CBC's Trinidad and Tobago Trip a Great Success

By Bill Sugg

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Oilbirds, tropicbirds, motmots, trogons, antbirds, bellbirds. The list of tropical exotics could go on and on. All can be seen up close and personal when visiting the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. This island nation is just off the northeastern coast of South America, near Venezuela.

Simon Thompson

Group at Aripo Savanna

In November 2004, The Carolina Bird Club sponsored a ten-day trip to those magic isles. It was a trip to a birder's heaven. Simon Thompson, owner of Ventures, Inc., was the nonpareil group leader assisted by locals on the scene. Twelve hardy birders rounded out the Carolina contingency.

On Trinidad our base was the Asa Wright Nature Centre at 1,200 feet above the Arima Valley. We walked the trails on the Centre grounds and took van excursions to explore an incredible variety of habitats in the valley and on the coast.

Simon Thompson

Threesome: Bananaquit, Green Honeycreeper, Purple Honeycreeper

The verandah at Asa Wright is a destination in itself. Surrounded by hummingbird feeders and overlooking fruit and bread-laden feeders on the ground, it is not unusual to have 20 or more species in view at any time of day. It is common to have six or more species of hummingbirds, along with Bananaquits and honeycreepers, vying for space at the feeders. Another dozen species are on the ground including Bare-eyed Thrush, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Crested Oropendola, and several tanager species. Palm Tanagers are nesting on the porch. Several in our group had 25 lifers before breakfast! The helpful staff was always available and had scopes at the ready to show a distant Ornate Hawk-Eagle or Double-toothed Kite.

Asa Wright has a special place on its grounds: Dunstan Cave, one of the most accessible sites in the world to see Oilbirds. These large-with a wingspan of 3.5 feet-nocturnal fruit-eaters roost there. This bird leaves the roost at dusk and, navigating by a sort of sonar, finds his food by smell and hovers over the fruit to eat it.

Simon Thompson

Evening at Caroni

Lucy Quintilliano

Scarlet Ibis

One afternoon we traveled to another special place, Caroni Swamp, a large mangrove swamp on the west coast of Trinidad. We got into a powerboat to travel the few miles to one of the most spectacular sights of the whole trip. On the way Green-throated Mango and Red-capped Cardinal were seen. And our boat passed under at least one Trinidad Red Tail Boa Constrictor.

Toward dusk they began arriving. First in small numbers, twos, and threes. Then the numbers expanded until it seemed the whole sky was full of flapping scarlet. Hundreds, thousands of Scarlet Ibis were coming to an island in a Caroni Swamp lake. The ibis were joined by hundreds of Tricolored Herons that roost on the same island.

Tobago was only a short flight away. Unfortunately, severe rainstorms just before our arrival hit Tobago, which was recovering from hurricane Ivan. Mudslides throughout the eastern part of the island were very serious and presented a major obstacle to travel by foot and by vehicle. The Blue Water Inn, on the northeast tip of the island, was our base. We found Blue-crowned Motmots roosted on the lights of some of the rooms' balconies.

From the Inn it was just a short boat ride to Little Tobago Island to see nesting Red-billed Tropicbird and Red-footed Booby. At Bon Accord lagoon we had good views of Little Egret as well as Blue-black Grassquit and Red-crowned Woodpecker. A couple of days later, in Gilpin Trace in the Main Ridge Forest Preserve we saw White-tailed Sabrewing and Collared Trogon.

On the last night we tallied up the trip totals and came up with 198 species. Two more were added the next morning at a brief stop on the way to the airport: Ring-necked Duck and Green Heron. Grand total: 200!

Thanks to the Carolina Bird Club for its sponsorship of these extralimital trips!


Simon Thompson	Simon Thompson
Green Honeycreeper	Crested Oropendola

Simon Thompson	Lucy Quintilliano
Rufous-vented Chachalacas	Masked Yellowthroat

Simon Thompson	Simon Thompson
White-chested Emerald	White-tailed Sabrewing

Simon Thompson	Simon Thompson
Rufous-tailed Jacamar	Group at Tobago

Species seen
Least Grebe Red-billed Tropicbird Magnificent Frigatebird Masked Booby Red-footed Booby Brown Booby Anhinga Brown Pelican Black-bellied Whistling-Duck American Wigeon White-cheeked Pintail Blue-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Tricolored Heron Little Blue Heron Snowy Egret Little Egret Great Blue Heron Great Egret Cattle Egret Striated Heron Green Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Scarlet Ibis Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Pearl Kite Double-toothed Kite White Hawk Common Black-Hawk Great Black-Hawk Savanna Hawk Grey Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Short-tailed Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Ornate Hawk-Eagle Yellow-headed Caracara Merlin Peregrine Falcon Red Junglefowl Rufous-vented Chachalaca Purple Gallinule Common Moorhen Limpkin Wattled Jacana Whimbrel Greater Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Semipalmated Plover Southern Lapwing Royal Tern Common Tern Rock Pigeon Scaled Pigeon Pale-vented Pigeon Eared Dove Ruddy Ground-Dove White-tipped Dove	Grey-fronted Dove Red-bellied Macaw Green-rumped Parrotlet Lilac-tailed Parrotlet Yellow-crowned Parrot Orange-winged Parrot Squirrel Cuckoo Smooth-billed Ani Striped Cuckoo Tropical Screech-Owl Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Oilbird Common Potoo Common Pauraque White-tailed Nightjar Grey-rumped Swift Short-tailed Swift Fork-tailed Palm-Swift Rufous-breasted Hermit Green Hermit Little (Stripe-throated) Hermit White-tailed Sabrewing White-necked Jacobin Green-throated Mango Black-throated Mango Tufted Coquette Blue-chinned Sapphire White-chested Emerald Copper-rumped Hummingbird White-tailed Trogon Collared Trogon Violaceous Trogon Belted Kingfisher Green Kingfisher Blue-crowned Motmot Rufous-tailed Jacamar Channel-billed Toucan Red-crowned Woodpecker Golden-olive Woodpecker Lineated Woodpecker Crimson-crested Woodpecker Plain-brown Woodcreeper Olivaceous Woodcreeper Straight-billed Woodcreeper Cocoa Woodcreeper Stripe-breasted Spinetail Yellow-chinned Spinetail Grey-throated Leaftosser Streaked Xenops Great Antshrike Black-crested Antshrike Barred Antshrike Plain Antvireo White-flanked Antwren White-fringed Antwren Silvered Antbird White-bellied Antbird Black-faced Antthrush Scaled Antpitta Bearded Bellbird Golden-headed Manakin Blue-backed Manakin White-bearded Manakin Ochre-bellied Flycatcher Slaty-capped Flycatcher Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet	Forest Elaenia Yellow-bellied Elaenia Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant Yellow-breasted Flycatcher Bran-colored Flycatcher Fuscous Flycatcher Olive-sided Flycatcher Tropical Pewee Pied Water-Tyrant White-headed Marsh-Tyrant Brown-crested Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird Gray Kingbird Sulphury Flycatcher Boat-billed Flycatcher Streaked Flycatcher Piratic Flycatcher Great Kiskadee White-winged Becard Black-tailed Tityra Rufous-browed Peppershrike Golden-fronted Greenlet Scrub Greenlet Cocoa Thrush Bare-eyed Thrush White-necked Thrush Tropical Mockingbird Rufous-breasted Wren House Wren Long-billed Gnatwren White-winged Swallow Gray-breasted Martin Southern Rough-winged Swallow Tropical Parula Yellow Warbler Blackpoll Warbler American Redstart Northern Waterthrush Masked Yellowthroat Red-capped Cardinal Bananaquit Bicolored Conebill White-lined Tanager Red-crowned Ant-Tanager Silver-beaked Tanager Blue-grey Tanager Palm Tanager Violaceous Euphonia Turquoise Tanager Speckled Tanager Bay-headed Tanager Blue Dacnis Green Honeycreeper Purple Honeycreeper Grassland Yellow-Finch Blue-black Grassquit Black-faced Grassquit Grayish Saltator Crested Oropendola Yellow-rumped Cacique Yellow Oriole Yellow-hooded Blackbird Red-breasted Blackbird Carib Grackle Shiny Cowbird Giant Cowbird

CBC's Trinidad and Tobago Trip a Great Success

By Bill Sugg

Species seen