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Mexico Campeche

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris © Stephen O. Muskie http://www.outtakes.com/birds/index.html

The State of Campeche is a state in the south-east region of the Mexican Republic. It is bordered by the Mexican states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west. To the south it is bordered by the Petén department of Guatemala and to the west by the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1996, Campeche also shares a short border with the nation of Belize to the east, although the anexation of this area by Campeche remains disputed by Quintana Roo.

The area of Campeche is 56,798 square kilometers (21,929.8 sq mi), and the population was only 754,730 inhabitants at the 2005 census. This makes Campeche one of the states with the lowest population densities in Mexico (fifth behind Baja California Sur, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua). The capital city of the state is the city of San Francisco de Campeche.

top sites

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve

Calakmul Biosphere reserve is also an area accepted by UNESCO as a natural heritage site. It has more than 1.7 million acres and it is the second largest protected area of Mexico. It is compose basically of a jungle area connecting with the jungle of Guatemala representing the second largest jungle in America after the Amazon.

Calakmul has just recently started to been studied. There is not a lot of information on the reserve and the number of species, nevertheless it is known by the abundance and diversity of species that can be seen in the area. There are several groups working in the area such as WWF and Pronatura. A trip to the reserve early in the morning can provide you with a good cross section of bird species as well as other animals of the area.

contributor

Wikipedia
(GNU Free Documentation License)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campeche

useful reading

Fieldguides, CDs etc.

For a selection of appropriate fieldguides and CDs etc see the general Mexico page of Fatbirder...

reserves

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve

http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0296/et0296s6.html
Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is one of the largest protected areas in Mexico, covering more than 14 percent of Campeche State in the Yucatan Peninsula...

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can’t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page… give them a try!

1996 [March] - John van der Woude - Southeastern Mexico

http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~jvanderw/mex96/mexrep96.html
The Yucatan Peninsula and the transition zone to the mountains in Chiapas (the Atlantic slope) are well worth a birding trip. There are many typical Neotropical bird species. Moreover, many of the sites to be visited are around archeological ruins ...

2004 [December] - Paul Hudson

http://maybank.tripod.com/Mexico/Yucatan-11-2004.htm
...Calakmul's towering pyramids are impressive in their own right, but what makes it special is that it is surrounded by what I believe is the largest remaining tropical old-growth forest in North America, and has hardly any tourists or traffic. The result for birders: while Ocellated Turkey are elusive if not unlikely at Vigia Chico Road and elsewhere, at Calakmul I had approximately 30 of them in my 1 1/4 days of birding...

places to stay

Campeche Hotels

http://www.all-hotels.com/central_america/mexico/south_mexico/campeche_e1.htm
A list of hotels.

Holiday Inn

http://www.worldexecutive.com/directory/mexico/ciudad_del_carmen/hotels/cmemx.html
Located on the main avenue of Carmen, across the street from the Pemex and Bechtel headquarters. A great place to relax after a long working day...

Dan Mennill's Bird Songs of the Yucatan Peninsula

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/dmennill/Mexico/Mexico.html
Mexico`s Yucatan Peninsula is home to an amazing diversity of birds, yet the vocalizations of most resident birds have not been studied in detail. By recording the songs and calls of tropical birds and presenting an analysis of their vocalizations on this website I hope to accomplish three things...