Cuban Endemics
The main purpose of our trip to Cuba was to find and identify the endemic birds on the island of Cuba and outlying Cays. Endemic is defined as ” native or restricted to a certain country or area”. Our group saw 24 of the 26 possibilities. We did not see the Cuban Kite and Greater Antillean Nightjar.
I was able to photography many of the species but not all that we saw. The Bee Hummingbird is so small and quick that they are almost impossible to photograph. The day we got great views of the Gundlach´s Hawk, I did not have my long lens on the camera and missed a great shot.
Cuba’s 26 endemic species as identified in the Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba,
Cornell Press, 2000 and 2011
- Common Black Hawk, Buteogallus anthracinus
- Cuban Kite, Chondrohierax wilsoni critically endangered
- Gundlach´s Hawk, Accipiter gundlachi vulnerable
- Zapata Rail, Cyanolimnas cerverai endangered
- Blue-headed Quail Dove, Starnoenas cyanocephala vulnerable
- Gray-headed (Grey-fronted) Quail Dove, Geotrygon canicep vulnerable
- Cuban Parakeet, Aratinga euops vulnerable
- Bare-legged Owl, Gymnoglaux lawrencii.Otus lawrencii
- Cuban Pygmy-Owl, Glaucidium siju
- Bee Hummingbird, Mellisuga helenae vulnerable
- Cuban Trogon, Priotelus temnurus
- Cuban Tody, Todus multicolor
- Cuban Green Woodpecker, Xiphidiopicus percussus
- Fernandina´s Flicker, Colaptes fernandinae vulnerable
- Zapata Wren, Ferminia cerverai
- Cuban Gnatcatcher, Polioptila lembeyei
- Cuban Solitaire, Myadestes elisabeth
- Cuban Vireo, Vireo gundlachii
- Oriente Warbler, Teretistris fornsi
- Yellow-headed Warbler, Teretistris fernandinae
- Zapata Sparrow, Torreornis inexpectata vulnerable
- Cuban Blackbird, Dives atroviolacea
- Cuban Grassquit, Tiaris canora
- Red-shouldered Blackbird, Agelaius assimilis
- Cuban Oriole (Black-cowled Oriole), Icterus dominicensis
- Greater Antillean Nightjar, Caprimulgus cubanensis