Séjour ornithologique au Quintana Roo (Mexique) en avril 2003

The Mexican State of Quintana Roo is named after Andres Quintana Roo, Yucatan`s first poet. In a fateful paradox, this was the first landfall of the Spanish conquistadors (1517); but the last part of Mexico to be conquered. It was designated a federal territory on 1902, but it was not until 1974 that it became a fully-fledged Mexican state, just in time to build Cancun.
Quintana Roo has a population of almost 1 million people living in several cities (Cancun, Chetumal, Cozumel, Carrillo Puerto, Isla Mujers and Playa Del Carmen); and many little Mayan towns throughout the state. The climate is hot and humid inland but ocean breezes cool the coastline. It rains in the summer.
The vegetation is mainly low and medium jungle, with a big section of mangroves and some savannah. The whole of the state is rich in both marine and land wildlife; there’s a part of the second largest coral reef in the world and a big Biosphere reserve (Siankaán) where many animals and plants find shelter from development. The weather was far from ideal for birding – it was generally very hot and unbearably humid, especially in the forest areas.
Guy Delcroix has stayed a few days around Akuma in April 2003, and he has twitched a good variety of tropical birds.