The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests occupy an area of 92,503 square kilometers (35,716 sq mi), extending from Jalisco state in the west to Veracruz in the east.

The main mass of the volcanic belt extends east to west through the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, México, Morelos, Tlaxcala, Puebla, and Veracruz.

The Central Mexican matorral lies to the north of the range in the high basins of the Plateau, including the Valley of Mexico and the upper reaches of the Lerma around Toluca.

Other native birds include the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), long-tailed wood partridge (Dendrortyx macroura), white-tipped dove (Leptotila verreauxi), Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae), banded quail (Philortx fasciatus), northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), and grey-barred wren (Campylorhynchus megalopterus).

The Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests of eastern Michoacán and western México states is the winter habitat of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), which migrate from temperate regions of North America east of the Rocky Mountains.