Scouting in Mexico City

WhereNext’s Head of Content and passionate birder, Chris Bell, scouting Bosque Chapultepec in Mexico City.

Scouting New Locations in Mexico City

Our goal in all of our global production hubs is to constantly scout visually engaging and interesting locations for our clients, even in our own backyard. Last week, alongside our local Mexican producer and fixer, Ulises, our Head of Video, Julian Manrique, and Head of Content—that’s me—Chris Bell, set out to explore Mexico City’s beautiful urban park of Chapultepec Forest.

Chapultepec Forest: The Lungs of Mexico City

Chapultepec is known as the “lungs of Mexico City” and is one of the largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere, measuring just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). In Latin America, only the Santiago Metropolitan Park in Chile is larger, and Chapultepec is on par with such iconic urban green spaces as Central Park, the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, and the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo. It’s divided into three distinct sections, and we explored the first section, known as the oldest and most visited, with over 15 million annual visitors.

Urban Birding in Chapultepec

Although Chapultepec receives a lot of visitors due to attractions like the zoo and Museum of Anthropology, we chose to scout it from a different perspective – as a haven for urban wildlife, migratory bird species, and birders living in or visiting Mexico City. The popularity of urban birding and urban wildlife appreciation has skyrocketed over the past 18 months of the pandemic, and we wanted to investigate what we could offer our clients in Mexico within this ever-growing field.

The bird list for Chapultepec is certainly eye-catching for a city park in the heart of one of the planet’s biggest megalopolises: 170 species observed in the first section alone, according to the popular eBird platform, among them a large number of migratory warblers, vireos, and buntings from North America. Urban parks such as Chapultepec represent vital feeding stations for these vulnerable species during their epic transcontinental annual migrations. They also provide a delightful splash of color and song to Mexico City annually between November and April.

The Birds are Chill

One of the first things we noticed about urban birding in Chapultepec was how calm and relaxed the birds are. Since this is one of the most popular green spaces in the entire city, popular with everyone from families to runners, the birds really have no choice but to adapt to human presence. Pretty species like the Berylline Hummingbird, Canyon Towhee, Bushtit, and Rufous-backed Robin were abundant and approachable, making them excellent subjects for filming urban wildlife. The large lake was inhabited by large numbers of Mexican Ducks, Great Egrets, and Black-crowned Night-Herons, while Inca Doves and Great-tailed Grackles fought over food scraps alongside street vendor’s stalls. Mexican Gray Squirrels were also common and easy to approach, and the localized black morph species was particularly eye-catching.

Many of the birds in Chapultepec are extremely used to people, making them approachable and easy to photograph, like this laid back Canyon Towhee.

The great thing about the impressive scale of Chapultepec is that even in a park that attracts 15 million annual visitors, there are still peaceful havens to enjoy. We followed the woodland trail around Chapultepec Castle, which is perched on a hill in the center of the park. This route was far more peaceful than the bustling lakeside paths and was accordingly birdy. We observed a stunning array of woodland species, including Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Bewick’s Wren, and a spectacular male Black-headed Grosbeak. As if to illustrate the growing appeal of urban birding among young people, we also met a young bird-lover visiting Mexico from New York who was spending her day birding in the park.

Before leaving the park, we were treated to one final bird spectacle that perfectly illustrated how vital Chapultepec is for migratory species. As we passed by a small fruiting tree we were stopped in our tracks by the site of a flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding busily on the abundance of ripe berries. This chunky, smooth-plumaged bird is a gorgeous blend of soft pinks and slate-grays, accentuated by a bright-yellow tipped tail and the tiny red wingtips that give the species its name. It quite looks as if its wings have been dipped in wax. It’s hard to imagine a more elegant and beautiful bird, and seeing it in the heart of downtown Mexico City was a real treat.

The large lake in Bosque Chapultepec is a haven for aquatic species like Mexican Duck, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and this Great Egret.

Condesa: Small Town Vibes in the Big City

We finished our day of scouting with a quick visit to the artistic and hip neighborhood of Condesa, which lies adjacent to the first section of Chapultepec. We have filmed there before: our Mexico City production with Cat Footwear was primarily shot in Condesa. It’s a neighborhood we find especially inspiring for its laid-back, bohemian vibes and pretty architecture. It almost feels like a small town marooned in the big city, and it offers an excellent urban shooting location for our clients.

All in all, our day out in Chapultepec was encouraging for several reasons: we scouted out an excellent new filming location for our clients, we enjoyed great views of urban wildlife, and discovered that even in one of the world’s biggest cities, we can still film nature and birds in relative peace and tranquillity. Chapultepec requires specialist permits for shooting professionally due to the proximity of the Presidential residence, but thanks to our local fixer and producer, Ulises, this isn’t an issue for clients who choose WhereNext for our Mexican production services.

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