Birds of the Dominican Republic
Dates: May 9-17, 2011
On my trip to the Riu Bachata in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic I spent some of my time looking for some of the island's wildlife. A variety of lizards were plentiful in some areas of the resort around dusk, but may of the birds took some extra searching.
Most of the birds I was able to find were around the resort, and this included a couple of endemics: the Hispaniolan woodpecker and the palmchat. The Antillean grackles and red-legged thrushes, a close relative of the American robin, were commonly seen in grassy areas. Gray flycatchers were always flying in open areas along the rock cliffs and seemed unfazed by people.
I wanted to see at least one of three species on Hispaniola: the Hispaniolan trogon, broad-billed tody, or narrow-billed tody. The only one I was able to find was the broad-billed tody (picture here), another endemic in a family that exists exclusively in the Greater Antilles. I also found West Indian whistling ducks in a swamp near the resort by first noticing their unique calls from a distance.
Here is a mostly complete list of the species I saw, most around the resort.
© Copyright 2017 Matthew Pintar. All rights reserved.
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| Gray kingbird |
On my trip to the Riu Bachata in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic I spent some of my time looking for some of the island's wildlife. A variety of lizards were plentiful in some areas of the resort around dusk, but may of the birds took some extra searching.
 |
| Hispaniolan woodpecker |
Most of the birds I was able to find were around the resort, and this included a couple of endemics: the Hispaniolan woodpecker and the palmchat. The Antillean grackles and red-legged thrushes, a close relative of the American robin, were commonly seen in grassy areas. Gray flycatchers were always flying in open areas along the rock cliffs and seemed unfazed by people.
 |
| Hispaniolan parrot |
I wanted to see at least one of three species on Hispaniola: the Hispaniolan trogon, broad-billed tody, or narrow-billed tody. The only one I was able to find was the broad-billed tody (picture here), another endemic in a family that exists exclusively in the Greater Antilles. I also found West Indian whistling ducks in a swamp near the resort by first noticing their unique calls from a distance.
 |
| Bananaquit building a nest along the beach |
Here is a mostly complete list of the species I saw, most around the resort.
- American kestrel
- Antillean mango
- Antillean palm swift
- Bananaquit
- Black-crowned night heron
- Broad-billed tody
- Cattle egret
- Common ground dove
- Common moorhen
- Green heron
- Gray kingbird
- Greater Antillean grackle
- Hispaniolan parrot
- Hispaniolan woodpecker
- House sparrow
- Killdeer
- Northern mockingbird
- Palmchat
- Red-legged thrush
- Snowy egret
- Turkey vulture
- West Indian whistling duck
- White-winged dove
- Yellow warbler
© Copyright 2017 Matthew Pintar. All rights reserved.
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