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 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
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