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Birdwatching in Saint Lucia

Home to the magical Piton Mountains, lush landscapes, unspoilt rainforests and palm-fringed beaches, Saint Lucia is the beautiful Caribbean island that has it all and more. From a birding point of view, Saint Lucia is very accessible being just 27 miles long and 14 miles wide and is probably one of the most important of the Lesser Antilles as it holds six single island endemics.

The six endemic species of Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia has six endemic species, one of which is the islands national bird, the Saint Lucia Parrot (Amazona Veriscolor), a species that recovered from dangerously low population numbers in the early 1980s. The other endemics are the Saint Lucia Pewee, Saint Lucia Warbler, Saint Lucia Oriole, Saint Lucia Black Finch and Semper’s Warbler. This gives Saint Lucia the distinction of having the highest number of endemic birds in the Eastern Caribbean region.
Saint Lucia Parrot
The Saint Lucia Parrot is about 42-46 cm (16.5-18 inches) in length. It inhabits the rainforest in the mountains of Saint Lucia. It feeds in the forest canopy on a wide variety of fruits, seeds and flowers. The parrot nests in the cavities of tall trees.
Saint Lucia Black Finch
The Black Finch is about 13-14 cm in length. It is found in both moist and dry forest areas. It forages in the leaf litter in dense understory. The finch usually nests in a spherical nest of twigs built in a low shrub or palm about 2m above ground.
Saint Lucia Pewee
The adult pewee grows to about 15 cm in length. It is quite common and resides mostly in moist forest, but is also found in dry forest areas. It perches low and sallies for insects. The pewee nests in a cup-shaped nest made of leaves and moss placed on a branch.
Saint Lucia Oriole
The adult oriole grows to about 22 cm in length. It is found in woodlands including dry and moist forest. It is uncommon and perhaps becoming scarcer. It feeds on insects, fruits, flowers and nectar. The oriole builds a nest sewn under a leaf or palm well above the ground.
Saint Lucia Warbler
The Warbler is about 12.5 cm in length. It is found in all forest types and at all altitudes. It forages for insects and spiders from leaves and twigs. It lays in a nicely woven, cup-shaped nest built in a tree about 1-5m above the ground.
Semper’s Warbler
The Semper’s Warbler is extremely rare or possibly extinct. The bird is about 14.5 cm in length. The plumage of the adults is dark grey at the upperparts and greyish white at the underparts. The last reliable sighting was in 1961. There have been unconfirmed sightings in 1965, 1972, 1989, 1995 and 2003. The Saint Lucian species of the House Wren is considered by some as an endemic species (although this is not as yet widely accepted). Another Lesser Antillean endemic bird in Saint Lucia is the endangered White-Breasted Thrasher.

 

Below is a comprehensive list of all the birds of Saint Lucia:

Pied-billed Grebe, Great Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Audubon’s Shearwater, Black-capped Petrel, White-tailed Tropicbird, Red-billed Tropicbird, Masked Booby, Brown Booby, Red-footed Booby, Brown Pelican, Anhinga, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Snowy Egret, Western Reef-Heron, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Roseate Spoonbill, American Flamingo, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Masked Duck, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Common Black-Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine, Sora, Purple Gallinule, Common Gallinule, American Coot, Caribbean Coot, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Collared Plover, Semi-palmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Black-necked Stilt, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Semi-palmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Stilt Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Ruff, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s Snipe, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Laughing Gull, Black headed Gull, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Black-legged Kittiwake, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Roseate Tern, Common Tern, Least Tern, Bridled Tern, Sooty Tern, Brown Noddy, Rock Pigeon, Scaly-naped Pigeon, White-crowned Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Zenaida Dove, Eared Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Bridled Quail-Dove, Ruddy Quail-Dove, St Lucia Parrot, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo, Mangrove Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Common, Nighthawk, Rufous Nightjar, Black Swift, Short-tailed Swift, Lesser Antillean Swift, Alpine Swift, Purple-throated Carib, Green-throated Carib, Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Caribbean Elaenia, St Lucia Pewee, Lesser Antillean Flycatcher, Gray Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Caribbean Martin, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Cave Swallow, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Rufous-throated Solitaire, Spectacled Thrush, Forest Thrush, Tropical Mockingbird, White-breasted Thrasher, Scaly-breasted Thrasher, Pearly-eyed Thrasher, Gray Trembler, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, St Lucia Warbler, Palm Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black and White Warbler, American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Semper’s Warbler, Canada Warbler, Bananaquit, Antillean Euphonia, Scarlet Tanager, Lesser Antillean Saltator, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-faced Grassquit, Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, St Lucia Black Finch, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Bobolink, Carib Grackle, Shiny Cowbird, St Lucia Oriole, Baltimore Oriole

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Anse Chastanet, Saint Lucia

ANSE CHASTANET is St. Lucia's only resort property with the iconic view of both the Piti and Gros Piton mountains floating upon the Caribbean Sea. The location of the property is unsurpassed, a private estate of 600 lush tropical acres of rainforest, containing many of the island's bird species, bordering two soft-sand Caribbean beaches with pristine coral reefs just offshore. The resort property includes the historical plantation of Anse Mamin and Emerald Estate where the resort grows its own organic produce. To find out more visit http://www.ansechastanet.com or call 1-800-223-1108