Belize Birdwatching Hotspot near Hopkins Village
Discover wildlife and wetland birds in Belize at Hopkins Village Wetland. This wetland area stretches from the Freshwater Creek Lagoon to Sittee River, Hopkins Wetland is located exactly west of Hopkins Village. You will get to pass by this wetland when entering or exiting Hopkins Village.
Hopkins Wetland offers a great spot for bird watching in southern Belize. Here you can spot most of Belize's wetland birds like the egrets, spoonbills, herons, king fishers, storks, ibis and pelicans. Crocodiles and freshwater turtles are also spotted at Hopkins Wetland area.
Here are 5 beautiful birds that you can spot around Hopkins Village
1. Keel-billed Toucan
The Keel-billed Toucan, known as the fruit loops bird worldwide, is the national bird of Belize. The most obvious characteristic of the toucan is the huge yellow, orange, red, green and black bill. Toucans are primarily fruit eaters, feeding on a wide variety of tropical fruits of the forest. It feeds by snipping off the fruit and flipping its head back to gulp the fruit whole. Toucans will also feed on insects, lizards, and even the eggs of smaller birds.
2. Roseate Spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbills are medium-sized waterbirds with a football-shaped body and long legs. The long bill that is flattened into a spoon at the end protrudes from their small head. Roseate Spoonbills are pale pink birds with brighter pink shoulders and rump. They have a white neck and a partially feathered, yellowish green head from which their red eyes shine. Juveniles are paler pink and have a completely feathered head for 3 years until they attain adult breeding plumage.
3. Wood Storks
Wood Storks are hefty wading birds with football-shaped bodies perched atop long legs. They have a long neck and a long, thick bill that is curved at the tip. Wood Storks are entirely white save for their black flight feathers and tail. The head is unfeathered and scaly-looking.
4. Egret
Egrets are found near water, salt or fresh, and feed in wetlands, streams, ponds, tidal flats, and other areas. They snare prey by walking slowly or standing still for long periods, waiting for an animal to come within range of their long necks and blade-like bills.
5. Black-necked Stilt
A tall but small-bodied shorebird with very long legs, a long neck, small head, and thin, straight bill. Black-necked Stilts are almost always seen near shallow water, including both salt and fresh water, especially mudflats, salt pans, saltmarshes, and many human-modified habitats such as sewage ponds, evaporation pools, and flooded fields.
