Rich Hoyer on his just-completed tour of Jamaica

It should come as little surprise that the most memorable sightings from this year’s Jamaica tour were of Jamaican Tody, Jamaican Owl, and Red-billed Streamertail, as we saw them so extemely well, multiple times, and they are all simply stunning birds to behold.

Jamaican Tody

Red-billed Streamertail

But one can’t forget, most chargming Chestnut-bellied Cuckoos, Jamaican Becards adding to their huge and unwieldy nests, many views of beautiful Jamaican Spindalises, the unusual and rare Jamaican Blackbird, and unbelievable prolonged views of the missable Crested Quail-Dove

Crested Quail-Dove

But even though we saw all endemic species, amongst the non-endemics were some wonderful highlights, such as a pair of American Kestrels feeding two just-fledged young as well as one still in the nest cavity, perfectly elegant White-tailed Tropicbirds sailing back and forth, the stately Northern Potoo foraging from its nocturnal perch, and a most cooperative Grasshopper Sparrow that seemed to own that fence.

White-tailed Tropicbirds