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Our parrots live
mainly in the northern part of the island and are protected.
A breeding program has been in place for several years and
has helped the population to recover; parrots are now spreading
further south.
The Parrot
Research Centre located in the Botanical Gardens in
Roseau strives to preserve these birds and to educate people
about them.
Bird Watching
& Birding Tours
For those who want to learn more about Dominica's birds
through guided field trips, Bird-Watching Tours are
offered by many hotels and tour guides: Papillote Wilderness
Retreat, Dominica Tours, Castle Comfort Dive Lodge, Grace
Apartments, Zandoli Inn and D'Auchamps Cottages to name
a few. For more details visit our Where
to Stay page and our Tour
Operators page.
Bird Species
in Dominica
Dominica has
167 recorded species of birds, although our resident expert
Bertrand Jno Baptiste has sighted 171!
Below are a few of the birds who call Dominica home. This
section will continue to grow as we are able to photograph
our quick-winged friends!
To see a listing
of species commonly seen on the east coast, visit Zandoli
Inn's Flora
and Fauna page.
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| Smooth-Billed
Ani (crotophaga ani) |
| Description:
A long-tailed, glossy black cuckoo. Distinguished from
other black birds by its extraordinary bill, deep at base,
the ridge of the culmen high and thin. Flight slow,
with alternate flaps and glides.
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Purple Throated Carib Hummingbird (eulampis jugularis)
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| Description:
A sturdy, very dark hummingbird. Plumage largely black; gorge
purplish red; tail and upper tail-coverts bluish green; wings
metallic green. Sexes similar. At times appears
entirely black in the field, but the green wings are usually
conspicuous (other hummingbirds have blackish wings). |
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Antillean Crested Hummingbird (orthorhyncus cristatus)
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Description:
Male: green above, the tail and underparts blackish, conspicuous
crest.
Widespread from mountain forest to sea level but most abundant
in lowlands. |
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| Bananaquit
(coereba flaveola) |
| Description:
Exhibits much geographical variation. Upperparts sooty
grey to sooty black; rump yellow or greenish yellow; a conspicuous
white superciliary stripe (yellow in immature); on most islands,
a conspicuous white spot on the wing; throat greyish white
to sooty black; breast yellow; bill decidedly curved.
Most individuals on St. Vincent and Grenada are black (melanic
phase) with a slightly greenish yellow wash on the breast
and upper tail-coverts not apparent in the field. |
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Grey Kingbird (tyrannus dominicensis) |
| Description:
The commonest West Indian flycatcher and one of the best known
birds of the West Indies. Plumage grey above, white
below, and ear-coverts blackish; a usually concealed patch
of orange-red and yellow on crown; bill large, particularly
so in lesser Antillean individuals; tail notched. |
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| Brown
Pelican (pelecanus occidentalis) |
| Description:
Readily identified by its large size and characteristic features.
Unlike other sea birds the neck is not extended in flight,
the head being drawn back on to the shoulders. Coloration
largely dark brown, the upperparts mostly silver grey; upper
part of head and stripe down neck white, the neck entirely
white during post-nuptial moult. Young have the head,
neck and upperparts brownish, the underparts mostly white.
Either solitary or associated in small flocks, when usually
seen flying in oblique single file close to the surface of
the sea. In normal flight a few wing beats are followed
by a glide, but both Brown and White Pelicans occasionally
soar high in the air. |
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| Yellow
Warbler (dendroica petechia) |
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Description:
Male: Often appears entirely yellow in the field.
Upperparts greenish yellow, the crown similar or marked
with rufous; underparts golden yellow, more or less streaked
with chestnut (Barbados) or orange-rufous crowns, those
from Martinique rufous heads; those from Jamaica vary in
extent of rufous. Female: Greener above than male,
and underparts with chestnut streaks absent or obsolete.
Young are more or less whitish below.
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| Plumbeous Warbler
(dendroica plumbea) |
| Description:
Upper-parts plain slate-grey; white strip above eye and two
white wing bars. Song is a short but melodious pa-pi-a.
Inhabits rainforest and scrubby woodland. |
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Latin names &
bird descriptions from James Bond's Birds
of the West Indies, Fifth Edition,1993 Published by Houghton
Mifflin Company.
Photos © W.Walsh, Delphis Ltd. 2003-4. For use
or purchase information, please contact us.
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