Endemics of Hispanolia
I confess. I didn't even know the island was called Hispaniola. I was headed to the Dominican Republic for a long weekend and doing a bit of research before had I learned that, yes, the island is called Hispaniola and its comprised of both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The trip was work related, but I managed to carve out a little time to check out the natural environment and, of course, the birds. There are 33 endemics that can only be found on the island of Hispaniola and I managed to see 12 of them.
I hired a guide from Explora Ecotour. One of the owners of Explora, Manny, took me on a morning hike through the National Park of the East (previously known as Cotumbanamá National Park). The park has a boring name, but the it was lovely with dry, virgin forest along the gorgeous blue ocean. Don't get too excited to see the forest, its really dry scrub, but it apparently has never been logged and you get a good sense of what the environment at sea level used to be like. Manny was very knowledgeable. He helped me locate most of the birds I was hoping to see in the park with the time I had with him. I quite enjoyed spending the morning hiking with him. I don't know when I'm going to go back to the Dominican Republic but would absolutely use Explora Ecotour again and would love to get up into the mountains. I only saw the mountains from a distances but they looked lovely!
Like most cuckoos, they're skulkers. Easier to hear than to see. We managed to get a few good looks of a couple of them.
This lovely, tiny bird was rather easy to find once we got into its habitat. Saw a few of them flitting through the forest.
The 2nd smallest bird in the world. The Vervain hummingbird is only 2.4 inches tall and the heaviest of them top out at a whopping 0.085 ounces!
Usually found in pairs. They tend to stay in the dense bush but saw quite a few but only a couple good photos. We did see one with a small lizard in its mouth.
Hispaniolan Mango showing off its irridicendent, ever changing colors. As the sun's rays hit it, it seems to shimmer moving from black to green to violet.
The national bird of the Dominican Republic. This ubiquitous bird can be found all over the island usually in groups.
I was hoping to see these when I got to the Dominican Republic. I rapidly learned they're everywhere. They're the only woodpecker of their size so rather easy to spot.
In addition to the birds pictured above, i also saw a Antillean Piculet (this one taunted us for over an hour. often visible but never photographable), Green-tailed Warbler, Hispaniolan Amazon, Hispaniolan Parakeet and White-necked Crows. I had issues with my lens fogging up and have some frustratingly fuzzy pics of the Crows that I'm too embarrassed to share!