Caribbean Wildlife

[birdthing]

i have just booked what i think will be the best holiday of my life its a cruse in the Caribbean i know its not very green but this will be only the second time i have had to fly in my life so its not so bad and it may be the last time not to keen on flying but anyone know what birds or wildlife i may see

[gillian]

I have no idea and have wondered myself as my sister is off on such a cruise in a couple of weeks time. It might be helpful to tell us what time of year you are going, then those in the know will probably help you. All I was going to sugest is that you go to the gallery and take a look at Birds Of The Caribbean, looks like you'll see some crackers. Have a great time

[Steve G]

Each of the Caribbean islands has its own charm & its own wildlife -what islands will you be visiting & how flexible are the 'landing' arrangements?

[Isurus]

Yeah - we need to know which islands you'll be on to hook you up with the good stuff.A good book is Rafaelle's Birds of the Caribbean.

Only slightly off topic - any other caribbean guys know of anyone who runs guided trips in the Dominican Republic for the endemic iguana species and American Crocodile?

[Stranger]

Do`nt know if this is any use,but Sky tv showed an excellent series called Wild Carribean,It`s bound to be repeated sometime.Well worth watching out for.

[Xenospiza]

Depends on where you're going of course! If you have time to visit some islands you may see some very special birds – otherwise, I predict a lot of frigatebirds.
Try to get Raffaele, Wiley, Garrido, Keith, Raffaele, Birds of the West Indies (Christopher Helm), the best bird guide for the region.

[Isurus]

sorry xenospiza gives the correct name for the book I wrongly called "birds of the caribbean" earlier. It really is excellent for the region.

[kittykat23uk]

Hi,

I've only ever been to the Dominican Republic and didn't see very many birds but here is a brief run down:

Village weaver
Palm Chat
Snowy Egret
Great White egret
Cattle egret
Hispaniolan woodpecker
House sparrow
Grey Kingbird
Caribbean Martin
Greater Antillean Grackle
Bananaquit
Plain Pigeon
Turkey Vulture
Common ground dove
Mangrove cuckoo
Vervain Hummingbird
Hispaniolan Emerald Hummingbird
Northern Mockingbird
Black whiskered vireo
Mourning dove
Smooth-billed ani
Cape May Warbler
American Kestrel
Red tailled Hawk
Barn owl
Green heron
Brown pelican
American herring gull.

[njlarsen]

The Raffaele Guide mentioned above has been discussed before on Birdforum, see post 6 in this thread (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=75821&highlight=Raffaele) for discussion of the two different versions. The large version is on sale at the NHBS at the moment.

Other wildlife is generally sparse in the smaller ilands to the east, at least if you think mammals. There are several species of lizards with most islands having at least one endemic species. Some places do have whale watching trips that you can go on, and you may even be able to see marine mammals from the cruise ship itself.

Re birdlife, look also at Opus: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Antilles

Cheers
Niels

[birdthing]

The islands im going to are
Tortola
St Maarten
St Barts
St Kitts
Antigua
Guadeloupe
Dominica
Martinique
St Lucia
Grenada
Barbados
Then home from there

[Isurus]

The islands im going to are
Tortola
St Maarten
St Barts
St Kitts
Antigua
Guadeloupe
Dominica
Martinique
St Lucia
Grenada
Barbados
Then home from there

drop me a pm letting me know when you're gonna be on tortola and I'll pm you some suggestions (not that our birding is spectacular). Depending what day it is I might even be around to take you to a couple of non-taxiable spots if you'd like/it looks worthwhile. St. Maarten is pretty barren (worth a dive there if you dive though). I'll let others step in on the other islands...

[birdthing]

That would be great would be nice to meet a Bf member from the Caribbean i have meet a few from england

[birdthing]

only 9 weeks to go then ill be off cant Waite

[njlarsen]

only 9 weeks to go then ill be off cant Waite

This report http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/caribbean/lesser-antilles/les-ant2003.htm contains the Email of the best nature guide for Dominica, Bertrand Jno Baptiste.

Cheers
Niels

[birdthing]

Well i think i have just hired a guide for birdwatching on Dominica his name is Bertrand Jno Baptiste and he asked me what i wanted to see ? so what do i tell him i said hummingbirds & parrots but i don't mind what i see what would you want to see

[njlarsen]

Well i think i have just hired a guide for birdwatching on Dominica his name is Bertrand Jno Baptiste and he asked me what i wanted to see ? so what do i tell him i said hummingbirds & parrots but i don't mind what i see what would you want to see

Everything! most important would be the two endemic parrots, the Blue-headed hummingbird and Plumbeous warbler (both found on one additional island), the Red-legged Thrush (only island in the lesser antilles with this subspecies/species), and the 14 or so other species that are only found in the lesser antilles. You might also look for the Antillean Euphonia and House Wren, as the lesser antillean subspecies might become split, and the yellow warbler which at one time was a Caribbean species before being lumped with the rest.

Cheers
Niels

[birdthing]

What about a check list i need to print a check list to where can i get one from

[njlarsen]

http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/checklist.jsp?lang=EN gives you options of printing for the overall area or for each island individually. The bottom of this page http://www.natureisland.com/bird+bot.html gives you the most up to date list for Dominica.

Niels

[birdthing]

Well just 10 days to go i am s----- my self about the flying but it's the only way for me to get there so ill do it cant wait to get there

[birdthing]

Well I'm back from my cruse i had a great time I have seen lots of birds didn't get pics of all of them i will try to get some on here soon .Tortola was very nice place . and Bertrand Jno Baptiste was the best bird guide and a very nice guy to i would recommend him to anyone

[njlarsen]

Glad to hear everything went well for you! I definitely will agree with your assessment of Bertrand, who is a friend of mine ;)

Niels