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Gone Birding in Veracruz Mexico

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29 September 2026, WINGS Veracruz: Migration is a Moving Experience: Day 1, Fly to Veracruz, tour begins at dinner. ==> I’ll be too busy to blog while I’m away and mostly off the grid, so I’ve written all 9 days in advance.

Today I’m following the broad-winged hawks’ migration as I fly down the Mississippi watershed to the Texas coast and then south to Mexico. By the time I arrive at the WINGS Mexico: Veracruz birding tour, broad-winged numbers will be at their peak at the Veracruz River of Raptors. WINGS describes the tour:

We’ll divide our time between the coastal lowlands [Veracruz], where the local birds will compete for our attention amid the migrants, and the highlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental and Central Volcanic Belt [Xalapa], where coffee fincas grade into cloud forest and then cool fir forests on the higher slopes.

map from WINGS Mexico: Veracruz birding tour. Migration is a Moving Experience

Our tour won’t have time to study Mexico’s culture and history, so I’ll use this opportunity to describe the two cities where we’ll be staying.

Veracruz (city)

Our first three nights and our last night in Mexico (9/29,30, 10/1 and 10/6) will be at the coast in metro Veracruz. From the air (photo below) the densely populated region looks like one big city of 750,000 people. In fact it’s two contiguous municipalities: Veracruz (officially Heroica Veracruz) dates back to its founding by conquistador Hernán Cortes in 1519. Boca Del Rio to the south was incorporated in 1988. Our hotel is in Boca Del Rio.

Veracruz is largest city in Veracruz state and Mexico’s largest Gulf coast port. In addition to being a bustling trade center it is also a popular tourist destination.

Veracruz is steeped in history: indigenous pre-history, the Aztec Empire, the Spanish Empire, Mexican Independence, a strange brief war with France, and two episodes of American Imperialism. Veracruz victories are in the municipality’s name, Heroica Veracruz (“Heroic”).

Veracruz has been declared ‘four times heroic’ for its role in defending Mexican national sovereignty on [four] occasions. The first time was in 1825, after the declaration of Mexican Independence: a Spanish garrison that had retreated to the fort of San Juan de Ulúa was defeated by the insurgent forces; the second, for combating the French invasion in 1838 [the Pastry War]; the third, for defending against the U.S. invasion of 1847 [Mexican-American War], and the fourth in 1914, for resisting the arrival of U.S. troops when the U.S. refused to recognize the government of Victoriano Huerta [the Tampico Affair].

— Lugares INAH, Historical Monuments of Mexico, City and Port of Veracruz

Fort San Juan de Ulúa, built between 1535 and 1769, guards the port.

The Municipal Palace of Veracruz is ornate.

Streets in the old part of town have arcades above the sidewalks to protect pedestrians from sun, heat and rain.

Xalapa (pronounced ha-LAH-pah)

For four nights in the middle of our trip (10/2-10/5) we’ll be based in Xalapa whose location is ideal for birding shade-grown coffee fincas, the cloud forest and the mountains.

Xalapa is the capital and the second largest city in the Mexican state of Veracruz with a population of approximately 488,500. Its name comes from two Nahuatl (Aztec) words that together mean “the place of sandy water.”

Located on the flanks of an extinct volcano in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Xalapa is 4,650 feet above sea level with a clear view of the third highest mountain in North America, Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl). This mountain is a dormant volcano and the second most prominent peak in the world — second to Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro.

Xalapa was first settled by the Nahua and Totonaco people around 1313. In 1480 the Aztec Empire (Mexica) conquered the area and demanded heavy tributes be sent to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (current site of Mexico City). The Totonaco resented the Aztecs so when Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortes came through Xalapa on his way to conquer the Aztecs, the Totonaco joined his troops. Cortes won and thus began Spanish rule. (Description paraphrased from Lugares INAH, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History).

Today Xalapa has its oldest buildings on the original winding streets and new buildings in areas with perpendicular streets. Here are some scenes …

A modern plaza built for cars.