Bird Watching
Welcome to the Vallarta Botanical Garden: A Birder’s Paradise!
Our Garden attracts a wide variety of year-round Mexican bird species and migratory visitors. Our thoughtful inclusion of food plants and bird feeders across our site creates a haven for local birds and an exciting destination for bird enthusiasts.
Our popular hummingbird season runs from May until November. You can also enjoy our onsite Peacocks, Peahens and Guineafowl and more year-round!
Share What You Discover and Support Citizen Science
We’d love for you to share your birding adventures on social media! When posting photos, please mention the Jardín Botánico de Vallarta or Vallarta Botanical Garden, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in your tags and locations.
Our visitors are important contributors to citizen science and population surveillance. You can tag your sightings of birds and plants alike on iNaturalist, or for birds only try eBird: with the label “Jardín Botánico Vallarta, Cabo Corrientes, MX”
Guided Birding Tours / Photography Tours
We can arrange a private bird watching guide or even a bird photography guide, available by appointment for an additional fee. To schedule a bird experience, email us in advance at contact@vbgradens.org
Support Bird Conservation
Our Garden itself offers only 8 hectares of bird habitat. But our Conservation in Action program has allowed for an additional 100+ hectares of nearby untouched forest to be set aside for biodiversity and protected from habitat-destroying development. Your charitable contribution today will make further land purchases possible and will help us prevent illegal encroachment on our current lands, as well as to track species health. Thank you for your support!
Responsible Birding Practices
Please follow these guidelines to help us protect and our feathered friends
- Stay on designated paths: For your safety and the birds’, please remain on pathways and lawn areas. The garden is a wildlife sanctuary and is home to more than birds, with many other animal species living within our planted areas, and we are home to several rare and endangered plants
- No bird call recordings or lasers: These can disrupt the birds’ natural behavior
- No Drones – not permitted
- Respect their space: Maintain a safe distance of 10 meters (10 yards) from the birds. Speak softly or whisper when they’re nearby. Notice if the birds move away from you as you approach, then you are too close
- Never approach a bird with the intention of making them fly
- Tripod etiquette: Avoid setting up camera tripods in high-traffic areas or pathway centers
- Nesting birds are particularly vulnerable as are their habitats: Please don’t approach nesting birds or disturb their habitats by moving branches or leaves. The garden typically has a wide variety of nesting birds during nesting season and often the nests are out in the open so please limit your time at nest sights.
Species Found at Our Garden
| Cinnamon Hummingbird | Amazilia rutila |
| Lilac-crowned Amazon | Amazona finschi |
| Green Macaw | Ara militaris |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | Archilochus alexandri |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Archilochus colubris |
| Fan-tailed Warbler | Basileuterus lachrymosus |
| Zone-tailed Hawk | Buteo albonotatus |
| Short-tailed Hawk | Buteo brachyurus |
| Gray Hawk | Buteo plagiatus |
| Swainson’s Hawk | Buteo swainsoni |
| Common Black Hawk | Buteogallus anthracinus |
| Green Heron | Butorides virescens |
| Pale-billed Woodpecker | Campephilus guatemalensis |
| Wilson’s Warbler | Cardellina pusilla |
| Yellow-winged Cacique | Cassiculus melanicterus |
| Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura |
| Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush | Catharus aurantiirostris |
| Swainson’s Thrush | Catharus ustulatus |
| Vaux’s Swift | Chaetura vauxi |
| Green Kingfisher | Chloroceryle americana |
| Gray-crowned Woodpecker | Colaptes auricularis |
| Inca Dove | Columbina inca |
| Ruddy Ground Dove | Columbina talpacoti |
| Greater Pewee | Contopus pertinax |
| Black Vulture | Coragyps atratus |
| Common Raven | Corvus corax |
| Groove-billed Ani | Crotophaga sulcirostris |
| Thicket Tinamou | Crypturellus cinnamomeus |
| Blue Bunting | Cyanocompsa parellina |
| San Blas Jay | Cyanocorax sanblasianus |
| Green Jay | Cyanocorax yncas |
| Golden-crowned Emerald | Cynanthus auriceps |
| Broad-billed Hummingbird | Cynanthus latirostris |
| Black Swift | Cypseloides niger |
| Ladder-backed Woodpecker | Dryobates scalaris |
| Lineated Woodpecker | Dryocopus lineatus |
| Western Flycatcher | Empidonax difficilis |
| Mexican Woodnymph | Eupherusa ridgwayi |
| West Mexican Euphonia | Euphonia godmani |
| Orange-fronted Parakeet | Eupsittula canicularis |
| Red Junglefowl | Gallus gallus |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | Geothlypis tolmiei |
| Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl | Glaucidium brasilianum |
| Colima Pygmy-Owl | Glaucidium palmarum |
| Red-crowned Ant-Tanager | Habia rubica |
| Plain-capped Starthroat | Heliomaster constantii |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | Icteria virens |
| Bullock’s Oriole | Icterus bullockii |
| Hooded OrioleIcterus cucullatus | Icterus cucullatus |
| Streak-backed Oriole | Icterus pustulatus |
| Black-vented Oriole | Icterus wagleri |
| Amethyst-throated Mountain-gem | Lampornis amethystinus |
| Nashville Warbler | Leiothlypis ruficapilla |
| White-tipped Dove | Leptotila verreauxi |
| Boat-billed FlycatcherMegarynchus pitangua | Megarynchus pitangua |
| Golden-cheeked Woodpecker | Melanerpes chrysogenys |
| Blue Mockingbird | Melanotis caerulescens |
| Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow | Melozone kieneri |
| Collared Forest-Falcon | Micrastur semitorquatus |
| Black-and-white Warbler | Mniotilta varia |
| Bronzed Cowbird | Molothrus aeneus |
| Russet-crowned Motmot | Momotus mexicanus |
| Wood Stork | Mycteria americana |
| Nutting’s Flycatcher | Myiarchus nuttingi |
| Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Myiarchus tuberculifer |
| Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher | Myiodynastes luteiventris |
| Greenish Elaenia | Myiopagis viridicata |
| Social Flycatcher | Myiozetetes similis |
| Neotropic Cormorant | Nannopterum brasilianum |
| West Mexican Chachalaca | Ortalis poliocephala |
| Rose-throated Becard | Pachyramphus aglaiae |
| Louisiana Waterthrush | Parkesia motacilla |
| Blue Grosbeak | Passerina caerulea |
| Painted Bunting | Passerina ciris |
| Varied Bunting | Passerina versicolor |
| Crested Guan | Penelope purpurascens |
| Stripe-headed Sparrow | Peucaea ruficauda |
| Mexican Hermit | Phaethornis mexicanus |
| Yellow Grosbeak | Pheucticus chrysopeplus |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | Pheucticus melanocephalus |
| Happy Wren | Pheugopedius felix |
| Squirrel Cuckoo | Piaya cayana |
| Western Tanager | Piranga ludoviciana |
| Great Kiskadee | Pitangus sulphuratus |
| Vermilion Flycatcher | Pyrocephalus rubinus |
| Great-tailed Grackle | Quiscalus mexicanus |
| Rosy Thrush-Tanager | Rhodinocichla rosea |
| Roadside Hawk | Rupornis magnirostris |
| Cinnamon-bellied Saltator | Saltator grandis |
| Berylline Hummingbird | Saucerottia beryllina |
| Black Phoebe | Sayornis nigricans |
| Calliope Hummingbird | Selasphorus calliope |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | Setophaga nigrescens |
| Tropical Parula | Setophaga pitiayumi |
| Black-headed Siskin | Spinus notatus |
| Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater | Sporophila torqueola |
| Mottled Owl | Strix virgata |
| Least Grebe | Tachybaptus dominicus |
| Sinaloa Wren | Thryophilus sinaloa |
| Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird | Tilmatura dupontii |
| Masked Tityra | Tityra semifasciata |
| Citreoline Trogon | Trogon citreolus |
| Elegant Trogon | Trogon elegans |
| White-throated Thrush | Turdus assimilis |
| Rufous-backed RobinTurdus rufopalliatus | Turdus rufopalliatus |
| Thick-billed Kingbird | Tyrannus crassirostris |
| Tropical Kingbird | Tyrannus melancholicus |
| Western KingbirdTyrannus verticalis | Tyrannus verticalis |
| Black-capped Vireo | Vireo atricapilla |
| Yellow-green Vireo | Vireo flavoviridis |
| Warbling Vireo | Vireo gilvus |
| Golden Vireo | Vireo hypochryseus |
| Blue-black Grassquit | Volatinia jacarina |
| Ivory-billed Woodcreeper | Xiphorhynchus flavigaster |
| White-winged Dove | Zenaida asiatica |
| Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura |