Puerto Rico

Key West Quail-Dove © Raymond VanBuskirk

A weeklong getaway to lovely Puerto Rico offers wonderful immersion in Caribbean birding, with many island and regional endemic species and subspecies.

Situated in the Greater Antilles, and only a few hours from the United States, Puerto Rico is a popular holiday destination that offers wonderful opportunities for the visiting birder. The island, a U.S. Territory, boasts excellent roads and services that provide convenient access to its many forest and wetland reserves. Visiting every habitat from the windswept elfin-woods to the bird-rich thorn scrub of the dry forest region, we’ll seek all 18 island endemic birds and the more than two dozen Caribbean regional specialties.

Puerto Rico offers some of the most enjoyable birdwatching in the Caribbean. On this new tour, we’ll spend an easy week exploring a diversity of locations from the capital area of San Juan to sites in the west and center of the island. The mature woods of Rio Abajo State Forest offer superb birding, with great chances for Puerto Rican Tody, Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Puerto Rican Oriole, Puerto Rican Euphonia, and Puerto Rican Bullfinch. This site also offers our only chance to encounter the highly endangered Puerto Rican Amazon.

With two nights at the historic Hacienda Juanita in the Maricao highlands, we’ll explore the lush gardens of the hotel grounds and nearby state forest for the two endemic hummingbirds, Puerto Rican Emerald and impressive Green Mango. In addition, Puerto Rican Owl, Puerto Rican Woodpecker, and Puerto Rican Tanager are all likely. The star attraction, however, is the Elfin-woods Warbler, only discovered to Western science in 1971.

South from Maricao, we’ll head to Susua State Forest, where we’ll seek the spectacular Key West Quail-Dove among other dry forest birds. On the southwest coast we’ll pinpoint Yellow-shouldered Blackbird, and, with two nights at an appealing seaside hotel, we’ll visit Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge for the rare West Indian Whistling-Duck, and Guanica State Forest for Puerto Rican Nightjar and Puerto Rican Flycatcher.

Beyond Island endemics, our travels will undoubtedly produce more widespread—but no less appealing—Caribbean specialty birds such as Scaly-naped and Plain pigeons, Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Green-throated Carib, Lesser Antillean Pewee, and Loggerhead Kingbird among many others.

Good to excellent accommodations and food; light physical demands with easy walking on established roads and paths; dry season conditions expected but rain always possible.

Elfin-woods Warbler © Raymond VanBuskirk