UNESCO lists Tikal for two things: the Maya city, and the forest that grew back over it. Spider monkeys cross the canopy above the temples, coatis move through in troops, and more than 330 bird species have been recorded in the park. Here is what lives there, where and when to look, and which of the Tikal sunrise tours put you in the forest at first light.
UNESCO listed Tikal National Park in 1979 on five criteria. Three are cultural and two, (ix) and (x), are natural, which makes Tikal one of the few sites listed for both. The park covers 57,600 ha of wetlands, savannah and tropical broadleaf and palm forest.
UNESCO also names what threatens it: weathering and looting, mass tourism at seasonal peaks, villages and farmland closing in on the southern border, hunting and fire.
More than 2,000 higher plants have been recorded in the park, among them 200 kinds of tree. One of them is the ceiba, Guatemala’s national tree since 8 March 1955.
The zapote, or chicozapote, matters most to the ruins. Its hard wood was used for the carved lintels over the temple doors, and its sap is the source of chicle, the base of chewing gum. The Maya also used logwood for lintels and vault beams. Ramón, or breadnut, mahogany and cedar grow here too.
The forest covers far more than the trees suggest. About 80% of the city still lies under it, as mounds that were once buildings.
More than 100 kinds of mammal live in the park, over 60 of them bats. Two monkeys are the likeliest sightings. Spider monkeys are unusually common here: one survey counted 56.4 per km² at Tikal, against 17.2 at Calakmul. The howlers are Yucatán black howlers, Alouatta pigra, living in troops of about nine.
White-nosed coatis travel in troops of four or five to as many as 30. Agoutis and pacas feed on the forest floor. Kinkajous, peccaries, and white-tailed and red brocket deer live here too.
Five cats are present: the jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay and jaguarundi. They are mostly nocturnal and rarely seen, and so is the grey fox. UNESCO lists the Yucatán spider monkey and Baird’s tapir among the endangered species in the park. Do not feed any of them; the park forbids it.
UNESCO counts more than 330 bird species in the park; birding guides report more than 400. The list includes the near-threatened ocellated turkey, crested eagle and ornate hawk-eagle, and the vulnerable great curassow. Bird studies here began in 1957, with the Penn project.
The ocellated turkey lives only in south-east Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala. In March and early April the males display, often in the Visitor Centre car park. Keel-billed toucans turn up along the old airstrip edge nearby. A small wetland behind the Visitor Centre holds least grebes and ringed kingfishers.
First light is the best time, and October to April brings North American migrants, with up to 35 kinds of wood-warbler. The top of Temple IV puts you level with the upper canopy. Look too for crested guans, plain chachalacas, bat falcons and king vultures.
No tour we list is a birding tour. The sunrise and wildlife-spotting tours are how a birder reaches the park at first light: sunrise entry runs from about 04:00, with a guide, before regular entry opens at 06:00.
The orange-breasted falcon has nested at Tikal. The Peregrine Fund has recorded a female that fledged in the park breeding 55 miles away in Belize.
In April 2019 INGUAT banned drones in the park to protect a falcon nesting on Temple II, and closed Temple II to climbers from 15 April to 15 May. The drone ban still stands. No spring closure has been announced as a yearly rule, so if climbing Temple II in April or May matters to you, ask at the Visitor Centre on the day.
The Maya city had no water but the rain it could store, kept in reservoirs which UNESCO calls aguadas, and the Corriental reservoir held the oldest known zeolite water filter. The wetland behind the Visitor Centre is home to Morelet’s crocodile. UNESCO also lists the endangered Central American river turtle, and the park has more than 100 reptiles, 38 of them snakes, and 25 amphibians.
The rain arrives in summer. At Flores, the nearest weather station, June and September to October are the wettest months, each with over 210 mm; February to April are the driest. The ministry says the rainy period runs from about May to October, “especially in the afternoons”, and that paths turn slippery. The Tikal weather guide has every month.
Tikal sits inside a much larger forest reserve. The Maya Biosphere Reserve was declared on 30 January 1990, by Decree 5-90, and covers more than 2 million hectares of northern Guatemala. UNESCO recognises it, and Tikal is one of its core zones.
BirdLife counts almost the whole reserve as one Important Bird Area, Maya-Lacandón. Its two Ramsar wetlands are Laguna del Tigre and Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo; Tikal is not one of them. Across the reserve, forest fires, illegal logging and oil exploitation are the main threats.
| What to look for | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Spider monkeys and Yucatán black howlers | The canopy around the ruins | Any visit |
| White-nosed coatis | On the ground, in troops of up to 30 | Any visit |
| Agoutis and pacas | The forest floor | Any visit |
| Ocellated turkey | By the Visitor Centre car park | Males display in March and early April |
| Keel-billed toucan | The old airstrip edge near the Visitor Centre | Any visit |
| Least grebe, ringed kingfisher, Morelet’s crocodile | The small wetland behind the Visitor Centre | Any visit |
| Upper-canopy birds | The top of Temple IV | First light |
| North American wood-warblers | Across the park | October to April |
Most of it you can see on any visit, without a special ticket. The birds are what reward an early start. If you stay at one of the three hotels beside the Visitor Centre, you can be on the trails at 06:00 without a guide.
Two small-group tours are built around wildlife as well as the ruins. The sunrise tour climbs Temple IV before dawn and serves breakfast at the top, then walks the north and west of the city. The sunset tour takes the south and east in the afternoon and stays for sunset.
A sunrise or sunset visit needs the Q150 park ticket, the Q100 sunrise or sunset ticket and an authorised guide, and both of these fares leave the tickets to you. Bring a torch: on a winter sunset visit the walk back is in the dark. Stay on the marked paths, and keep your binoculars handy on the Great Plaza.
Climb Temple IV to wait for sunrise, then breakfast at the top and the north and west of the city with a wildlife-spotting guide, in a group of up to nine.
From $98 per person · lowest pickup option · park + sunrise fee extra
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The south and east of the city in the afternoon, then sunset in the park and the drive back, with pickups as far as San Ignacio in Belize.
From $91 per person · lowest pickup option · park + sunset fee extra
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A 3:00am pickup and about seven hours in the park from before dawn, starting with the sunrise from Temple IV. The park and sunrise tickets are extra.
From $48 per person · park ticket extra
Check AvailabilityThe natural history above comes from UNESCO and the field studies it rests on.
The city under the forest is on the Tikal ruins guide, the numbers side by side on Tikal facts and figures, and every tour on Tikal National Park Tours.