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Having spent all my life in Trinidad, it was the first time I would be stationed away from the island of my birth. Last month I took the boat back to Trinidad as I was booked to guide a trip there for a week and a half. Trinidad Piping-Guan. What would it be like? So this is a strange, and very niche version of a trip report!
Cameras were still tucked away, but the experience left us all without words. Cocoi Heron Pied Plover Black Skimmer Coming across a pair of Red-capped Cardinals was exciting – resembling the Masked Cardinal that we were accustomed to in Trinidad but a little stretched out, as if pulled gently by the tail and bill simultaneously.
In southern Trinidad, however, there is much more at play than what is immediately discernible. Due to the plethora of bird species around, invariably we were to experience something breathtaking. While enjoying the family of Wattled Jacanas , a female Green Kingfisher flew in to an overhanging branch and sat there for several minutes.
Birding in Trinidad and Tobago has been likened to an introductory chapter in the book of birding in the Neotropics. Each of the three belongs to a separate genus within the family and as such occupies a different position within the forest. And for good reason. T&T has three resident species of manakins. Blue-backed Manakin.
Many moons ago, when I used to work in the (supposedly) booming petrochemical industry in Trinidad, most of my time was actually spent birding. These irruptive visitors to T&T always are a pleasure to experience. Golden-crowned Warbler is one of the three resident warbler species on Trinidad. Bay-headed Tanagers.
Shorebirds – or “shorbs” for the cuteness factor (as if that needed any enhancement) – remain one of the most fascinating families of birds for me. The first post I ever prepared for this blog centred around a search for a vagrant Curlew Sandpiper here in my native Trinidad.
You truly cannot experience the Gray-barred Wren without hearing the raucous calls shared among group members of this highly-social species. It is not that close of a relative of the Northern Mockingbird , being in the same family, but a different genus. Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls will also sometimes do so.).
Steve Howell has spent decades of experience in the field studying the birds of Belize, Costa Rica, and especially Mexico. Checklist for Belize lists 622 species in 76 families, of which 104 are rare or accidental and four introduced. This is particularly helpful for bird families that might be new to birders.
Within families, the species are arranged less taxonomically and more in line with “design and space considerations,” (Introduction), and on the plates themselves, species are arranged to facilitate comparison. Text is on the left, plates are on the right. Both genus names and species names are listed.
There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? It is organized taxonomically, with families identified by first scientific and then popular name.
Did the Black-bellied Whistling Duck represent his family, “showing face” as we say here in the Caribbean? Animals obviously see death and experience it as we do, so the question is not one of if, but of how. Paying respects? Was it some sort of funeral?
It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. Horned Guan by Adam Riley Mike was tempted to go with a guan as well, since he had the good fortune to encounter the Trinidad Piping Guan in the only country it can be found. I wrote about the experience here.
Chacachacare (pronounced shaka-shaka-reh ) is the westernmost of the Bocas islands off the northwestern tip of Trinidad. Accessible by boat only, it takes about half an hour to get there from mainland Trinidad. Trinidad and Tobago has a wide array of different habitats, made possible by a unique rainfall distribution.
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