Male Frigate Bird. For more information check http://www.mahahualbeachhouse.com.
Aracari peaks out of his nesting hole in an old coconut palm (this Palm disappeared during Dean)
Aracari, a small Toucan species that is quite common along the Costa Maya
Aracari
Yucatan Jay
Roseate Spoonbills. Especially abundant during the Winter months. It can often be seen at lagoons. One favored roosting place is mangroves behind the Rio Bermejo bridge (4 km sout of Mahahual)
Whitefronted Amazon, common along the coast. Nests occasionally in coconut palms. This bird was rescued as a chick from a palm that fall over. After it learned to fly it stayed as a free-roaming bird around Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas for a few years, but unfortunatly disappeared during Hurricane Dean.
Yucatan Amazon. Very similar to Whitefronted Amazon. Note the yellow cheeks.
Yucatan Amazon, visitor of Costa Maya beaches. Often found nesting in holes of palm trees.
Pair of Whitefronted Amazones inspecting wood pecker holes in coconut palm as potential nesting places
White-winged dove. One of the most frequent birds. They have a very distinct call. These are our wake-up call birds!
Great Kiskadee. One of the most frequent (and most noisy) birds around Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas. Several nesting pairs live on our property. These birds are very territorial and will attack a car mirror for many hours thinking the mirror image is an intruder into thier territory. We therefore recommend covering up your car mirrors while parking a car at our house.
Black-Headed Trogon
Black-Headed Trogon. Not very common, but one pair lives in the undisturbed jungle part of our property.
Black-headed Trogon juvenile (?)
Golden-fronted Wood-Pecker One of the most common birds on the beach. Nists commonly in Coco-nut palm trunks.
Golden-fronted Wood-PeckerOne of the most common birds on the beach. Nists commonly in Coco-nut palm trunks.
osprey with fish on dead coconut tree
osprey- the most common birds of prey along the coast
Laughing Falcon on dead coconut palm
Black Hawk juvenile (?)
Black Hawk- a large sized population of Black Hawks lives all along the beaches south of Mahahual
Black Vulture- common bird of prey
Pinneated Bitttern- catching lizards on Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas beach
Tern (spec)
Tern
Great Curassow- a large Pheasant species. Once common, now relatively rare. Picture taken at paved road to Xcalak.
Great Curassow, male, in captivity at Cenote Azul.
Great Curassow
Brown Pelican. Brown Pelicans aggregations indicate good spots for sardine fishing.
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican- hunting for sardines
Brown Pelican- specialized in saridine hunting.
Brown Pelican- dive bombing for sardines
brown pelicans at Rio Bermecho
dive bombing Brown Pelican- hunting for sardines
Flying formation of Brown Pelicans
Brown Pelican and Cormorant
cuckoo (spec)
Brown Pelican aggregation at the mangrove outflow at Rio Bermejo. Many small fish aggregate here and this attracts the Pelicans.
Pygmy Owl on a Guarumo Tree in the garden behind the house. We can hear Pygmy Owls almost every day but its difficult to spot these tiny birds.
juvenile White Ibis- about to change the color of his feathers to white. He was busy picking apple snails in one of the Costa Maya lagoons.
juvenile White Ibis- about to change the color of his feathers. He was busy picking apple snails in one of the Costa Maya lagoons.
Least Grebe (?)
Oscillated Turkey
Great Egret
Altamira Oreole- one of the Oreoles that live year-round at the Costa Maya
Flock of herons leaving their daily roosting places to forage on the beaches in the night.
Grey- Necked Wood-RailI photographed it in the jungle on our property. She was very agitated and noisy, but did not leave when I approached closely. She had probably a chick on the ground and wanted me to get distracted.
Grey- Necked Wood-Rail
