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Lovely Cotinga. P
hoto by James Adams. Copyright The Lodge at Pico Bonito. All rights reserve
d. Perhaps you've savored a week in San Blas, Nayari t, plowing through the West Mexican endemics, all the while based in one de lightful hotel and working your way through Betty's wonderful menu. A week at The Lodge at Pico Bonito in Honduras is the east coast mirror of that experience, with an entirely different suite of birds. The Lodge itself is a modern facility situated on 400 acres of prime birding habitat. Tropical birds abound on the grounds, and field trips to the nearby coast and mountains encompassed by Pico Bonito National Park all lie with easy reach. Public and private wildlife refuges and botanical gar dens are also on the docket. A multitude of toucans, trogons, and dazzling neon tanagers will elicit sighs, mews, and even gasps of delight, and there is no better location in Central America for the velvet purple and royal b lue tree ornament that is a Lovely Cotinga. A visit to one of the three obs ervation towers onsite should reveal this and many other canopy-dwelling ge ms best enjoyed from a lofty locale. Not all the birds will come as easily, of course, but with luck we may encounter Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Spectacled Ow l, Great Potoo, Purple-crowned Fairy, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Turqoise-b rowed Motmot, and Chestnut-colored Woodpecker. At Pico Bonito we have a rea listic chance of seeing all of them. The extremely local and endemic Hondur an Emerald will lead us to its nearby cactus-clad haunts that seem so impro bable juxtaposed with Pico Bonito's towering rain forests. If a relaxing we ek in a luxuriant eco-lodge surrounded by a tropical tapestry of bird song appeals, please join us this winter in a birder's paradise at Pico Bonito L odge.

Adding extra days before arriving at the Lodge at Pico B onito on our Highlands & Copán Ruins pre-tour< /a> allows us to add up to 200 species to the entire Honduras experien ce! We’ll begin at a simple but comfortable inn near the entrance of La Tig ra National Park. Relatively easy, open trails make for a great birding exp erience here, as does access to bromeliad-laden cloud forest and pine-oak w oodland. Resplendent Quetzal, for example, is quite likely to grace us with its presence at the expansive La Tigra, the first national park establishe d in Honduras. Singing Quail, Wine-throated Hummingbird, Azure-crowned Humm ingbird, Bushy-crested Jay, Blue-and-white Mockingbird and Ruddy-capped Nig htingale-Thrush are just a few other possibilities. It’s amazing to think a ll of this natural splendor lies only 30 minutes from our arrival airport i n the capital city of Tegucigalpa! We’ll spend our next two nights at the P anacam Lodge, shrouded in lush cloud forest. In the Panacam lowlands, we‘ll seek Prevost’s Ground-Sparrow and the black velvet Passerini’s Tanager, wi th its intensely scarlet rump. Birding near Lake Yojoa, bordered by the imp ressively steep mountains of Cerro Azul National Park, may produce the seld om seen Keel-billed and Tody Motmots, the most occult members of their trib e. Black-crested Coquette and Spectacled Foliage-Gleaner are two other char ismatic species we’ll seek. After absorbing a panoply of color at Panacam, we proceed onward to the equally bird-soaked region around the famous Mayan ruins at Copán. Occupied for more than two thousand years, from 5th to 9th centuries A.D., Copán was the capital city of a major Classic period kingd om. Images of the Scarlet Macaw are carved into stone throughout the comple x, and efforts are underway to reintroduce this breathtaking species into t he area. Featuring a well-preserved acropolis, ballcourt, hieroglyphic stai rway, and impressive portrait stelae, a tour of this Mayan site will provid e a foundation to understanding both the avifauna and the human culture of present-day Honduras.

Cost of our Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito tour includes all meals and accommodations, all entrance fees, and all transportation beginning and ending in San Pedro Sula—$2695.

Cost of the Honduran Highlands pre-to ur includes all meals and accommodations, all entrance fees, and all tr ansportation beginning and ending in Tegucigalpa and ending in San Pedro Su la—$2395.

Photo: Lovely Cotin ga
Photo b y: James Adams, copyright The Lodge at Pico Bonito

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Lovely Cotinga. Photo by James Adams. Copyright The Lodge a
t Pico Bonito. All rights reserved. Perhaps you've s avored a week in San Blas, Nayarit, plowing through the West Mexican endemi cs, all the while based in one delightful hotel and working your way throug h Betty's wonderful menu. A week at The Lodge at Pico Bonito< /strong> in Honduras is the east coast mirror of that experience, with an e ntirely different suite of birds. The Lodge itself is a modern facili ty situated on 400 acres of prime birding habitat. Tropical birds abound on the grounds, and field trips to the nearby coast and mountains encompassed by Pico Bonito National Park all lie with easy reach. Public and private w ildlife refuges and botanical gardens are also on the docket. A multitude o f toucans, trogons, and dazzling neon tanagers will elicit sighs, mews, and even gasps of delight, and there is no better location in Central America for the velvet purple and royal blue tree ornament that is a Lovely Cotinga . A visit to one of the three observation towers onsite should reveal this and many other canopy-dwelling gems best enjoyed from a lofty locale. Not a ll the birds will come as easily, of course, but with luck we may encounter Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Spectacled Owl, Great Potoo, Purple-crowned Fairy, Amer ican Pygmy Kingfisher, Turqoise-browed Motmot, and Chestnut-colored Woodpec ker. At Pico Bonito we have a realistic chance of seeing all of them. The e xtremely local and endemic Honduran Emerald will lead us to its nearby cact us-clad haunts that seem so improbable juxtaposed with Pico Bonito's toweri ng rain forests. If a relaxing week in a luxuriant eco-lodge surrounded by a tropical tapestry of bird song appeals, please join us this winter in a b irder's paradise at Pico Bonito Lodge.

Adding extra days befor e arriving at the Lodge at Pico Bonito on our Highlands & Copán Ruins pre-tour a llows us to add up to 200 species to the entire Honduras experience! We’ll begin at a simple but comfortable inn near the entrance of La Tigra Nationa l Park. Relatively easy, open trails make for a great birding experience he re, as does access to bromeliad-laden cloud forest and pine-oak woodland. R esplendent Quetzal, for example, is quite likely to grace us with its prese nce at the expansive La Tigra, the first national park established in Hondu ras. Singing Quail, Wine-throated Hummingbird, Azure-crowned Hummingbird, B ushy-crested Jay, Blue-and-white Mockingbird and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-T hrush are just a few other possibilities. It’s amazing to think all of this natural splendor lies only 30 minutes from our arrival airport in the capi tal city of Tegucigalpa! We’ll spend our next two nights at the Panacam Lod ge, shrouded in lush cloud forest. In the Panacam lowlands, we‘ll seek Prev ost’s Ground-Sparrow and the black velvet Passerini’s Tanager, with its int ensely scarlet rump. Birding near Lake Yojoa, bordered by the impressively steep mountains of Cerro Azul National Park, may produce the seldom seen Ke el-billed and Tody Motmots, the most occult members of their tribe. Black-c rested Coquette and Spectacled Foliage-Gleaner are two other charismatic sp ecies we’ll seek. After absorbing a panoply of color at Panacam, we proceed onward to the equally bird-soaked region around the famous Mayan ruins at Copán. Occupied for more than two thousand years, from 5th to 9th centuries A.D., Copán was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom. Images of the Scarlet Macaw are carved into stone throughout the complex, and eff orts are underway to reintroduce this breathtaking species into the area. F eaturing a well-preserved acropolis, ballcourt, hieroglyphic stairway, and impressive portrait stelae, a tour of this Mayan site will provide a founda tion to understanding both the avifauna and the human culture of present-da y Honduras.

Leader: John Yerger

Cost of our Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito t our includes all meals and accommodations, all entrance fees, and all trans portation beginning and ending in San Pedro Sula—$2695.

Cost of the < /span>Ho nduran Highlands pre-tour includes all meals and accommodations, all en trance fees, and all transportation beginning and ending in Tegucigalpa and ending in San Pedro Sula—$2395.

Photo: Lovely Cotinga
Photo by: James Adams, copyright The Lodge a t Pico Bonito

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DTSTAMP:20260506T043818 DTSTART;TZID=America/Phoenix;VALUE=DATE:20180324 DTEND;TZID=America/Phoenix;VALUE=DATE:20180331 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR