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WINGS Birding Tours – Itinerary

Honduras

The Hidden Gem of Central America

Thursday 6 February to Saturday 15 February 2025
with Steve Howell as leader
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Wine-throated Hummingbird Photo: Steve Howell

Honduras is one of the least-known countries in the Americas and remains stubbornly off the beaten track. However, with specialty birds such as Resplendent Quetzal, Lovely Cotinga, Keel-billed Motmot, Wine-throated Hummingbird, and the endemic Honduran Emerald, plus comfortable lodges and beautiful scenery, visitors will quickly realize that the country provides a great introduction to Neotropical birding.

Boasting more square miles of protected area than Costa Rica, the national parks and preserves of Honduras shelter over 700 species of birds. Our tour will cover a wide selection of these protected habitats, from the misty cloud forests of La Tigra National Park to the marshes of Lago de Yojoa and the lowland coastal jungles of the Caribbean coast.

Day 1: Our tour begins in Comayagua, where the new international airport is situated. If there is time, we’ll do some late afternoon birding nearby. Night in Comayagua.

Day 2: After a morning birding the dry interior habitats near Comayagua, where species include Streak-backed Oriole, Nutting’s Flycatcher, and White-lored Gnatcatcher, we’ll drive to our hotel in the pine-oak foothills outside Tegucigalpa and near La Tigra National Park. Afternoon birding around our hotel may produced birds such as Bushy-crested Jay, Yellow-backed Oriole, Blue-and-white Mockingbird, and Yellow-throated [White-naped] Brushfinch. Night near Tegucigalpa.

Day 3: La Tigra National Park offers excellent mountain birding virtually on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa and we’ll spend most of the day in this beautiful area. The network of roads and trails will enable us to see many of Central America’s higher-elevation species. These include a fine variety of hummingbirds, such as Wine-throated Hummingbird, the range-restricted Green-breasted Mountain-gem, and possibly Garnet-throated Hummingbird. Other species we might encounter include Emerald Toucanet, Resplendent Quetzal, Mountain Trogon, Spotted and Strong-billed Woodcreepers, Barred Forest-Falcon, Mountain Elaenia, Rufous-browed Wren, Slate-colored Solitaire, Rufous-collared Thrush, and Crescent-chested Warbler. Night near Tegucigalpa.

Day 4: We’ll spend the morning birding near our hotel, looking for things we may have missed the previous day before driving northwest to Panacam Lodge at the edge of Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park on the east side of Lago de Yojoa. The lodge grounds are rich in birds, and we’ll be looking especially for the scarce and local Keel-billed Motmot. The hummingbird mix here is somewhat different from that at La Tigra and may include the beautiful little Black-crested Coquette and impressive Violet Sabrewing. Night at Panacam Lodge.

Days 5-6: We’ll have two full birding days based out of Panacam. One day we’ll drive to a recently discovered site for the endemic Honduran Emerald, which has a very localized distribution in scattered rain-shadow habitats. These dry habitats have an interesting mix of species that also include Spot-bellied Bobwhite, Elegant Trogon, Yellow-tailed Oriole, and Green Jay. We’ll also bird the nearby Lake Yojoa, where we should see an array of waterbirds including Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Northern Jacana, and perhaps Ruddy and Gray-breasted Crakes. The boardwalk at the Los Naranjos archaeological site offers excellent birding, with species such as Laughing Falcon, Gartered Trogon, Green-breasted Mango, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, Rufous-naped Wren, and a wide range of wintering North American migrants. The grounds of Panacam and the entrance road are home to species including Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, Northern Barred and Wedge-billed Woodcreepers, Crimson-collared Tanager, Green-backed Sparrow, Prevost’s Ground-Sparrow, and perhaps even a Northern Royal Flycatcher or Mayan [Black-faced] Antthrush. Nights at Panacam.

Day 7: We’ll have a last morning to bird around Panacam before heading north to the coastal lowlands for our last 3 nights and a different suite of habitats and birds. Night near Tela.

Days 8–9: Several excellent birding locations lie within easy reach of our lodge. One morning we’ll visit Lancetilla Botanical Gardens, home to a rich selection of forest and edge birds including Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Black-headed Trogon, Great Antshrike, Uniform Crake, Chestnut-colored and Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Long-billed Hermit, White-collared and Red-capped Manakins, Long-billed Gnatwren, Scarlet-rumped and Golden-hooded Tanagers, and Olive-backed Euphonia. We’ll keep a careful eye on the sky for various raptors, that might include include the fancy White Hawk and impressive King Vulture. Another site we’ll visit is the Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, where a boat trip through the wetlands can produce Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Sungrebe, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Black-crowned Antshrike and perhaps even a roosting Northern Potoo. One afternoon we’ll visit the Rio Santiago resort to watch swarms of hummingbirds of up to a dozen species. These will likely include the stunning White-necked Jacobin, dazzling Crowned Woodnymphs, and with luck the distinctive Band-tailed Barbthroat, plus there’s always a chance for things like Lovely Cotinga or roosting Spectacled Owl. Nights near Tela.

Day 10: Depending on our flight departure times, there may be a chance to enjoy another morning birding near the lodge before we depart for San Pedro Sula, where the trip concludes with flights home.

Updated: 08 March 2023

Prices

  • 2025 Tour Price : $4,550
  • Single Occupancy Supplement : $270

Notes

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Questions? Tour Manager: Stephanie Schaefer. Call 1-866-547-9868 (US or Canada) or (01) 520-320-9868 or click here to email.

* Tour invoices paid by check carry a 4% discount. Details here.

Maximum group size is seven participants with one leader.

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