Volcan de San Pedro (and Great-tailed Grackle), Guatemala
Seeking Horned Guan atop a volcano
I don’t think there was a time during my trip to Guatemala that a volcano wasn’t in sight. Most are dormant. But at least one was occasionally burping ash off in the distance. In addition to their stunning beauty, the volcanos of the highlands hold one of the birding prizes of the country. The endangered Horned Guan is a large game bird that only lives in high-elevation humid forests. It’s about as close to a dinosaur as you can get on the planet today. No self-respecting birder would skip the chance to see one of these epic birds.
After my week-long group trip was completed, I headed to an area of south of Lake Atitlan where the Horned Guan live. I prefer to seek and find on my own. I actually frown upon lists generated by local guides who saw and heard and identified all the birds. But for this, I hired an experienced local birding guide, Ben Hernandez, to take me up a volcano. It hopefully increased my odds, and let me support a local birding expert.
Ben chose Volcan de San Pedro, a stratovolcano near his home with a well-worn trail to the top. There apparently used to be a problem with hikers getting mugged on this hike. But it seems like that’s not as common anymore. Having a local guide surely helped reduce my risk. That we were followed up the trail for the first mile or so by two tourist policemen was, presumably, supposed to further assuage my fears.
Flame-colored Tanager
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren
Guatemalan Tyrannulet
Chestnut-sided Shrike Vireo
The 2.5 mile hike starts at about 6,000 feet elevation, and ends just under 10,000 feet. Gaining four thousand feet of elevation in that distance means it is a steep hike. We hit the trail just after 6am, and were greeted by a Flame-Colored Tanager perched in the open. White-tipped Doves were cooing upslope. Some Black-capped Swallows perched on nearby electric wires, waiting for the bugs to wake up. A lifer Collared Forest-Falcon was calling off in the distance. The birding was great, and continued so all along the trail. I had great looks at some elusive species. A skulky Gray-breasted Wood-wren popped up on a close branch. A Chestnut-sided Shrike Vireo stood still long enough for a clear view.
Once we made it to 8500 feet, we turned our attention to finding a Horned Guan. The timing of my visit (early June) meant that the hunt would be harder than spring, when they are more likely to be vocal. The key is to look in the right patch of canopy just when one of these beasts moves. Some hikers coming down the trail said they’d seen one near the ancient tree. We lingered for a while in the area. Ben wandered off trail. I split off from Ben’s biologist friend, who was along for the walk, and we all scanned the treetops. Lots of birds, but no Horned Guan. We repeated this every 50-100 meters, each time with the same result.
Over 9000 feet
in the right place
Almost at the top
At one point, I saw a big turkey-shaped silhouette fly from one patch of trees and out of view. It made no sound, and I had no idea where it landed. This was, almost certainly, a Horned Guan. But I couldn’t be sure. No one else saw it. The look wasn’t good enough to rule out a Highland Guan. So we continued our climb. With each 100 meters of trail, the summit neared and the canopy shrunk. I saw my first Black-throated Jay and Amethyst-throated Mountain-Gem. Guatemalan Tyrannulet went from a delightful lifer to a common companion. But we were not seeing any Horned Guan. Combined with the strain of the steep, high-altitude hike, we all became quiet and downcast.
Just short of the summit, we paused at a little camp. As I pulled out some snacks, a (lifer) Black Thrush swooped into a nearby tree. Ben said we had a good chance at a Garnet-throated Hummingbird, a large, sparkly Painted-Bunting of a hummingbird, at the summit. But our pishing was unproductive. We took in the spectacular view and started to head back down the volcano. We all squinted at the treetops, hoping to luck into a view of a Horned Guan. But it wasn’t to be.
Black Thrush
Golden-browed Warbler
The 10 hours we spent on San Pedro volcano presented us with 66 species and a cornucopia of bird families: wrens, warblers, woodcreepers, motmots, toucanets,, trogons, honeycreepers, brushfinches, nightingale-thrushes, chlorosphingus, euphonia, peppershrikes, pewees, becards, cuckoos, quail and more. And maybe (probably?), but not good enough for certainly, a Horned Guan. I’d do the hike again, and I’d hire Ben to come with me, if I’m ever back in the area.