Trinidad & Tobago Dec 08—17, 2006
Posted by Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff, a lifelong nature lover, began birding at age 11 after attending a National Wildlife Federation Camp in the mountains of North Carolina. He attended VENT...Related Trips
Much has been written about the riches that Trinidad and Tobago offer the ecotourist: nesting seabirds, including Red-billed Tropicbird, at Little Tobago Island; the spectacular evening flight of vivid Scarlet Ibis; the short trek to observe the unique and absurd fruit-eating nocturnal Oilbirds in their nesting cave; and, of course, the bonanza of feeding activity that can be seen from the Asa Wright Nature Centre veranda. But this year’s trip was filled with many additional highlights.
Tobago?a smaller, lower, and drier island?hosts about half the species of Trinidad. Those that occur are interesting and unique, and prompt lots of “why?” questions for the island biogeographer. The richest forest birding on the island is found in the forest reserve in the central mountains, where we hiked in on Gilpin Trace with our local guide, Gladwyn James, in search of specialties. Almost as soon as we set foot inside the forest we began seeing birds. A Stripe-breasted Spinetail called and then perched out on a vine. A White-throated Spadebill flitted through the undergrowth. Our first White-tailed Sabrewing flitted through the treetops, calling and flashing its striking white tail. A Stripe-breasted Spinetail returned and a White-throated Thrush perched on a nearby vine.
Mellow calls from the undergrowth revealed that Blue-backed Manakins were in the area, and a short blast of tape brought in a responsive female. After we all had good views of the female, tape of the male’s display calls brought in a vivid male?jet-black plumage with a perfect triangle of sky-blue on the back, set off by a comical red toupee. Plain Antvireo, Fuscous Flycatcher, Rufous-breasted Hermit, and Golden-olive Woodpecker joined the activity before we advanced any further down the trail. Later on the trail we located Rufous-tailed Jacamars with their formidable spike-like bills; a furtive but lovely Yellow-legged Thrush; and a subtle Yellow-breasted Flycatcher high in some bamboo.
Tobago highlights weren’t restricted to Gilpin Trace. Our home base, Cuffie River Nature Retreat, sported lovely Blue-crowned Motmots in the gardens, and morning flights of 100+ Orange-winged Parrots, among others. The finale was our boat trip to Little Tobago Island. A short hike took us to the bird cliffs, where Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Boobies wheeled in numbers, with a few Red-footed Boobies among them. Red-billed Tropicbird was the specialty bird which winged past us with rapid flaps and a long undulating tail trailing behind. Our trip back on the glass-bottomed boat gave us a window into the riches below the water’s surface as well: a massive brain coral and a kaleidoscope of fish including blue tang, bicolored damsel, black turban, and stoplight parrotfish. On our trip back to the airport we added a new species to the Tobago list?Zone-tailed Hawk?an exciting conclusion to our time on the smaller island.
Although we were impressed with the above-mentioned wonders for which Trinidad is famous, I was equally impressed with the diversity and quality of birds on several other forays?notably that to Nariva Swamp. After a morning birding around Aripo Savanna, we enjoyed lunch in the breeze at a classic palm-strewn sand beach. We arrived at Nariva Swamp a couple of hours later in the hottest part of the day. It was a struggle to force ourselves to look at birds in the brilliant sun and only the sea breeze kept us trying. I knew it would improve as the afternoon cooled, and in the tropics the sun drops quickly. We managed to find a few birds in the heat, including a most unusual leucistic (whitish) Smooth-billed Ani. When a dark cloud passed overhead at 3:30 it signaled a change in activity of the swamp. Birds began appearing all around. Purple Gallinules were spotted clambering up on rice stalks. A Ringed Kingfisher perched on a distant wire and a Yellow Oriole appeared in the grasses. A short squawk from behind us alerted us to two stunning Red-bellied Macaws winging overhead in the afternoon light.
We loaded into the vans and drove back past the marshes that had been dead an hour earlier. Now three Pinnated Bitterns poked their heads above the grass and a Pale-breasted Spinetail sang from nearby. A raptor crossing the road turned out to be a Long-winged Harrier, and as it passed some palms a Yellow-crowned Parrot burst forth and flew past us.
We closed the evening enjoying an Azure Gallinule sitting up on a grassy mound, and watching parrots (including more Red-bellied Macaws) arrive at their evening roost. We enjoyed the spectacles with rum punch in hand, as is the birding tradition here. Our rum punch session on the following night was punctuated by more macaws and the late arrival of a Moriche Oriole. The grand finale came the next night, our last, which was spent in wonderment as thousands of Scarlet Ibis and egrets winged their way towards their evening roost in the Caroni Swamp. We raised our rum punches and toasted to a spectacular week of Trinidad & Tobago birding. Cheers!