Honduras: Atlantic Slope: Mar 21—30, 2009

Little-known Honduras provides beautiful natural scenery and lots of great birds, including Keel-billed Motmot, Lovely Cotinga, and the endangered Honduran Emerald.

Scenic Honduras is a comparatively little-known country, yet one that is gradually emerging into a first-rate travel destination. For the naturalist, it is a glorious place, full of birds and tremendous natural scenery. This tour visits a broad cross section of the Atlantic slope of Honduras, featuring a tapestry of habitats and ecosystems that include a beautiful mountain-ringed deepwater lake, forest-clad mountain ranges, dry intermountain valleys, thick mangrove swamps, and fragile thorn-scrub.

The highlight of the trip is a three-night stay at the beautiful Lodge at Pico Bonito, situated on the edge of Pico Bonito National Park. The lodge is considered one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and birds abound throughout the grounds and along its trail system. The tantalizing Lovely Cotinga is one of the specialties here, and the rarely-seen Keel-billed Motmot is commonly found along the forest trails. At dusk and throughout the night echo the calls of the Great Potoo, and Black-and-white, Spectacled, Mottled, and Vermiculated Screech-owls. An added bonus is our visit to the Cuero y Salado refuge aboard a late nineteenth century narrow-gauge train.

We will visit the renowned Lancetilla Botanical Gardens. This lowland site is among the most bird-rich locations on our tour route, and may produce numbers of species we will not see elsewhere, with such alluring possibilities as Bat Falcon, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Black-headed Trogon, and Great Antshrike.

The Olanchito thorn-forest is home to the Honduran Emerald—the country's only endemic bird. While searching for this endangered species, we are likely to encounter other local specialties such as Double-striped Thick-knee, Lesser Roadrunner, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, and Salvin's Emerald.

Scenic Lake Yojoa will be the site of a three-night stay during which we will bird an assortment of habitats ranging from cloud forest to open water and lakeside marshes. The list of possibilities is extensive and includes an interesting mix of species not easily found elsewhere, including Gray-breasted Crake, Central American and "Mountain" pygmy-owls, Berylline Hummingbird, and Buff-collared and Spot-tailed nightjars.