Tour Overview
The Lesser Antilles form a chain of small intriguing islands of the West Indies, geographically separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea. Our birding tour will concentrate on three of the best, Dominica, St. Vincent and St. Lucia; each island has its own unique character and charm, and each has its own special complement of wildlife.
Dominica, discovered by Columbus on a Sunday in 1493 (hence its name), is renowned as the nature island of the Antilles, as it is still supports large tracts of native forest covering mountainsides that rise to almost 5000 feet. Here we target the island endemics – the two species of parrots, Red-necked and Imperial, as well as Forest and Red-legged Thrushes, Lesser Antillean Swift, Blue-headed Hummingbird, Lesser Antillean Pewee, Lesser Antillean Flycatcher, Rufous-throated Solitaire, Dominica Wren (subspecifically distinct from Southern House Wren and a Dominican endemic), Scaly-breasted Thrasher, Southern Brown Trembler, Antillean Euphonia (here of the green-backed form), and Plumbeous Warbler. Overhead might be Black Swifts, and along the coast we look for White-tailed Tropicbird, Royal and Bridled Terns, Brown Booby, and Caribbean Martin.
The small mountainous island of St Vincent lies south of St Lucia and west of Barbados and still retains extensive forests in the interior of the island. We spend most of our time in the superb Vermont Forest Reserve in the south-central part of the island. Here we look for the island’s two endemic species, the striking St Vincent Parrot and the delightful, common and noisy Whistling Warbler. We also look for two species found only on St Vincent and Grenada – Grenada Flycatcher and Lesser Antillean Tanager, as well as the endemic form of the House Wren, plus Common Black-Hawk and the odd-looking black morph of the Bananaquit. Along the coast are White-tailed Tropicbirds and Red-footed Boobies, and in the evening we may look for the local form of a Tyto owl, a race of Barn Owl or possibly of Ashy-faced Owl, or even a separate species.
St. Lucia is an idyllic tourist location, all the more scenic owing to its spectacular conical volcanic peaks rising from the sea (Gros Piton and Petit Piton); it also supports a rich avifauna, including seven endemic species and many Lesser Antillean endemics. In nature reserves, we look for endemics whose name starts with St. Lucia – Parrot, Pewee, Warbler, Black Finch and Oriole. Further endemics are the St Lucia Wren (split from Southern House Wren) and St Lucia Nightjar (specifically distinct from Rufous Nightjar). Other goodies include Gray Trembler, Ruddy and Bridled Quail-Doves, Spectacled/Bare-eyed Thrush, and the very rare White-breasted Thrasher.