Most people associate the idea of a Jamaican vacation with the beaches and party scene of the Montego Bay area, but Jamaica has much more to offer and those looking for a quieter vacation with unique bird watching opportunities will find it on the east end of the island. I recently discovered this for myself when I was invited by the Jamaica Tourist Board to visit a number of Jamaica’s top bird watching locations and eco-friendly hotels. This is the first in a series of articles on bird watching in Jamaica and represents a general overview of birding opportunities on the island.
Birding the 28 Jamaican Endemic Species
To start with, there are 28 Jamaican endemic species and 21 endemic sub-species that you will find nowhere else in the world. On this short trip, I personally saw 25 of the 28 endemics. Another two of the 28 Jamaican endemic species were accounted for by other members in my group. Only the elusive Jamaican Owl (Pseudoscops grammicus) remained hidden from us. Additionally, many of New Hampshire’s summertime warblers spend the winter and spring in Jamaica and can be seen there in the off season, particularly in the high coffee plantations. The birding book "A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica" is a must-have for visitors to Jamaica who don't want to sort through lists of birds covering all the West Indies to find those found on Jamaica.
Wheelchair Accessible Birding in Jamaica
If you have never been birding in the Caribbean, you will pick up many additional life birds beyond the Jamaican endemics. I counted an amazing 47 new life birds on this six day trip. While that can happen anytime that one visits far off places, the birding in Jamaica that we did took place in the gardens of two hotels in which we stayed and largely along mountain roadways that can not only be easily walked, but over which our cars followed at a comfortable distance, making these roads largely wheelchair accessible although they can get steep at times.
Jamaica's Rural East Side
We stayed exclusively in Eastern Jamaica ranging through the Blue and John Crow Mountains, and through Portland Parrish and the city of Kingston. We birded primarily in Jamaica’s lush tropical forest, but also spent a bit of time near open fields and brush country as well. We made only a very brief seaside visit and did not have the opportunity to visit wetlands or the dry limestone forests of the west. With the exception of the capital city of Kingston, and a few small towns that we drove through here and there, our experience on the east side of Jamaica was largely rural.
The Mountains of Jamaica
Many homes had chickens running around in the yards, some had goats, and an occasional pig or two. In that regard, it is not unlike rural New England. Jamaica is generally much more mountainous than New England and the mountains are very rugged. Driving is on the left side of the road and the roads are very narrow. Strung out along the precarious edges of very steep mountainsides, Jamaica’s north-south roadways are filled with some of the tightest hairpin turns that I have ever seen. If you go during the spring rains, usually around May, then you can expect boulders and small landslides to partially block the roadways on a regular basis in the mountains. While these roads make for breath-taking scenery, the driving is difficult to say the least.
Transportation Companies of Jamaica
Although Jamaica’s coastal highways are much smoother, wider and more modern, hiring a local driver is well worth it and will make it much easier to get around. We used J.U.T.A. Tours Services, Attractions Link Ltd., and private cars provided by Forres Park (one of the eco lodges in which we stayed). All provided excellent service, safe and sensible driving, and a wealth of information about the local areas through which we passed. I can personally recommend all three.
Bird Watching in Jamaica Series
Additional reports in the Jamaica Bird Watching Series will cover a day by day breakdown of our Jamaica bird watching trip, including birding in and around the two eco-friendly hotels in which we stayed (Hotel Mocking Bird Hill and Forres Park) and some of the prominent bird watching locations that we visited in eastern Jamaica including Ecclesdown Road, Hardwar Gap, Radnor Road and Abbey Green, and Hope Gardens, as well as the birds themselves, with plenty of slideshows and video. To receive email notification as the future articles are published, use the subscribe button at the top of the page or join us on Facebook.
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