LA CIMA & LIST
MEXICO
D.F. (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit ()
Birding Site Guide
La Cima is practically the only spot where you can find the endangered endemic Sierra Madre Sparrow and it can easily be visited in a day trip from Mexico City. Take a bus from Terminal del Sur to Tres Marias where you get off and walk to the ‘Carretera Federal’ where a bus goes back towards Mexico City. There should be a direct bus here along this road but I did not find out where it left from. La Cima is only 7-8 km back along this road and it is a highland grassy plain with outcrops of volcanic rocks and scattered pine woodland on the steeper slopes. Finding the Sierra Madre Sparrow is supposedly not too difficult but took me about an hour and a half. They are responsive to playback. Further down the highway was another track leading into the forest with some good birds like Red Warbler, Broad-billed Hummingbird. Be careful not to exert yourself at this altitude and bring plenty of food and water. 34 species including 28 lifers.
Species seen by Charles Hesse 17th September, 2004
- Red-tailed Hawk? Buteo jamaicensis
- American Kestrel Falco sparverius
- Rock Dove Columba livia Introduced species
- Broad-tailed Hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus
- Strickland's Woodpecker Picoides stricklandi Endemic
- Greater Pewee Contopus pertinax
- Dusky Flycatcher Empidonax oberholseri
- Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
- Gray Silky-flycatcher Ptilogonys cinereus
- Sedge Wren? Cistothorus platensis
- Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana
- American Robin Turdus migratorius
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
- Bushtit Psaltriparus minimus
- Mexican Chickadee Poecile sclateri
- Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
- Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
- Western Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica
- Olive Warbler Peucedramus taeniatus
- Townsend's Warbler? Dendroica townsendi
- Wilson's Warbler Wilsonia pusilla
- Red Warbler Ergaticus ruber Endemic
- Slate-throated Redstart Myioborus miniatus
- Rufous-capped Brush-Finch Atlapetes pileatus Endemic
- Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
- Canyon Towhee Pipilo fuscus
- Striped Sparrow Oriturus superciliosus Endemic
- Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
- Sierra Madre Sparrow Xenospiza baileyi Endemic Endangered
- Yellow-eyed Junco Junco phaeonotus
- Eastern Meadowlark? Sturnella magna
- Black-backed Oriole Icterus abeillei Endemic
- Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus
- House Sparrow Passer domesticus Introduced species
Species seen Regis Nossent & Filip Beeldens 14.12.2006
- Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura aura
- Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
- White-eared Hummingbird Hylocharis leucotis
- Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rubescens
- Borwn-throated wren Thryothorus albinucha brunneicollis
- American Robin Turdus migratorius
- Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana
- Tufted Flycatcher Mitrephanes phaeocercus
- Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
- White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
- Brown Creeper Certhia americana
- Mexican Chickadee Parus sclateri
- Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
- Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
- Grace's Warbler Dendroica graciae
- Red Warbler Ergaticus ruber
- Olive Warbler Peucedramus taeniatus
- House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus
- Hooded Grosbeak Hesperiphona abeillei
- Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
- Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
- Yellow-eyed Junco Junco phaeonotus
- Sierra Madre Sparrow Xenospiza baileyi
- Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
- Striped Sparrow Oriturus superciliosus
- Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Author: Charles Hesse. Regis Nossent & Filip Beeldens
www.birdingsiteguide.com