Birding in Jamaica – Green Castle Bird List Now at 122!

It was just February 9^th that we reported adding Grasshopper Sparrow and Lesser Scaup to the Green Castle Estate bird checklist, taking us to 121 species recorded on the property. At that time we wondered what the next addition would be. We didn’t have long to wait: what a surprise to add not just another species but another of Jamaica’s endemics!

On February 12, while birding the Waterfall Trail with Green Castle guests Mike and Jenny Whiteside, a single pigeon was found sitting high in a tree by bird guide Reginald Fairweather. Identification was difficult due to the poor light conditions—a dark object against a bright sky—but eventually all agreed that the bird was a Ring-tailed Pigeon. Meanwhile, Mike took the accompanying photo.

This is the 21^st of 27 or 28 endemics recorded on the Estate (the ambiguity regarding the number of Jamaican endemics revolves around the status of “Black-billed” and “Red-billed” Streamertails.) Given Green Castle’s coastal location, the presence of 21 endemics is quite remarkable. It means that birders who spend some time at Green Castle and one or two highland locations (we can arrange day trips to these spots) have an excellent chance to see all of the Jamaican endemics plus several Caribbean endemics. Come visit!

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Birding in Jamaica. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.