Sun-seeking tourists aren’t the only ones flocking to the Cayman Islands.
You probably know that the Cayman Islands’ wealth of feathered friends of all stripes, shapes and colours has made it one of the Caribbean’s top spots for birdwatching. But did you know that we humans are just as interesting to the birds as they are to us?
“When I first started conducting birding tours about three years ago … I could not understand why native birds seemed to be interested in people and attracted to the sound of my voice,” says Stuart Mailer, a field officer at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, a conservation organisation tasked with preserving the destination’s natural environments and places of historical significance. “I would frequently stop to talk to a curious bird and encourage it to hop closer, only to have several other birds of different species gather around as well.”
This is part of the magic of bird-watching in the Cayman Islands, a place where you can see and interact with about 230 species of birds — of which 50 are island breeders, while the other 170 are non-breeding migrants.
Fortunately for avid bird-watchers, the Cayman Islands lay at the edge of the western fly-way, between North and South America; and migrating birds can often be spotted in the spring and fall seasons.
Some of the best spots in Grand Cayman to see birds are also the island’s top tourist attractions. On the Mastic Trail from Frank Sound Road to North Side, bird-watchers can spot some or, if they’re lucky, all 13 of Cayman’s endemic sub-species of birds. These include two near-threatened species; the vitelline warbler and the Cayman parrot, which is the national bird of the islands.
The list also includes the Caribbean dove, West Indian woodpecker, northern flicker, Caribbean elaenia, loggerhead kingbird, bananaquit, thick-billed vireo, Yucatan vireo, western spindalis, Cuban bullfinch and the Greater Antillean grackle.
“Almost all our local birds in the Mastic Reserve are quite approachable, if not actually inclined to come to you,” Mailer says. “The Caribbean dove is a good example. It is usually walking down the trail as hikers approach, rather than taking flight. On more than one occasion, I have almost stepped on a dove that I had failed to notice in time!”
The native forests and formal gardens of the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park off of Frank Sound Road are also replete with zenaida doves, parrots, bullfinches, vitteline warblers, mangrove cuckoos and other breeding land birds, as well as migratory warblers during the winter.
There’s also a wetland area at the park that’s home to whistling ducks, herons, egrets, least bitterns, teal, stilts and sandpipers.
The Road Less Travelled
For naturalist Ann Stafford, who operates guided tours of Grand Cayman through her company CaymANNature, visitors will have to venture further off the beaten track to see some of the finest feathered friends of the Cayman Islands.
“The Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and the Mastic Trail are well worth visiting; they’re well-known and well-publicised, and are therefore easier to promote. But Grand Cayman has more to offer the nature lover,” she says. These areas, which Stafford says are neither well-known nor promoted, include Barkers National Park in West Bay and Bel Air Park in South Sound, where bird-watchers can catch a glimpse of the West Indian whistling duck, herons and egrets, among other bird species.
Other underrated viewing spots include the Governor’s Pond at Governor Michael Gore Sanctuary, where waterbirds can be seen in the early morning at the sanctuary’s freshwater wetland; as well as the Central Mangrove wetland, either from the North Sound Estates dyke roads or by boat; and Bel Air Park in South Sound, where West Indian whistling ducks, herons and egrets are known to congregate.
At the Agricultural Pavilion off of Agricola Drive in Lower Alley, breeding forest birds such as parrots, woodpeckers, vitteline warblers, Yucatan vireos, bullfinches and western spinalis can be seen; as well as transient migratory warblers, vireos, tanagers, grosbeaks and indigo buntings.
Meanwhile, at Meagre Bay Pond, a protected area east of Bodden Town on the main road, rafts of pied-billed grebe, flocks of migratory herons and egrets, osprey, frigatebirds, ducks, waders, and least terns can be seen breeding in numbers during the summer.
The Cayman Islands attracts such a diversity of birds because of its many different plant types. It has roughly four different vegetation zones that attract wide-ranging species of birds: the coastal areas, wetlands, dry evergreen forests with woodlands and shrub-lands, and man-modified areas such as parks and gardens.
“The diversity of Cayman’s plant communities provides a fascinating variety of areas for those interested in natural history at whatever level, from the casual observer to scientific researcher,” says Stafford. “On walks along the beach or rocky iron-shore, in parks, along roadsides, on trails and dyke roads, by ponds and lakes, one may see plants and creatures that might not be easily seen elsewhere.”
And sometimes, spotting jaw-dropping birds is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. “One day, about half an hour before sunset, when I was walking along the Patrick’s Island dyke roads, I followed some snowy egrets to see where they had alighted,” she says. “Rounding a bend, I saw them gathering to roost on a little mangrove cay. I saw five white ibis — and on various occasions I’ve seen glossy ibis — great blue herons, great egrets, little blue herons, tricolour herons, cattle egrets, and nearby were green herons and black-crowned night herons, and a belted kingfisher.”
Birds of the Sister Islands
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman both offer a myriad of locations for watching birds in their natural environment.
On the Brac, westerly ponds and areas southwest of the airport are good grounds for spotting all species of waterbirds, including uncommon ones such as the white ibis, and migratory warblers in the mangrove fringe. In recent years, Mailer says a large flock of whistling duck can also be spotted in the area.
Areas around the hotels and condominium rental properties on the Brac are also an excellent site for uncommon migrants such as grosbeaks, buntings, tanagers, warblers and vireos. Frigate birds, shorebirds, gulls and terns can also be spotted there.
Herons, egrets, rails and migrant shorebirds, like the killdeer, can be seen at Salt Water Pond and the marshes; and the stilt, willet and least tern bird species also breed in the pond during the summer.
On the bluff path to the lighthouse, keen observers along the walking trail should keep a sharp eye out for frigate birds, doves, mangrove cuckoos, the red-legged thrush and grey kingbirds in the summer; and for brown boobies breeding at the extreme northeast of the bluff, from October to June.
Of course, the National Trust Brac Parrot Reserve is a great place to see parrots, as well as loggerhead kingbirds and black-whiskered vireos.
Red-legged thrush, migrant warblers and vireos can also be seen throughout the bluff, while thick-billed vireo and vitelline warblers favour bushland and yellow-faced grassquits, cattle egret and smooth-billed ani species prefer open habitats.
The red-legged thrush can only be found on Cayman Brac; while the Cuban parrot, loggerhead kingbird and thick-billed vireo are found only in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Meanwhile, the Greater Antillean grackle (sometimes called the “ching-ching”) can only be found in Grand Cayman and Little Cayman.
A must-do for all bird enthusiasts is to visit the Booby Pond Nature Reserve in Little Cayman, which is home to the largest breeding colony of red-footed boobies in the western hemisphere, and in addition, is the breeding ground for a colony of majestic frigatebirds.
It’s also an overwintering site for herons, shorebirds, waders and ducks, and there are viewing platforms at the National Trust House, Little Cayman Beach Resort and Southern Cross Club.
As can be expected, a variety of waterbirds can be found on all the roadside ponds and lagoons, while migrant warblers and vireos are found in the mangrove fringes. Several ponds have viewing platforms, including Spot Bay Pond, Jackson’s Pond and Grape Tree Pond.
Little Cayman’s Tarpon Lake has a boat dock that can be a good spot for glimpsing migrant ducks, gulls, pelicans, herons, egrets and shorebirds.
And no matter what island you’re on, the early bird does get the worm when it comes to bird-watching, so be sure to rise and shine in the wee hours. The best time for bird-watching for most types of species is as soon as daylight breaks for about an hour or late in the afternoon before sunset.
For those that need a guide, CaymANNature offers private guided nature tours of Grand Cayman’s Eastern Districts by an air-conditioned car, in which passengers will get to see the island’s varying wildlife in its different vegetation zones.
The route follows the South Coast to Bodden Town, East End Village, Colliers, Queen’s Highway, Old Man Bay and Frank Sound Road, before heading back to the starting point; with full-day tours available from CI $360 (or US $450) for up to four people and half-day tours also available. Contact Stafford at caymannature@candw.ky.
For more information on the educational and environmental programs run by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, visit the non-profit organisation’s web site at nationaltrust.org.ky.