T h e   C u c h u m a t a n e s

Last visited 18th April 2006

This is the largest expanse of highland plateau above 3000m in Guatemala, providing a unique habitat that has some distinct birdlife. I have not covered the area very extensively having only made two brief visits during April 2006. However, I saw some of the most difficult to see regional endemics here, such as Black-capped Siskin (found in all the main areas described below, including fairly open plateau with no trees) and Goldman's Warbler plus some other important regional specialties that were common, such as Pink-headed Warbler (which were found throughout the area in a variety of habitats). Note that Nebaj is also technically in the Cuchumatanes, but I include it as a separate site because of its separation, different altitude and very different habitat.

There are several distinct habitats in the region. Probably the area of most interest, because it is not easily accessible elsewhere, is the altiplano region that forms the main plateau. There are some interesting species here, even though the bird diversity is not particularly high. Even within this region there are several different habitats that are hard to describe and are best visualised by looking at the photos below. There are open areas of grassland with outcrops of rock, where I quickly notched up two new species that I had not seen previously - Savannah Sparrow (a major rarity in Guatemala) and Rock Wren (of the form S. o. obsoletus rather than the darker 'Lava Wren' that is found further south). A strange form of scrub is found in many areas, which contains a number of highland species such as Broad-tailed Hummingbird, White-eyed 'Guatemalan' Junco, Rufous-collared Thrush and Rufous-sided Towhee. As I crossed the plateau towards the north I came into some areas of pine savannah, which is where I found the Goldman's Warblers. This is an endemic subspecies (or possibly even species) to Guatemala, and pretty much endemic to the Cuchumatanes. It was my most sought after bird in the region and I only found them on the last day, having searched for them without success in other habitats. Note that the similar Audubon's Warbler was also a common bird in this altiplano region, so they need to be seen well to make a clear identification and it probably has to be a male (which apparently has no winter plumage, so should be easily identifiable in the winter months). I was able to make some recordings of the song, which I believe has not been recorded before. I hope to be able to make some comparisons between the different forms of Yellow-rumped Warbler to see if it sheds any light on their specific status.

Much of my time was spent at slightly lower altitudes around the town of Todos Santos. This is the main tourist area in the Cuchumatanes, though it’s still mainly a backpacker’s destination. Most of the habitat here is pine forest and there was some good birding in some of the side valleys off the road that takes you down from the altiplano to Todos Santos. After birding in the area for a few days I was surprised to hear that there is also some cloud forest nearby. This lies to the south of the town on the other side of the ridge on the path that heads towards San Juan Atitlan (usually just called San Juan). I heard this from a local guide called Roman, who is from Switzerland, but has lived in the area for 16 years having fallen in love with the place. He is not a birder, but he is knowledgeable about wildlife and knows the area very well. Near this cloud forest area we also found some good pine-oak forest. In this region there were some good regional specialties such as Highland Guan, White-faced Quail-Dove, Rufous-browed Wren and Unicoloured Jay.

The area is also of interest because of the local Mayan culture. There is a very distinctive dress worn by both the men and the women and the local Mayan language (Mam) is still the main means of communication, though Spanish is spoken by most people and all of the younger men. Just about everyone in Todos Santos wears the same outfit, with men wearing distinctive red trousers with thin white vertical lines. However, as soon as you cross the ridge and enter the region controlled by San Juan, all of the men wear white trousers. At the point where the two regions meet, they have cut a gap (about 5m wide) through the forest to mark the boundary between the two regions. This goes right up along the mountain and can be used to help you find your way back when you walk through the cloud forest. You will be unlikely to see anyone wearing the wrong trousers collecting wood on the wrong side of the divide. Note that there is a bit of suspicion in the area (presumably brought about by this local conflict) and it is best to explain to people what you are doing, especially if you are going out at night. For this reason, it would be a good idea to have a guide like Roman with you if you intend to go out for owls at night (something that may well be worthwhile, though we had no success trying Unspotted Saw-whet Owl tapes, though all the locals seemed to be familiar with it, unlike the Bearded Screech-Owl tapes that they did not recognize).

Access
There are several hotels in Todos Santos, which are all very close together (except one very grubby looking one on the main road that is best avoided) and all pretty basic. During my first visit I stayed at the Hotelito Todos Santos (which has some rooms with private bathrooms for 90Q and without for 70Q for me and my wife) and during my second stay (traveling alone) I stayed at the Hospedaje Casa Familiar (which has no private bathrooms and single rooms for 30Q and 40Q for a double). Both places were friendly. The Casa Familiar (phone 7758 3283 or 7783 0656) is more of a backpacker place and is good to meet people and is the place to contact Roman (his wife Cristina works there). The two hotels back on to one another and are found by turning left up the hill just before you reach the main plaza. Roman can also be contacted in advance by e-mail (romanstoop@yahoo.com).

The main access to the Cuchumatanes is from Huehuetenango. The road up and accross the altiplano is all paved, though the section down to Todos Santos is unpaved but decent quality and easily accessible to all types of vehicle. When you reach the altiplano above Huehuetenango, you follow the main road for about 8km until you reach a fork. The left fork heads to Todos Santos (Apparently there is no 'back' entrance to Todos Santos from the west) and the right fork continues on towards Soloma. The Pine savannah where I saw the Goldman’s Warblers is a few km further along on the Soloma road.

To reach the trail to San Juan, you take the road up from just before the main plaza in Todos Santos past the hotels and continue on this road all the way to the top of the ridge (it’s steep and dusty and would be best in a 4x4 vehicle but could be ok for ordinary cars). At the top there is a T-junction where you go right and then after about 50m take the left fork down the hill. Follow the road all the way down to a T-junction at the bottom. Turn right then park on the left about 100 m along this road. This marks the start of the trail to San Juan. The drive takes about 20 min to half an hour and it would be about a couple of hours to walk. You could get a taxi to drop you off and arrange for it to pick you up at a certain time or wait for you. Roman estimated that it would cost around 70 to 100Q for a taxi to drop you off here (the place is called Tinema). Follow the trail over the brow of the ridge and down the slope on the far side (not the road to your left). You soon will see the cloud forest at the bottom of the valley on your left. A path enters the cloud forest, but the birding was difficult in the valley bottom and the trails were poor. It is possibly worth investigating briefly, but the main trail is further along the San Juan trail and follows the top of the ridge. Continue on past the entrance to the cloud forest valley and then up the hill on the far side. Then follow the small trail to your left which follows the top of the ridge. Continue on this small trail until it joins a larger one that comes in from the right (I didn’t see where this comes in from, but it must join up with the main San Juan path and may be an easier trail to find if you just continue on the San Juan trail until a large sandy trail heads off to the left). Follow this wide trail up the hill which goes through some decent cloud forest until you reach a major ridge. From here you will see the main dividing line cut through the forest that separates the villages. You could easily continue on up the hill (which I have not done) or complete the loop by following the decent trail down the ridge to your left (not the gap that marks the boundary, which goes parallel to it), which comes out about 20m from where you parked your car. This ridge is where the best pine-oak forest is located. The whole circuit is about a two hour walk, but you could easily spend an entire day birding here.

Cuchumatanes Apr 06	Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (1)	Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (2)	Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (3)	Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (4)
Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (5)	Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (8)	Cuchumatanes Apr 06 (9)

Species list (12-13.4.06 + 16-18.4.06)

.: C=Common ; F=Fairly Common ; U=Uncommon ; R=Rare :.