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Republic of Guatemala

Pink-headed warbler Cardellina versicolor ©Knut Eisermann Website

Guatemala is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is also bordered to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the northeast by the Gulf of Honduras.

The territory of modern Guatemala hosted the core of the Maya civilisation, which extended across Mesoamerica; in the 16th century, most of this was conquered by the Spanish. With an estimated population of over 18 million people, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America. The capital is Guatemala City, which is the largest city with over three million inhabitants in the metropolitan area. The country covers around 109,000 km2 (42,000 square miles).

Guatemala is mountainous with small patches of desert and sand dunes, all hilly valleys, except for the south coast and the vast northern lowlands of Petén department. Two mountain chains enter Guatemala from west to east, dividing Guatemala into three major regions: the highlands, where the mountains are located; the Pacific coast, south of the mountains and the Petén region, north of the mountains.

All major cities are located in the highlands and Pacific coast regions; by comparison, Petén is sparsely populated. These three regions vary in climate, elevation, and landscape, providing dramatic contrasts between hot, humid tropical lowlands and colder, drier highland peaks. Volcán Tajumulco, at 4,220 metres (13,850 feet), is the highest point in the Central American countries.

The rivers are short and shallow in the Pacific drainage basin, larger and deeper in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico drainage basins. These rivers include the Polochic and Dulce Rivers, which drain into Lake Izabal, the Motagua River, the Sarstún, which forms the boundary with Belize, and the Usumacinta River, which forms the boundary between Petén and Chiapas, Mexico.

Tikal National Park – ©Mike Vondranderivative work: MrPanyGoff CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Guatemala has 14 eco-regions ranging from mangrove forests to both ocean littorals with 5 different ecosystems. Guatemala has 252 listed wetlands, including five lakes, 61 lagoons, 100 rivers, and four swamps. Tikal National Park was the first mixed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Guatemala is a country of distinct fauna, around 7% of which are endemic and 8% are threatened. The Maya Biosphere Reserve in the department of Petén covers 2,112,940 hectares, making it the second-largest forest in Central America.

Guatemala’s abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes many endemic species and contributes to Mesoamerica’s designation as a biodiversity hotspot.

Birding Guatemala

Guatemala’s topography includes steep mountain ranges and volcano chains, weather-protected interior valleys and lowland areas exposed to water-loaded warm air masses from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as coast along the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The rough topography causes a high diversity of habitats, including lowland rainforests, mountain cloud forests, pine-oak forests, high-altitude fir forests, alpine scrub and savannahs, arid thorn scrub, mangroves, extensive interior and coastal wetlands.

A total of 21 Important Bird Areas have been designated by BirdLife International* and approximately a third of the Guatemala’s land area is legally protected.

The Guatemalan mountains are part of the highlands ranging from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico to the Lake of Nicaragua. These highlands harbour a number of endemic bird species and have been designated as Endemic Bird Area EBA 018 (Northern Central American Highlands). Guatemala is the core area of distribution for many of these endemics, and some of them, such as Horned Guan, Bearded Screech-Owl, Black-capped Siskin, Pink-headed Warbler, Goldman’s Warbler, and Azure-rumped Tanager occur only in the highlands of Guatemala and the neighbouring Mexican state of Chiapas.

Lake Atitlan formerly home to the extinct Atitlan Grebe – ©chensiyuan CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Guatemala is an attractive birding destination with more than 750 bird species formally recorded, a well-maintained road system, a network of comfortable lodges and hotels, private and state nature reserves. In addition, unlike any other Central American countries, Guatemala has a vibrant living Mayan culture combined with an impressive pre-Columbian Mayan history, witnessed by top-notch birding sites such as Tikal with its towering temple pyramids amidst the vast rainforest.

Contributors

  • Knut Eisermann

    Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala | ke@cayaya-birding.com

    Cayaya Birding
Number of Species

  • Number of bird species: 784

    (As atJune 2024)

    National Bird: Resplendant Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno

Checklist

  • Avibase

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist includes all bird species found in Guatemala , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them.

  • Wikipedia

    Annotated List
    This is a list of the bird species recorded in Guatemala. The avifauna of Guatemala included a total of 781 species as of June 2023, according to Bird Checklists of the World.

  • eBird

    PDF Checklist
    758 species (+132 other taxa) - Year-round, All years
Useful Reading

  • Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Guatemala

    | By Knut Eisermann & Claudia Avendaño | Lynx Edicions | 2007 | Paperback | 175 pages, Tabs, distribution maps, figs | Out of Print | ISBN: 9788496553408 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Birds of Central America

    | (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) | By Andrew Vallely & Dale Dyer | Princeton University Press | 2018 | Paperback | 560 pages, 260 plates with colour illustrations; 1190+ colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780691138022 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Birds of Guatemala

    | (The Quetzal, Trogons and Hummingbirds) | By Milton Martínez G | Milton Martínez G | 2013 | Paperback | 113 pages, colour photos | ISBN: 9781493503506 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Birds of the West Indies

    | Guy M Kirwan, Anthony Levesque, Mark W Oberle & Christopher J Sharpe | Lynx Edicions | 2019 | Flexibound | 400 Pages | 1600+ colour illustrations, 650+ colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9788416728176 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Collins Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Central America

    | By Ber van Perlo | HarperCollins| 2006 | Hardback | 336 pages, 98 colour plates | Out of Print | ISBN: 9780007134908 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Guatemala: Pacific Slope Birds

    By Robert Dean & Mark Wainwright | Rainforest Publications | 2011 | Unbound | 14 pages, colour illustrations | ISBN: 9781888538182 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America

    | Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras | By Jesse Fagan, Oliver Komar, Robert Dean & Peter Burke | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 2016 | Paperback | 438 pages, 189 plates with colour illustrations; colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780544373266 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Museums & Universities

  • Museo Nacional de Historia Natural

    Information
    Colectar, estudiar, preservar y exhibir muestras representativas de la biodiversidad y de otros recursos naturales de Guatemala…
Organisations

  • Guatemala Birding Club

    Facebook Page
    Observación de aves y naturaleza en Guatemala, descubriendo destinos,apoyando y desarrollando proyectos orientados a la conservaciòn de los recursos naturales y la educacion ambiental en Guatemala.
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • *Protected areas of Guatemala

    InformationSatellite View
    22 National Parks, 7 biosphere reserves, 6 RAMSAR sites and more...

  • BR Maya

    InformationSatellite View
    The park is home to a large number of species of fauna including Morelet's crocodile and the ocellated turkey.

  • BR Sierra de las Minas

    InformationSatellite View
    One of the truly wild places in Guatemala is the east-western mountain range that runs through the country’s southeast highlands. The mountains encompass part of the Baja Verapaz and Izabal departments at the eastern part of Guatemala City.

  • BR Trifinio

    InformationSatellite View
    The Montecristo massif is an area where the borders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador meet, and its protection was a joint initiative of these three countries. The Trifinio biosphere reserve is located where El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras meet their border, thus the prefix tri in its name. It covers an area of 221 km2 and was created in 1987 to protect the Montecristo's cloud forest and its rare flora and fauna.

  • BR Visis Cabá

    InformationSatellite View
    The Visis Cabá biosphere reserve is a 450 km2 (170 sq mi) protected area in the department of El Quiché

  • NP El Rosario

    InformationSatellite View
    he park is named after laguna El Rosario, a small lake within its boundaries, and was formerly a state owned finca managed by the National Forestry Institute (INAB).

  • NP Lachuá Lake

    InformationSatellite View
    The park and adjacent buffer zone is noted for its high biodiversity. With 120 species of mammals (50% of mammal species found in Guatemala), 30-40 species of reptiles, 177 bird species (40% of bird species in Guatemala), and 36 fish species it is a sanctuary for a varied fauna population.

  • NP Laguna El Pino

    InformationSatellite View
    In 1955 the lake, and a minor part of the lake shores, were designated a national park. The park, including the lake, covers an area of 0.73 km² and is managed by the National Forestry Institute (INAB) in conjunction with representatives of the local population. Species of waterfowl breeding in the lake area include Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), Egret (Bubulcus ibis), Waterhen (Gallinula galeata), American Coot (Fulica americana) and Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa).

  • NP Laguna del Tigre

    InformationSatellite View
    Laguna del Tigre National Park is located in northern Guatemala, in the municipality of San Andrés, department of Petén. Covering an area of 337,899 ha, makes it the largest Core Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) and the largest National Park in Guatemala and the largest protected wetlands in Central America.

  • NP Las Victorias

    InformationSatellite View
    Las Victorias National Park is located in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, on the north-western outskirts of the city of Cobán.

  • NP Naciones Unidas

    InformationSatellite View
    Naciones Unidas National Park is a forested park area of 4.91 km2, located 21 km south of Guatemala City.

  • NP Pacaya

    InformationSatellite View
    Pacaya is an active complex volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish invasion of Guatemala.

  • NP San José la Colonia

    InformationSatellite View
    Formerly a nationalized finca, San José la Colonia was designated a national park in 1976. The park covers an area of 54 ha, and is managed by the National Forestry Institute (INAB)

  • NP Sipacate-Naranjo

    InformationSatellite View
    The park includes mangrove forests, lagoons and sandy beaches and covers an area of 20 km long and 1 km wide, stretching between the coastal towns of Sipacate and Naranjo. Over 90 bird species -both migratory and resident- have been reported.

  • NP Tikal

    InformationSatellite View
    In the heart of the jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation, lies one of the major sites of Mayan civilization, inhabited from the 6th century B.C. to the 10th century A.D. The ceremonial centre contains superb temples and palaces, and public squares accessed by means of ramps. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside.

  • NR IBA Los Tarrales Reserve

    WebsiteSatellite View
    The spanish word tarral means amount of bamboo stands. Los Tarrales Reserve was named after the abundant bamboos, which occur in various species in this area. Los Tarrales was declared protected area by the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) in 2000. Bird Watching Los Tarrales reserve ranges from the lowlands at 750 m elevation to the top of the volcano at 3500 m, providing different bird habitats. More than 350 bird species have been recorded in Los Tarrales. The preserve is part of the Atitlán Important Bird Area (IBA GT015), designated by BirdLife International.

  • WR Punta de Manabique

    InformationSatellite View
    The peninsula was declared a wildlife reserve in 1999. The reserve is covered with tropical rain forests and mangrove forests. Many species of seabirds are found in the reserve, from the orders of Charadriiformes), Pelecaniformes, Ciconiiformes.

  • Wetlands of International Importance

    WebpageSatellite View
    Guatemala currently has seven sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 628,592 hectares.
Guides & Tour Operators

  • Bird Watching Guatemala

    Tour Company
    There are more than 700 species in Guatemala, thirty five a regional endemics and 40 others only occur in Central America…

  • Birding Ecotours

    Tour Operator
    Guatemala is blessed with some amazing habitats for birds, from the steaming volcanoes of the highlands of southern Guatemala to the hot jungles of the Mayan empire. Birding in Guatemala is an unforgettable experience….

  • Cayaya Birding

    Tour Operator
    We offer tailored (including target bird trips) and scheduled birding tours in Guatemala since 2003, as well as assistance for independent birding travellers. We are passionate birders and guides, live and study birds in Guatemala and have published numerous contributions to Guatemalan ornithology, including an Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Guatemala.

  • Maya Expeditions

    Tour Company
    Paul Scharf has been an avid birder for more than 36 years. He is a member of the American Birding Association (ABA) and since his retirement from the U.S. Armed Forces Paul has dedicated more time to his passion

  • Naturalist Journeys

    Tour Company
    Naturalist Journeys offers small group Guatemala birding tours and Guatemala nature tours. Witness the stunning Resplendent Quetzal, regal-looking Common Black Hawk, boisterous Montezuma Oropendola, and myriad other neotropical birds; mammals like Spider and Capuchin Monkeys are seen regularly, and even Ocelot, Margay, Puma, Jaguarundi, and Jaguar have been spotted in Guatemala.

  • Rockjumper

    Tour Company
    Spectacular volcanoes and fabulous highland lakes form a brilliant backdrop to our Guatemala – Central American Specialities tour.
Trip Reports

  • 2016 [01 January] - Adam Walleyn

    PDF Report
    A highlight here was scoping up several Turquoise-browed Motmot and we also saw a number of widespread Central American lowland species such as Keel-billed Toucan, Montezuma Oropendola and Laughing Falcon, alongside an impressive list of North American migrants that included Hooded Warbler, Ovenbird and Chestnut-sided Warbler...

  • 2016 [02 February] - Jesse Fagan

    Report
    ...There were lots of favorites, including Resplendent Quetzal (Sid especially liked this one), King Vulture (Bonnie's favorite), Fulvous Owl (wow!), the oh-so-cute Wine-throated Hummingbird singing his little heart out (Judy just melted), Pheasant Cuckoo (I will have to agree with David on this one; amazing experience!), Gray-necked Wood-Rail (Mary Lou's favorite), and what about Rick? Do you remember the Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo? Hard not to. However, it was pretty unanimous within the group: the "frosty-headed" Pink-headed Warbler won by a landslide....

  • 2017 [01 January] - Dušan Brinkhuizen

    PDF Report
    ...A few stops en route produced nice sightings of White-fronted Amazon, Orange-fronted Parakeet, Velasquez's Woodpecker and a perched Laughing Falcon. Targets, including White-lored Gnatcatcher, Nutting’s Flycatcher and Plain-capped Starthroat, were fairly easily found. Karen spotted a superb Russet-crowned Motmot that we saw really well...

  • 2017 [02 February] - Jesse Fagan

    Report
    ...Guatemala is a super birdy country, and this year was no exception. With 364 bird taxa we had an awesome total! There were a bunch of highlights, including Highland Guans (do you all remember the sound of their wing rattle?!), Ornate Hawk-Eagle (soaring over us at Las Guacamayas), Fulvous Owl (that cackling pair at Finca Las Nubes), Black-and-white Owl (two different sites), the tiny Wine-throated Hummingbird, Resplendent Quetzal (new for Simone!), wild Scarlet Macaws, and Pink-headed Warbler (really "Frosty-headed" Warbler).....

  • 2017 [03 March] - George Lin

    PDF Report
    While we waited for the guan to show up, we also saw and heard several species like the Mexican Violetear, GreenthroatedMountain-gem, Emerald-chinned Hummingbird, Rufous Sabrewing, Black-throated Jay, and Hammond’s Flycatcher. The beautiful melodious calls of a Brown-backed Solitaire echoed in the gully all morning. It was a very good start to this Guatemala trip...

  • 2018 [08 August] - Oscar Campbell

    PDF Report
    This short trip report details a week spent in northern Guatemala, based at Las Guacamayas Biological Station and Tikal National Park. The latter is extremely well known as a quality birding site but the former seems not to be nearly so established; however, it certainly deserves a lot more attention. Birding was superb at both sites, with a wide range of interesting species, and the forests birdy and busy much of the time.

  • 2019 [02 February] - Naturalist Journeys

    PDF Report
    Annotated list

  • 2020 [02 February] - Patricia Bricewño

    PDF Report
    ...We saw over 50 species in little more than an hour. Highlights included Blue Grosbeak, Blue-black Grassquit, Morelet's Seedeater, White-fronted Parrots, Crested Caracaras...

  • 2022 [01 January] - Rick Weiman

    PDF Report
    ...Pygmy-Owl flew out of the scrub and perched on a branch above our heads wondering what all the commotion was about. A short distance on the trail led us to several mixed flocks of warblers (11 total species) including Hooded, Blue-Winged, Townsend’s, and Magnolia. Over 40 species of birds were counted in under 2 hours, with the highlight being a pair of the difficult to spot White-eared Ground Sparrows which Doug captured some excellent pictures of. Cerro Alux Park was our next stop and a short visit resulted in several new species like Hermit Warbler, Hutton’s Vireo, Crescent-chested Warbler, and Spot-crowned Woodcreeper...

  • 2022 [03 March] - Eduardo Ormaeche

    PDF Report
    With a country list of 734 bird species, Guatemala can provide some classic Central American specials such as Resplendent Quetzal, Keel-billed Toucan, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Tody Motmot, Northern Potoo, as well as some range-restricted species, shared with adjacent Chiapas in Mexico, such as Pink-headed Warbler, Horned Guan, Belted Flycatcher, and Azure-rumped Tanager. Western Guatemala offers specials such as Russet-crowned Motmot and Goldman’s Warbler, while the tropical rainforest of Petén provides some of the Yucatan Peninsula specials such as Ocellated Turkey, Yucatan Woodpecker, Yucatan Jay, Yucatan Flycatcher, and Yucatan Nightjar.

  • 2022 [11 November] - Mike Moore

    PDF Report
    Guatemala is a wonderful country for birdwatching. Although there are no country endemics, there is a wide variety of special birds (i.e. Horned Guan, Pinkheaded Warbler, Slender Sheartail and others) that are perhaps best seen within its borders. Nevertheless, the country seems to be underbirded, perhaps due to the perception of it being dangerous with a poor infrastructure.

  • 2023 [03 March] - Drew Haffenden

    PDF Report
    Annotated List

  • 2023 [10 October] - Alexander Alvarado

    PDF Report
    ...We focussed on the birds, whilst a few people in a 4x4 vehicles assisted in freeing us. Our trip down the hill was very productive with flocks of warblers including Crescent-chested, Olive and Red-faced Warblers, Collared Trogons and Steller’s Jays were also present in the Cypress trees, the restricted range Rufous-browed Wren vocalized and gave good views whilst hopping along the scrub next to the road, several Blue-throated Motmots were singing....

  • 2024 [02 February] - Allan Drewitt & Sue Rees

    PDF Report
    ...The trail itself was rather quiet and we found roadside birding below the pools as well as below the gates to be more productive, giving views of mobile flocks of Bushy-crested Jays as well as White-fronted Parrots, Black-vented and Bar-winged Orioles, Grey-silky Flycatchers, Tufted Flycatcher and Hairy Woodpecker. The trail proceeds up steep slopes to a mirador and eventually reaches a dirt road which apparently continues through forest for several kilometres, although we walked no further than the mirador during our visits....

  • 2024 [04 April] - – Josue de Leon Lux

    PDF Report
    ...The trails around Tarrales are easy and very birdy. We head to the lake and get Cinnamon Hummingbird, Morrelet’s Seedeater and a WHITE-BELLIED CHACHALACA. Spot-crowned Woodcreeper precedes a Collared Trogon and PACIFIC PARAKEETS. This is the spot for Yellow-naped Parrots too, plenty flying around, as are White-throated Thrushes....
Places to Stay

  • Los Tarrales Reserve - Atitlán Volcano

    Eco-Lodge
    Birdwatching on the Guatemalan Pacific slope and Atitlán volcano - Horned Guan, Highland Guan, Rufous Sabrewing, Long-tailed Manakin and much more. Los Tarrales can keep you busy for some days! In order to enjoy to the full the different activities in our reserve and to get to know Los Tarrales from the tropical lowland up to the top of Atitlan volcano, we invite you to stay in our eco-lodge or if you like it more adventurous there is our camping site. We also serve excellent nutricious meals prepared with ingredients from our own organic garden and of course Los Tarrales coffee.
Other Links

  • Birds in Q’eqchi’ Maya Culture

    Webpage
    The central highlands of Guatemala, the ancestral lands of the Q’eqchi’ Maya, is home to a stunning diversity of bird species. Since ancient times, the Q’eqchi’ Maya people have been carefully watching and listening to birds. For the Q’eqchi’ Maya, birds are divine messengers, harbingers of good or ill fortune, and manifestations of divine presence. Birds are the servants of mountain-valley god, Kawa Tzul-Taqa.

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