IMPORTANT BIRD SPECIES FOUND AROUND LAKE ATITLAN

Three Guatemalan biologists specialized in ornithology evaluated the bird watching potential of the area surrounding Eco Hotel Uxlabil Atitlán.

One of their conclusions was that near to the top of San Pedro Volcano, just 7 kilometers from the hotel, is the habitat of the world’s rarest birds, the Horned Guan. This bird is found in a very limited area in the south-east of Mexico and Guatemala and is in extreme danger of extinction. The bird is quite large with glossy black plumage and flies short distances between the trees. It tends to live at around 6,000 feet above sea level

Their other conclusion was that in the area immediately surrounding the hotel there is an abundance of different species, both native and migratory, among them the Monarch butterfly.

The biologists who made this study were Héctor Castañeda, Lemuel Valle and Mynor Ovando. They were graduated from Universidad del Valle and San Carlos, in Guatemala. They stayed at the Hotel Uxlabil for three days in the middle of August 2005. They spent 25 hours on San Pedro Volcano verifying the presence of the Horned Guan (whose scientific name is Oreaphasis Derbianus)

They also verified a high presence of different birds within the grounds of Hotel Uxlabil. Among the most noticed where the national bird of Costa Rica, the Clay-Colored Robin (Turdus Grayi) and the Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis). Equally abundant were diverse species of hummingbird, among them the Azure-Crowned Hummingbird (Amazilia Cyanocephala). Also in good numbers they found the Grayish Saltator (Saltador Coerulescens), a bird who appears to talk back to anyone imitating its beautiful song; also in abundance is the White-faced Ground Sparrow (Melozone Biarcuatum).

In addition to the birds that make their homes in the trees and shrubs, there are others that live on the water and in the reeds that create the bridge between land and the lake. Noticeable among these is the Coot, a bird that migrates from East coasts of the USA and Canada. Another curiosity in the area surrounding the hotel is the great abundance of the Monarch butterfly.

Hotel Uxlabil will help its guests with a guide for their bird watching adventures; we hope that those interested will register the species and quantities observed. A copy of this register will be given to the guest and another will stay at the hotel as part of our scientific conservation effort.

We are currently creating a circuit of the shores of Lake Atitlan for those interested in bird watching. This will include searching for the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), the symbolic bird of Guatemala, on the surrounding slopes of Tolimán Volcano. You will also look for diverse species of Hummingbird and the Horned Guan on San Pedro Volcano. Here there are marked trails and it is safe. These circuits and guidebooks will be developed by especialists.