Central America and the Caribbean
The avifauna of Central America and the Caribbean islands is distinctly tropical. Many colourful families such as parrots, hummingbirds, trogons, and tanagers are well represented, and watching such delights in tropical forest settings feels exotic in the extreme. Many of the Neotropical families will be completely unfamiliar to birdwatchers used to more northern birds, and it is just as well that there are good field guides available for most of the countries in this region.
This year we are including five destinations from the region. Cuba and Jamaica are two of the largest of the Caribbean islands and have more extensive avifaunas than most of the others. There are a good number of endemic species on each and our tours will concentrate on finding them, ably lead by Séan McMinn and Rich Hoyer with the help of local Cuban expert Arturo Kirkonell in Cuba. These tours run back-to-back allowing those who wish to combine the two.
The other two large islands in the Greater Antilles are also home to many endemics and this year Judy Davis will be leading a tour to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. She will be assisted by local ornithologists and for those interested in bird families, Palm Chat will be a highlight.
Costa Rica, with its wide range of habitats stretching up from the Pacific lowlands in the west, over a back-bone of mountain ranges and volcanoes and down again into the Caribbean lowlands in the east, contains the greatest diversity of birds, within such a small area, on the planet. Our tour visits nearly all of the country's main habitats and encounters many of its special birds. We offer two tours to Costa Rica each year, with Gary Rosenberg, who has led many tours to this extremely popular Central American destination.
Our American associates WINGS
have been running tours to Central America and the Caribbean for many
years, and the ground arrangements for these tours are made by their extremely
experienced staff. Cuba is still forbidden territory for US nationals,
so we'll be operating that tour ourselves.
Turquoise-browed Motmot.