Pico Bonito National Park is World Famous for its Birding. The park is large and there are several great birding hotspots. These are ideal for bird watching. The Cangrejal River Valley is one of the most complete areas for Pico Bonito Birding. Birders has identified over 200 species of birds have in the area near La Villa de Soledad. You can see the complete list at http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L3325701.
Perhaps the most common of all are the keel billed toucans and the collared aracaris. Pico Bonito National Park is ideal for them. They are so common that the Hondurastravel.com destination guide and travel blog actually wrote a post about them! They titled it “The Perils of Toucan Alley”! You can see many of these birds from the comfort of the extra large lounge at La Villa de Soledad Bed and Breakfast.
The main road between Yaruca and La Ceiba offers great birding opportunities. The same is true for the trails both within the Omega Tours Lodge and La Villa de Soledad. El Mapache Trail, which gives access to the El Bejuco Waterfall is another great place for outstanding Pico Bonito Birding.
Best of all, there are several local guides that can help you identify the local birds. They are quite knowledgeable not only about bird names, but also know were there favorite hangouts are! Are a casual birder or a hard core birding fan looking to expand your already long list of sighted birds? Regardless of your answer, the Pico Bonito Birding possibilities are endless and will enthrall you. As I am writing this post I have already seen a collared aracari and a keel billed toucan fly in the trees just outside our terrace!
For the convenience of our guests, we have a couple of different birding books that will help you identify our local birds. One of the them is Guide to the Birds of Honduras by Robert Gallardo. This is the first book specific to birding in Honduras. It was first published in January 2015, so it is quite up to date! Our other book is the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America by Jesse Fagan and Oliver Komar. This is a recent book published in 2016, so it is also current! Author Oliver Komar lives in Honduras. He is a member of the faculty at the Escuela Panamericana “El Zamorano”. This is the leading agricultural university in Central America.
Are you on a complete birding tour of Honduras, or on a brief escape from the Bay Islands of Honduras? Regardless of the answer, you will find Pico Bonito Birding to be well worth your time. At La Villa de Soledad we work with various tour operators specialized in birding. In particular, we work with Beaks and Peaks and recommend their services.
