Birding the Americas Trip Report and Planning Repository

Puerto Rico was not a birding destination I had seriously considered, until the day my partner and I faced the reality that with aging parents, it was not yet time for us to spend all of our holiday break in distant Asia or South America. With Peggy's mother living in Florida, we considered where we could go that would be close to Florida, yet feature a significantly different avifauna. Puerto Rico quickly rose to the top of our list. First to convince us were pictures of Puerto Rican Woodpecker and Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo. Then there was the fact that Puerto Rico promised to have some vestiges of familiarity - which side of the road we would drive on, for instance. Finally, there was the challenge of it - the Wheatley and Brewer book contended that seeing 100 species in a week would be difficult. Nothing this inveterate lister likes better than a challenge. We made our reservations, bought the books, and dreamt of our adventures from August until December.

Neither of us really enjoys the city nightlife, so we eschewed San Juan and decided to divide our eight days into four days on the east side of the island (El Yunque, Fajardo, and Humacao), and four days in the southwest corner (Cabo Rojo, La Parguera, Maricao, Boqueron, Guanica). In retrospect, we'd do it differently now, and spend three days on the east side and five in the southwest. The southwest has more species, easier access to the elfin-woods and its Warbler, and it is more remote and relaxed. Our day counts were significantly higher in the SW than the NE. However, if we had decided to take the ferry to Culebra or Vieques (and in spring or summer we would have wanted to), four days in the east would work effectively.

As neophytes to the island, what we wanted was everything, and we came tolerably close to succeeding. We saw all endemics except the Puerto Rican Parrot, most of the near-endemic and Caribbean specialties, and 105 species (actually 106, if you count our best bird, which was, regrettably, dead. See story below).

We were very lucky in terms of weather, with no major rain, mild temperatures, and very little in the way of nuisance bugs (exceptions are noted below). The only day on which we had rain in the afternoon, December 19, we used the down time to drive into the interior to Comerio, where we had excellent late afternoon looks at Plain Pigeon coming to roost (directions below). We were comfortable in short sleeves most of the time (except in Maricao and at Hacienda Juanita). Finding quick food was generally not a problem: there are plenty of fast food restaurants as well as better quality dining establishments, and both places we stayed either served breakfast or had kitchen facilities.

Here is a day-by-day listing. I have also appended an Excel Spreadsheet with species correlated to locations. With the exception of the Plain Pigeon and the Least Grebe, all the species we saw were found at the eight basic locations listed above, and only the Plain Pigeon was a substantial distance away from other spots (If you want the Plain Pigeon, you have to plan for it; all I can say is that, in its own homely way, the PPig was well worth it!).

December 17 -

We landed at San Juan around 3:00 pm. The first lifer was the ubiquitous Greater Antillean Grackle, seen while riding the bus to the rental car center. A Zenaida Dove was patiently pecking at seeds and crumbs in the rental car return garage for a second lifer. As we drove towards Ceiba, where we would be staying, we noted Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Brown Pelican, Rock Pigeon, and the ever-present Gray Kingbird. We checked into Ceiba Country Inn, which is not only a nice place to stay, but has a resident pair of Puerto Rican Screech-Owls. We heard two owls in conversation every night and/or morning we were there, with the full panoply of sounds including the maniacal laugh.

December 18 -

We went to the El Yunque El Portal visitor's center, being there when they opened at 9:00 am. We were greeted by Monk Parakeets and White-winged Doves in the parking lot, and our first lifer of the day, Pearly-eyed Thrasher, was perched in a tree near the gift shop at the visitor's center. We then walked the trail below the visitor's center, where we saw many fine life birds: Red-legged Thrush, Puerto Rican Bullfinch (a much more spectacular bird in the flesh than in pictures), Puerto Rican Flycatcher, Puerto Rican Woodpecker, Bananquit, and the bird with the most attitude per ounce, the Puerto Rican Tody (when I explained the Tody to a birder friend, he said it sounded like the Corgi of the bird world: an apt comparison).

We did the loop trail twice, because we had seen a hummingbird we had been unable to identify, but it wasn't at its previous coordinates when we circled back. One of our few beefs with Puerto Rico is that more places (like hotels and park visitor centers) ought to have hummingbird feeders up. While we ended up viewing all five hummingbird species the island has to offer (and enjoyed seeing them in their natural environment), we felt we did not get the opportunity to study them closely that feeder stations allow. And, obviously, if we as birders felt this frustration, I think it likely that non-birders won't get the opportunity to "ooo" and "ahhh" over these gem-like birds.

At noon time we descended into the town of Palmer/Rio Grande, where I had a heart-stopping moment when I spotted a parrot with a red forehead sharing a tree with two Monk Parakeet….but it was only a Red-crowned Parrot. We had a nice lunch at El Sabor Mexican Restaurant in Luquillo. At the parking lot at the McDonald's in Fajardo, we watched a Gray Kingbird chase away an escapee Cockatiel. We then went to Playa de Fajardo to enjoy some water birds. Because it was the first day of the trip, we did not know how unusual it was when we saw one first winter Ring-billed Gull and a juvenile Common Tern amongst a dozen of the quite common Royal Terns. The Common Tern and Ring-billed would be our only representatives of these species, and the Ring-billed would be our only gull. If we had budgeted a day in San Juan things might have been different, but we weren't here to see all the island's gulls. We also enjoyed getting great looks at Brown Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird.

A drive around some of the side streets of southeast Fajardo brought us our first Common Ground-Dove and Nutmeg Mannikin of the trip. It was then a little after 3:00 pm, so we rushed back up to El Yunque, stopping this time at the upper visitor's center and picnic area at Palma di Sierra. The light was starting to fade, but we enjoyed another life bird, the Puerto Rican Emerald, and heard our first Scaly-naped Pigeons. Wintering warblers included American Redstart and Black-throated Blue Warbler. Our species list for the day was 32 species, nine of them life birds.

December 19 -

As we were waking up at Ceiba Country Inn, the Puerto Rican Screech-Owls laughed at our early morning antics. We had decided to go to Humacao Reserve. We tried to follow PR 3 instead of the newer tollway, PR 53; this delayed our arrival, as did a linguistically-inspired mixup at the allegedly 24-hora McDonald's in Fajardo (they turned off their lights after half-heartedly and rather poorly fulfilling our rather standard order, complete with a 10-minute wait!). However, we were at Humacao before full sunrise, at 7:00 am. We walked in along the road just north of the main gate (even though the main gate was open; we parked our car there), where a number of people had reported West Indian Whistling Duck, but we did not find this species along this canal. We did find plenty of other fine birds, though: Tricolored, Green, and Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, abundant Common Moorhen, Spotted Sandpipers, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, and a few Northern Waterthrush.

Near the parking area there is a small hill; today it contained a flock of Smooth-billed Anis and a family of Puerto Rican Woodpeckers, as well as our most highly desired wish: hummingbird activity. We ended up getting good looks at both Green-throated Carib (I once had the green throat really in the right light), and Antillean Crested Hummingbird; these were both lifers. We then started walking toward the large lake area, where we watched one Puerto Rican Flycatcher, and added Black-faced Grassquit as a lifer. Large flocks of Nutmeg Mannikin were also around. On the lake itself, we had another lifer, the easy-to-identify White-cheeked Pintail. As we would discover when we returned here two days later, we did not hike far enough on the lake path, blowing our chance (that day) for coots and stiff-tailed ducks. Instead we headed across the road, walking the trail that heads west. We didn't add much here, except for a female Prairie Warbler.

At this point, we were hungry, and went for lunch to the little town of seafood restaurants north of Humacao. We made the wrong choice; we ate at Paradise Seafood, where the red snapper we ordered seemed frozen and, frankly, aged. The beans were so salty that just remembering them makes me pucker.

When we emerged from lunch, it was overcast, so we made the decision to drive for the Plain Pigeon. The highway route from Humacao looked good. Ha! We were about to learn our lesson! First, driving on Puerto Rican roads, even highways, in the rain, is to take your life into your hands. Its not that people drive fast, it's that they cut a lot of corners, around lane control in particular. Second, many of the smaller towns are developing their commercial strips and expanding their populations before they are building roads, so the traffic jams were rather daunting. Add to this that consistent signage of numbered roads is, well, not consistent, and you wind up with us arriving at the famous ballfield in Comerio at 4:30.

Well, I suppose that's perfect timing for finding a bird coming in to roost. A kid and his father/uncle/brother were playing on the ballfield, along with their happy dog (I could write a separate essay on the happy dogs of Puerto Rico). After about five minutes of id'ing Scaly-naped Pigeons and White-winged Doves, Peggy found the Plain Pigeon on top of a tree at the homeplate corner of the ballfield area. We then watched it fly to a tree above the Escuela Superior Sabana, where it joined two of its closest friends and co-speciesists. It was a solid end to a day that might have been washed out by rain.

To get to the Plain Pigeon spot from Humacao, here's what we did. We took PR30 west from Humacao, to PR 52 south. We then traveled PR 172 through Cidra then up towards Comerio. It was very slow going through Cidra, and the road from Cidra to Comerio was quite narrow and winding. The kilometer markers alert you to your approach to the famous ballfield, at KM 1.5. The school and the ballfield are located on the west side of the road; the school is north of the ballfield. There was parking in both the schoolyard and the ballfield areas.

When we got back to Ceiba Country Inn, the Screech-Owls started calling, hooting, and guffawing at 8:30. We ended the day with a day list of 39 birds, five of which were lifers.

December 20 -

We awoke early to try to be on the El Toro trail at El Yunque around dawn. We heard a Puerto Rican Screech-Owl in the park, near km 5. We heard the captive-breeding Puerto Rican Parrots at the end of the road, but ignored them to start out on the trail head beyond the gate. The day moved from mild to warm, it was clear and beautiful; this hike is worth it for the scenery alone. But we got much more. The first birds to welcome us were Scaly-naped Pigeons, Puerto Rican Woodpeckers and another endemic lifer, Puerto Rican Tanager (like the Bullfinch, this is a more inspiring bird when see live than any of the pictures of it can convey). Amongst the ubiquitous Bananquit, we often discovered warblers, including American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue and Black-and-White Warblers.

Along the path we grew accustomed to the querulous sound of Puerto Rican Tody, and then enjoyed great looks at yet another endemic lifer, the obliging Puerto Rican Spindalis. However, the trail soon became too muddy for us to want to continue. We turned around and started back down when we had the divine darsan: a Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo perched in a tree across the trail. Peggy noticed it first, made some excited sound that resembled the word 'cuckoo,' and I looked up in time to see that thick, long tail, and the creamsicle orange wash on the abdomen. Wow! This is an awe-inspiring bit of avian engineering! We saw it fly a few times before it was too far back into the brush. It was our only visual encounter with this bird, but it is one of the most memorable sightings of any bird in my memory banks. But the joy of this trail was not done.

When we came back to the road area beyond the gate, the small birds were quite active with the warmer temperatures. We added a few more Pearly-eyed Thrashers and then, while watching a mixed Bananaquit/Warbler flock, I saw a Puerto Rican Vireo! I carefully watched its slower gleaning behavior, saw the stubbier bill and prominent wingbars, and even though I knew it was an unlikely bird in El Yunque, I knew it wasn't impossible, and that this bird could be nothing else but this endemic. It was easy to rule out other rare vireos, such as Black-whiskered.

On the way down, we stopped at the Palma de Sierra visitor's center area again. Here I saw, but regrettably Peggy did not, a Loggerhead Kingbird. It was quietly staying in the canopy, plucking insects from fruit. Also present were a family of Puerto Rican Emeralds, two Red-legged Thrush, and a Northern Waterthrush.

We ate lunch at the Sushi Boat in Fajardo. They had very thick, generous cuts (they were not cheap, so this seemed to be a fair trade-off). We then returned to El Yunque to hike the Mount Britten trail. Unfortunately, the fog was coming in by the time we reached the best elfin forest. We had one furtive look at what, in retrospect, we think was a busy Elfin-Woods Warbler, and longer looks at American Redstart and Black-throated Blue Warblers. Lots of Scaly-naped Pigeon, some vocal Puerto Rican Tody, and many Puerto Rican Spindalis made for a fun hike, despite the drawbacks of fog.

El Yunque seems to be the kind of park where one sees all the birds one is supposed to see, but never in huge numbers. That was certainly our experience, memorable and life-bird rich though it was. I wouldn't want to plan a Puerto Rican trip without including El Yunque, but I wouldn't make it the centerpiece of a trip either. For one thing, as opposed to most of the hot birding spots in the SW, El Yunque, as a national park, has a lot of visitors and some foot traffic on most trails. Even when we were searching in the elfin forest west of Mount Britten, there were other non-birders on the trail, including some rather noisy groups.

December 21 -

We awoke early with intent of getting to Humacao Reserve before dawn. Unfortunately we miscalculated that the city of Humacao would have some fast-food 24-hora restaurants. Wrong. Caffeine-addiction made it necessary for us to wait until after 7:00 am, but it did enable us to watch a Green-throated Carib chase off a Northern Mockingbird in a parking lot.

Once we did get back to Humacao, we took the trail to Laguna Palmas, but this time went to both large ponds. As a result, we saw one American Coot and four Caribbean Coot. There was a female Masked Duck (which quickly darted into foliage, of course) amidst large numbers of Ruddy Ducks, and the same wonderful display of hummingbirds we had witnessed on our first visit. The highlights included a Yellow-rumped Warbler (who knew that we could be so impressed by a bird we find so abundantly at home?), and our first Orange-cheeked Waxbills.

By about 2:00 pm we were enroute to the SW corner. We did not anticipate how slow the roads would be, but neither did we know how delightful the sights would be. The best came in the town of Maunabo (I think), where we were caught in what seemed to be an accident-caused traffic jam. We would see no ongoing traffic for swaths of time, while hearing sirens constantly. We feared that we would crawl for miles, then see some signs of carnage. Instead, it turned out to be an incredible holiday give-away, where the local law enforcement agencies were assisting truckloads of volunteers in their generous distribution of gifts to children! The police were routing single-lane traffic past this ongoing scene of joy.

Essentially, we were slowed down sufficiently that there was little chance of birding on the SW side. We checked in at Mary Lee's by the Sea in Guanica (off PR 333), and then went in search of the Nightjar. We heard at least two Puerto Rican Nightjars about .15 km east of Playa Jaboncilla parking lot. This would remain a dependable spot to hear them, but we never saw one here, and we quickly determined it would not be safe to drive slowly along this stretch of PR333.

December 22 -

Our first full day on the SW side was remarkable. We intended to go straight to Cabo Rojo, but then saw the wetlands right near Mary Lee's by the Sea. Here we were shocked by the presence of biting insects! That's right - we had had almost no mosquitoes over our first four days, despite being in a rain forest and/or in marsh. Here the bugs drove us back to our car quite quickly. When we got to the road to Cabo Rojo Lighthouse, we had our trepidations about this marginal pock-marked road. Little did we realize we would get to know it rather intimately over the next few days. Upon arriving at the lighthouse area, we were greeted by a life bird, the Troupial. Shorebirds were abundant. It was especially fun for me to watch entire flocks of Stilt Sandpipers. Ruddy Turnstone, both Yellowlegs, and a pair of American Oystercatchers lengthened the PR list.

Other life birds at this spot included a cooperative Caribbean Eleania and a Shiny Cowbird. The introduced Warbling Silverbill used the sparse vegetation near the mudflats. But the strangest thing of all happened when we reached the beautiful point where the lagoon meets the turquoise blue bay. I was talking with a couple who had set up their picnic there, when Peggy said "What's that? A Gannet?" She was pointing at a large dead bird, that I knew the moment I saw it: Masked Booby. Freshly deceased, the poor unfortunate bird bore no obvious signs of predation or injury. This would have been a life bird for both of us, and, as it turned out, we rightly surmised that it was a rare bird for this location. Guessing that, we tried to get the attention of some rangers in a pick-up truck, but they didn't perceive the importance of what we were trying to communicate. Later in the day we mentioned it to the staff person at Cabo Rojo NWR, who admitted that this species was one he had not heard of at the location. But he wasn't in a position to do anything about picking it up. Of course, we weren't either, but we had a plan for the morrow, which worked to perfection….

We went in search of lunch in the little town of Boqueron, where we found a huge flock of roosting Sandwich Terns (76 birds) along with Royal Terns (and some good little fried things to eat). From there we went to Boqueron NWR, where we enjoyed the boardwalk and a long hike along the mangrove road/trail. We added a Lesser Antillean Pewee to our life lists, and enjoyed a plenitude of Northern Waterthrush and Black-and-White Warblers. As late afternoon was approaching, we wanted to try for the Blackbirds at Cabo Rojo NWR's bird-watching path. Total success here! Peggy, who rarely tries to identify birds on the wing, spotted three Blackbirds overhead and called them before she even had her binoculars raised! We were both able to watch them for a few seconds (with our binoculars), but luckily there were other days when we got better views of Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds. But then we enjoyed two more life birds: Antillean Mango, which darted so quickly that the looks were more tantalizing than satisfying, and the lovely Adelaide's Warbler, contrastingly accommodating compared to the Mango. A Merlin made a dramatic appearance atop a tree as the sun set. Later, we heard the Puerto Rican Nightjar at the same spot as the previous night.

December 23 -

The generosity of birders—sharing their knowledge, experience and anecdotes—impressed us this day as nearly infinite. We had eagerly seized the opportunity to participate in the Maricao Forest Christmas Bird Count. We knew this was one of the best birding spots on the island, and we knew that Hilda Morales, the CBC organizer, was one of the island's finest naturalists, so we figured we could make a contribution, and gain some new birds for our lists, too. We did all this, and more. In addition to Hilda, the CBC featured two more of Puerto Rico's finest birders: José Colon, and Sergio Colon (unrelated by blood, but like brothers in most other ways!). We arrived early and heard a Puerto Rican Screech-Owl; when Sergio Colon arrived, he called in a Screech-Owl, so that finally we could say we had seen one, too. We surveyed the area near the "camp" and "administration," under the guidance of Jose Colon. There were plenty of Puerto Rican Vireos, and single heard-only Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo and Key West Quail-Dove. The endemic subspecies of the Sharp-shinned Hawk whizzed by us, and some Antillean Euphonia were heard by all, and seen by some (but neither of us). But the highlight had to be the multiple, visible, eye-level Elfin-woods Warblers. Hilda, Sergio, and José informed us that this was one of the best displays, in numbers and in visible behaviors, that they had seen of this highly sought-after species.

The CBC was a rather relaxed affair, and we were done by noon. Sergio, Jose and Hilda offered to take a number of birders from the CBC, who were visiting the island, around to various sites where we could soak in our desired species. We drove to near the entrance to Hacienda Juanita, where Sergio managed to call in some more Antillean Euphonia; once again, I did not see them adequately. But at the same spot, Sergio and Jose found a Black-whiskered Vireo (a life bird for Peggy). We then car-pooled for over an hour, until we reached Laguna Cartagena. All eight of us - Johnny and Shari from Oregon, Tim from Chicago, me and Peggy, and our amazing mentors, Hilda, José and Sergio - hiked to the observation tower, where the miraculous day continued. There were almost a dozen West Indian Whistling-Ducks (life bird for many), Sora, Glossy Ibis and Green-winged Teal (a lucky last-minute discovery by Shari), just to name the new birds. A possible Masked Duck was debated at this spot, too. Oh, and José and Johnny repaired my tripod's most annoying features, tackling the task with admirable relish.

Peggy and I had mentioned our dead Masked Booby to José and Sergio before the CBC began, and they had expressed interest in seeing the bird, and even collecting it. So we now turned our cars toward Cabo Rojo. Just a tad after PR 301 turns to a dirt road enroute to the lighthouse, we stopped for some roosting Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds. We enjoyed seven of them, and a little rest. Then on to 'bring out your dead'! We drove to near the spot, then started walking. I was suddenly afraid; when I rushed ahead to the spot, my worst fears were confirmed: the Masked Booby had vanished! Sergio, though, was more resourceful, and started examining the nearby brush.

He found the bird, wedged into the middle of some thorny shrub, where a beach-goer had thrown it. Some predation had been attempted - the bird had a hole in its stomach - but otherwise it was still intact. It had started to smell, it must be admitted. But Johnny and Shari had some groceries in plastic bags in their rental vehicle, and so they decided to empty these bags for science. José and Sergio had determined to collect the bird, and the multiple plastic bags may have done something to mask the odor. We took some pictures of its surroundings, and posed with the bird (an olfactory error that clung to me, rather literally, for a few hours). It was a fitting climax to a fun day. But, of course, it wasn't over yet. Though daylight could be measured in minutes, even seconds, by this point, Jose and Sergio insisted on showing Peggy and me where the Least Grebes were hiding - in a small pond north of where PR 301 turns east (a bit north of the junction with 3301). We id'd them by flashlight!

Hilda, Sergio, and José were all expert birders, and even better as human beings. They were enthusiastic, never snobbish, fun-loving, yet serious in their scientific commitment to birding. There were some kids with us on the CBC, and José really nurtured their nascent birding. He entertained every idea we newcomers to the island could dream of, and birds we claimed to have seen (I was worried about our credibility when the Masked Booby seemed to have disappeared! And was I ever relieved when it was found!), but with a balanced mix of hope and skepticism. We were blessed to be with such fine and fun birders.

The Puerto Rican Nightjar was heard at its usual spot near Playa Jaboncilla around 8:00 pm.

December 24 -

Our luck finally ran out, as we had a so-so day. We did reach our goal of 100 species in Puerto Rico, and saw some of the escapee Rhesus Monkeys in the wild (on PR 303 between La Parguera and PR 301). We started at La Parguera wetlands, where some barking dogs interfered with my scoping of shorebirds. We did see some more Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds and one Shiny Cowbird in a flock with Greater Antillean Grackles, and our first Least Sandpipers of the trip. A pair of American Kestrels made love, not war, in full panoramic view. We then found the mangrove trail south of La Parguera Sewage Treatment Plant. We heard Clapper Rail, saw a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-heron, and enjoyed a plethora of warblers: Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-White Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, Adelaide's Warbler, Prairie Warbler, and Northern Parula. We did not, however, find the warbler we had gone there searching for, Ovenbird. Sigh. One of the few misses.

We then made a driving error. We wanted to get to Hacienda Juanita, and thought it might be smoother to go by way of Mayaguez. Big mistake. The roads in Mayaguez are not clearly marked, and we made some wrong turns trying to get from PR 2 to PR 105. We reached Hacienda Juanita irritably hungry, so we did not hit the trail until 2:30. We found the birds scarce, except for Pearly-eyed Thrasher and Puerto Rican Spindalis. Our goal here was Greater Antillean Oriole; we saw but one bird, an immature, which was less than satisfying but still counted. We heard Antillean Euphonia but once again did not get diagnostic looks.

December 25 -

We decided to wake up early at Mary Lee's by the Sea, and try to see the Puerto Rican Nightjar. We drove east on PR333, and near the spot where the road comes closest to the beach, we each saw one Nightjar cross the road. We heard at least four or five of them in the vicinity. We then had a piece of unfinished -- meaning embarrassing -- business: we had not yet seen or even heard a Mangrove Cuckoo! So we headed to Playa Jaboncilla, negotiated the pot-holy road, and played a tape. We got a Mangrove Cuckoo to respond, but it would be another hour before we had one visible. Once we did see the Cuckoo though, we had all the Christmas gifts we needed! What a beautiful burnt orange! I imagine that with the more spectacular Lizard-Cuckoo on the same island, the Mangrove Cuckoo is often overlooked, or given second billing, but not with us on this Christmas morn.

Also in this small area -- which we had entirely to ourselves -- were Adelaide's Warbler and Puerto Rican Tody. We then headed back to the wetlands on the road from PR 333 to Mary Lee's. The bugs were bearable, and the birds were fantastic. We saw two Clapper Rail, and added Willet and Semi-palmated Sandpiper to the Puerto Rican list. We then drove from Guanica to San Juan by way of PR 2, so we could see those parts of the island we had not visited. We made it back to San Juan airport in plenty of time for our Christmas flight back to the mainland.

Puerto Rico makes an ideal birding destination, we found. Sites were accessible, birds were plentiful, and there were surprises and discoveries at every turn. We both recommend it as a near-perfect place for a week of birding. Just beware - the driving takes a bigger toll in stress than I had imagined. The narrow mountain roads demand a level of concentration that can be exhausting in its cumulative effect.

We used three bird books - Raffaele et.al., Birds of the West Indies (Princeton, 2003), the older but still more detailed Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands by Herbert Raffaele (Princeton 1989), and the useful book/CD combo, Mark Oberle's Puerto Rico's Birds in Photographs (Editorial Humanitas, 2003). We always had our trusty National Geographic North American Birds with us, too; this was especially useful for some of the shorebirds and warblers. We also drew from the Puerto Rico pages in Wheatley and Brewer's Where to Watch Birds in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean (Princeton, 2001). I had additionally downloaded trip reports from numerous on-line sites, the most useful to us being David Klauber (11/2002), Glen Tepke (1/2002), Ron Outen (2/1997), Mark Oberle and Giff Beaton (11&12/1995). I am also a dedicated contributor to Cornell's eBird, and so studied the records assembled there (www.eBird.org). Having entered all this data on eBird, I now contribute our prose report in the hopes that other birders will find it useful (and will post their findings on eBird and bird-trip sites, too).

LEGEND

Birding Locales:

1 = El Yunque

2 = Fajardo

3 = Humacao

4 = Cabo Rojo [Note: B = Boqueron]

5 = Lag.Cartagena

6 = Maricao/Hac.Juanita

7 = La Parguera

8 = Guanica

Jennifer Rycenga and Peggy Macres

Half Moon Bay, California

gyrrlfalcon@earthlink.net