Arrival to Oaxaca international Airport (OAX).

Please plan your flight arrival time to be before 4pm in order to attend our kickoff dinner with introductions and tour orientation.

Hillstar Nature is so excited to have you join us on this fabulous tour through the diverse state of Oaxaca, searching for glamorous endemics and enjoying the rich culture, from mezcal tasting and textile weaving, to the Day of the Dead celebration!

Night in Oaxaca city.

We will enjoy a nice early morning breakfast before heading east through the Oaxaca Valley to a fabulous area called Teotitlan del Valle. This area of natural semi-arid thorn scrub habitat is rich in birdlife, with some of our target species being Boucard’s Wren, Dusky hummingbird, Gray-breasted Woodpecker, Bridled Sparrow, and Black-vented Oriole.

After a nice lunch, during the heat of the day, we will check out a demonstration of traditional rug weaving in Eric’s home village of Teotitlan del Valle. After some light afternoon birding, we will head back to our hotel in Oaxaca.

Night in Oaxaca City.

After breakfast, we will drive up to the Sierra Norte mountain range, reaching an elevation of 9000 ft, where we will be birding in the beautiful Pine-oak forest. The cool early temperatures around 50 degrees will warm up quickly through the morning as we search for Red Warbler, Dwarf Jay, Gray-barred Wren, Collared Towhee, and Chestnut-sided Shrike Vireo, among others. In the quiet hours of the day, we will check out a nice restaurant for lunch and continue with some afternoon birding before heading back to our hotel in Oaxaca.

Night in Oaxaca City.

Our targets for this day are the more elusive endemics of the area, bringing us to the Oak-scrub habitat in the foothills outside of the city. We will be looking for the striking Ocellated Thrasher, the localized endemic Oaxaca sparrow, stunning but shy Slaty Vireo and Blue Mockingbird, and chances for any remaining endemic species we still need in the Oaxaca valley. After a great lunch, we will do a little more leisurely birding before heading back to Oaxaca for a nice dinner in downtown Oaxaca.

Night in Oaxaca City.

Today we will combine some archaeology, birding and traveling. After our usual breakfast we will explore the archaeological site of Monte alban. Before the site opens for the day, we will do some casual birding along the entrance road, picking up more scrub habitat species. Once the site opens, we will explore the ruins and admire the most important pre-Columbian site in the state. This is also a good area for some interesting birds such as Rock and Canyon wrens, as well as orioles and hummingbirds. After this, we will drive to a restaurant for lunch where we will have the opportunity to see a few more birds before we hit the road. The 5 hour drive to the city of Tehuantepec will be the longest travel day of the tour. This drive goes through some great scenic landscapes, and we might stop for a few birds along the way depending on our timing.

Night in Tehuantepec.

Our drive to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is worth it when we spend our morning birding in gorgeous thorn scrub habitat seeking out some of the most extraordinary birds of Mexico! A few of our target species include the range-restricted Cinnamon-tailed Sparrow, Orange-breasted Bunting, Stripe-headed Sparrow, Turquoise-crowned Hummingbird, and chances for Lesser Ground-Cuckoo. Our main target is the stunning and endangered Rose-bellied Bunting, arguably the most beautiful bird of Oaxaca.

After lunch, we will enjoy a bit of seaside driving as we head to our next destination, the city of Huatulco.

Night in Huatulco.

Located along the Pacific Coast, the area of Huatulco National Park is host to some extraordinary species of flora and fauna, including a few range-restricted Mexican endemic species.

After our early breakfast, we will explore the tropical deciduous rainforest of the national park, where our target species include Red-breasted Chat, Citreoline Trogon, Russet-crowned Motmot, Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, Happy Wren, Turquoise-crowned Hummingbird, and Yellow-winged Cacique. Birding will be along a quiet dirt road and shaded trails through the forest.

The temperatures at sea level in this habitat can reach the mid 90’s thus, at mid-day when the heat is strong and bird activity is low, we will take a relaxing break and resume birding in the evening before dinner.

Night in Huatulco.

Today will be an exciting day at sea!

After our breakfast, we will meet our boat captain at the pier and embark on our half-day pelagic birding trip.

The continental shelf in coastal Oaxaca is only about 5 or 6 miles offshore so after a quick boat ride, we will be in the middle of the action! It’s rather easy to get some extraordinary pelagic birding, with species of interest including Black and Least Storm Petrels, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Galapagos Shearwater, Pink-footed Shearwater and chances for multiple Boobie species, Jaegers and many other oceanic and coastal species

After our pelagic trip, we will enjoy lunch at a nearby beach and take an afternoon siesta. In the evening, we will have an early dinner in order to go in search of some nocturnal species, including Mottled Owl, Pacific Screech-Owl, and chances for Buff-collared Nightjar and Common Pauraque.

Night in Huatulco.

Another early breakfast and we leave the coast behind and head up into the southern mountain range, called the Sierra Madre del Sur. We will explore this area of coffee plantations and tropical semi-deciduous forest that hosts some extraordinary endemics, including the very range-restricted and endemic Blue-capped Hummingbird, Red-headed Tanager, “Wagler’s” subspecies of Northern Emerald-Toucanet, Gray-crowned Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Emerald, and chances for Mexican Hermit.

For lunch, we will enjoy a nice meal at a coffee plantation and continue our drive to the trendy mountain town of San José del Pacífico.

Night in San Jose del Pacifico.

We will spend the morning birding in the Pine-Oak forests of the Sierra Madre del Sur. This montane forest hosts some special species of birds such as Brown-baked Solitaire, Bumblebee hummingbird, Garnet-throated Hummingbird, Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo, Hooded Yellowthroat, and if we’re lucky, we may find the very rare and elusive White-throated Jay!

We’ll enjoy birding along trails and small dirt roads that weave around the mountainous terrain, as well as a stop at a hummingbird garden.

The elevation of San José del Pacifico is around 8,000 feet, so we will move slowly in order to keep everyone comfortable at this altitude.

After lunch, we will start our 3 hour drive back to Oaxaca city.

We will do our final bird checklist tally for the trip at dinner, anticipating a day of exploring the city for our last full day of the tour.

Night in Oaxaca city.

Our last full day is for experiencing the Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) festivities!

This is one of the largest national holidays in Mexico, devoted to celebrating and remembering friends and family members who have died. Families decorate altars with flowers and candles surrounding photos of past loved ones, where they place all of the things that person once loved in life, often including chocolate, alcohol, and various foods.

It’s also a time for celebration, with live music, fantastic street food, street performers, and elaborate costumes, all up and down the central plaza of Oaxaca.

Some of the activities we will do include visiting a fun and bustling market for souvenir shopping, visiting some homes to see family altars, and enjoying excellent meals in some great restaurants around the central plaza.

We will tally up any final birds seen around the city, and recount our favorite birds and experiences of this amazing and diverse tour to one of the best destinations on Earth!

Night in Oaxaca City.

After breakfast, shuttle transport to Oaxaca International Airport (OAX) for international departures.