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I made my first trip to Mexico twenty-seven years ago, and I remember vividly how exotic and exciting it all seemed even though we were only a few hundred miles south of our home in Southeast Arizona. Since then I've been fortunate to have made over 100 trips there, and, amazingly, the excitement hasn't waned. If anything, Mexico feels as exotic and exciting as ever, and I look forward to making many more trips to see, enjoy, and learn more about the birds, natural history, and culture of this beautiful country. Though
it represents only about 1.5% of Earth's land area, Mexico harbors about 10% of
the world's biodiversity. The country tra On a global scale, Mexico is one of a handful of areas considered as sites of megadiversity. It is home to more species of pines, oaks, cacti, and agaves than any other country. It ranks second in mammal and reptile richness, fourth in amphibian species, and tenth in avian diversity. Among the diverse species found in Mexico are many endemics, particularly among the cacti (about 700 of the 800-900 species), the reptiles (almost 600 of the more than 700 species), and the amphibians (about 175 out of almost 300 species). There are aboutt 100 endemic birds in mainland Mexico and perhaps just as many near endemics. Among the many special birds we've seen on our Mexican adventures are blue mockingbird, rufous-bellied, West Mexican, and white-bellied chachalacas, thick-billed parrot, eared and resplendent quetzals, red-breasted chat, horned guan, giant wren, Cabanis' tanager, rufous sabrewing, lesser ground cuckoo, red-headed tanager, blue-capped and bumblebee hummingbirds, ocellated thrasher, Oaxaca and bridled sparrows, red-headed and pink-headed warblers, tufted, purplish-backed, San Blas, and dwarf jays, elegant quail, green-striped brushfinch, white-striped woodcreeper, long-tailed wood-partridge, military macaw, Mexican parrotlet, gray-breasted and golden-cheeked woodpeckers, Mexican woodnymph, a suite of Yucatan endemics (woodpecker, flycatcher, wren), Mexican and slender sheartails, rose-throated tanager, and too many more to list here. Mexico also offers spectacular cultural richness with thousands of years of history in art, architecture, agriculture, cuisine, and language. We're fortunate on many of our trips, particularly in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the Yucatan, to experience many of these features. Having made many trips to Mexico, I've had the great pleasure of getting to know many people who have become good friends. Their warmth, knowledge, talent, and support are magical components of every trip and always a highlight for trip participants. I'm pleased to offer fixed date as well as custom trips to Oaxaca, San Blas and the Durango Highway, the Yucatan and Cozumel, Eastern Chiapas, I've been fortunate to have developed excellent relationships with the locals in all of the areas that we visit and have worked to provide you with a safe, comfortable, exciting, and memorable experience. For more information about my Mexican trips, just click on one of the buttons to the left. I look forward to sharing the best of Mexico with you !! Photos: |
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verses a latitude from 32 N to 15
N and is a bridge between the
temperate zone and the tropics. This latitudinal span occurs in a land
with great topographic diversity, several important biogeographic barriers, and
a recent climate history that together add up to spectacular biological
richness. 