Bird Watching in Belize

With some 618 recorded species of resident and migrant birds identified throughout the country, and a wide variety of ecosystems and habitats, Belize abounds with great bird-watching sites. Even amateur bird-watchers should have little trouble checking off upwards of 100 species in a week's worth of watching.

Lodges with the best bird-watching include Chan Chich Lodge near Gallon Jug; Lamanai Outpost Lodge  on the New River Lagoon; Chaa Creek; duPlooy’s or any of the nature lodges outside of San Ignacio; Hidden Valley Inn or any of the lodges in the Mountain Pine Ridge area; Rock Farm at Belize Bird Rescue  outside of Belmopan; and Copal Tree Lodge , Hickatee Cottages, and The Lodge at Big Falls, all in the Toledo District.

Some of the best parks and reserves for serious birders are Cockscomb Basin Forest Reserve, for scarlet macaws and a host of primary forest dwellers; Shipstern Nature Reserve, for scores of different sea- and shorebirds; Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary , for large varieties of wading birds, including the jabiru stork; Man-O-War Caye, a major nesting site for the magnificent frigate; Caracol Mayan ruins and the Chiquibil National Park, for many different resident and migratory forest species; Half Moon Caye, for the vast nesting flocks of red-footed boobies; and the Río Bravo Conservation Area, for ocellated turkeys and trogons. You’ll also find excellent bird-watching in neighboring Guatemala’s Petén province and around the Tikal area.

Bird-watchers staying on Ambergris Caye should certainly head to the Bacalar Chico National Park & Marine Preserve.

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