Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí

Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana ©Ian Montgomery Website
Birding San Luis Potosí

The Mexican state of San Luis Potosí has an area of 24,266 square miles (62,849 km²). It is in the north-central part of the Mexican republic, It borders Coahuila to the north, Nuevo Leon to the north-east, Tamaulipas to the east, Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Queretaro, and Guanajuato to the south,and Zacatecas to the north-west. The state lies mostly on the Mexican Plateau, with the exception of the southeastern corner of the state, where the tableland breaks down into the tropical valley of the Panuco River. The surface of the plateau is comparatively level, with some low mountainous wooded ridges. The Sierra Madre Oriental runs north and south through the state, and separates the Mexican Plateau from the Gulf Coastal Plain to the east. The Sierra Madre Oriental is home to the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests. The Panuco River originates on the Plateau, and flows eastward through a gap in the Sierra Madre to drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The easternmost portion of the state lies on the Gulf Coastal Plain, and covered by the Veracruz moist forests.

The state lies mostly on the Mexican Plateau, with the exception of the southeastern corner of the state, where the tableland breaks down into the tropical valley of the Panuco River. The surface of the plateau is comparatively level, with some low mountainous wooded ridges. The Sierra Madre Oriental runs north and south through the state, and separates the Mexican Plateau from the Gulf Coastal Plain to the east. The Sierra Madre Oriental is home to the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests. The Panuco River originates on the Plateau, and flows eastward through a gap in the Sierra Madre to drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The easternmost portion of the state lies on the Gulf Coastal Plain, and covered by the Veracruz moist forests.

Contributors
Useful Reading

  • Amphibians and Reptiles of San Luis Potosí

    By Julio A Lemos-Espinal & James R Dixon | Eagle Mountain Publishing | 2013 | Hardback | 300 pages, 241 colour photos, 101 b/w illustrations, 101 maps | ISBN: 9780972015479 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • Cave of Swallows

    InformationSatellite View
    Cave of Swallows is a natural abyss located in the state of San Luis Potosi. This cave of karst origin was formed by the water of limestone plain. The entrance measures approximately 205 feet. The entrance provides a free fall of 1220 feet to the cave’s bottom. Its interior is conical in shape; the bottom has 990 feet in diameter. These measurements make it the second deepest cave in Mexico and the 11th in the world.
  • EBA Southern Sierra Madre Oriental

    WebpageSatellite View
    he northern end of the EBA begins in the Sierra Madre Oriental from southern Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosí southwards through Hidalgo, Puebla and Veracruz states…
  • NP Gogorrón National Park

    WebpageSatellite View
Trip Reports
  • 2004 [05 May] - Phil & Charlotte Benstead

    Report
    The key species to see on this itinerary are the following regional endemics not found elsewhere: maroon-fronted parrot, red-crowned parrot, Tamaulipas pygmy-owl, tawny-collared nightjar, tufted jay, Altamira yellowthroat (though also in northern Veracruz), crimson-collared grosbeak and Worthen's sparrow…
  • 2008 [12 December] - Paul van Els

    Report
    This trip focused mostly on the cloud forest areas of northern San Luis Potosí and southern Tamaulipas, but also included days on the Tamaulipas coast, in the mountainous area in Nuevo León and the desert south of Saltillo, Coahuila. I concentrated mostly on bird species endemic to Mexico or the region and missed on a previous trip to Oaxaca/Veracruz.
  • 2013 [08 August] - Kathi Borgmann - El Naranjo

    Report
    We headed to El Naranjo in San Luis Potosi in search of a couple of species that reach their southern distribution around El Naranjo – birds like Tamualipus Pygmy-Owl, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Tawny-collared Nightjar, and Long-billed Thrasher. Eastern Mexico also hosts many new species that we have yet to encounter on our trip. As we drove into El Naranjo the rain started coming down and the streets of town quickly turned to mud, getting worse each afternoon as rains drenched the town.
Other Links
  • Above Xoconostle (Sierra de Alvarez)

    Webpage
    ...The low, sparse, mostly spiny, cactus-rich vegetation along the road is indeed home to innumerable strawberry-red, male House Finches who sing their pretty, twittering melodies even on this cold morning in late October. It's sad to think about these birds fading once they're taken from the wild....

Fatbirder - linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see our sister site: WAND

Skip to content