There are close to 800 species of birds in Guatemala. As the nation has 14 ecoregions, ranging from mangroves to wetlands to ocean littorals, it is an avian paradise.
Guatemala’s national bird is the beautiful Resplendent Quetzal. Other notable species include the Azure-crowned Hummingbird, the Fulvous Owl, and the Rufous Sabrewing.
List of Common Birds Found in Guatemala
Native Birds
- Azure-crowned Hummingbird
- Azure-rumped Tanager
- Bananaquit
- Bare-throated Tiger Heron
- Barred Antshrike
- Barred Parakeet
- Bar-winged Oriole
- Black-capped Swallow
- Black-cheeked Woodpecker
- Black-cowled Oriole
- Black-crested Coquette
- Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush
- Black-headed Saltator
- Black-headed Trogon
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Black-throated Jay
- Black-throated Shrike-tanager
- Black-vented Oriole
- Black Vulture
- Blue-and-gold Tanager
- Blue-and-white Mockingbird
- Blue-black Grosbeak
- Blue-crowned Chlorophonia
- Blue-crowned Hummingbird
- Blue-crowned Laughingthrush
- Blue-crowned Manakin
- Blue-crowned Motmot
- Blue-gray Tanager
- Blue-hooded Euphonia
- Blue Seedeater
- Blue-throated Goldentail
- Blue-throated Motmot
- Brown-backed Solitaire
- Brown Jay
- Brown Pelican
- Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chestnut-headed Oropendola
- Cinnamon Hummingbird
- Clay-colored Thrush
- Collared Aracari
- Collared Trogon
- Crested Guan
- Elegant Euphonia
- Emerald-chinned Hummingbird
- Emerald Toucanet
- Fulvous Owl
- Golden-browed Warbler
- Golden-fronted Woodpecker
- Golden-hooded Tanager
- Golden-olive Woodpecker
- Gray Hawk
- Gray-headed Tanager
- Grayish Saltator
- Gray Silky-flycatcher
- Great Egret
- Great Kiskadee
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Green-breasted Mountain-gem
- Green Jay
- Guatemalan Pygmy Owl
- Highland Guan
- Highland Tanager
- Horned Guan
- House Finch
- Inca Dove
- Keel-billed Toucan
- Lesson’s Motmot
- Long-billed Hermit
- Long-tailed Manakin
- Long-tailed Sabrewing
- Montezuma Oropendola
- Mountain Trogon
- Ocellated Turkey
- Olive-backed Euphonia
- Olive-throated Parakeet
- Orange-billed Nightingale-thrush
- Orange-breasted Falcon
- Orange-fronted Parakeet
- Pale-billed Woodpecker
- Pink-headed Warbler
- Plain-capped Starthroat
- Prevost’s Ground Sparrow
- Red-capped Manakin
- Red-faced Warbler
- Red-legged Honeycreeper
- Red-throated Ant-Tanager
- Resplendent Quetzal
- Roadside Hawk
- Rose-throated Becard
- Ruddy Ground Dove
- Rufous-and-white Wren
- Rufous-browed Peppershrike
- Rufous-browed Wren
- Rufous-capped Warbler
- Rufous-collared Robin
- Rufous-collared Thrush
- Rufous Sabrewing
- Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
- Scaled Antpitta
- Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner
- Scarlet Macaw
- Singing Quail
- Slate-colored Solitaire
- Slaty Finch
- Slaty-tailed Trogon
- Social Flycatcher
- Spot-breasted Oriole
- Spot-crowned Woodcreeper
- Squirrel Cuckoo
- Stripe-headed Sparrow
- Stripe-tailed Hummingbird
- Tawny-throated Leaftosser
- Tody Motmot
- Tropical Kingbird
- Tropical Mockingbird
- Turkey Vulture
- Turquoise-browed Motmot
- Vermilion Flycatcher
- Violaceous Trogon
- Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
- White-bellied Chachalaca
- White-bellied Hummingbird
- White-bellied Mountain-gem
- White-bellied Wren
- White-breasted Hawk
- White-collared Seedeater
- White-collared Swift
- White-eared Ground-sparrow
- White-eared Hummingbird
- White-eyed Vireo
- White-fronted Parrot
- White-lored Gnatcatcher
- White-naped Brushfinch
- White-necked Puffbird
- White-tailed Hummingbird
- White-throated Magpie-jay
- White-throated Thrush
- White-whiskered Puffbird
- White-winged Dove
- White-winged Tanager
- Wine-throated hummingbird
- Yellow-backed Oriole
- Yellow-billed Cacique
- Yellow-naped Parrot
- Yellow Warbler
- Yellow-winged Tanager
Non-native Birds
- African Collared-dove
- American Avocet
- American Golden-plover
- Black-necked Stilt
- Caspian Tern
- Eurasian Collared-dove
- Gray Catbird
- House Sparrow
- Indigo Bunting
- Lark Sparrow
- Laughing Gull
- Least Sandpiper
- Magnificent Frigatebird
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Reddish Egret
- Rock Pigeon
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Tricolored Munia
- White-tailed Tropicbird
- Wilson’s Plover
Some of the best birding sites in Guatemala include Tikal National Park, Lake Atitlán, and Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve. The peak season for birding in Guatemala is the dry season from November to April. During this time, the weather is more predictable, and bird activity tends to increase.
FAQs
1. Which birds of prey live in Guatemala? Several birds of prey observed in the country include the Orange-breasted Falcon, the Roadside Hawk, and the Guatemalan Pygmy Owl.
