Mexico Ramsar wetland
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve
36 bird species recorded; the most in March.
Cbojorquez75 · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
0 species in January.2 species in February.25 species in March.1 species in April.0 species in May.0 species in June.0 species in July.0 species in August.0 species in September.14 species in October.1 species in November.0 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.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
36 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).
- 36Speciesrecorded more than once
- 2Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 143Recordsopen records within 15 km
- 175 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 5Raptors
- 1Owls
- 6Waders
- 3Gulls & seabirds
- 1Ducks & geese
- 15Songbirds
- 5Other 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 36 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors5 species
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Falco sparveriusFalco sparverius
- Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Swainson's HawkButeo swainsoni
Owls1 species
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
Waders6 species
- Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
- DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Black TurnstoneArenaria melanocephala
- SurfbirdCalidris virgata
Gulls & seabirds3 species
- Yellow-footed GullLarus livens
- American Herring GullLarus smithsonianus
- Common TernSterna hirundo
Ducks & geese1 species
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
Songbirds15 species
- Northern RavenCorvus corax
- Ash-throated FlycatcherMyiarchus cinerascens
- VerdinAuriparus flaviceps
- Black-throated SparrowAmphispiza bilineata
- Canyon WrenCatherpes mexicanus
- Black-tailed GnatcatcherPolioptila melanura
- PhainopeplaPhainopepla nitens
- Rock WrenSalpinctes obsoletus
- Orange-crowned WarblerLeiothlypis celata
- House finchHaemorhous mexicanus
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianusNT
- Western KingbirdTyrannus verticalis
- Western Wood-PeweeContopus sordidulus
- White-crowned sparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
Other birds5 species
- Costa's HummingbirdCalypte costae
- Common PoorwillPhalaenoptilus nuttallii
- Ladder-backed WoodpeckerDryobates scalaris
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
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 March.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan19°/6°15 mm
- Feb21°/7°13 mm
- Mar26°/10°9 mm
- Apr29°/13°4 mm
- May33°/17°2 mm
- Jun38°/21°2 mm
- Jul39°/26°20 mm
- Aug39°/26°23 mm
- Sep37°/24°16 mm
- Oct31°/17°10 mm
- Nov25°/11°13 mm
- Dec19°/6°14 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve.
Biosphere reserve in Mexico
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Mexico.
36 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 143 open records.
The most recorded are the Northern Raven, the Red-tailed Hawk and the Costa's Hummingbird.
0 species come for the summer, 2 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Lesser yellowlegs.
The most species are recorded in March.
Get there and watch
- Official informationAccess, hours and rules from those who manage the place.Official site↗
- Yuma International Airport / Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (YUM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 97 km in a straight lineCar hire at MXL airport (Mexicali)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 El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas4 mountains within 25 kmFigures 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.
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve
Mexico
- 34Birdyas Score
- 36Species
- 2Migrants
- 1Threatened
Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta biosphere reserve
Mexico · 66 km
- 76Birdyas Score
- 198Species
- 107Migrants
- 5Threatened
Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
United States · 308 km
- 92Birdyas Score
- 428Species
- 244Migrants
- 17Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q3821829) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 143 open bird records within 15 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, Darkskyas |
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.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit