Bird Watching

Bird Watching in La Romana

The Dominican Republic is a haven for birdwatchers with over 300 species of brightly colored birds that call the island home either permanently or as a migration layover. Twenty-seven species are endemic, meaning only found on the island of Hispaniola. Another 15 species are either endangered or threatened, including the bay-breasted cuckoo, LaSelle thrush and Hispaniolan crossbill. One commonly found bird of special interest is the palmchat because it is not only an endemic species but an endemic family.

Bird Watrching in the Dominican Republic may include sightings of these birds:

Cattle Egret; Turkey Vulture; American Kestrel; Mourning Dove; White-winged Dove; Common Ground-Dove; Antillean Palm-Swift; Hispaniolan Woodpecker; Gray Kingbird; Black-whiskered Vireo; Palmchat; Northern Mockingbird; Pearly-eyed Thrasher; Bananaquit and Greater Antillean Grackle.

Flamingos filter-feed on brine shrimp. Their oddly-shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume, and are uniquely used upside-down.

Frigatebirds often rob other seabirds of their catch, using their speed and manoeuvrability to outrun their victims.

The Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo closely related to the Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo. The Caribbean Flamingo breeds in the Galapagos Islands, coastal Colombia and Venezuela and nearby islands, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in the northern Caribbean in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba and Turks and Caicos.

The Caribbean Flamingo is 120-140 cm in length; males weigh 2.8 kg and females 2.2 kg. Most of the plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler European species. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. It is the only flamingo which naturally occurs in North America.

The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

Frigatebirds are found over tropical areas and take advantage of warm updrafts. Frigatebirds attack other birds and are often referred to as Man of War birds or Pirate birds. They are also related to the pelican and are also referred to as the frigate pelican. Frigatebirds are large birds, with long wingspans (males can reach 2 meters or more. Frigatebirds are black, females have a white underbelly and males have an inflatible red colored throat pouches, which they inflate to attract females during the mating season. Frigatebirds do not walk well and cannot swim, but they do have the largest wingspan to body ratio making it possible for these birds to stay aloft for more than a week.

Watch a video of these birds!