummingbird feeder in town for good looks at Canivet’s Emerald and Green-breasted Mango.

ROATÁN

Only 15 years ago Roatán was an undiscovered tropical paradise. You could walk through West Bay and not see another tourist. Obviously a lot has changed, but there are still quiet places where you can see real Islander culture and enjoy some distinct Bay Island birding. In contrast to Utila where all birding can be done without the aid of a car, Roatán is rather large and you will need a vehicle to get to the best birding spots. If you can get a Roatán map at one of the tourist venues in West Bay it will help.

Carambola Botanical Gardens – Sandy Bay. This is the easiest spot go get to from the touristy west end of Roatán and easily accessible by taxi. Carambola provides a welcome respite from the hustle of places like West Bay. It is particularly shady and cool in the mornings if you need a break from the tropical sun. These gardens are privately owned by a local islander family long interested in conserving natural habitats in the Bay Islands. The entrance fee in 2006 was $3.00. This is a good place to see Smooth-billed Ani and White-crowned Pigeon. Allow 1 to 3 hours.

Drive to Diamond Rock and Camp Bay, past Oak Ridge. Diamond Rock is a sleepy islander community and typical of what all of Roatán looked like 20 years ago. Camp Bay is the largest unspoiled beach left on Roatán, and after one look you just might want to move there. “Tropical paradise” is a description that comes to mind. It may also be privately owned by now. If the caretaker will let you take a walk down the beach you can poke around the island scrub forests and mangroves for looks at many typical Roatán birds, including Mangrove and Yucatan vireos, Gray Hawk, Common Ground-Dove.

Port Royal. The west-east road turns to dirt and ends here. Want quiet and relaxing? This is it. Want to see the famous Yellow-naped Parrot in the wild? This is the place. It is a 1.5 to 2.5-hour drive from West Bay, depending on birding stops. Port Royal has an open mixed forest of pine and oak.