Birding Localities in Cozumel

Birds are abundant nearly everywhere on the island. However, a number of places that are more frequently visited by birders for a variety of reasons, including: target species, time available, access, and personal interests in exploring new or natural environments. Finding places for bird-watching in a new destination can be both exciting and stressful. Hopefully these pages will help you through some of the decisions.

There are currently 51 eBird Hotspots listed for the Cozumel region. However, this is somewhat misleading because two of the hotspots are located on the Yucatan Pensinsula (Parque Xel Ha and Terminal Martima Calica); these hotspots are assigned to the Cozumel Region of eBird on the basis of political boundaries. These two hotspots contribute ~80 unique species, found only on the mainland, to Cozumel's eBird species list. Of the remaining 49 hotspots on the island, one currently has no public access, six (12%) are in parks (fee required), and twelve (24%) are restricted to clients of hotel, resort or beach club properties, etc. Aside from land use, habitat is another important consideration when birding in Cozumel.

Bird Habitats on Cozumel

The principal ecosystems of the island include: tropical forests (deciduous and semi-deciduous), mangroves, palm thickets, wetlands, coastal dunes, and urbanized environments. The interior of Cozumel is mostly covered by tropical semi-deciduous forest bordered by low tropical deciduous forest with complex structures that give rise to the greatest diversity of avian species (MacGregor-Fors et al., 2022). Mangrove settings host a slightly lower (but statistically insignificant) diversity of species. Palm thickets are characterized by significantly lower species diversity, and urban settings have the lowest diversity. Interestingly, urban areas, followed by tropical forests, mangroves and then palm thickets, host the greatest avian density. Extensive areas of wetlands (estuarine lagoons and mangrove swamps) occur around the coastline of Cozumel, and are particularly well-developed at the northern and southern (Punta Sur) ends of the island. Other smaller and more seasonal wetlands occur more inland and are typically brackish. Using principal component analysis, Thompson-Ambriz et al. (2020) found a close association between different wetland micro-habitats (e.g., based on vegetation, water depth, salinity, scale and connectivity) and trophic guilds of wetland birds.

In summary, the avian diversity of the island and each of the birding hotspots, reflects to at least some degree the diversity of the vegetation ecosystems that are present. If you are in pursuit of particular species, you will want to keep this in mind when choosing birding localities.

Vegetation zones of Cozumel. Areas of "tasiste" are palm thickets, and areas of "popal-tular" are shallow, freshwater wetlands. Map prepared by Paul Von der Heyden and replicated from Biermas, Iñigo, and Von der Heyden (2014) with permission.

Tropical semi-deciduous forests of the northern interior.

Palm thicket along the eastern coastline.

Mangrove islets in an inland brackish wetland.

Selected eBird Hotspots

Some of my favorite birding sites (shown at left) were chosen because they are located in significant or natural places and because they represent a variety of habitats (e.g., lagoon, beach and coastal dunes, rocky shoreline, tropical semi-deciduous forest, and agricultural and developed areas). As such, they offer a fairly representative introduction to the island and to the birds that frequent it. A complete list of hotspots on the island can be found at: eBird Top Hotspots - Cozumel.

Links to each of the hotspots shown on the map are listed below in order, starting from San Miguel and then moving counter-clockwise around the island. All of these sites are open to the public and, with the exception of small fees for those in parks, they are free. Enjoy!

Remember: always choose the best eBird Hotspot for your checklist and follow eBird Best Practices. If you report observations from a circum-island tour to a single hotspot checklist, it compromises the value of your observations for both the birding and scientific communities; a better tactic is to create a personal location for your "Cozumel Island" checklist.