Site Report: Copan

Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa)

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)

Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons)

Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina) - Male

Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus)

Chestnut-capped Warbler (Basileuterus delattrii)

Copan is a ruined Mayan city famous for its intricate sculptures. Most of the sculptures remaining, however, are replicas. The real sculptures are in museums. The site is in a small patch of secondary forest.

Visits

2009-02-06: We took the tourist bus again... this time, in order to avoid four bus transfers. This tourist bus had puking children and the kind of tourists who can't even bother to learn enough of the local language to say "Do you speak English?" Anyway, it took forever to get through the traffic in Guatemala City, and we did not arrive in Copan until fairly late at night. Early the next morning, we arrived at the ruins to discover that they did not open until 9 AM. And the carvings that are the supposed highlight of Copan have been moved to a museum elsewhere and replaced by replicas. After seeing several other Mayan ruins, I was especially underwhelmed by Copan.

Species Seen

Kingdom: Animals (13 records)

Phylum: Chordates (13 records)

Class: Birds (13 records)

Order: Doves and Pigeons (1 record)
- Family: Pigeons and Doves
- White-tipped Dove (Leptotila verreauxi)

Order: Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, Motmots (2 records)
- Family: Motmots
- Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa)
- Lessen's Motmot (Momotus lessonii)

Order: Perching Birds (9 records)
- Family: Tyrant Flycatchers
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris)
- Family: Vireos
- Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)
- Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons)

Order: Turkey-like birds (1 record)
- Family: Chachalacas, Guans, and Curassows
- Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula)

Lifelists

Trips

Mexico to Panama