Sendero Mexico offers exciting birding tours to the Tufted Jay Preserve and some of the best birdwatching in Mexico from our base in Mazatlan in Northwestern Mexico. This spectacular area along the Mazatlan Durango Highway is one of the best birding hotspots in Mexico and forms part of a birding corridor considered by Ken Rosenberg of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as one of the most important in the world.

The Tufted Jay Preserve is a Conservation Easement established in a contract between the Ejido El Palmito logging cooperative which owns the 5000 hectares of pine / oak forests described 40 years ago by Peter Alden in his book, "Finding the Birds in Western Mexico", and Pronatura Noroeste, the regional chapter of Mexico's oldest and most prestigious conservation organizations.

Recognized as an important area for bird endemism and richness* the Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests are characterized by a unique and rich variety of flora and fauna created by the “convergence of tropical and temperate influences”. Located 2 hours from Mazatlan at 2,100m (6,800ft) the Tufted Jay Preserve is located in this privileged area and is the best known location for viewing the spectacular and highly endemic Tufted Jay.

A wealth of other endemic species like the Military Macaw, White-naped Swift, Mountain Trogon, White-stripped Woodcreeper, Pine Flycatcher, Brown - backed Solitaire, Aztec Thrush, Green-striped Brushfinch, also inhabit these beautiful canyons. We will walk along roads lined with bright wildflowers visited by White-eared, Broad-tailed and Berylline Hummingbirds. Along with Scott's Oriole, Magnificent and Blue-throated Hummingbirds can be found in bright orange flowers of a parasitic plant which clings to the tall evergreen trees. Mixed bird flocks are common and the usual suspects are the Cresent-chested, Grace’s, Red, and Olive Warblers, along with the Mexican Chickadee and the Bridled Titmouse to name a few.