Destination Jamaica - Birding in Jamaica...Flights of Fancy!


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Jamaica is becoming a very popular place among birdwatchers. Among the impressive variety of about 300 recorded species, the island has 100-plus local breeding birds and nearly 30 native birds. Visitors won’t have to travel far to come across these feathery creatures.

Buzzing from flower to flower and sipping nectar as it goes, the Red-billed Streamertail is a tiny hummingbird that can be confused with a large insect. This elegant bird has a long and pointy beak and long tail feathers, like the tailcoats doctors once wore. This natural marvel of micro-engineering is known by Jamaicans as the “doctor bird,” and it is the country’s national bird. Finding the endemics can range from easy to difficult. The Jamaican Blackbird feeds on creatures living in bromeliads.

Chestnut-billed and Lizard cuckoos, both with spectacular striped tails, can sometimes be seen in the wilds of the Cockpit Country in central Jamaica. Another prize, the West Indian Whistling Duck (yes, it does whistle) is found mainly on Jamaica’s south coast and at the Royal Palm Reserve in Negril.

Todies, here a Jamaican Tody, are a distinctive Caribbean landbird.

Todies, here a Jamaican Tody, are a distinctive Caribbean landbird.

Driving into the Blue Mountains unveils a profusion of colorful birds. In the mountains you will find all three of Jamaica’s hummingbirds, along with Vireos, Todies, Orioles, Stripe-headed Tanagers and various kinds of Flycatchers. The unspoiled forests of the John Crow Mountains are good places to spot both Yellow and Black-billed Amazon parrots, Jamaican Blackbirds and Jamaican Crows.

Breeding season is usually from April through June, and it is the best time to glimpse some of the most stunning plumage. When the snowbirds arrive in December the island is awash in brightly-colored songbirds. Winter “fly-ins” include at least a dozen species of the brightly-colored North American Wood-Warblers, American Redstarts, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Cape May Warblers and the American Kestrel. The Black River in the South Coast wetlands is a great place to witness many of them.

If you are a bird lover, good local guides are available. Make arrangements ahead of your visit.

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