Trinidad Feb 24—Mar 01, 2008
Posted by Bob Sundstrom
Bob Sundstrom
Bob Sundstrom has led VENT tours since 1989 to destinations including Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Iceland, Papua New Guinea, the Southwest Pacific islands,...Related Trips
A weeklong tour of Trinidad is an ideal introduction to tropical birding in the Americas. We spend five full days exploring and birding on Trinidad which, for an island its size, has a broad diversity of bird life. All six nights lodging and meals are at the famed Asa Wright Nature Centre. A sampling of highlights from our February 2008 trip help capture the magic of this tour:
February 25: Our first, wonderful morning on the famed Asa Wright veranda. As the sun rose and the nectar bats dispersed, the first birds of the day arrived at the feeders. Among the earliest birds to visit the fruit-feeders were an exotic Blue-crowned Motmot, then Cocoa and Bare-eyed thrushes, as red-rumped agoutis scampered beneath the feeding trays. Hummingbirds fed early too, the first on the scene a Rufous-breasted Hermit, checking the Pachystachys flowers, followed soon by a Little Hermit. Before long, the veranda was as busy as a beehive. Purple and Green honeycreepers jockeyed for space with Bananaquits. Crested Oropendolas clacked and trilled, bumping smaller fruit-eaters aside. Velvety-looking Silver-beaked Tanagers, wing-flashing White-lined Tanagers, noisy Great Kiskadees, and a furtive Great Antshrike were on the scene, among others. Hummingbirds jousted at a series of feeders and systematically patrolled blossom-rich shrubs: flashy White-necked Jacobins, feisty White-chested Emeralds and Copper-rumped Hummingbirds, and richly iridescent Blue-chinned Sapphires. A tiny female—and then a dashing male—Tufted Coquette drew everyone's full attention. And then it was time for breakfast.
An after-breakfast walk along the entrance road was very pleasant. We scoped an iridescent Violaceous Trogon, and watched a trove of Turquoise Tanagers, Violaceous Euphonias, and Bay-headed Tanagers as they worked through fruiting Cecropia trees. A Rufous-browed Peppershrike paused long enough for everyone to have a view, as did a Black-tailed Tityra. A tiny Red-rumped Woodpecker clung like an epiphyte to an upper branch of a large tree. An Ornate Hawk-Eagle called and soared high overhead.
The afternoon was just as enjoyable and productive. We started down the Discovery Trail, soon to take in a busy Long-billed Gnatwren, its bill like a hypodermic needle. We scoped a stunning male White-tailed Trogon, and then marveled at a displaying group of male White-bearded Manakins as they bounced from branch to branch—like so many black and white tennis balls—cracking and whirring. We closed in on several calling male Bearded Bellbirds, soon to find one perched as it belted out its unbelievably loud "bok!" The bellbird posed for lengthy scope study, its long, rubbery black wattles wiggling as it called—a most amazing sight. We walked slowly back up the trail, stopping to enjoy two perched Channel-billed Toucans, a treetop study in rich yellow and red. All before tea time.
February 29: Our last full day of birding had arrived, and we would make the most of it. Our final pre-breakfast morning on the veranda was just as fun as the previous mornings. The three scintillating honeycreeper species were on hand, as were the other regulars, and a Lineated Woodpecker perched for scope views. After breakfast we hiked down to the Oilbird cave. Views of the Oilbirds were superb, as dozens of adults perched on nests like giant nighthawks with falcon's bills, some shrieking wildly. Our afternoon outing was even more memorable. A stop at the Trincity Ponds turned up a boldly-marked Large-billed Tern, Yellow-hooded Blackbirds, Pied Water-Tyrants, two rare Little Egrets, and flashy Wattled Jacanas.
But the big finish came at the Caroni estuary. Aboard our boat among the mangroves, we stopped for Green-throated Mangoes, a Cook's tree boa coiled around an overhanging branch, and a Straight-billed Woodcreeper that shinnied up the prop roots of the red mangroves. By about 5:30 p.m. we were tied to the mangroves, rum punch in hand, watching Scarlet Ibises fly across the estuary, streaming by in unbelievably crimson skeins. Tricolored Herons and Snowy Egrets flapped low over the bay, sometimes in the hundreds. The Scarlet Ibis flocks grew in size as sunset came, some numbering in the hundreds, and a roost islet was soon heavily flecked with the reds, whites, and blues of the many wading birds. A splendid finish to a bird-filled tour of Trinidad.