This enchanting and common bird on the island is actually and endemic subspecies for the sister islands Curacao and Aruba. The island of Bonaire has its own endemic subspecies. ENGLISH: BananaquitDUTCH: SuikerdiefjePAPIAMENTO: Barika HelSCIENTIFIC: 𝘊𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘺𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 These birds are very common on Curaçao, and are easily identified by the yellow belly, black jacket and … More Birds in the garden (BIG) 4: Bananaquit
When visiting Curaçao or as a citizen of this island, ever hear a strange melodious birdsong protruding the night, and wonder what it might be. Well, if it is not the screech or call of a Barn owl, or the tittering sounds of a nightjar, you are listening to the song of this charming fellow; … More Birds in the garden (BIG) 3: Chonchorogai
Curacao is in a lockdown, because of the Covid-19 crisis, and we are all not allowed to go out. But some of us have gardens with trees and other vegetations and for all of you we share the exiting news that the spring migration has started and is becoming visible for all of you on … More Migratory season alert!
Top 10 Birds in the garden on Curaçao (2) – Brown-throated parakeet The ‘lovely’ song of this green beauty wakes us up in the morning. What they haven’t got in melodiousness they have got in beauty! ENGLISH: Brown-throated parakeet DUTCH: Maisparkiet, PAPIAMENTO: Prikichi, SCIENTIFIC: (𝘌𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘹 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘹) The Prikichi di Kòrsou is a bird, which … More Birds in the garden (BIG) 2: Prikichi
As Covid-19 has also arrived in Curaçao a couple of weeks ago and the government has slowly been upgrading the measures to prevent the spreading of the virus, birdwatching in nature is out of the question. As of last Sunday night we have a ‘Shelter in place’ active, which basically means that inhabitants are not … More Birds in the garden (BIG) 1: Mòfi
A Reddish Egret in white The Reddish Egret is one of the most colourful herons on our island, with a rusty red head and neck and dark gray body. The bill, pink at the base with a black point, is characteristic of the species. This heron loves shallow inland bays and former salt pans to … More Rare bird: white Reddish egret
When ‘Hoody’ is taking a bath Our very first introduction to an Hooded Warbler was in the first week of October 2019 while bird watching on the small island of Klein Curaçao, located east of the big island. As you can imagine this meeting was one of a kind, and will be described later in … More Rare bird: Hooded warbler
An encore, 15 years later In the fall of 2004 Leon and I encountered a very interesting bird in the mangroves in the saliña of Daaibooi. It was only later that we realized we had a look at a not so frequent visitor to our island, the Mangrove cuckoo. Before we could get back to … More Rare bird: Mangrove cuckoo
Curaçao is on a roll birdwatching wise. This year has proved to be such an exciting one for us, with all the new discoveries and new records for the island it’s incredible. And it isn’t done yet. On December 5th we discovered yet another new species for the island, a new record which brings the … More LIFER: American Herring gull
One of the most elusive herons on Curacao is the Striated Heron. As a very rare visitor from South America, this heron species which is known in Dutch as the Mangrovereiger (Mangrove Heron), has been spotted sporadically on the islands of Curacao and Bonaire and more often on the latter. As such it is not … More LIFER: Striated Heron
November bird watching on Curaçao – always a surprise Bird watching on Curaçao is a surprise throughout the year. The island may be small (444 square kilometers or +/- 171.4 square miles), but has many small habitats spread out from the east to the west. Even in the inner city of Unesco World Heritage Willemstad, … More November bird watching on Curacao
This week we had the good fortune of encountering another LIFER on our birding list. And this time it was both a lifer for Curacao (discovered by colleague Henriette in the weekend of 9/10 November) and a lifer for us personally. This particular species has never been recorded for Curacao and this first time encounter … More LIFER: Blue Grosbeak
Crested Caracara’s are not in short supply on Curaçao. These birds of prey, which are carrion eaters but can be effective hunters if they want to be, are profiting from the many birds, lizards, iguanas and pets killed in traffic accidents as well as from the many dead dogs, cats, goats and even donkeys and … More LIFER Yellow-headed Caracara
A first encounter with a very special bird species My first meeting with a Summer Tanager happened last Monday September 23rd 2019 on Curaçao. After a full morning bird watching with school kids in the scorching heat, we were too tired to do anything in the afternoon and decided to sit on the lounge set … More LIFER Summer Tanager
‘New kid on the block’ In the week of September 14, we received a Facebook message by Rob Wellens (Curacao Backyard Birding) saying; ‘Cattle Tyrant at BB’. Our birdwatcher’s hearts started beating faster. A Cattle Tyrant, a bird mentioned in the bird books for Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao (both from De Boer / … More LIFER Cattle Tyrant
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