On March 10th, eight of us from the BOS (Buffalo Ornithological Society) traveled to Puerto Rico for 5 bird-filled days! Our guide, Julito, ensured we saw all 18 endemics (birds only seen in that country) and a host of other great birds (including FIFTY life birds for me)!
And oh, how nice to be in a beautiful, sunny, warm climate in the middle of March as well! Some of my bird highlights are pictured below...
Venezuelan Troupial - a fairly common bird, often seen in more urban areas.
White-winged Parakeet - s/he stayed perched for quite a long time.
White-crowned Pigeon - we saw many of these. Very elegant!
Lizard Cuckoo - their loud and gruff calls were heard way more than seen! (And yes, they eat lizards!)
White-cheeked Pintail - a beautiful and common duck.
Mangrove Cuckoo - not a life bird but a real pleasure to see again!
Puerto Rican Spindalis - a beautiful bird and our guide, Julito's spark bird.
Puerto Rican Oriole - a handsome male.
Puerto Rican Woodpecker - Puerto Rico's only woodpecker. I never got a clear shot of this guy.
Puerto Rican Parrots - we were very fortunate to see these endangered birds.
Barn Owl - an awesome find by our guide, Julito.
White-tailed Tropicbird - one of my most hoped for birds for the trip!
Magnificent Frigatebird - flying over our group
Banaquit - they were everywhere!
Pin-tailed Whydah - a little plain looking here but the males are quite magnificent in breeding plumage.
Adelaide's Warbler - a gorgeous warbler that we heard more than we saw.
Puerto Rican Tody - another bird I was really hoping to see as they are so small and super cute!
Red-legged Thrush - very common and one of the very first life birds I saw. This one is carrying an anole or small lizard to its nearby young.
Smooth-billed Ani - a pretty cooperative and confiding bird.
Orange-cheeked Waxbill - a striking field bird.
Antillean-crested Hummingbird - loved his little crest!
Pearly-eyed Thrasher - Puerto Rico's "bad boy" of their birds.
Lots and lots of lizards / iguanas were seen!
Another one...
There were many beautiful butterflies but they were so hard to capture!