Birding Factoids

266 species
in 42 families

20 of the 58 Caribbean
speciality species are 
represented here. 
10 endangered species
11 endemics
    Puerto
    Rico
    Hotspots
 Checklist of Puerto Rico BirdsTours and GuidesEco-LodgesSpeciality BirdsPrint ResourcesMap and General Country Information
...
Check out Mark Swan's Birds of Puerto Rico
or Rafael Roderiquez-Monjita's Birds of Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico Specialities
Bananaquit - Puerto Rico National Bird - Photo by Martin Reid
Photo copyright Martin Reid
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Puerto Rican Tody- ENDEMIC - Photo copyright Rafael Rodriguez-Mojica
Photo copyright Rafael Rodriguez-Mojica
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Green Mango - ENDEMIC - Photo copyright Greg Lasley
Photo copyright Greg Lasley
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Puerto Rican Vireo - Photo copyright Rafael Roderiquez-Mojica
Photo copyright Rafael Rodriquez-Mojica
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Puerto Rican Parrot - ENDANGERED - Photo copyright US Fish and Wildlife
Photo copyright US Fish and Wildlife
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Puerto Rican Spinadalis - Photo copyright Rafael Roderiquez-Mojica
Photo copyright Rafael Rodriguez-Mojica
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Puerto Rican Emerald - ENDEMIC - Photo copyright Greg Lasley
Photo copyright Greg Lasley
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White-cheeked Pintail - Photo copyright Erigen Birding Pages
Photo copyright Erigen Birding Pages
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Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo - Photo copyright Rafael Rodriquez-Mojica
Photo copyright Rafael Rodriquez-Mojica
     
    ....Caribbean Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex
    ....
    ....El Yunque - The Caribbean National Forest - The
      Caribbean National Forest is located in the rugged Sierra del Luquillo, and is 28,000 acres in size.
    ....
    ....Caribbean National Forest - approximately
      28,000 acres in size, is located in the rugged Sierra de Luquillo, 40 km east southeast of San Juan. It is the only area in Puerto Rico administered by the USDA, Forest Service, and is the only tropical forest in the National Forest System.
    ....
    ....Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuges - Boqueacuten, Puerto Rico.
      The Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge includes tracts of secondary forest, grassland and brush habitats. The Cabo Rojo Salt Flats, under private ownership, are a 1300 acre system of saline lagoons, salt flats and mangrove swamps adjacent to the Cabo Rojo NWR. The Cabo Rojo Salt Flats are the most important stopover site for migratory shorebirds known in the Caribbean.
    ....
    ....Guanica Forest Preserve - by Harry S. Pariser  - Reserva Forestal
      Guanica is one of the finest examples of cactus-scrub-subtropical dry forest in the world. It was designated by the United Nations as a Man and the Biosphere Reserve in 1975. The guabairo (Puerto Rican whippoorwill) survives on the island only in this reserve. Some of the other 40 species of birds found here include the troupial, the orange-cheeked waxbill (an introduced W African native), the Caribbean elaenia, the Puerto Rican bullfinch, the Puerto Rican nightjar (once thought to be extinct), and the Puerto Rican tody.
    ....
    ....Puerto Rico - Fauna & Flora
    ....
    ....Where to Go Birding on Vieques, Puerto Rico - by  Daphne Gemmill,
      President of Going Birding/BigPockets, has been  conducting a bird survey on the island of Vieques since 1982. She describes the best birding spots, and what birds that you are likely to see as well as provided information that you would need for your visit from places to stay to rental car companies. 
    ....
    ....West Indies Birding Trip, July 1-14, 1998, Greg Lasley & Cheryl 
      Johnson. My wife and I recently completed a two-week trip to the West Indies which included birding on Puerto Rico, Saba (a very small island in the Netherlands Antilles), St. Thomas and St. Johns in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I have prepared an account of this trip in the hopes that some of the material below will be of help and/or interest to others traveling in this area.
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Puerto Rico, November 10/11 and December 9/10 1995.
      By Mark Oberle and Giff Beaton. We had not had a corrective dose of Caribbean birding since our trip to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico 6 months ago.
    ....
    ....Trip Report: West Indies -- Puerto Rico, Saba, & U.S. Virgin Islands 
      July 1-14, 1998 by Greg Lasley & Cheryl Johnson. My wife and I recently completed a two-week trip to the West Indies which included birding on Puerto Rico, Saba  (a very small island in the Netherlands Antilles),  St. Thomas  and  St. Johns  in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  I have prepared an account of this trip in the hopes that some of the material below will be of help and/or interest to others traveling in this area. 
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Puerto Rico & The Dominican Republic: A Contrast
      in Island Birding - Part 1 - Puerto Rico (part 1), August 6 - 12, 1998. By Joseph Brooks and Garry George. See also Part 2. and Part 3.
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Puerto Rico - February 1 - 3, 1997. By Ron Outen. 
      This is a birding report of a first trip to Puerto Rico by an occasional birder.   After reading some of the trip reports by experienced PR birders, I can say at the outset that this is a comparatively lame  attempt. My list is not as long as it would have been if I were confident of identifying the birds by either sight or song. 
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Puerto Rico - Desecheo Island National Wildlife Refuge - 
      16 January 1999 by Mark Oberle. I had not been to Desecheo Island, ( 13 miles west of Puerto Rico in the Mona Passage between PR and Hispaniola), since a scuba trip there in May 1977, so my family and some friends went to Desecheo Island National Wildlife Refuge on 1-16-99.  The island has been important for seabird nesting. See also Mark's 1995 report and 1997 report.
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Jamaica and Puerto Rico - June 29 to July 20 1997. 
      By George Dremeaux. We chose the Caribbean for our family summer vacation this year essentially for these reasons: a healthy assortment of new birds, some good snorkeling, a change in culture and enough points of interest to keep the four of us happy. See also the Annotated Bird List.
    ....
    ....Scenes from a Lesser Antilles Trip - 18-28 March 2000. A photo
      montage by Don Roberson. These shots are from a fine "Focus on Nature" tour of the Lesser Antillean islands of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Dominica (a trip led by Armas Hill), with a final day on Puerto Rico (a trip led by B. J. Rose and with a different set of participants). In the islands of the Lesser Antilles, we were successful in locating all island and regional endemics within a week. 
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Lesser Antilles - 3-13 November 1999. By Frank Frazier. 
      Thought it might be of interest to give a brief report of the highlights of a trip I took with my N.J. friend Bill Weiss, to some principal islands of the Lesser Antilles in hopes of seeing their endemics and specialties - we visited Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent, ending up with one night and morning in Puerto Rico.
    ....
    ....Trip Reports - A number of Puerto Rico trip reports can be found on
      Blake Maybank's  "Birding the Americas - Trip Report and Trip Planning Repository". 

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Tours and Guides

See DISCLAIMER

>>>>
birdingpal.com...>> A Birding Pal is not a paid guide, but someone who likes to help out of town visitors. You can become a Birding Pal today! Help someone to enjoy your local birding spots and find a pal to help you when you travel. Click here for Puerto Rica Birding Pals, or join to be a Birding Pal!
    **..Birding Puerto Rico with Amazilia Tours - Puerto Rico is a very 
      popular destination for birdwatchers as it is possible to see all the endemics species in a short time period thanks to the excellent road network. Among the 250 total species of Puerto Rico, 13 are endemics. With a passion for birds and the experience acquired through exploring these regions for the past 15 years, Amazilia Tours offers you a trilingual guiding experience during your birding trip to the Neotropics. Good field knowledge is essential to maximize the number of observed bird species during the bird tour that you have chosen. This tour can possibly be taken in combination with a Dominican Republic tour.

 

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Eco-Lodges

See DISCLAIMER

Elfin-woods Warbler - Photo copyright Rafy Rodriquez-Mojica
Photo copyright Rafy Rodriquez-Mojica
    **..Casa Cubuy Ecolodge - in the El Yunque Rainforest. Casa Cubuy offers
      a less stressful alternative than the busy North side of the El Yunque Rainforest. This quiet retreat lies nearly at the top of the road on the south  side of the mountain. Casa Cubuy is perched on a hill above a river with many waterfalls. A short uphill trek from the house on a paved road brings you to the El Yunque National Forest.

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Caribbean Specialities in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Woodpecker - Photo copyright Raphael Roderiquez-Mojica
Photo copyright Raphael Roderiquez-Mojica
Information derived from Sibley & Monroe checklists in Thayer's Birder's Diary - Version 2.5. Information on endangered birds is derived from the IUCN Red List, Birdlife International. An international checklist system was required to enable world-wide country to country comparisons.These speciality birds may be uncommon, or extremely rare at this location, or may only be present in migration. However, documented sightings of each species noted below have been made in Puerto Rico.

 
 
Puerto Rico Endemics
___ Elfin-Woods Warbler
___ Green Mango
___ Puerto Rican Bullfinch (extinct)
___ Puerto Rican Emerald		 ___ Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo
___ Puerto Rican Nightjar
___ Puerto Rican Parrot
___ Puerto Rican Tanager		 ___ Puerto Rican Tody
___ Puerto Rican Vireo
___ Yellow-shouldered Blackbird
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Caribbean Endemic Specialities in Puerto Rico
___ Antillean Crested Hummingbird
___ Antillean Mango
___ Antillean Nighthawk
___ Antillean Palm-Swift
___ Bridled Quail-Dove
___ Greater Antillean Grackle
___ Hispaniolan Parakeet		 ___ Hispaniolan Parrot
___ Key West Quail-Dove
___ Lesser Antillean Pewee
___ Loggerhead Kingbird
___ Plain Pigeon
___ Puerto Rican Flycatcher
___ Puerto Rican Screech-Owl		 ___ Puerto Rican Woodpecker
___ Red-legged Thrush
___ Scaly-naped Pigeon
___ Stripe-headed Tanager
___ West Indian Whistling Duck
___ White-necked Crow

 
Endangered Birds in Puerto Rico
(endemics are shown in bold italic)
Breeding Birds
Non-Breeding Birds
___ Hispaniolan Parakeet
___ Plain Pigeon
___ Puerto Rican Nightjar
___ Puerto Rican Parrot
___ Red Siskin		 ___ Red-crowned Parrot
___ West Indian Whistling Duck
___ White-necked Crow
___Yellow-shouldered Blackbird		 ___ Piping Plover

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Print and Other Resources on Birds

and Birding in Puerto Rico

(logos and links take you to on-line locations where you can order/purchase these resources)
....
AMAZON.COM is the registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc.
A small portion of your purchase price for any books purchased by following links from this site will go toward supporting the maintenance and development costs of this site.
    ....A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - 
      by Herbert A. Raffaele, Cindy J. House, John Wiessinger. Paperback - 254 pages (January 1990) This is a revised edition of a widely praised guide to the birds of the largest of the Carribean islands and the neighboring Virgin Islands. It includes detailed accounts of all 284 well-documented species known to occur in the region, 273 being illustrated. The section "Places to Bird" will help make the stay of short-term visitors more productive. 
       See also Print Resources for the Caribbean

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