Bird watching is one of the most popular and growing pastimes. With it’s 600+ species, Belize is a birder’s paradise. Here a 7 reasons why to try birding in Belize:
#1 Inclusive and Accessible
Birds are everywhere, making birding is one of the most inclusive and accessible outdoor hobbies there is. It welcomes people of all ages, abilities, and requires no prior experience—just curiosity, patience, and the appreciation of the natural world.
==> Start by looking around Hamanasi, then on any adventure. For in depth birding, try our Belize Tropical Birding Tour.
#2 Good for Mental & Physical Health
Green Honeycreeper photo by the 2025 Winter Photo Contest finalist, Jahaira Esquivel
Take a forest day and increase your Vitamin D! Birdwatching is an ideal way to get outside into nature, which is good for your mental and physical health. The benefits of regular exposure to nature include significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and general negative feelings, as well as significant increases in positive feelings such as happiness and joy. Birds love the green places humans find most pleasant and comforting.
==> Sit on your treehouse porch to see birds in the surrounding trees.
#3 Shift in Focus
Birding will shift your focus away from the problems you obsess about every day. Instead of worrying about those problems that are on a loop inside your head, watching birds can focus you outside yourself as you as you search intently for a small movement in the leaves or spot bright tropical hues as they appear in your binoculars.
==> Is that a parrot or parrakeet? Let that be your worry!
#4 Boosts Concentration and Stimulates the Senses
Related to point 3, birding requires focused attention on spotting something flitting in the trees. Your mind is activated by their calls. Your eyes by their colors. As you locate birds, your curiosity will increase as you desire to identify and learn more about them.
==> Listen for the call and response of Chachalacas in the morning and late afternoon at Hamanasi.
#5 Sense of Achievement
Keel-billed Toucan photo by the 2025 Winter Photo Contest winner Alex Johnson Jimenez
There is nothing quite like finally seeing a long sought bird and adding it to your life list. Many birds look similar, and positive identification is rewarding, as is mastering equipment like binoculars. For many, getting an awesome photo of a beautiful bird is a sense of accomplishment.
==> In Belize, you may finally get to see and photograph the national bird, the Keel-billed Toucan!
#6 Social Connection and Community
As they say, birds of a feather flock together! When you become a birder you are part of a growing community. Bird watching is an excellent hobby to engage with friends or like-minded people. There is a shared joy in spotting birds. There are many organizations that host bird watching and educational events.
==> Enjoy the camaraderie of new friends you’ll meet on Hamanasi’s Tropical Birding Tour or on-site birding tour.
#7 Saving Nature
Great Egret photo by Marina Shevtsova
Birding may increase your commitment to saving the remaining beautiful places on our planet. Birds require natural habitat, and you may take action to protect or rehabilitate bird-friendly spaces. Visiting Belize to see birds helps the country preserve its natural beauty.
==> When visiting Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary and the St. Hermans Blue Hole National Park, you will see birds and support the Belize Audubon Society.
At Hamanasi you can enjoy birding in many ways. First, our Tropical Birding Tour is designed to specifically focus on seeing Belize’s many birds. On any adventure, however, you have the opportunity to see birds, as they are found throughout Belize, including on islands. Finally, join our onsite birding tour, to see the many birds that call Hamanasi home.
Brown Boobies photo by guest David Unger.