Description

7 days – 6 nights

Availability: All Year Round

Destination: Belize

Belize Birding Adventure

Nine days luxury birding adventure visiting fantastic destinations and lodging at Chan Chich Jungle Lodge, Hidden Valley Inn, prime lodges surrounded by fabulous gardens and reserves that inhabit essential wildlife species, including plenty neotropical bird species.

You will visit Chan Chich Jungle Lodge, Green Hills Butterfly Ranch and Botanical Collection, Hidden Valley Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, and Caracol Archaeological Site, important destinations inside areas that protect natural and cultural treasures, also; as all our birding tours, you will have a great photography opportunity.

Resume of the program

Day 1: Arrival – Chan Chich Lodge
Day 2: Chan Chich Lodge
Day 3: Chan Chich – Hidden Valley Inn
Day 4: Hidden Valley Inn
Day 5: Hidden Valley Inn
Day 6: Hidden Valley Inn
Day 7: Back Home

We will visit

Chan Chich Jungle Lodge

Surrounded by fantastic sub-tropical forest in northwestern Belize is located Chan Chich Jungle Lodge, a premier adventure and nature destination with 130,000 acres of extension that inhabit an exceptional abundance of wildlife (and the best chance to see the elusive jaguar in its natural habitat) Chan Chich is an extraordinary destination for nature lovers, birders and those seeking an authentic retreat to the jungle.

The lodge boasts an enviable variety of avifauna with specialties such as the Great Curassow, Crested Guan, Tody Motmot, Gray-throated Chat, Lovely Cotinga, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, and Rose Throated Tanager, as well as a host of colorful toucans, parrots, and hummingbirds in its species list of over 350.

Green Hills Butterfly Ranch & Botanical Collection

Green Hills Butterfly Ranch and Botanical Collection are not only about butterflies as well as their food plants. Bio-diversity generally is recognized as an essential component in our performance.

The Green Hills biological diversity incorporates those plant life that attracts not only butterflies but additionally birdlife. The reserve has documented at least 316 bird species around the 100 acres

Hummingbirds take a central role due to the ease of observing them. Bird feeders situated close to the caterpillar building bring in lots of hummingbirds and often really distract from the butterflies.

Until today have documented a minimum of 15 hummingbirds species, which 11 can be observed at the feeders, and it is common to find out six species in a single stop by at Green Hills Ranch.

Hidden Valley & Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve:

This reserve is a beautiful location to view some particular species of birds. It’s the best place in the country to view the Orange-breasted Falcon. Other common birds to the reserve are the Red Crossbill, the Pine Siskin, the Eastern Bluebird, the Rufous-capped Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, the Stygian Owl, the Hepatic Tanager, and the Yellow-backed Oriole. An excellent destination to see a wide variety of species.

Some of the species that inhabit this reserve are:

Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Orange-breasted Falcon, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, White-fronted Parrot, Crimson-collared Tanager, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, King Vulture, White-collared Manakin, White-whiskered Puffbird, Bright-rumped Attila, Piratic Flycatcher, Yellow-green Vireo, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Blue-black Grosbeak, Plain Chachalaca, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Green-backed Sparrow, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Pale-billed, Lineated Woodpecker, Squirrel Cuckoo, Tody Motmot, Black-headed trogon, Slaty-tailed trogon, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Gray-throated Chat among other.

Caracol Archaeological Reserve:

This reserve is home to a vulnerable species of bird called the Keel-billed Motmot and is one of the last places on the planet to see it in the wild. These birds nest in this area. Also, this location offers sightings of Toucans, Trogons, Ocellated Turkeys, Crested Guans, and Great Curassows.

Itinerary

Belize Birding Adventure

Day by day itinerary

Day 1: Arrival – Chan Chich Lodge

You will be met at the Philip Goldson International Airport by our friendly representative and transferred by plane to Chan Chich Jungle Lodge.

Landing at the airstrip, then you will be transferred to the lodge, check-in at Chan Chich Jungle Lodge, time for lunch.

Time for some birding around the lodge’s gardens during the afternoon

Lodging and dinner at Chan Chich Jungle Lodge

Day 2: Chan Chich Lodge

We will dedicate the morning to hike Bajo trail, and Sylvester road, wich are extended trails that provide excellent birding opportunities.

Bird species to discover around this area includes Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Rose-throated Tanager, Northern Bentbill, Pheasant Cuckoo, Ruddy Quail-Dove, Great Curassow, Yucatan Flycatcher, Scaly-throated Leaftosser and Grey-throated Chat, Barred Antshrike to mention some.

Bajo loops and Sylvester road has a reputation as a great place to find out wildlife such as Tapirs, Ocelot, and the elusive Puma.

During the afternoon, we will visit the Escarpment: a hotpot seated more than 900 ft above sea level; the top of the escarpment is probably the highest points within the property and worth it for the spectacular landscape by itself. The high level and wide field of view make it possible for bird watchers to spot several raptors and vultures that soar the thermals. Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Black-and-White Hawk-Eagles, and White Hawks are familiar to the site.

Following dinner, we head out on the night drive using a vehicle and guide equipped with high-powered spotlights looking for nocturnal wildlife including birds such as the Northern Potoo, Spectacled Owl, mammals like Jaguar, Ocelot, Margay, and Puma are the main target of the night drive

Lodging at Chan Chich Lodge

Day 3: Chan Chich Lodge – Hidden Valley Inn

After breakfast, short birding around the lodge gardens then we will start our drive towards the Mountain Pine Ridge area; we’ll take the Chiquibul Road across many private ranches with a well-preserved forest that will provide the opportunity of encountering with mammals

During the drive, we can spot some bird species like Gray Hawk, Double-toothed Kite, Black Hawk-Eagles, Laughing Falcon, and Great Black Hawk

On the route, we will visit Green Hills Butterfly Ranch & Botanical Collection. During our stop in Green Hills Butterfly Ranch, the hummingbirds will take center stage. The bird feeders located near the caterpillar building attract many hummingbirds; a minimum of 15 species of hummingbirds have been documented, of which 11 can be observed at the feeders, and it is common to find six species in one stop at Green Hills Ranch.

Some of the hummingbirds that we can spot at the reserve are the White-necked Jacobin, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Long-billed Hermit, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, Violet Sabrewing, and White-bellied Emerald.

This fantastic destination also offers a magnificent photo opportunity.

Arriving at Hidden Valley Inn, we go fro check-in, and before sunset, we will do some birding around the lodge

Dinner and lodging at Hidden Valley Inn

Day 5: Hidden Valley

Early coffee while enjoying the birds at the bird feeder, Green Jay, Brown Jay, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Plain Chachalaca, Gray-headed Pigeon, and Clay-colored Thrush, among others.

After breakfast, you will head toward the Mountains of Western Belize, searching for raptors like the Orange Breasted Falcon, Solitary Eagle, Stygian Owl, and King Vultures, among others.

Lunch and afternoon birding tour trough the different trails that the lodge offers, birding at the pine forest and scrub areas that inhabit species such as Black-headed Saltator, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, and Rufous-capped Warbler.

Exploring the woodland, we can spot neotropical species, such as Slaty-tailed Trogon, Collared Trogon, Black-headed Trogon, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Pale-vented Pigeon, Scaled Pigeon, to mention some.

Dinner at Hidden Valley Inn. Then we will have time for a night adventure in the quest of Stygian Owls and other nocturnal creatures.

Lodging at Hidden Valley Inn

Day 6: Caracol Archaeological Site

Today you will wake up early as we head into the Chiquibul Forest Reserve searching for species such as the keel-billed Motmot, Black-faced Antthrush, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, and Lineated Woodpecker. At the same time, we explore the Ancient Mayan City of Caracol.

The bird watching throughout the trip is excellent; some of the species that we could observe on the way include raptors, toucans, once we get closer towards the lower forests.

Dinner and lodging at Hidden Valley Inn

Day 7: Transfer Out

Transfer to Belize international airport on time to take your flight back home