251 Birds

Barbados isn’t exactly what you’d call a birding destination. Despite its geographic isolation and its geologic differentiation from the rest of the Windward Isles there’s not a lot of biological diversity and, at least in the avian realm, almost no endemism. The island is outside any major flyways (limiting migrants passing through) and 150km east of the rest of the Lesser Antilles. The prevailing winds are from the east, so there probably aren’t many opportunities for local breeding species from Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and Martinique to make the crossing, accidentally or otherwise.

All that being said, there’s plenty of birdwatching to be had if you’re not too concerned about listing. J and I just spent a week on the south coast near the fishing village of Oistins for our 15th (?!) anniversary, mostly focused on doing as little as possible while not missing out on the chance to see the sights and experience some Bajan culture. I picked up my first lifer –Barbados Bullfinch– on the trip in the cab on the way out of the airport. This species is the only endemic on the island. I’ve heard of people flying into Bridgetown, having a look around the airport grounds until they see the bullfinch, and then getting back on the plane to St. Lucia or Trinidad. It was recently split from Lesser Antillean Bullfinch (which I’d seen previously in St. Lucia), and both males and females look a lot like the female Lesser Antillean species.

Frankly, these guys look pretty boring, with only a bit of a peach tinge to the wings and vent area to break up the dull brown. I didn’t get a good photo though I certainly had opportunities. They make up for their looks in personality though, calling constantly and throwing their tiny weight around by holding their wings away from their body in an aggressive posture that reminds me of the way Pine Siskins chase much larger birds away from our feeder at home.

So, if you like tiny, drab birds, they’re your constant companions in Barbados. Three other species were never out of sight or earshot as well- Zenaida Dove, Bananaquit, and Carib Grackle. Bananaquits are certainly the most interesting, both in appearance and behavior. They tend to keep to dense vegetation until they want something from you. Taxonomists don’t know what to do with them- they’re generally stored with the tanagers

These birds are completely absurd. A strongly decurved bill and striking, curved eyebrow give them a sinister Snidely Whiplash affect. As soon as the coffee arrived each morning the Bananaquits would alight at the edge of the table and hop cautiously toward the sugar packets next to the creamer. No matter how many times we shooed them away they’d come back hoping to catch us with our guard down. We did eventually see one Bananaquit manage to snatch a sugar packet from another table and carry it away. It was promptly chased off its prize by a bullfinch who’d been watching the drama from a more distant perch all along.

Doves and pigeons are also omnipresent in Barbados, especially Zenaida Doves. We regularly encountered Rock Pigeons (usually at the beach), Scaly-naped Pigeons (usually flyovers), Eurasian Collared-Doves, and Common Ground-Doves. We also spotted a few Eared Doves (lifer!), which had me looking closely at every Zenaida Dove to be sure it had white secondaries and a tail band.

We made a cursory stop at the Congo Road private shooting impoundment hoping to find reliable Little Egrets, a rare find in the western hemisphere. Not being familiar with the territory, though, I didn’t want to trespass and couldn’t find a way to view the ponds from the public way. I could see flocks of shorebirds and waders from afar, but not well enough for positive ID. I wish I had done a bit more outreach in advance- it would have been nice to have a chance at whistling-ducks and a variety of shorebirds in addition to the egrets.

I found two additional life birds along the south coast. Roseate Terns sometimes followed the small fishing boats out of Oistins past Miami (Enterprise) Beach, and Black-Faced Grassquits could, with some patience, be found in vacant lots near the South Point Lighthouse.

One of our favorite birds of the trip was the locally common Grey Kingbird, a typically boisterous tyrant flycatcher. On St. Lucia they call these birds “Pi-pi-rit” after their rushed, noisy call- our guide told us ‘he tinks he’s da king of da forest!’, which sounds about right.

In all we saw just 17 species over course the week, though honestly we didn’t try very hard and that wasn’t the point of this trip. Here’s the list:

• Magnficent Frigatebird
• Cattle Egret
• Green Heron
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Roseate Tern
• Rock Pigeon
• Scaly-naped Pigeon
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Common Ground-Dove
• Zenaida Dove
• Eared Dove
• Green-throated Carib
• Gray Kingbird
• Bananaquit
• Black-faced Grassquit
• Barbados Bullfinch
• Carib Grackle

Tags: bananaquit, barbados, black-faced grassquit, bullfinch, common ground-dove, eared dove, grey kingbird, miami beach, roseate tern, west indies, zenaida dove