Long Time Coming, Long Time Guan

Ted Lee Eubanks

8 April 2005

Only under duress would I confess the number of vacations that I have cancelled due to work. Although my wife does not aspire to sainthood her responses to my inconsideration and callousness in this regard have been angelic. Two years ago I once again bailed on a trip, this one to the El Triunfo cloud forest in southwestern Mexico. She went ahead without me, and since her return has punished me (deservedly, no doubt) with her reminiscences of Horned Guans, Resplendent Quetzals, and a cloud forest absent the hand of man.

Ah, the Horned Guan. Since the early 1970s I have aspired to see the bird with the carmine traffic cone sticking up from its forehead. At that time Ted Parker, Victor Emanuel, and the preeminent Mexican biologist and conservationist Miguel Alvarez del Toro discovered a small population of Horned Guans in southwestern Chiapas, and through Victor’s tour company (VENT, or Victor Emanuel Nature Tours) small numbers of birders have been privileged to visit this preserve annually. I cannot imagine the total number of people in the world who have actually seen the Horned Guan to be over a few hundred. Therefore I promised myself (and, more importantly, my wife) that we would join Victor’s group on this year’s tour.

My connection with El Triunfo, however, extends beyond a tour with VENT. Several years ago Fermata worked with RARE to develop MEA, the Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance (one of RARE’s staff involved in that project, Jon Kohl, now works with Fermata on a number of projects). Claudia Virgen managed El Triunfo at that time, and I had a standing invitation to visit.

El Triunfo is situated in the mountains of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, near Mexico’s border with Guatemala. The Reserva de Biosfera 'El Triunfo' consists of nearly 120,000 hectares, with 25,000 hectares protected in the core preserve. El Triunfo is the most diverse evergreen cloud forest in Mexico, covered with evergreen seasonal forest, montane rainforest, and lower montane rainforest that contain a higher proportion of endemic plants. The avifauna includes Horned Guan, Resplendent Quetzal, and Azure-rumped Tanager.

A visit to El Triunfo, however, is no simple task. We began our journey by flying from Austin through Houston and Mexico City to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas (where we were able to reconnect with Claudia). We visited the spectacular Sumidero Canyon the following morning, then made our way to the small coffee community of Jaltenango. From Jaltenango we were driven to Finca Prussia where we began our hike up to the cloud forest at El Triunfo (starting at 4000 feet, and ultimately climbing to around 6500 feet at the base camp). We spent the next week hiking throughout this region, camping within the reserve itself as well as at several sites down the Pacific Slope. We were as isolated from humanity as one can be in Mexico, and were completely immersed in nature.

Fortunately, we were in the company of Horned Guans for our entire stay at El Triunfo (we spent four nights and three days in the cloud forest itself). The guan is a secretive and cryptic species, and is usually seen only in fleeting glimpses. However, we were blessed with what Victor Emanuel called "the best trip ever for guans." Guans appeared during our initial hike into camp, and for the next three days we experienced the entire array of guan behavior. On the Palo Gordo trail alone we found nearly a dozen guans, even allowing me to approach so close as to photograph them. Walking the trail we would often hear (even feel) the low-pitched "humm-humm" of the calling males. I know of no bird, in a lifetime of birding, that has more affected me than the Horned Guan. The guan is a perfect metaphor for the cloud forest itself, a species that cannot be teased from the orchids, bromeliads, and ever-present mist that characterize this delicate habitat.

In the near future I would like to return to El Triunfo, focusing not only on birds but on many of the insects there as well (especially odonates and butterflies). For example, during our trip we (Alan Wight, Greg Lasley, and I) photographed two species of damselflies that may well be new to science. For those interested in visiting as well, contact VENT (http://www.ventbird.com/) or MEA (http://www.travelwithmea.com/). To see my photos of this most recent trip, visit the Fermata photo gallery (http://www.fermatainc.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=27).

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