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FIELD GUIDES BIRDING TOURS: Puerto Rico 2011

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FIELD GUIDES BIRDING TOURS: Puerto Rico 2011 Field Guides Tour Report Puerto Rico 2011 Apr 2, 2011 to Apr 8, 2011 George Armistead & John Coons We dashed down to Puerto Rico for a week in April in 2011, and it rewarded us richly. Most everyone added a day to check out the sights at Old San Juan, but our time together was spent birding and searching for the island's 18 or so endemic birds (depending on your taxonomy), and several regional endemics too. We were well received by the island's friendly folks, and we found comfortable (and birdy!) lodgings and good roads that delivered us a lovely week in the commonwealth. Though the smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico harbored some big target birds for us, and we enjoyed a wonderful bird-filled and relaxing week. We began in San Juan. One third of Puerto Rico's population resides here, and so mostly our goal in San Juan was to meet up, eat up, and head out, and that's just what we did. Our first morning we headed for the Haystack Hills and were dazzled by a dizzying array of endemics. By 10 a.m. we had tallied about half the island's endemic bird species, registering fantastic sightings of Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Lesser Antillean (Puerto Rican) Pewee, the incomparable tody, and the absurdly good-looking Puerto Rican Woodpecker. We picnicked along the coast and watched as a dozen or more White- tailed Tropicbirds careened around below us under halcyon skies. While exploring the arid scrubby southwest side of the island, we visited Cabo Rojo, finding our first Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds and an abundance of shorebirds. Lesser Yellowlegs, peep, and Stilt Sandpipers packed the shores of the mangrove lagoons there. Amid these throngs of migrants headed to their arctic breeding grounds were a couple of surprises including an American Avocet and at least one Red Phalarope. A pair of Wilson's Plovers were present for good measure. The following morning a nearby lake teemed with birds. Ten species of herons fringed the marsh there, and we added elusive wetland denizens like Mangrove Cuckoo and West Indian Whistling-Duck and also encountered some introduced species like Red Bishop, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, and Bronze Mannikin. After a siesta we headed for the subtropical dry forest. Covering only about 500 square miles, this ecoregion is reduced to only a few small patches but is home to the entire world population of the critically endangered Puerto Rican Nightjar. We arrived in late afternoon and were overwhelmed to spot not one but several Key West Quail-Doves that came flying (!) past us and then landed. Soon they dropped to the ground to feed. We couldn't take our eyes off these birds, marked in amethyst and metallic green. We sat and enjoyed them for nearly an hour, permitting Pearly-eyed Thrashers, todies, and Red-legged Thrushes to distract us occasionally. As the night fell, the cries of the nightjar materialized, at first just distantly. Suddenly, one called right next to us, and we discovered that if we flattened out on the ground we could see it beautifully. We enjoyed simply amazing studies of this rare endemic. Next we headed up into the highlands. Maricao was our first highland destination, and what a great one it turned out to be. We scored with all of our targets, netting great Elfin-woods Warblers, Puerto Rican Tanagers, Green Mangos, Puerto Rican Orioles, and even the extremely rare Puerto Rican Sharp-shinned Hawk and a couple of Caribbean Black Swifts. Then it was time to move off to the east and visit the Caribbean National Forest, also known as "El Yunque." The only tropical rainforest in the U.S. national forest system, it gets its name from that of a Taino god believed to inhabit the peaks of these Luquillo Mountains. By now we'd seen nearly all the endemic birds, but we indeed needed to see this park which is (along with Old San Juan) a big draw to the island and is remarkably beautiful and lush. Black-whiskered Vireos and Loggerhead Kingbirds were abundant, and along the coast below these impressive mountains we found regional endemics like Green- throated Carib and Antillean Crested Hummingbird. After our farewell dinner, we retreated to the lodge to search one last time for the Puerto Rican Screech-Owl. This bird had given us the slip several times, but our last effort was our best, and magically it appeared right in front of us for a fantastic finale. John and I truly enjoyed birding with you all, and want to thank you for making this trip possible and so fun to guide. We hope you enjoyed Puerto Rico as much as we did, and look forward to seeing you birding again soon. --George We have more information about this itinerary and future departures on our web page for Puerto Rico. KEYS FOR THIS LIST One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 1 BIRDS Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) WEST INDIAN WHISTLING-DUCK (Dendrocygna arborea) – Both visits to a lake near our hotel produced good views. The species has declined dramatically on Puerto Rico and fewer than 100 birds are believed to reside on the island now. BLUE-WINGED TEAL (Anas discors) WHITE-CHEEKED PINTAIL (Anas bahamensis) RUDDY DUCK (Oxyura jamaicensis) Podicipedidae (Grebes) PIED-BILLED GREBE (Podilymbus podiceps) Phaethontidae (Tropicbirds) WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD (Phaethon lepturus) – Yes indeed! No shortage of them flying around the cliffs at our lunch spot on the first day. Gorgeous and elegant birds. Fregatidae (Frigatebirds) MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD (Fregata magnificens) – Nearly daily. Sulidae (Boobies and Gannets) BROWN BOOBY (Sula leucogaster) – A handful in the harbor at Fajardo. Pelecanidae (Pelicans) BROWN PELICAN (Pelecanus occidentalis) Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) LEAST BITTERN (Ixobrychus exilis) – One at a lake near our hotel in the southwest perched up briefly before disappearing. GREAT BLUE HERON (Ardea herodias) GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba) – The birds on this island seem as though they can be found just about anywhere. In Puerto Rico you see lots feeding along dry roadsides or even in fields that have no water at all. We joked that there should be an endemic subspecies (A. a. pastoralis perhaps?). SNOWY EGRET (Egretta thula) LITTLE BLUE HERON (Egretta caerulea) TRICOLORED HERON (Egretta tricolor) – This slender heron was supposedly John James Audubon's favorite bird. We saw them two days. CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis) GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens) BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Nycticorax nycticorax) YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Nyctanassa violacea) – We saw quite a few this year. Apparently, the closest relative of this bird is not the Black-crowned Night-Heron, but (another Nyctanassa, described from fossil remains in 2006) the extinct Bermuda Night-Heron, that fed on land crabs and was extirpated shortly after Bermuda was colonized in the 17th century. Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus) Cathartidae (New World Vultures) TURKEY VULTURE (Cathartes aura) – The assertion in many books that this species was introduced to the island appears unfounded. Fossils are known from neighboring islands as far back as the Pleistocene, and the species is most migratory, and thus a highly capable flier. More likely there was no food or habitat until europeans settled the island, cleared forest and introduced livestock. Their partiality to only the southwest side of the island remains a point of curiousity. Pandionidae (Osprey) OSPREY (Pandion haliaetus) Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (CARIBBEAN) (Accipiter striatus venator) – An endangered bird, and one we always consider ourselves luck to find, and so we celebrated seeing one in flight display over the gorgeous Maricao forest. Approximately 150 individuals remain after the population has been ~halved since 1992. Habitat loss, hurricanes, and Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 2 nest predation by Pearly-eyed Thrashers are all problems for this bird that appears to deserve species status. Tanagers and hummingbirds appear to be popular prey items. This form appears more solidly ruddy along the flanks and upperbreast than the mainland form. RED-TAILED HAWK (Buteo jamaicensis) Falconidae (Falcons and Caracaras) AMERICAN KESTREL (EASTERN CARIBBEAN) (Falco sparverius caribaearum) MERLIN (Falco columbarius) – Seen three different days. Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) CLAPPER RAIL (Rallus longirostris caribaeus) – Great views of this Caribbean form right from our hotel in the southwest. PURPLE GALLINULE (Porphyrio martinica) – Good numbers around of this strongly migratory bird. COMMON MOORHEN (Gallinula chloropus) CARIBBEAN COOT (Fulica caribaea) – All the coots we saw this year appeared to be white-shielded birds. But, this character (long held as the only one distinguishing this "species" from American Coot) is apparently governed by testosterone levels. White-shielded birds are males and occur throughout North America, and the West Indies. Those with larger whiter frontal shields are also most aggressive. Given all this, it appears there is no good reason to consider American Coot and Caribbean Coot separate species. Charadriidae (Plovers and Lapwings) BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (Pluvialis squatarola) WILSON'S PLOVER (Charadrius wilsonia) – Two birds at Cabo Rojo were a nice score among the large numbers of shorebirds there. Formerly known as Thick-billed Plover, this species uses its relatively heavy bill to feed on crabs, among other things. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER (Charadrius semipalmatus) KILLDEER (Charadrius vociferus) Recurvirostridae (Stilts and Avocets) BLACK-NECKED STILT (Himantopus mexicanus) – Daily. AMERICAN AVOCET (Recurvirostra americana) – A rare vagrant to the island that we were lucky to find at Cabo Rojo. Scolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies) SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Actitis macularius) GREATER YELLOWLEGS (Tringa melanoleuca) – Singles here and there.
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