El Salvador Ramsar wetland
Cerrón Grande Dam
122 bird species recorded; the most in October.
JMRAFFi · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
57 species in January.31 species in February.14 species in March.7 species in April.7 species in May.48 species in June.27 species in July.46 species in August.69 species in September.82 species in October.18 species in November.28 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.




































































































































































































- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
122 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 122Speciesrecorded more than once
- 35Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 1,554Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 193 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 17Raptors
- 2Owls
- 3Waders
- 4Ducks & geese
- 9Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 57Songbirds
- 29Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 122 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors17 species
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Swainson's HawkButeo swainsoni
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Zone-tailed HawkButeo albonotatus
- Falco sparveriusFalco sparverius
- Accipiter striatusAccipiter striatus
- Short-tailed HawkButeo brachyurus
- Grey-lined HawkButeo nitidus
- Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Laughing FalconHerpetotheres cachinnans
- Common Black HawkButeogallus anthracinus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Crested CaracaraCaracara plancus
Owls2 species
- Ferruginous Pygmy OwlGlaucidium brasilianum
- American Barn OwlTyto furcata
Waders3 species
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferusNT
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
Ducks & geese4 species
- Black-bellied Whistling DuckDendrocygna autumnalis
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
- Blue-winged TealSpatula discors
Herons, ibises & grebes9 species
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Phalacrocorax brasilianusPhalacrocorax brasilianus
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja
Storks & cranes1 species
- Wood StorkMycteria americana
Songbirds57 species
- Great KiskadeePitangus sulphuratus
- Clay-colored ThrushTurdus grayi
- Black-headed SaltatorSaltator atriceps
- Boat-billed FlycatcherMegarynchus pitangua
- Streak-backed OrioleIcterus pustulatus
- Rufous-backed WrenCampylorhynchus capistratus
- Masked TityraTityra semifasciata
- Gray-breasted MartinProgne chalybea
- Melodious BlackbirdDives dives
- Stripe-headed SparrowPeucaea ruficauda
- American Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Tropical KingbirdTyrannus melancholicus
- Altamira OrioleIcterus gularis
- Quiscalus mexicanusQuiscalus mexicanus
- White-throated Magpie-JayCalocitta formosa
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Rufous-browed PeppershrikeCyclarhis gujanensis
- Saltator grandisSaltator grandis
- Yellow-billed CaciqueAmblycercus holosericeus
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Western KingbirdTyrannus verticalis
- Eastern Wood-PeweeContopus virens
- Mangrove WarblerSetophaga petechia
- Yellow-green VireoVireo flavoviridis
- Sand MartinRiparia riparia
- Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatus
- Western Wood-PeweeContopus sordidulus
- Barred AntshrikeThamnophilus doliatus
- Cabanis's WrenCantorchilus modestus
- Bushy-crested JayCyanocorax melanocyaneus
- Yellow-bellied FlycatcherEmpidonax flaviventris
- Sulphur-bellied FlycatcherMyiodynastes luteiventris
- Streak-headed WoodcreeperLepidocolaptes souleyetii
- Scrub EuphoniaEuphonia affinis
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- Canada warblerCardellina canadensis
- Olive-Sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Mangrove SwallowTachycineta albilinea
- Ruddy-breasted SeedeaterSporophila minuta
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Social FlycatcherMyiozetetes similis
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- Agelaius phoeniceusAgelaius phoeniceus
- Buff-breasted FlycatcherEmpidonax fulvifrons
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Western TanagerPiranga ludoviciana
- Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
- Ivory-billed WoodcreeperXiphorhynchus flavigaster
- Dusky-capped FlycatcherMyiarchus tuberculifer
- Brown-crested FlycatcherMyiarchus tyrannulus
- Yellow-winged TanagerThraupis abbas
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Rufous-capped WarblerBasileuterus rufifrons
Other birds29 species
- White-winged DoveZenaida asiatica
- Aratinga canicularisAratinga canicularis
- Groove-billed AniCrotophaga sulcirostris
- White-collared SwiftStreptoprocne zonaris
- Inca DoveColumbina inca
- Lesser Ground CuckooMorococcyx erythropygus
- Cinnamon HummingbirdAmazilia rutila
- Orange-chinned ParakeetBrotogeris jugularis
- Golden-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes aurifrons
- White-tipped DoveLeptotila verreauxi
- Common Squirrel-cuckooPiaya cayana
- Berylline HummingbirdSaucerottia beryllina
- Trogon elegansTrogon elegans
- Lesson's MotmotMomotus lessonii
- Turquoise-browed MotmotEumomota superciliosa
- Red-billed PigeonPatagioenas flavirostris
- Spot-bellied BobwhiteColinus leucopogon
- Golden-olive WoodpeckerColaptes rubiginosus
- Thicket TinamouCrypturellus cinnamomeus
- Plain-capped StarthroatHeliomaster constantii
- Lineated WoodpeckerDryocopus lineatus
- Gartered TrogonTrogon caligatus
- Ruddy Ground DoveColumbina talpacoti
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Lesser Swallow-tailed SwiftPanyptila cayennensis
- American CootFulica americana
- Vaux's SwiftChaetura vauxi
- White-bellied ChachalacaOrtalis leucogastra
- Striped CuckooTapera naevia
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in October.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan30°/16°9 mm
- Feb32°/18°8 mm
- Mar33°/19°9 mm
- Apr34°/20°32 mm
- May31°/21°152 mm
- Jun28°/20°186 mm
- Jul29°/20°151 mm
- Aug29°/20°189 mm
- Sep27°/20°218 mm
- Oct27°/19°174 mm
- Nov27°/17°43 mm
- Dec28°/17°18 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Cerrón Grande Dam.
Dam in Chalatenango (El Salvador)
Cerrón Grande Dam is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in El Salvador.
122 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 1,554 open records.
The most recorded are the Turkey Vulture, the Black Vulture and the White-winged Dove.
20 species come for the summer, 14 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in October.

Get there and watch
- Chalatenangonearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Ilopango International Airport (ILS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 36 km in a straight lineCar hire at SAL airport (San Salvador)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Around, in OpenStreetMap
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Cerrón Grande Dam.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.

Other places nearby.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q3433688) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 1,554 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.



