Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve
🇲🇽 Mexico
🐊 Crocodile and Pelican LagoonRía Lagartos is a shallow coastal lagoon behind a barrier of mangrove, and it is visited by boat. Morelet's crocodiles lie in the channels on seven trips in ten and spiny-tailed iguanas hold every open bank.
21.588° N 87.899° W
Wildlife
⭐ Iconic Species
★ 
Belize Crocodile
Crocodylus moreletii
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Black Spiny-tailed Iguana
Ctenosaura similis
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Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
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Magnificent Frigatebird
Fregata magnificens
📊 Most Spotted
Laughing Gull
Leucophaeus atricilla
Double-crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
Great Egret
Ardea alba
American Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
Tricolored Heron
Egretta tricolor
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
White Ibis
Eudocimus albus
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Yellow Warbler
Setophaga petechia
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
📊 Most Spotted
Common Raccoon
Procyon lotor
Gray Fox
Urocyon cinereoargenteus
Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Collared Peccary
Pecari tajacu
White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
Jaguar
Panthera onca
White-nosed Coati
Nasua narica
Tayra
Eira barbara
Great Fruit-eating Bat
Artibeus lituratus
Pygmy Fruit Eating Bat
Artibeus phaeotis
Central American Agouti
Dasyprocta punctata
Coyote
Canis latrans
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
Laughing Gull
Leucophaeus atricilla
Double-crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
Great Egret
Ardea alba
American Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
Tricolored Heron
Egretta tricolor
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
White Ibis
Eudocimus albus
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Yellow Warbler
Setophaga petechia
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
American Crocodile
Crocodylus acutus
Yellow-spotted Spiny Lizard
Sceloporus chrysostictus
Yucatán Whiptail
Aspidoscelis angusticeps
Common House Gecko
Hemidactylus frenatus
Central American Boa
Boa imperator
Cozumel Spiny Lizard
Sceloporus cozumelae
Mesoamerican Slider
Trachemys venusta
Brown Anole
Anolis sagrei
Road Guarder
Conophis lineatus
Mexican Parrot Snake
Leptophis mexicanus
Green Sea Turtle
Chelonia mydas
Rainbow Ameiva
Holcosus undulatus
📊 Most Spotted
Giant Marine Toad
Rhinella horribilis
Browns' Frog
Lithobates brownorum
Mexican Smilisca
Smilisca baudinii
Sheep Frog
Hypopachus variolosus
Central American Gulf Coast Toad
Incilius valliceps
Yellow Treefrog
Dendropsophus microcephalus
Vaillant's Frog
Lithobates vaillanti
Recent sightings in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve
LIVEiNaturalistAnimal Events
1Flamingos on the Salt Flats
Caribbean flamingos feed on the salt flats at the far end of the lagoon, at their highest of the year.
2Crocodiles in the Channels
Morelet's crocodiles are visible in the mangrove channels and Mexican tree frogs breed in the pools behind them.
3Seabirds and Iguanas in Autumn
Brown pelicans and royal terns crowd the sandbars while spiny-tailed iguanas bask on the banks.
Sighting Calendar
Average chance of spotting the park's most-spotted species, month by month
- 1Flamingos on the Salt Flats
- 2Crocodiles in the Channels
- 3Seabirds and Iguanas in Autumn
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
Essentials
Climate
What visitors saw
But we also got to see plenty of birds we weren't used to, including a number of herons, falcons and hawks.
When they flying you can see their black wing tips. (White Ibis flying away from snag) (Reddish Egret) We also watched egrets in several areas, including Reddish Egrets, Snowy Egrets and the larger Great Egrets.
We saw several kinds of terns - I think this is a Caspian and I think this is a Royal Tern (in front with the orange beak) and Sandwich Terns (on the right) and tern-like Black Skimmers with oversized orange beaks.
We saw the productivity almost immediately. Ángel stopped the boat in front of a small sandbar barely above the waterline, where a mixed group of Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) and Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) were resting alongside a single American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos).
Quick answers
What animals can you see in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve?
The most likely sightings are Magnificent Frigatebird (seen by about 80% of wildlife watchers), Laughing Gull (seen by about 80% of wildlife watchers), Brown Pelican (seen by about 70% of wildlife watchers), Double-crested Cormorant (seen by about 70% of wildlife watchers), Great Egret (seen by about 70% of wildlife watchers) — among 724 recorded vertebrate species, based on citizen-science data from GBIF.
When is the best time to visit Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve for wildlife?
July has the highest combined sighting rate for the park's top species in our month-by-month GBIF data. The full sighting calendar on this page shows each species' best months.
Can you see Belize Crocodile in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve?
Yes — about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Belize Crocodile sighting in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, based on 143 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
Can you see Black Spiny-tailed Iguana in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve?
Yes — about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black Spiny-tailed Iguana sighting in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, based on 160 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
Can you see Brown Pelican in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve?
Yes — about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Pelican sighting in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, based on 1,271 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
Can you see Magnificent Frigatebird in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve?
Yes — about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Magnificent Frigatebird sighting in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, based on 1,252 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
Where Wildlife Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife?Biodiversity
Very goodHow rich is the wildlife?
Sighting
Very goodHow likely to see animals?
Experience
Very goodHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
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