Compare Dominican Republic: Endemics of Hispaniola by Rockjumper Birding

Day 1

Arrival in Santo Domingo. After landing in the capital city of Santo Domingo, participants will be met and escorted to a lovely colonial hotel in the historic district of the western hemisphere’s oldest European city. A good night’s rest is in order, as we begin our island adventure bright and early the following morning!

Day 2: Santo Domingo Botanical Gardens to Puerto Escondido.

The National Botanical Gardens is a great introduction to the birding bounty of the Dominican Republic. Diligently preserved and full of native plants, the gardens provide habitat for many of the island’s most soughtafter species. We can expect to kick off our tour with good views of the scarce West Indian Whistling Duck, retiring Mangrove Cuckoo, ornate Red-legged Thrush and other widespread species such as Zenaida Dove and Limpkin. Near-endemics and endemics are many, including Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Hispaniolan Parakeet, Blackcrowned Tanager, Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo, Antillean Palm Swift, gorgeous Antillean Mango, minuscule Vervain Hummingbird and the only monotypic family of the Caribbean – Palmchat. This promises to be a great start to an incredible tour! From Santo Domingo we spend the remainder of the day driving southwest, into the heart of the Sierra de Bahoruco Mountains. If time permits, some late afternoon birding should yield Plain Pigeon, Hispaniolan Oriole, White-necked Crow and Broad-billed Tody.

Day 3: Northern Sierra de Bahoruco slopes.

This important mountain range supports populations of nearly all of Hispaniola's island endemics and target birds. By strategically locating ourselves well into the mountain range, we can readily access all elevations of this bird-rich area  An early rise this morning will allow us to reach the high elevation cloud forest before activity dwindles. After many exciting new species, we will then bird our way downhill at our leisure. The long list of birds from today’s efforts might include Scaly-naped Pigeon, Key West and White-fronted Quail Doves, Antillean Piculet, Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo, Hispaniolan Trogon, White-necked Crow, Hispaniolan Palm Crow, Antillean Siskin, Green-tailed Warbler, Black-crowned Tanager, White-winged Warbler, Western Chat-Tanager, Hispaniolan Crossbill, Baybreasted Cuckoo, Hispaniolan Emerald, Hispaniolan Amazon, Broad-billed and Narrow-billed Todies, Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Hispaniolan Pewee, Greater Antillean Elaenia, Stolid Flycatcher, Golden Swallow, Rufous- throated Solitaire, Antillean Euphonia, Hispaniolan Spindalis, Greater Antillean Bullfinch, Hispaniolan Oriole and the extremely rare La Selle Thrush. The lush greenery of the mountains is also the wintering ground of many important North American migrant species. Cape May, Prairie and Black throated Blue Warblers are among the commoner Neotropical migrants but the range-restricted, boreal-breeding Bicknell’s Thrush is also present in small numbers. Night birding here is a must and we will search for the Endemic Least Poorwill, Hispaniolan Nightjar and rather more widespread Northern Potoo.

Day 4: Puerto Escondido to Pedernales.

Not at all expecting to see the entire list of birds possible in this area in one day, we will take the morning to ‘clean-up’ any missing species and make further efforts for some of the trickier individuals. Our exact location will depend on our birding success of the previous day. However, we will head back up and ultimately over the Sierra de Bahoruco mountain range to reach the southern coastal town of Pedernales this evening. En route, we will gaze over the border into Haiti and have stunning views of Hispaniola’s southern coastline. Further birding en route could be followed by some late afternoon and early evening birding around Pedernales.

Day 5: Southern Sierra de Bahoruco slopes.

There are several well-known birding spots covering the southern Sierra de Bahoruco slopes and coastline. We will likely start birding along the coast at an area known as Cabo Rojo. Shorebirds, terns and herons abound while Neotropical migrant warblers are abundant in the scrub and mangroves. A few special birds at Cabo Rojo that we hope to encounter include White-tailed Tropicbird, Caribbean Martin, the Hispaniolan subspecies of Cave Swallow and Antillean Palm Swift. We will then drive up the Alcoa Road. This southern access to the Sierra de Bahoruco was built by the Alcoa bauxite mining company many years ago. These days, the asphalt road allows us easy and quick access to the higher parts of the ridge where our main target species remain. It will also allow us to double our chances of finding many of the previously listed species on Day 3. As with any area, certain birds are more likely to be seen in one locale than the other. Here we hope to find White-crowned Pigeon, Golden Swallow, the endemic sub-species of Loggerhead Kingbird, Hispaniolan Palm Crow, Pine Warbler, Antillean Siskin and Hispaniolan Crossbill, to name just a few. We will then return to Cabo Rojo; the beautiful coastline here is also an excellent place for snorkelling, swimming and a fresh seafood lunch. After lunch we will travel further up the winding and scenic coast road to the town of Barahona for the evening. Before dinner we will head out for a few hours of owling.

Day 6: Birding en route to Sabana de la Mar.

This morning we will head into another part of the  Sierra de Bahoruco range for a very special treat. With a certain amount of luck and effort, we s hould be able to get good views of Eastern Chat Tanager. Many miles outside of its known distribution, this southern slope population is little known and even less often searched for. Besides the Eastern Chat-Tanager, we will also have another chance to find Bicknell’s Thrush, Narrow-billed Tody and Hispaniolan Trogon. After a successful morning in the mountains, we will then spend the remainder of the day driving across the island to the north coast. The main focus for this evening’s birding will be an effort to find Ashy-faced Owl. A known stakeout in the area provides us with an excellent chance to encounter this seldom-seen, endemic species.

Day 7: Sabana de la Mar to Santo Domingo.

 As was the case yesterday, our birding will be directly focused on a handful of species. In particular, we will search for what is hopefully our final endemic target of the tour - Ridgway’s Hawk. Critically Endangered, this incredibly rare raptor has had its range reduced to only a small part of northern Dominican Republic, long since extinct in Haiti. On the up side, due to intensive and prolonged efforts by the Peregrine Fund, this species is making a small recovery. Our tour is timed to fall at the beginning of the breeding season, where we are often able to get excellent views of the adults at their nesting site. We will make a short stop at the nearby coastline for any missing species, especially Caribbean Martin that is fairly reliable here. We will then head back to Santo Domingo allowing enough time for an optional afternoon tour of the colonial Historic District, complete with farewell dinner!

Day 8:Final departure.

All good things come to an end and, after breakfast, some of us will catch our international departures home while others will join our next Caribbean adventure.