- State of the Republic: Jalisco
- Location: 3 Km northwest of El Tuito
- Popularity of this tour: Very popular but uncrowded; you may be the only birding group at the Rancho during your visit and even if you’re not, its 200 acre / 81 hectare expanse means that there is plenty of space to enjoy nature to the fullest here.
- Address: Camino a Chacala Km 3, Cabo Corrientes, El Tuito 48400, Mexico
- Short description: Located near the serene mountain hamlet of El Tuito, Cabo Corrientes (Currents Cape), Rancho Primavera was established in 1999 by the late Pat Morrow and her daughter Bonnie Jauregui. The ranch house is located at the refreshing elevation of 600 m / 1965’.
With its intact habitats, perennial ponds, and inspiring vistas, Rancho Primavera is emerging as one of West Central Mexico’s premiere birding destinations, and is easily accessible by road from Puerto Vallarta. The star bird is the colorful and skulky Rosy Thrush-Tanager, which is perhaps most easily encountered here than anywhere else in Mexico!
- Itinerary: See specific details by clicking the itinerary tab
- List of popular birds, with endemics highlighted in bold print: See full eBird list by clicking the bird list tab
- Gallery: See Site Gallery by clicking this tour’s gallery tab
- Frequently Asked Questions or Recommendations to make your Visit as Enjoyable as Possible: Click on this tour’s FAQ button for specifics
Location & Full Tour Description:
Located near the serene mountain hamlet of El Tuito, Cabo Corrientes (Currents Cape), Rancho Primavera, with its intact habitats, perennial ponds, and inspiring vistas, is emerging as one of West Central Mexico’s premiere birding destinations, and is easily accessible by road from Puerto Vallarta.
Although most birders visit during the so-called “dry season,” running from November-March—a time when resident neotropical birds and wintering species from the US, Canada and Alaska occur together—birding is excellent here year round. In April and May, the hottest, driest months, the namesake Primavera Trees on the Rancho bloom in a riot of yellow colors while resident birds start singing and nesting. During the humid months of June through October, the so-called “wet season,” warm temperatures with often dramatic mid to-late-afternoon monsoonal thunderstorms prevail, and the whole area is impressively verdant and green.
No matter the timing of their arrival at Rancho Primavera, visiting birders will discover an outstanding array of endemic, indigenous and migratory song and aquatic birds—punctuated by a resident population of colorful and skulky Rosy Thrush-Tanagers, which are perhaps most easily encountered here than anywhere else in Mexico—and one or a few migratory, endemic, Sinaloa Martins, which, for a few weeks in March and April, regularly come to bathe at one of Rancho Primavera’s tranquil ponds each day (usually during the mid-morning and / or late-afternoon hours), on their migratory passage.