Puerto Rico

Our Puerto Rico birding tour starts at our hotel in San Juan for a meet-and-greet before supper. Night in San Juan.

We leave the bustling city of San Juan and head to the town of Luquillo, situated at the northeastern end of the island. We spend most of these two days exploring the Caribbean National Forest in the Luquillo Mountains. The Caribbean National Forest covers about 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) and receives high amounts of rainfall which result in dense rainforest on the lower slopes of El Yunque, a peak which rises to 3494ft (1065m). Higher altitudes have palm forests with dwarf forest on the highest peaks. There are plenty of endemic goodies here – the attractive Puerto Rican Woodpecker, the drab Puerto Rican Tanager, Puerto Rican Emerald, the superb Puerto Rican Tody, Puerto Rican Spindalis and Puerto Rican Bullfinch. Scaly-naped Pigeon, Loggerhead Kingbird and Red-legged Thrush occur here, and Green Mangos are found near fast running water. In the evening we may try for the virtual endemic Puerto Rican Screech-Owl, an atypical screech-owl as it lacks ear tufts! Night near Luquillo.

We leave the Luquillo Mountains and head to the Humacao Nature Reserve where we look for Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Green-throated Carib, White-cheeked Pintail, Caribbean Coot, and several herons including Least Bittern, egrets and other wetland birds. We then drive west across the island to the town of Arecibo about 50 miles (90 km) west of San Juan. Night in Arecibo.

We leave very early this morning and head to the Rio Abajo State Forest reserve, located south of the town of Arecibo. Our target species is the critically endangered Puerto Rican Parrot, one of the rarest birds in the West Indes. A breeding and reintroduction program is underway at the José Luis Vivaldi Lugo Aviary, located in the forest preserve; released birds have been breeding successfully in the wild for several years now, and we have a chance for seeing one of the wild individuals around the aviary. Here we will also have further opportunities to see Puerto Rico’s endemic avifauna – species such as Puerto Rican Vireo, Puerto Rican Tody and Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo – as well as opportunities for Ruddy and Key West Quail-Doves.

We will then carry on heading south across the island to the town of Guanica. Night in Guanica.

In the morning, we leave early and drive north to Maricao National Forest, at the western end of the Cordilleran Central. At this higher altitude, lush forest covers the montane slopes, and a wide variety of the islands endemics can be found. Our main target bird here is the Elfin Woods Warbler, a secretive and fast-moving warbler discovered as recently as 1971, and we spend quite a bit of time searching for this species. Whilst doing so, we should relocate Green Mango, Puerto Rican Emerald, and Puerto Rican Tody, and find Puerto Rican Pewee and Antillean Euphonia.
In the afternoon, we head back to our hotel for a break so that we are well rested for an evening excursion to search for the endangered Puerto Rican Nightjar. Night in Guanica.

Today we visit the Guanica National Forest spending time searching for species not yet found in the montane forests. In the dry scrub forest of Guanica we look for Pearly-eyed Thrasher, Puerto Rican Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo, Puerto Rican Bullfinch, Adelaide’s Warbler, as well as the amazing Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo. We also visit the coastal mangroves and sand spits along the coast, looking for shorebirds, Mangrove Cuckoo, Caribbean Eleania, and perhaps Troupial.

Later, we drive along the coastal highway to the southwest part of the island where we should see the endangered Yellow-shouldered Blackbird. Population numbers of the blackbird appear to be on the increase, owing in part to a control program aimed at cowbirds. Night in Guanica.