To facilitate your trip through Guatemala, the destinations in this guide are distributed among five routes following the main highways of the country, with Guatemala City as the starting point. Each chapter corresponds to a route, in which you will find the recommended destinations distributed in one or more of the previously described biomes. The criteria to include those areas in this guide were: birdwatching has taken place for some time and that the area offers a minimum infrastructure for birdwatching. With this first edition of the Bird Watching Guide we intended to include in a unique publication those destinations where birdwatching activities have taken place. We hope in the future this publication can be expanded with your comments and recommendations as a user of this guide. Here is a brief explanation of the book’s routes and recommended destinations.

1. Central - Highlands Route

2. Pacífic Coastt Route

3. Eastern - Caribbean Route

4. Verapaces Route

5. Petén Route

Icons of services offered in destinations: To facilitate the use of the guide, some icons representing special information are used for the services offered and other features of the destination.

Bird illustrations : The watercolor illustrations you will see in this publication were specially made by Robin Schiele for this guide; species illustrated were based on collection specimens of some of the country´s museums, pictures or with birds caught in hand to obtain more realism and capture color details.