Dominican Republic Endemics of Hispaniola IV 4th to 11th December 2018 (8 days) Trip Report Broad-billed Tody by Rob Williams Trip Report compiled by tour leader, Rob Williams Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to the Dominican Republic Trip Report – RBL Dominican Republic - Endemics of Hispaniola IV 2018 2 Tour Summary The Dominican Republic comprises the eastern portion of the island of Hispaniola, and offers the chance for all but one of the island’s 33 endemic birds. This tour targets those 32 species, most of which can be found in the south-west of the country in and around the Sierra de Bahoruco mountains, where one needs to bird different elevations, habitats and both sides of the ridge as the mountains have a rain-shadow effect. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Top 10 Birds (as voted by participants) 1. Ashy-faced Owl 6. Antillean Euphonia 2. Golden Swallow 7. Hispaniolan Crossbill 3. Bay-breasted Cuckoo 8. Ridgway’s Hawk 4. Broad-billed Tody 9. La Selle Thrush 5. Eastern Chat-Tanager 10. Hispaniolan Spindalis ___________________________________________________________________________________ The Tour in Detail We started birding at the botanical gardens in Santo Domingo. Dozens of the near-endemic Antillean Palm Swifts flew overhead as we arrived. Palmchats, the official national bird of Dominican Republic and the only member of its family Dulidae, were abundant, and we saw a few of their impressive communal nests. Flowering shrubs held both Antillean Mangos and Vervain Hummingbird, the latter being the second smallest hummingbird in the world. Our main target here was the threatened West Indian Whistling Duck, and we enjoyed good views of a group of 7 resting on an island in a small lagoon. A coupe of confiding Greater Antillean Grackles were seen, and our first Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoos came in well to playback. A good variety of wintering warblers here included Black-and- white Warbler, American Redstart and some nice plumaged Prairie Warblers. We then drove west to Puerto Escondido, stopping en route for lunch. A few birds en route included White-winged Doves and the local dominicensis race of American Kestrel. After checking in, we explored the Rabo de Gato trail, prioritising the quail-doves: we were extremely successful, finding all 3 species and having particularly good looks at the endemic White-fronted (formerly Grey- Vervain Hummingbird by Rob Williams headed) and a pair of Key West Quail-Doves. We also found several White-necked Crows which were heard only for a while as we could not see to the trees from where their pleasingly musical calls emanated, but with patience we found a place we could view them from and enjoyed scope and flight looks. The creek held a couple of Louisiana Waterthrushes and an Ovenbird strolled the forest floor. A couple of Broad-billed Todies were seen well and a Narrow-billed Tody was seen briefly. The next day we left early, driving up to Zapotén before dawn. As dawn went, we listened to Rufous- throated Solitaires, La Selle Thrushes and Bicknell’s Thrushes. We saw a few La Selle Thrushes along Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to the Dominican Republic Trip Report – RBL Dominican Republic - Endemics of Hispaniola IV 2018 3 the track and in nearby trees, gradually getting better views of this shy endemic as the light improved, until we all had good looks at one on the vehicle track ahead of us. A wintering Bicknell’s showed briefly. Continuing up the road, we sought out a series of endemics. We had good looks at several each of Green- tailed Warbler and Western Chat-Tanager. A pair of Hispaniolan Trogons showed, and others were heard. A flock of Hispaniolan Spindalis was the first of several we found of this recently split endemic. A couple of Hispaniolan Siskins, a singing male and then a confiding female, were seen. Several pairs or small groups of the delightful White-winged Warbler were found along the roadside. Reaching an area of Caribbean Pines, we found the endemic chrysoleuca race of Pine Warbler, with several seen and heard singing. Here we heard and finally located an adult male of the endemic Hispaniolan Crossbill, which showed well in the scope. Walking back down, we found a pair of the threatened Golden Swallow of the subspecies sclateri; the nominate has not been seen on Jamaica since the early 1980s, and it seems that it is extinct there and is now effectively a Hispaniola endemic. White-winged Warbler by Rob Williams We lunched at the Zapotén guard post and then headed down to El Aguacate, where we could look across into the denuded hills of Haiti. Here, we had our first views of Stolid Flycatcher, and scanning into Haiti produced distant views of Merlin and Black Swift and several American Kestrels. Further down, we stopped to view a roosting Northern Potoo beside the road and enjoyed great eye-level views of this fabulous nightbird. We then birded along the road, searching for the scarce and tricky Bay-breasted Cuckoo. It took a while and we heard one call a couple of times but could not lure it in. However, we persisted and it paid off, and we had reasonable views of one that was foraging in some tall trees back from the road. It never really responded to our attempts to lure it closer but, eventually, most people got good views of this spectacular endemic. We returned to the lodge for a bit of a rest before we headed out in the late afternoon. Our first stop gave us good looks at the endemic Hispaniolan Oriole, as well as several more White-necked Crows and Plain Pigeons. We then visited an area of forest limestone cliffs to search for the endemic Hispaniolan Nightjar. As we waited for dusk, we heard an Ashy-faced Owl call and then it flew over us. It responded well to playback and we all enjoyed great looks at this scarce endemic perched in a tree staring right at us. Despite a good search, the only evidence of the nightjar was a couple of very distant calls heard by Rob. We searched for Least Poorwill but could not find one; compensation for our efforts came in the form of a hunting Barn Owl and a Chuck- Golden Swallow by Rob Williams Wills-Widow that was seen well. Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to the Dominican Republic Trip Report – RBL Dominican Republic - Endemics of Hispaniola IV 2018 4 Pre-dawn, we tried again for Least Poorwill and succeeded in hearing a calling bird in thorn scrub, but try as we might we could not get it to come in, and the impenetrable habitat ruled out us going to it. We spent the early morning birding the area known as La Placa (the sign) and quickly found our three target birds. We had great looks at a Flat-billed Vireo which came in silently to playback and then hung around foraging for a while. A couple of the impressive Antillean Piculets were seen well, the second calmer and more collaborative than the first. We heard several Antillean Euphonias and eventually got great looks at a pair foraging in a Spanish-moss covered tree. Returning to the vehicles, we found that we 2 had punctures and spent some time in the middle of the day hanging around as the drivers resolved this. After an early lunch, we headed back north, to go east, to go south, to go west – we drove right around the Sierra de Bahoruco to reach the coastal town of Pedernales. En route we had a mechanical problem with one vehicle (the mountain roads really take their toll), but we squeezed into two for a few kilometres until we met our bus at Barahona. In the late afternoon, we arrived at Cabo Rojo, stopping at a saline lagoon where we found a good variety of waterbirds and shorebirds, including Reddish Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Short-billed Dowitchers and a single Long-billed Dowitcher with them. The mangroves held good numbers of warblers, including the resident albicollis subspecies of Yellow Northern Potoo by Rob Williams Warbler which forms part of the “Golden Warbler” complex, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, and Cape May Warbler. Moving on to the coast, we picked up some seabirds. The highlight was several distant but readily identifiable Black- capped Petrels – we all took turns with the scope and all had reasonable looks at this Critically Endangered seabird. A stop by the cliffs gave us a first- year female Peregrine with a very full crop and a group of 4 Cave Swallows of the nominate subspecies which forms part of the Caribbean Cave Swallow grouping. The following morning, we headed up the wide asphalt road left by the bauxite mines that had finally closed the year before. This allowed us to quickly access pine forest. Pre-dawn, we managed to hear a calling but unresponsive Hispaniolan Nightjar. As day broke and we ate a field breakfast, we enjoyed an impressive warbler flock which was mostly comprised of Myrtle and Palm Warblers, but also held Magnolia and Yellow-throated Warblers. Hispaniolan Palm Crows were heard calling and glimpsed flying down into an area of regenerating pine scrub in an old mine working. Fortunately, they responded well to playback and 19 came right past us, with some perching up for good looks. Apart from odd warblers, including some singing Pine Warblers, a few siskins flying past, Ashy-faced Owl by Bill Schweber some sizeable but slightly distant flocks of Hispaniolan Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to the Dominican Republic Trip Report – RBL Dominican Republic - Endemics of Hispaniola IV 2018 5 Parakeets, and the odd Hispaniolan Woodpecker, it was very quiet, and we had to work hard for our final target here.