The Birds of Padre Ramos
More than 175 species of migratory and resident bird species inhabit the Estero Padre Ramos Nature Reserve. With the rich diversity and abundance of invertebrates, fish, and plant life present in the estuary, it’s no wonder that birds travel from as far away as Alaska, Canada, and Chile to feed and nest in this protected environment.

 

 

 

 

Brown Pelican Neotropic Cormorant Magnificent Frigatebird Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Green Heron Cattle Egret Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Boat-Billed Heron White Ibis Roseate Spoonbill Wood Stork Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Black-Bellied Whistling Duck Osprey White-Tailed Kite Gray Hawk White Hawk Ornate Hawk-Eagle Common Black-Hawk Crested Caracara Gray-Headed Chachalaca Black-Bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover American Oystercatcher Black-Necked Stilts Northern Jacana Greater Yellowlegs Willet Spotted Sandpiper Whimbrel Ruddy Turnstone Semipalmated Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Short-Billed Dowitcher Bridled Tern Royal Tern White-Winged Dove Ruddy Ground-Dove Inca Dove Common Ground-Dove Plain-Breasted Ground-Dove White-Tipped Dove Orange-Chinned Parakeet Orange-Fronted Parakeet Yellow-Naped Parrot Groove-Billed Ani Mangrove Cuckoo Striped Cuckoo Squirrel Cuckoo Lesser Ground-Cuckoo Spectacled Owl Mottled Owl Common Pauraque Brown Violet-Ear Green-Breasted Mango Cinnamon Hummingbird Blue-Tailed Hummingbird Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird Purple-Throat Mountain-Gem Magnificent Hummingbird Black-Headed Trogon Turquoise-Browed Motmot Hoffmann’s Woodpecker Lineated Woodpecker

Fasciate Antshrike Barred Antshrike Great Kiskadee Tropical Kingbird Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher Great-Crested Flycatcher Brown-Crested Flycatcher Dusky-Capped Flycatcher Nutting’s Flycatcher Ash-Throated Flycatcher Gray-Capped Flycatcher Social Flycatcher Northrn Beardless Tyrannulet Yellow-Bellied Elaenia Rose-Throated Becard Masked Tityra Warbling Vireo Yellow-Green Vireo Yellow-Throated Vireo Philadelphia Vireo White-Throated Magpie Jay Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Rufous-Naped Wren Spot-Breasted Wren Banded Wren Clay-Colored Robin Black and White Warbler Bay-Breasted Warbler Yellow-Throated Warbler Yellow Warbler Cerulean Warbler Orange-Crowned Warbler Tennessee Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush Northern Waterthrush Wilson’s Warbler Mourning Warbler Yellow-Throated Euphonia White-Vented Euphonia Thick-Billed Euphonia Scrub Euphonia Western Tanager White-Winged Tanager Flame-Colored Tanager Hepatic Tanager Crimson-Collared Tanager Blue-Gray Tanager Blue-Black Grassquit Ruddy-Breasted Seedeater White-Collared Seedeater Blue Seedeater Variable Seedeater Stripe-Headed Sparrow Grassland Yellow-Finch Thick-Billed Seed Finch Blue Grosbeak Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Blue-Black Grosbeak Painted Bunting Indigo Bunting Bobolink Melodious Blackbird Orchard Oriole Streak-Breasted Oriole Spot-Breasted Oriole Yellow-Tailed Oriole Altamira Oriole Great-Tailed Grackle House Sparrow

The Sea Turtles of Padre Ramos
Three species of endangered sea turtles nest and forage in the Estero Padre Ramos Nature Reserve. They dine on the fish, shrimp, anemones, and jellyfish in the salty waters of the Pacific and rely on the sandy beaches to lay their precious eggs between July and November. Eggs hatch and tortugitas scramble for the ocean in November and December. Leatherbacks are the most highly endangered of all the species, with fewer than 2000 nesting females remaining in the entire Pacific Ocean.

Sea turtles are threatened from industrial fishing fleets off the coast of Central America in search of tuna, shark and swordfish. These ships directly catch and kill tens of thousands of individuals every year with their hooks and nets. Sea turtle eggs are also a precious commodity in local coastal communities, where locals harvest the eggs illegally for sale and consumption.

Common Name	Latin Name	Spanish Name
Leatherback Sea Turtle	Dermochelys coriácea	Tortuga Tora
Hawksbill Sea Turtle	Eretmochelys imbricata	Tortuga Carey
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle	Lepidochelys olivácea	Tortuga Paslama