Trip Report - Dominican Republic

cuyaya@pagina.de
©2006 MR_CuYaYa

(*) -Member of the Hispaniolan Ornithological Society.

Introduction:

We had the opportunity and privilege of visiting the Dominican Republic (DR) in December 2000. Long anticipated and prepared for, the trip proved to be an exciting birding experience into an area that we had never visited. Previous trips had taken us into the Caribbean area with visits to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Cozumel, and short stops at several islands in the Lesser Antilles via a cruise ship. This trip, however, was dedicated to birding alone and was very successful. The island of Hispaniola is divided politically into two countries: Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east. The Dominican Republic occupies about 2/3 of the island. Certainly tropical in geography, its elevations, which reach to 3,175 meters (Duarte Peak, 10,417 ft), provide a wide diversity of habitats, resulting in 27 endemics being found there. It was our primary goal to see as many of the endemics as possible, and a secondary goal was to view Caribbean specialties we had not yet seen.

We used the guide services of drbirds.com, a company owned and operated by native born, US educated, Eladio Fernandez. Eladio, in addition to operating a successful import business, is also very active in promoting ornithology in the Dominican Republic. He has and is collaborating with such organizations as the Nature Conservancy in protecting habitat, conducting habitat evaluation and bird census, and is president of the national ornithological society. Widely traveled throughout the country, he and his group of guides probably know better than anyone else Dominican Republic birds.

In the three and a half days we spent in the DR, 19 endemics were seen and 2 more recorded as being heard. Had we not used guide services, it is doubtful that we would have seen more than 13 or 14 of the endemics.

Our trip was to have begun on December 7, but a jet engine failure as we were accelerating down the runway at New York, forced us to lose a day; and we arrived late in the afternoon of December 8 in Santo Domingo. After locating our baggage and moving through customs, we were on our way to a hotel on the coast, near the city of Barahona. From Barahona, it is theoretically possible to see 25 out of the 27 endemics, though 21 is a more probable number for a short stay.

Barahona is an ideal starting point because within 3 hours drive one can go from the coast to close to 5,000 feet in elevation, moving through dry scrub, to moister but still arid forests, and up to very moist and dense broadleaf and pine forests. The Barahona area does not have true rainforest; but because of the heavy mists that arrive daily, there is enough moisture to give the appearance and feel of such a forest.

Saturday, December 9, 2000

December 9. As our time was in the Dominican Republic was limited, we were on the road by about 5:30 AM and traveled for about an hour and a half on paved road, which changed into a reasonally good gravel road. Stops soon after sunrize revealed our first endemics: Broad-billed Tody, Vervain Hummingbird, Hispaniolan Parrot and the Black-crowned Palm Tanager.

Several Caribbean specialties which included the Gray Kingbird, Yellow-faced Grassquit, and the Antillean Mango were also seen. About 8:30 am we arrived in Puerto Escondido where we obtained permits to enter the national parks that we would visit in the next three days. In Puerto Escondido there is a small irrigation dam. Here we saw Least Grebe and several repeats of what we had seen earlier. Crossing the dam, we entered a forest where we began to see a different collection of birds. Here we saw our next endemics: the Hispaniolan Trogon, the Hispaniolan Parakeet, White-necked Crow and the Flat-billed Vireo. Additional Caribbean specialties seen here included Antillian Palm Swift and Bananaquit.

From Puerto Escondido, we headed up to a higher elevation on roads that can only be described as rugged. Though we were in a 4-wheel vehicle, 4-wheel drive was not required. However, a vehicle with high clearance is. After another hour and half of driving, we arrived at a police check station of El Aguacate. From there we traveled about 3 or 4 kilometers and began searching for birds that inhabit higher elevations. Our goals were the La Selle Thrush and Chat Tanager. We were only half successful, and one of our party saw the thrush. We also saw in fleeting view and bad light the Antillian Siskin. Eladio our guide also saw another endemic, the White-winged Warbler. We saw them speed by and were not able to count them in our list.

The remainder of the day was spent working our way down the mountain. After the sun set, we pulled off onto a small track near the entrance to the national park. Here we played recordings of the Least Poorwill. Within moments we heard it respond. After playing the sound several times, we flipped on the lights of the 4 X 4 and saw a fleeting glance of the bird. We returned to our hotel 15 hours after we started in morning. The day had produced 46 species: 14 endemic birds, 5 Caribbean specialties, and 18 life birds. Not a bad start.

Sunday, December 10, 2000

After our previous day of 15 hours on the road, we took an easier trip. Starting about 6:30 am we traveled along the coast to Laguna de Oviedo near the town of Oviedo, where we spent a couple hours looking at migrant shore birds. A small group of about 10 Greater Flamingos enchanted us the entire time. From here, we traveled up a wide paved mining road to the site of an abandoned bauxite mine previously operated by Alcoa. At the top of the road is a place know as the "pond," a cement-lined catchment contain runoff water from infrequent rains.

Surrounded on one side by pines, we were able to see a group of White-winged Crossbills come down to drink. This non-migratory group of birds appears to have been abandoned at this high elevation during the last ice age. With the volitility in the taxonomy of this group, it is probable that this subspecies will be elevated to full species. (Late rumor has it that the AOU will elevate the current subspecies Loxia leucoptera megaplaga to Loxia megaplaga next year. We also had excellent views of the Antillian Siskin that we had seen the previous day. Carribean specialties seen at this location were Golden Swallows and Greater Antillean Elaenia. The day ended with 37 species including 4 new Caribbean specialties, and 2 new endemics.

Monday, December 11, 2000

Today it was back up the road to Puerto Escondido to try and get the Bay-breasted Cuckoo. This cuckoo is a difficult bird because it appears to be low in numbers and likes to hide. It was our primary target for the day. We did some playback of recorded songs; and after a we while received a response. It was, however, from the endemic Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo, which finally showed itself to good views. As we were about to move on, we heard the call of the Bay-breasted and attempted to bring it in. It was sort of successful. What we saw was it moving through the trees, but not staying long enough for a good look. Because of its distinctive call we added it to our list as being heard along with the Antillian Piculet, which also has a very distinctive song. Blurs of this tiny bird as it passed over us were not identifiable. About mid-afternoon we headed back to Santo Domingo, arriving after dark. We also saw a Canada Warbler which would make this the second record of this species.

The day ended with 26 species, including 3 new Caribbean specialties and 4 new endemics.

Tuesday, December 12, 2000

Before transporting us to the airport, Eladio and another of this his guides took us to the botanical gardens located within the city. These large gardens yielded another group of Caribbean specialties, including the West Indian Whistling Duck, Mangrove Cuckoo and Black-whiskered Vireo. Endemics included the Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo, Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Palmchat, and Black-crowned Palm Tanager. The ride out to the airport gave views of Magnificent Frigatebird. Our plane trip to New York was uneventful and a bit sad. We would rather have stayed longer.

Featured article at i-bird.com .

Another trip report from Dominican Republic

Complete Checklist of all Dominican Birds

Pictures and Songs of The Endemic Birds of Hispaniola

Going Birding in the Dominican Republic

You are visitor number to view this page.

Return to "Dominican Birds"

This page is hosted by Get your own Free Home Page