Red-legged Thrush

 

The Red-legged Thrush is a ground-dwelling species that occurs in a wide variety of habitats from brush and gardens to dense woods. Appearance is highly variable across its range but throughout is unique in its blue-tinged gray plumage combined with bright orange-red legs and eyering.

The Red-legged Thrush feeds on ground insects and fruits on trees.

Although it is a very common bird to observe almost anywhere on Cuba and is a regular on most ebird checklists I still find it an attractive bird in the early morning light.

Giant Kingbird

 

The Giant Kingbird is a large flycatcher typically found singly or in pairs hunting from upper branches in wooded areas. It is grayish above and whitish below with a blackish crown and face. It also has a massive bill with a distinct hooked tip.

The Giant Kingbird is an endemic species to Cuba that feeds on large insects, lizards, and small nesting birds.

Cuban Emerald

 

Of the three 3 hummingbird species that have been seen in Cuba, two are native. They are the Cuban Emerald and the Bee Hummingbird, both of which we have been fortunate to observe and photograph. Of these two, the Cuban Emerald is the most abundant and widespread. The Cuban Emerald is easily found all around the resort areas, usually visiting the flowering trees and shrubs.

The above image is a female Cuban Emerald. Green above with gray underparts.

The male Cuban Emerald is an entirely vibrant green with bronze and dark blue iridescence.

The third species is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a bird we have also observed in Cuba. They are a migrant, that nests throughout the eastern areas of the North American continent.

Crested Caracara

 

The local sewage lagoons on Cayo Coco provide excellent opportunities to observe and photograph Least Grebes, Whistling Ducks, Black-Necked Stilts and an assortment of other shorebirds. However, on this day as I was busy trying to get images of American Avocets, a Crested Caracara came flying across the lagoon.

Crested Caracara are fairly common on Cuba and I have photographed many perched or on the ground, however this was the first time I have been able to get an image of one in flight.

Cuban Tody

 

Always fun to photograph the endemic Cuban Tody is an absolutely incredibly beautiful bird. It is common and widespread throughout the country.

They feed on insects, caterpillars, larvae, spiders, and small lizards. And live in burrows in earth banks, sand banks, crab burrows and rotten logs.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

 

The Eurasian Collared-Dove is one of nine dove species that can be observed in Cuba. Five of which can be usually found on a morning birding run.

They were introduced in the Bahamas in 1974 and subsequently invaded Florida, Cuba and much of the Lesser Antilles. They were confirmed in Cuba in 1990 and currently widespread throughout the country feeding on fruit and grain.

Zapata Sparrow

 

The Zapata Sparrow is a rare endemic with populations in three widely separated areas, the Zapata Peninsula, along the southeastern most coast, and out on Cayo Coco. We have observed them both out on Cayo Coco and at Zapata Swamp.

These birds were observed at Cueva el Jabali, one of my favourite spots to bird on Cayo Coco.

The Zapata Sparrow has very subtle colorations. Its yellow belly shades to olive sides, and a largely gray face is topped by a rusty crown and met below by black-borded white throat. Often found in pairs low in foliage or on the ground.

West Indian Woodpecker

 

The West Indian Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of drier forests including palm groves. Its strongly barred back eliminates all other species in it range except for Northern and Fernandina’s Flickers, but both flickers lack the West Indian Woodpecker’s extensively red nape and hind-crown.

The barring on the back of the Northern Flicker is also far less pronounced than it is on West Indian Woodpecker. West Indian Woodpeckers can be found nesting in palm trees around the resorts on Cayo Coco.

Gray Kingbird

 

The Gray Kingbird is a large, assertive flycatcher often seen around towns and mangroves in coastal areas. 

Large headed and heavy billed like other kingbirds, the Gray Kingbird has ashy gray upperparts that grade into dark gray-brown wings and tail, with the hint of a dark mask through the eyes. Note the forked tail.

This bird is a familiar favorite throughout its range owing to its boisterous vocalizations and fighter-pilot flycatching—pursuing dragonflies and wasps on aerial chases that may cover 100 yards. Cornell All About Birds

Cuban Peewee

This Cuban Peewee sat very patiently getting it's picture taken while I was out birding in the Cuban countryside early one morning.

The Cuban Peewee is an active small flycatcher of open woodlands and scrub. It is most similar to the Eastern Wood-Peewee however it is best distinguished from this species by the bold white crescent behind the eye, very evident in this image. Often flicks tail upwards once after landing. 

Cuban Green Woodpecker

 

The Cuban Green Woodpecker is a species endemic to Cuba. This green-backed woodpecker has a red crown and a white face with a blackish stripe extending backwards from the eye.

The Cuban Green Woodpecker is an attractive, small to medium-sized inhabitant of woodlands including mangroves; typically found in pairs, often on dead or dying branches.  No other species in its range is similar. Cornell All About Birds

Mangrove Cuckoo

 

Mangrove Cuckoos are another quite common bird out on Cayo Coco Cuba. It’s not long after you start birding in the morning before the familiar call of the Mangrove Cuckoo is heard.

Like other cuckoos, the secretive Mangrove Cuckoo is a quiet and still presence as it watches for insects and small lizard prey. This slender, long-tailed bird nests in tangled mangrove forests of southern Florida; in its large Caribbean and Latin American range it occurs in lowland and foothill rainforests as well. A mostly brown bird with a yellow or gray ring around the eye, it resembles the Yellow-billed Cuckoo but has a black mask and a warm buff belly. Cornell All About Birds

Like other cuckoos, the Mangrove Cuckoo has four toes on each foot in a "zygodactyl" arrangement, with two toes forward and two behind, rather than three-forward, one-back of many other birds.

Key West Quail-Dove

 

An area that I love birding out on Cayo Coco is Cueva del Jabali. There is a quite extensive cave system there, however it is also a great area to bird and one of the popular stops for birding tour groups. I have been there a few times with my favourite bird guide, Paulino Lopez Delgado, however I also hire a taxi to drop me off early in the morning and come back a few hours later to pick me up somewhere along the roadside as I hike back out. This year my best find there was the Key West Quail-Dove. In Cuba it is not uncommon to observe 6 or 7 species of dove while birding .

The male has purple iridescence on back and coverts, green on head and nape, and rufous on wings and tail. Quite a beautiful bird in the early morning light.

The Key West Quail-Dove is a smallish, chunky, ground-dwelling species of dense woodlands with thick leaf litter; prefers drier habitats. It is secretive but not shy; sometimes detected by the rustling of leaves it is strolling through.

The Key West Quail-Dove song is a soft, low plaintive “hooooooo,” given at a single pitch, but growing gradually louder before dropping off abruptly at the end. Cornell All About Birds

Least Tern

 

We have just returned from Cuba staying out on Cayo Coco. We had terrific weather and I was fortunate to get out birding every day. I observed 84 species, adding 7 new species to my Cuba bird list, with the Key West Quail-Dove being the only new lifer for me, bringing my Cuba bird list to 132 species. A bird that I had observed last year, but failed to photograph, was the Least Tern. These are adorable little terns that are only 8-9”.

The Least Tern is a distinctive, very small seabird, slim in all proportions, with long, narrow wings, trim body, and slender, sharp bill.

Breeding adults are pale gray and white, with a black cap, white forehead, and yellow bill. Nonbreeding adults have a dark bill, smudgy grayish crown, and may show a dark bar at the bend of the wing. The outer primaries are dark gray-black. Juveniles are similar to nonbreeding adults but scaly gray above. The legs are orange.

Least Terns dart over waterways, usually close to shore, diving for fish or other small prey. Males bring small fish to females for courtship feeding during much of the nesting season. Flight is strong and direct, on stiff, jerky, rapid wingbeats.

Least Tern habitat includes barrier islands and beaches, dredge spoil, river islands, flat gravel rooftops, and similar habitats for nesting. Cornell All About Birds