Golden Eagle and the Northern Caracara

• The golden eagle is featured on the Mexican coat of arms and is considered by many to be the national bird of Mexico. In actual fact, Mexico's national bird is the northern caracara, which is depicted on the Mexican flag. Mexican ornithologist Rafael Martín del Campo has identified the northern caracara in ancient Aztec paintings.
  
  

Rosita's Bunting

• A striking, electric-blue bird with a red underbelly, Rosita's bunting is also known as the rose-bellied bunting. This bird can only be found in a small range in southeast Oaxaca and extreme southwest Chiapas. The bird was reputedly named by a French man who lived in Mexico in the 1800s, who named the bird after his Mexican wife, Rosita, because "they were the two most beautiful things he had seen."
  
  

Endangered Birds

• Birdlife International reports that Mexico is home to 53 globally threatened species, nine of which are critically endangered, including the stunning Imperial woodpecker, which hasn't been reported with certainly since the 1950s, and may be extinct due to extensive destruction of its habitat. Male imperial woodpeckers were nearly 2 feet long, with a huge ivory colored bill. Another critically endangered Mexican bird is the Cozumel Thrasher, a chestnut brown-and-white bird with a long curved bill. This thrasher was commonly seen on Cozumel Island before Hurricane Gilbert hit in 1988, but has seldom been seen since.