Tour Narrative
In Brief: You wouldn’t know from our week’s birding on Jamaica that the island had just experienced one of the driest winters on record. On our first day, there were still water use restrictions for Kingston, and reservoirs everywhere were very low. The spigot opened with our arrival: not only the rain, but also the bird breeding activity. Everywhere we looked, birds were building nests. An Orangequit disappeared with a filament into a dead cecropia leaf, a Rufous-tailed Flycatcher gathered mouthsful of shredded bark, White-eyed Thrushes vanished with globs of mud—and birds were singing everywhere. We were bombarded with endemics at every stop, and by the afternoon of day one we had already had at least brief looks at 22. In the following days we would gradually accrue perfect looks at every endemic species and most of the endemic subspecies, and still have time to marvel at the many endemic plants, butterflies, snails, and even a dragonfly and damselfly never photographed in the wild before.
In Detail: Jamaican Mangos were the first endemic bird to greet the group, even before we loaded the luggage to head to our first birding destination. Before we plunged into the lush eastern end of the island, we looked around our hotel for migrants, where Cape May Warbler, American Redstart, and Northern Parula were highlights. We also saw several of the resident form of Yellow Warbler, Bananaquits, a Common Ground-Dove on a nest, and incredibly loud and territorial Vervain Hummingbirds. At Hector’s River we spotted White-tailed Tropicbirds from the highway even before we had a chance to slow down, and their chattering voices were audible from the vehicle.
We spent part of two fantastic days birding on the Ecclesdown Road. Jamaican Tody was one bird everyone thought they had seen to their heart’s desire, securing it a place as the trip favorite, but even better views were to come. We lucked out with a foraging pair of Jamaican Blackbirds and a responsive and close Blue Mountain Vireo. The afternoon gave us a group of close, loud Jamaican Crows babbling their odd call and flocks of Black-billed Parrots, while the morning was better for close and colorful Jamaican Spindalis, a handsome Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, and a perfect male Black-billed Streamertail.
Even our hotel grounds were birdy—Jamaican Mangos and Streamertails were using the feeders, a Bananaquit was nesting in a potted plant, and groups of Jamaican Spindalises cavorted in the treetops. Our second attempt for the Jamaican Owl, after hearing two incessantly begging young the first night, was a fantastic success when the adult flew in and landed in a tree below eye level.
We had a warm welcome at Green Castle Estate, where a Northern Potoo was staked out on its day roost; a pair each of American and Caribbean Coots and a handsome male Red-billed Streamertail performed nicely. Lunch was delicious and well worth waiting for. Butterflies and dragonflies were also particularly numerous here.
As we entered the high elevations above Kingston, we made a brief stop for our first Antillean Palm Swifts. Before long, we were looking at a Crested Quail-Dove in perfect view, which later began singing from a visible perch, letting us watch it in the scope—or turn around to watch a curious Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo. Our hotel was very birdy, especially in the morning when a Sad Flycatcher and a Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo came in to glean the moths attracted to the lights. The hummingbird feeders were particularly busy with Red-billed Streamertails, a mixed flock of several migrant wood warblers worked around the yard, and a very rare Lincoln’s Sparrow foraged on the ground with a Yellow-faced Grassquit. Birding in the high-elevation cloud forests was worth it just for the haunting song of the Rufous-throated Solitaires, which we also saw quite well. A Greater Antillean Elaenia—seen on very few tours—was a treat, and we had uncommonly good views of a Yellow-shouldered Grassquit.
After a successful stop for Bahama Mockingbird and Stolid Flycatcher, we dodged a rainstorm on our way to Marshall’s Pen. Our stay here was wonderful. Here we caught up on a few species that we hadn’t seen or had seen only briefly, moving such birds as Jamaican Elaenia, Jamaican Becard, Caribbean Dove, and White-eyed Thrush into the “cracking view” category. We never tired of Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoos, Jamaican Todies, Jamaican Woodpeckers, and Loggerhead Kingbirds, most of which were available at any time.
We did very well in the Cockpit County, getting good views of perched Yellow-billed Parrot and Ring-billed Pigeon. We heard Plain Pigeon very well, now quite a rare bird on the island, and an unobtrusive little damselfly turned out to be a little-known endemic, never before photographed, that breeds in bromeliads. Our trip to the southwestern lowlands was also a success, with Yellow-breasted Crake; we had a lovely post-rain visit to the marshes of the Black River Upper Morass, where a few West Indian Whistling-Ducks, Purple Gallinule, and an amazing Least Bittern entertained us. A Northern Harrier flew over the marsh, providing one of very few island records. One of the most memorable sightings here was a Barn Owl—of the regional subspecies with very white wings—flying right at us over the marsh while it was still light; that face was unforgettable seen through binoculars or scope.
A final morning’s walk at Marshall’s Pen was followed by a period of rain, during which we still managed to see or hear 18 endemic species and an additional 12 species, including one of only a few records of Gray Catbird for the island. The scenic drive to Montego Bay was interrupted only by the chance to have streamertails, mangos, and grassquits feed from our hands at Rockland’s Bird Sanctuary—and by the requisite stop to check the sewage ponds, where a single West Indian Whistling-Duck joined rafts of Least Grebes, Ruddy Ducks, and Blue-winged Teal. Those who had a later flight enjoyed some light birding near the airport, where our final and 138th species—the most recorded on this tour in 11 years—was three migrant Bobolinks, soon to continue north over Cuba and on to the mainland.
- Rich Hoyer
Updated: May 2010