From January 30 to February 04, 2012 myself (Martin Reid) and my wife Sheridan Coffey birded in Puerto Rico. We did not hire a local guide, instead relying on various trip reports gleaned from the Internet plus details in the 2010 publication “A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico & the Caymans” (Prion Ltd) by Kirwan, Kirkconnell, and Flieg.
Logistics:
My wife had gotten almost-free tickets on American Airlines, but the restricted booking class meant that we arrived on a flight around midnight on January 29/30, and then departed Puerto Rico on a flight at 8.50pm on Feb 04. Thus our birding time was from January 30th to c. 5pm on February 4th.
We had originally pre-booked a small rental car with Dollar, but after I found some horror stories online about the San Juan Airport Dollar office (e.g. lying about “mandatory” insurance extras; charging a $500 deposit that never gets repaid, etc.) I decided to look into car rental in PR. It was clear that all the other international companies were charging about the same amount – except Dollar who were substantially less on their quoted cost. However Dollar were the only ones who would insist on the purchase of daily comprehensive insurance unless you could show them a letter from your insurance carrier stating that your coverage was applicable to rentals in PR and that you had sufficient coverage. Also Dollar seemed to be the only company that charged a mandatory $500 deposit regardless of form of payment (other companies would only do so if a debit card was used rather than a credit card). From online comments made by PR Dollar clients it seemed clear that when they went to Dollar Corporate for help with a retained deposit or other irregular charge, they were told that the San Juan Airport Dollar was a Franchise, and washed their hands of any responsibility.
So I changed my booking to Alamo. There was no pressure to buy extras, no requirement to prove coverage in PR, and to-date (charges have not yet appeared on my credit card statement) no evidence that I’ll be paying any more than was originally agreed. For anyone used to renting cars in the U.S. where the whole “inspect the car carefully for damage” thing is virtually a thing of the past, I recommend doing a thorough check and being generous with the areas that you mark on the car diagram – just in case (another online story about PR Dollar involved a scam over this issue). Thus we used a “compact” grade car – a Toyota Yaris. Other than being short on decent cup holders in the front, it was quite suitable and we managed to get everywhere we needed-to in it.
Getting around in PR was relatively easy – except for traversing small towns! Coming from Texas we were continually surprised at how close everything is, and the Autopistas (Freeway Toll Roads) provided rapid movement around parts of the island. You’ll hit tolls quite often on the Autopistas in PR, and we opted at the car rental office to pay c. $10 for the use of the toll tag system: this allows you to drive through the leftmost “tag only” lanes without stopping; later on the rental company will bill your credit card for the tolls identified by the Toll Systems recorders/cameras – obviously we need to check for this charge and make sure it is reasonable. The alternative is to stop at the cash booths at each toll. Generally the road signage was good, but when entering towns the signage often disappeared completely or used road numbers not on our maps! We lost a bit of time getting through the towns, but nothing significant. It will certainly help to have some Spanish when asking for directions in such towns. Note that we did not buy a large map either prior to the trip or while on-island, instead relying on the small but fairly detailed map provided by the car rental office, plus a series of screen prints of Internet maps I had prepared for various important places.
Sheridan being a travel agent we were able to get a deal on a downtown San Juan Hotel – the Radisson – for the first night. I cannot particularly recommend it or the location; in retrospect it would have been better (but more expensive for us) to have used a hotel close to the airport.
Our itinerary was: 2 nights in Maricao area; 2 nights in La Parguera near Guanica; one night in northeast.
While preparing for the trip I had read with increasing anticipation about Hacienda Juanita’s at Maricao. All the trip reports mentioned the place and how good was the birding there – so imagine my disappointment when I found out that Juanita’s closed-down in the past year. We searched for other accommodation, and hit gold when we came upon Maravilla Guest House (www.maravillamountain.com 939 241-4945; 939 286-3071; maravillamountain@yahoo.com - they prefer email). Run by Margo and Mark, there is a main house (or cottage as they call it) with rooms, plus a separate cabin. Margo is a Vegan and can prepare food (vegetarian only) if arranged in advance (the nearest (small) supermarket is 20 minutes by car). The cabin (where we stayed) is located c. 80 yards downhill from the cottage and inside a large patch of pristine forest. It does not have electricity, but there is a workshop about half-way between the cottage and the cabin that has electricity, lots of plugs for charging, a fridge and a cooking area. The cabin has a large propane gas lamp on the porch and a supply of large, long-life illuminating flashlights for use in the rooms. There is a main bedroom plus a smaller room with a single bed next to the bathroom. On the end of the porch is a kitchenette with sink, crockery, cutlery, etc. plus a barbeque unit. It is all very open, with large fold-out doors that can be closed if needed. There is a second floor – but it was never completed, so there is a concrete staircase leading up to an open concrete floor with some side walls but no roof. This effectively creates you own personal canopy tower, in a small clearing with surrounding forest canopy. We got some of our best photos from the second floor. Best of all was the sunken hot tub in a large deck in front of the porch. It took a while to fill it (a gas heater provides all the hot water for the cabin area), but once ready it was fantastic after a day in the field to slide into the tub and soak in the hot water, with forest all round and up to seven endemic birds visible from the tub (plus the owl at night)!! As with most of PR it is not cheap; we paid around $130 a night, but felt it was worth every penny. We stayed two nights, and birded there on two early mornings, two evenings/nights, plus for a few afternoon hours twice.
Here’s what we saw in that time:
Ruddy Quail-Dove (three sightings within 30 yards of the cabin)
PR Lizard-Cuckoo (once near cabin; great look up by workshop)
PR Screech-Owl (vocal off-and-on through both nights; often close but we only got a fly-by look)
Green Mango (two chasing birds; one feeding bird near workshop; many plants with good flowers)
PR Emerald (a male fed more-or-less continuously in the tree next to cabin; a female once, low)
PR Tody (a least two pairs close to cabin)
PR Woodpecker (a pair seen at cabin)
PR Pewee (a bird on territory 70 yards along road beyond workshop)
PR Flycatcher (seen right next to cabin, and at cottage)
PR Vireo (one seen briefly by cabin)
Red-legged Thrush (both mornings very vocal and visible at cabin – up to 4 at a time)
Pearly-eyed Thrasher (seen by cabin and near workshop)
B&W Warbler; Am. Redstart (our only migrant Wood Warblers of the trip – at the cabin)
PR Spindalis (fairly common around cabin and cottage)
PR Bullfinch (common around cabin)
PR Oriole (both early mornings one would call, then sing and feed in area between cabin and cottage)
- that’s twelve of the endemics all seen within 40 yards of our hot tub! (okay, the Pewee was a bit further away…)
NOTE: Maravilla is located north of Maricao, a short distance west of PR-20 exactly at Km post 29.6. Margo will send detailed (if a bit jumbled) driving instructions that are accurate. If you get lost in Maricao, ask for the road to Las Marias, or for the road to “los dos Americanos”! Once on the entrance road (after a very sharp left turn going downhill) you will eventually pass through some groves of oranges where the road has four drainage “dips” crossing it. If your car lacks high-clearance (like ours) you need to be very careful negotiating these dips; take them at an angle. I managed it without much incident, despite driving through them at least six times. It took me 35 minutes to drive from Maravilla to the Maricao Forest HQ at Km 16.2 (25 minutes to center of Maricao).
For La Parguera (usually called just ”Parguera” locally) we opted for Parador Villa Parguera located in the heart of the small town ($97 per night for a non-sea view). The web site is rather deceiving, showing the lovely and expansive water side of the property; the front (road) side is much less inviting, with the parking lot a looonng way from the only entrance into the hotel (even though we could see the parking lot from our room!). There were some annoying rules (aimed at party-goers, I suspect) such as no food or drink or ice-chest in the rooms, and frankly, after seeing the location (but not the facilities) for Mary Lea’s by the Sea, I wished we had chosen there instead. Mary’s – located on a short loop south of PR-333 a few miles east of the town of Guanica - would have been much more convenient for the Guanica Forest area birding, and you barely need an hour in La Parguera for the Blackbirds.
For our last night in the east we opted for Ceiba Country Inn (www.ceibacountryinn.com ; 787 885-0471), located up in the hills inland from the town of Ceiba. It is set in lovely surroundings, with a view down to the sea and some forest patches/edges that hold some endemics and other target species. We barely spent more than the night there (serenaded by the PR Screech-Owl again), but I’d thoroughly recommend it (about $100 per night). Note that they seem to get busy at the weekends, so be sure to make a reservation.
Birding Guide: We did not hire a guide, and this worked out okay given that we had the best part of six days to find everything (we were done in five days except for Caribbean Martin, for which it was very early). However if we had less time it might have paid off to hire a guide for part or all or our time. While staying at Maravilla and initially struggling with the Green Mango, Margo gave me the card of a Puerto Rican birding guide and suggested I call him for advice. Gabriel Lugo (www.gabriellugo.com; 787 423-2113) speaks English well and was most helpful with tips for the Mango and Oriole, and from my conversations with him I’d judge that he really seemed to know the PR birds. I have no first-hand experience of his abilities, but from our telephone conversations I’d recommend him as a guide.
Sites:
Maricao Forest:
The birding was pretty much as described in all the earlier trip reports I had read – with the exception of Hacienda Juanita’s, which is closed and we were not allowed to enter to bird. On our first morning on the island I decided to stop at Km 11.1 (0.1Km past the turning for PR-366 on the right) – and we immediately found a large mixed flock centered around about 4 PR Tanagers that remained in place due to a fruiting tree right next to the road. A pair of Elfin Woods Warblers hung around at this spot along with many other target species. After we ran out of new things to see there, we made a brief stop at the HQ at Km marker 16.2. We did not see too much there (it was early afternoon) except for a displaying pair of Loggerhead Kingbirds at the overlook, and so proceeded on to Maravilla (see above). On return trips from Maravilla we again visited the HQ area and walked the trail that goes uphill towards the radio/TV towers beyond the big gate at the very top of the entrance road. We did this on the advice of one of the rangers, who recommended it for the Green Mango (the only target species missing for us at that point). There were almost no flowering plants suitable for hummers anywhere in the forest, and we had to settle for a few fly-pasts of the Mango (some actually pretty good looks as one bird chased another). For any “leppers” among you this trail was loaded with PR Calistos plus a few other good bugs. We never did bird either of the two trails at KM 16.8 since we had done so well at other spots, and when we did stop there the birds were right by the road (another pair of Elfin Woods Warbler; Antillean Euphonias; PR Vireo, PR Tanager, etc).
Laguna Cartagena:
I’m not sure if the earlier trip reports had mentioned the access difficulties – but you CANNOT drive there (in a regular car) by driving due west from PR-116 then all the way west on PR305, because PR-305 just west of Maguayo becomes a gradually deteriorating track with lots of debris that will ruin your car/tyres. The only route to the birding access points at the southwest corner of the lake is from PR-305 going north on PR-303 then west on PR-101 then south on PR-306 at the far side of the lake. PR-306 south also deteriorates but was definitely negotiable with a compact car (maybe less-so after lots of rain!). If you look on Google Maps (satellite view) you’ll see the Observation Tower Road going east from PR-306 just before it reaches the remnant of PR-305 – this road is behind a locked gate with an interpretive board on the right. Coming from the north down PR-306 this is the second visible entry track on the left into the reserve (the first one is about 250 meters north of the tower road gate). From the gate (there is a narrow “elbow” gate for pedestrian traffic to enter) it is about a 600 meters walk to the tower, then there is a short boardwalk going north towards the water. We visited in the early afternoon yet still managed to see at least 42 West Indian Whistling-Ducks from the tower – in small clusters tucked into the tall reeds/cattails on the far side of the open water. It would have been a marginal and very unsatisfying look with bins only – we used a ‘scope. A pair of Loggerhead Kingbirds were building a nest on the side of the tower. We only saw one Coot at the lake – a Caribbean, and no White-cheeked Pintails.
La Parguera:
For the Hardware Store that feeds the Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds, preceding trip reports say you stay on PR304 going west from town – this is not true (according to Google Maps). You drive west on PR-304 at the Parador Villa Parguera, then at the end of their parking lot stay left at the “Y” and continue along this road that skirts the mangroves/water on the left side; after c. 600 meters (from the “Y”) there will be mangroves on the left and on the right, beyond the turn onto Calle 1, will be an open grassy block with a basketball court. At the far end of this grassy block is the hardware store, behind a row of trees along the west side of the grassy block. They have a parking area in front of the store, and the birding feeding station is along the east (right) side of the store. There is pathway that goes around the southeast corner of the store to some storage cupboards, and there is a small water bowl in the narrow strip of grass this side of their property fence – this is the grass strip where they toss out hunks of bread for the blackbirds (also a few Grackles, Cowbirds, and Ringed Turtle Doves) – usually around 5pm and again early in the morning. We got there around 3pm and already a number of blackbirds were moving from the mangroves into the fence-line trees. One of the employees was very chatty and told us about the birds, and without prompting ushered us down the right side of the store and threw out some bread. The Blackbirds dropped in very quickly to feed but were a but reactive to movements on the path, frequently dashing up into the trees then gradually dropping back to the ground to feed. We saw at least 60 Ysh. Blackbirds (most of which were banded) at less than 20 feet. There is no charge to visit the feeding station but it is good practice to shop in the store and buy some things (they sell food and drinks as well as hardware).
Guanica Forest:
There are two access points: PR-333 and PR-334 –both signed from the main PR-116 highway.
PR334: turn east from PR-116 onto PR-334 and drive straight (there is an unsigned fork once in the neighborhood – stay left) until you get to the entrance to the Forest Reserve. From c. 5pm until 8:30am there will be a locked low yellow gate at this point, which you can step over and walk in. Parking is very limited by the gate – we asked permission to park in front of the last house, and it was readily given. When open you drive in and up until you get to the Park HQ area with a parking lot and small information booth. We only visited once in the evening (walking in) and once for a few hours in the mid-morning, driving to the HQ parking area and walking the shorter loop trail there. On our one evening visit we walked up past the hairpin bend to the small gray substation building on the right, then walked back down as the nightjars started to call and it was clear that they were below us. At a spot just uphill from where the closed-off road comes on from the left (going up) we saw two nightjars flush up and fly over us – we never saw them perched with our spotting lights. Another one was seen on the first “zig” of the hairpin (going up) and a couple were heard calling from lower down, along the first straight 200 meters past the locked gate – but they were not calling near the road and we never saw them.
For PR-333 take the signed turn to the south from PR-116 and drive straight through the eastern side of the town, past some docks and a large shipping mill. Soon you’ll leave the buildings behind and start to see km posts as you climb gradually uphill in the southern flank of the Guanica Forest. The nightjars have been found at various places along this road (which ends in a large parking area c. 8kms from town), but the habitat requirement seem fairly strict – trees (not scrub) right next to the road, preferably growing over the road forming a semi or closed canopy. We went out on our first pre-dawn run and located a good habitat area between Km 3.1 and Km 4.5 – this is equivalent to the area where the Fort and old tower (not the same as the fort, which is barely if at all visible from the road when driving back towards the west/north). As birds started to call we relocated to Km 3.4/3.5 where a short section of forest partly overhangs the road, along a power line. We got great spotlight-illuminated views of at least two different males on this section at dawn (started calling at 6.30am, for less than ten minutes) – but the following morning the birds were a bit further down past Km 3.5 and less visible. Our one evening visit to this same spot proved frustrating, as one bird came in to tape but sat in an invisible spot for more than fifteen minutes (ten minutes later than the others, which started at 6.50pm and stopped at 7pm), calling almost continually; eventually it flew back over the road and downhill from where it had arrived. Nonetheless we had gotten very good flight views of the nightjars at this spot, seeing the diagnostic tail pattern of the males. NOTE: in the evening there is quite a lot of vehicle traffic on this road, making it noisy and awkward to move about – I think it may even keep the nightjars further from the road areas. I advise trying it at dawn when there is far less traffic.
There is an area just before the end of the road where the road goes right next to the sea on a low cove, with a low point out to the right and the low cliff at the terminal parking area off to the left. We did some seawatching from here and saw a number of Brown Boobies at various distances (some fairly close with a ‘scope). One older report claimed a Red-footed Booby from here.
About half-way down PR-333, soon after the sprawling Copamarina Resort on the right, is a right turn with a sign for Mary Lea’s by the Sea. We drove down to see exactly where this guest house was located, and found it to be a nice-looking place with a view out to sea, and next to the only two pink-flowered trees in the area (with Antillean Mangos present).
Comeria/Plain Pigeon site:
We found it rather hard to negotiate the roads in Cayey, but there are two routes: PR-171 or PR-734. Both end up on the outskirts of Cidra; when you get to PR-7733 turn left/west to get to the “T” junction with PR-171, and turn left to head up to the famed baseball field located just a little more than 1Km before the junction with PR-156. Watch out for pigeons as you approach this area from the south on PR-172 – we saw two large pigeons over the road as we drove that were likely Plain Pigeons. The ballpark is on the left next to a school in a hilly housing area that has little parking. When we were there the whole baseball field had been dug up and extensive construction (resurfacing the field it seemed) was underway, creating quite a disturbance and making parking even more difficult. If you don’t see pigeons from around the ballpark, drive up the steep right turn just past the school (there are some bathrooms on the left at this turn) a short distance, from where you can scan a much larger area than from down by the ballpark. We were there in the late morning – not a great time to look for the pigeons – and eventually found one bird feeding on the orange flowers of one of those abundant trees (it was the only bird we saw using this type of tree).
Seacliffs near Quebradillas:
One trip report had mentioned seeing lots of White-tailed Tropicbirds and some Red-footed Boobies from a cliff overlook near Quebradillas. This spot is located north of PR-2 northwest of the town. We approached from the west and the signage for the overlook was wrong, taking us south towards a resort; you need to turn north just past (coming from the west) or just before (from the east) where PR-2 almost meets the cliffs. There is an obvious parking area on the left with various trails to vantage points on the cliff. We saw no boobies (we were there c. 10/30am) but saw 30 – 40 Tropicbirds, many doing courtship flights in pairs – a terrific sight! We also found Adelaide’s Warbler to be fairly common and confiding in the scrub by the cliff-top.
Rivermouth north of Mayaguez:
A trip report mentioned seeing a series of rare gulls at this loafing spot, so we gave it a try. As you head north from Mayaguez on PR-2 you pass the airport, then c. 1.5 kms later there is a left turn – about half a km before PR-2 goes over a river. Turn left on this road and drive west to the “T” and turn right. Take the next left and drive down past some houses until there is an area you can park in under some trees – you can just about see the ocean through the woods, but cannot drive through to the beach. We parked under the tall trees and walked through to beach and then north to the river mouth (very narrow compared to the river width on the PR-2 bridge). On our visit all we found were some Royal Terns an a few shorebirds. NOTE when we got back to the car there was another car there with two fellows stood outside eyeing our vehicle; nothing untoward happened, but be aware that this might not be a good place to leave any valuables in your vehicle (which is out of sight for some time if you walk up to the river mouth).
Humacao:
We spent only a little time at this site, in the late afternoon. The Reserve HQ is located on the right c. 3kms east on PR-3 (towards Fajardo) from the Autopista PR-53 junction with PR-3 on the east side of Humacao. NOTE: if coming in from the northwest on PR-30, to avoid getting stuck in the town traffic follow the signs for PR-53 to the south of town (do not take PR-60), then head north on PR-53 to its junction with PR-3 east of Humacao – it’s MUCH faster. At the Reserve there is an entrance to a satellite parking area on the right – the actual entrance to the Reserve is just beyond this. Inside the Reserve fence and on the opposite side of the entrance turning were pink-flowered trees (like the ones that held Antillean Mango at Guanica), and even in the mid-afternoon we eventually saw both the Carib and the Crested Hummingbird feeding in these trees. We did a brief walk in over the two bridges and then to the right along the wooded levee between two areas of water, but did not find any Whistling-Ducks (we did not look too hard as we’d already seen them at Cartagena). The water on the left (south) was the only spot on our trip with numerous coots, of both taxa (and a couple that looked in-between…) plus we eventually found our only White-cheeked Pintails there. On this walk we saw no trees with any flowers than might attract hummers.
Hummingbird trees in the far NE:
Again an earlier trip report had given a location for good hummer trees in the far northeast of the island, and we went there to try to get better photos of the two hummers. From PR-3 going north from Ceiba, look for a right turn onto PR-194 just before getting to Fajardo. Stay on this and turn left onto Calle 1, cross PR-195, then cross Ave. Osvaldo Molina at which point the road becomes PR-987. Stay on this going north through a swanky suburb next to a yacht marina on the right, then it goes back inland, past a golf course on the right, turning sharply to the right then coming to an obvious fork to the left: stay right (= straight ahead) and look for the pink-flowered tree on the left just before a Police substation on the right. Both hummers were seen in this tree and in some nearby planted shrubs. Go back to the fork and turn right (north) and continue until the road passes close to a bay of the sea – look for more pink-flowered trees – again both hummers were seen in these trees.
El Yunque:
We visited on a Saturday afternoon; it was windy and crowded with visitors, and we saw almost no birds (we were looking mostly for bugs), so look to other trip reports for better info on this site!
CART = Laguna Cartagena MAR = Maricao Forest
CEI = Ceiba Country Inn MAV = Maravilla Guest House
COM = ballpark SE of Comerio MAY = coast near Mayaguez
FAJ = NE of Fajardo PAR = La Parguera
GUA = Guanica Forest QUE = sea cliffs NW of Quebradillas
HUM = Humacao Reserve (including trees opp. entrance)
West Indian Whistling-Duck D. arborea: at least 42 birds seen distantly at CART
Blue-winged Teal A discors: good numbers at CART; a few at HUM
N. Shoveler A. clypeata: 3 at CART
White-cheeked Pintail A.bahamensis: 3 at HUM
Ring-necked Duck A. collaris: 3 at CART
Masked Duck N. dominicus: 12+ at CART
Ruddy Duck O. jamaicensis: 3 at CART; 2 at HUM
Pied-billed Grebe P. podiceps: 2 at HUM
White-tailed Tropicbird P. lepturus: 30 – 40 birds at QUE
Magnificent Frigatebird F. magnificens: a few near all coastal areas; one drinking/bathing at CART
Brown Booby S. leucogaster: 15 passing east; 8 feeding offshore GUA
Brown Pelican P. occidentalis: small numbers at most coastal locations
Great Blue Heron A. herodias: 1 at CART
Great Egret A. alba: fairly common in many areas
Snowy Egret E. thula: singles at CART and HUM; 2 on coast FAJ
Little Blue Heron E. caerulea: one seen by Sheridan only at CART
Tricolored Heron E. tricolor: one at HUM
Cattle Egret B. ibis: common in all areas
Green Heron B. virescens: 2 HUM
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron N. violacea: 2 at HUM
Glossy Ibis P. falcinellus: 10 at CART
Turkey Vulture c. aura: common
Sharp-shinned Hawk A. striatus venator: one at MAR (photos); one at GUA – an endangered taxon
Red-tailed Hawk B. jamaicensis: common
American Kestrel F. sparverius: ones and twos at various sites
Merlin F. columbarius: 1 at CART
Peregrine Falcon F. peregrinus: 1 at GUA; 1 at HUM
Virginia Rail R. limicola: one seen via ‘scope at CART
Sora P. carolina: 1 seen by Sheridan only at CART
Purple Gallinule P. martinica: fairly common CART
Common Gallinule: G. galeata: fairly common CART; a few HUM
American Coot F. americana: 6 at HUM
Caribbean Coot F. caribaea: 1 at CART; 8 at HUM; 2 more birds seemed 3/4er Caribbean…
Black-bellied Plover P. squatarola: 8 at MAY
Semipalmated Plover C. semipalmatus: 2 at MAY
Spotted Sandpiper A. macularis: 1 MAY; 3 HUM
Greater Yellowlegs T. melanoleuca: 1 HUM
Lesser Yellowlegs T. flavipes: 2 CART
Royal Tern T. maximus: small numbers at MAY and offshore GUA; 1 at FAJ
Rock Pigeon C. livia: common
Scaly-naped Pigeon P. squamosa: small numbers MAR and MAV; 1 presumed juv. near Ponce
Plain Pigeon P. inornata: 1 near ballpark COM
African/Eurasian Collared Dove S. roseogrisea/decaocto: fairly common throughout
White-winged Dove Z. asiatica: Fairly common throughout
Zenaida Dove Z. aurita: fairly common in some smaller towns – more-so coastally
Common Ground-Dove C. passerina: fairly common in east only
Key West Quail-Dove G. chrysia: one Sabana Grande – Maricao road (PR-20)
Ruddy Quail-Dove G. montana: 3 at MAV
Mangrove Cuckoo C. minor: 2 at GUA
PUERTO RICAN LIZARD-CUCKOO C. vieilloti: 1 at MAV; 3 at GUA
Smooth-billed Ani C. ani: fairly common in lowland areas
PUERTO RICAN SCREECH-OWL M. nudipes: one seen at MAV; heard close by at CEI
PUERTO RICAN NIGHTJAR C. noctitherus: 2 seen on PR-334; 3 seen on PR-333, GUA
Antillean Mango A. dominicus: 1 just north of Sabana Grande on PR-20; 2 by Mary Lea’s GUA
GREEN MANGO A. viridis: 2 at MAR HQ trail; 2 at MAV
Green-throated Carib E. holosericeus: 2 at HUM; 4 at FAJ
Antillean Crested Hummingbird O. cristatus: 1 at HUM; 2 at FAJ
PUERTO RICAN EMERALD C. maugaeus: up to five seen at MAV; 1 at MAR
PUERTO RICAN TODY T. mexicanus: up to five daily MAR, MAV, GUA
PUERTO RICAN WOODPECKER M. portoricensis: up to 6 daily almost all locations
Caribbean Elaenia E. martinica: 1 at GUA
Lesser Antillean [PUERTO RICAN] Pewee C. [portoricensis] latirostris: 1 at MAV; 1 at GUA
PUERTO RICAN FLYCATCHER M. antillarum: up to 3 daily MAR, MAV, GUA
Gray Kingbird T. dominicensis: common
Loggerhead Kingbird T. caudifasciatus taylori: (strong potential split) 2 MAR; 1 MAV; 1 CEI
PUERTO RICAN VIREO V. latimeri: 5 at MAR; 1 at MAV, heard at other locations
(Black-whiskered Vireo V. altiloquus): heard often but bizarrely, not seen!
Cave Swallow P. fulva: fairly common in lowlands
Red-legged Thrush T. plumbeus: 2 MAR, up to 4 daily at MAV
N. Mockingbird M. polyglottos: fairly common
Pearly-eyed Thrasher M. fuscatus: 3 MAR; 1 MAV; 2 GUA
Black-and-white Warbler M. varia: 1 seen twice at MAV
ELFIN WOODS WARBLER S. angelae: two pairs seen, others heard at MAR
American Redstart S. ruticilla: one at MAV
ADELAIDE’S WARBLER S. adelaidae: 2 QUE; up to five at GUA
Bananaquit C. flaveola: abundant
PUERTO RICAN TANAGER N. speculiferus: 7 at MAR
PUERTO RICAN SPINDALIS S. portoricensis: 3 at MAR; 3 at MAV
Black-faced Grassquit T. bicolor: fairly common at most locations
PUERTO RICAN BULLFINCH L. portoricensis: up to 10 at MAR; up to 6 at MAV; 3 at GUA
YELLOW-SHOULDERED BLACKBIRD A. xanthomus: about 60 birds at PAR
Greater Antillean Grackle Q. niger: common
Shiny Cowbird M. bonairensis: odd birds here and there – only common at PAR (unfortunately…)
PUERTO RICAN ORIOLE I. portoricnesis: 1 daily at MAV; 1 along PR-333 at GUA
Antillean Euphonia E. musica: 2 at MAR
House Sparrow P. domesticus: common in lowlands
MAMMALS:
Free-tailed Bat sp. at MAV
Mongoose at HUM and El Yunque