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St Lucia

St Lucia Parrot Amazona versicolor ŠSteven Holt/stockpix.com http://stockpix.com/stock/animals/birds/index.htm

You will notice that there is no introduction to this section yet.

I would like to fill this gap with an introduction from a local birder [or someone who is a frequent visitor] for every on of the geographical pages. The many thousands of birders now regularly using these pages prefer to read something written by someone who can see the place from an insider's point of view. They know the best spots, not just the ones that first time overseas visitors usually visit or that are on the normal birding trip itineraries.

Each introduction carries the e-mail address of the contributor so that birders can get in touch with them if, for example, they are planning a trip [unless the contributor is unable to do this].

Please get in touch if you feel you can contribute an introduction to this page - you don't have to be an expert; I'm not!

numbers

Number of bird species:139
National Bird: St. Lucian Parrot Amazona versicolor

numbers

Number of endemics:4
St. Lucia Parrot Amazona versicolor
St. Lucia Oriole Icterus laudabilis
St. Lucia Warbler Dendroica delicata
St Lucia Black Finch Melanospiza richardsoni

useful reading

A Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies

(Peterson Field Guides) James Bond, Don R. Eckelberry (Illustrator); Arthur B. Singer (Illustrator) Paperback (September 1999) Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN: 0618002103
Buy this book from NHBS.com

The Birds of St Lucia

by Allan R Keith - BOU - This checklist deals with the avifauna of one of the oldest volcanic islands within the Lesser Antillean chain of islands of the West Indies. St Lucia has possibly the highest rate of endemism within the Caribbean. 1997. 176 pages, colour photographs, maps, etc. Price ?22.00 http://www.bou.org.uk/pubchkll.html
See Fatbirder Review
ISBN: 0907446191
Buy this book from NHBS.com

The Birds of the West Indies

By Herbert Raffaele, James Wiley, Orlando Garrido, Allan Keith & Janis Raffaele
Helm Field Guides Sept 2003 Paperback RRP ?16.99p
See Fatbirder Review
ISBN: 0713654198
Buy this book from NHBS.com

useful information

Proact

Coordinator: none (why not apply?) see http://www.proact-campaigns.net/coordinators
Members: None yet!
Join us at http://www.proact-campaigns.net/team

clubs

St Lucia National Trust

http://www.slunatrust.org/
The longest serving environmental and heritage membership organisation in St. Lucia. The SLNT is not only the largest such organisation, but also the only membership organisation with a legal mandate to conserve both the natural and cultural heritage of St. Lucia...

reserves

National Parks

http://www.geographia.com/st-lucia/lceco01.htm
Over 19,000 acres of rain forest sprawl across the mountains and valleys of St. Lucia. The lush forest is home to interesting wildlife, giant ferns, wild orchids, and the St Lucia Parrot (Jacquot). Hike the seven-mile nature trail or take a guided tour lead by the Forestry Department...

Nature Reserves

http://gocaribbean.about.com/library/weekly/aa101701a.htm
Map of the location of areas managed by St Lucia National Trust.

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you cant find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page give them a try!

2000 [March] - Don Roberson

http://montereybay.com/creagrus/LesAnt-trip.html
These shots are from a fine Focus on Nature tour of the Lesser Antillean islands of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Dominica (a trip led by Armas Hill); with a final day on Puerto Rico (a trip led by B. J. Rose and with a different set of participants). In the islands of the Lesser Antilles, we were successful in locating all island and regional endemics within a week...

2001 [March] - Alex Kirschel

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/st.lucia/st.lucia1/stluciamarch2001.htm
We arrived in St. Lucia in the afternoon, and actually thought we were in the Castries area. Not till we actually got to the hotel turning did we work out that we had come from the opposite side of the island, from the airport in the Vieux Fort area. We spent all three nights at the pleasant Fox Grove Inn hotel, which is half way down the eastern side of St. Lucia, convenient for travel to most of the good birding sites. St. Lucia is fairly pricey compared to Jamaica and particularly Cuba. The hotel was reasonably priced, but still the most expensive on our entire trip; food is more expensive, and the tour guides take quite a premium.

2002 - Christopher Starling

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/st.lucia/st.lucia2/st.lucia2002.htm
Believe it or not we were birding before we even left the plane noting Cattle Egret and, our first lifer, Caribbean Grackle on the runways...

2003 [January] - Neil Money - Antigua, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Barbados

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/caribbean/lesser-antilles/les-ant2003.htm
The destination was also something of a compromise dictated by self-imposed factors such as limiting the length of international flights, being in a non-malaria area and a suitably warm climate to escape from the northern winter. The Lesser Antilles met all our criteria and offered the challenge of finding single island endemics and regional endemics...

2004 [August] - Paul Noakes

http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=568
Form a birder's point of view St Lucia is probably the most important of the Lesser Antilles as it holds 5 extant endemics [maybe 6 if you split the nightjar] and a very high proportion of the multi-island Lesser Antillean specialities. It is a small island with relatively good infrastructure, it is safe and all the specialities are easily to find and could be seen in a single day's birding particularly if you used a guide which I did not. I also took a day trip to St Vincent...

2004 [January] - Jeff Hopkins

http://maybank.tripod.com/Caribbean/Caribbean-12-2003.htm#Lucia
There wasn`t much along the main road, but a quick diversion down a side street found a couple of TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRDS, a small flock of SHINY COWBIRDS, and some zenaida doves. Once I hit the road to Pigeon Island and got into some thorn scrub, I found a CARIBBEAN ELAENIA* who made me really work to see him, and a few more mockingbirds...

2005 [June] - Mike Powell

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/st.lucia/st.lucia3/st.lucia-june-05.htm
From a birding point of view St Lucia is a relatively easy island to work being 28 miles long & 14 miles wide and is probably the most important of the Lesser Antilles as it holds either 5 or 6 single island endemics.

2005 [November] - Chris Grimshaw

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/st.lucia/st.lucia4/st-lucia-nov-05.htm
I stayed at the Sandals Halcyon Beach Hotel in the northern suburbs of Castries on the the above dates. This is an excellent smallish hotel with beautiful grounds situated in Choc Bay. Its sister hotels the Regency and the Grand are also worth looking at if you are thinking of St Lucia for a holiday...

local guides

Focus on Nature

http://www.focusonnature.com/LssrAntillesMar-Apr'07Itinerary.html
This tour may be done in conjunction with our Jamaica Birding Tour which precedes it, or our Puerto Rico Birding Tour which follows it...

Jungle Tours In St. Lucia

http://www.saint-lucia.com/st-lucia-jungle-tour.html
During the two hours of walking you will also get numerous opportunities to see some of the island`s rarest birds (St. Lucia Orioles, Mockingbirds, Tyrants, Hummingbirds, Bananaquits, etc...) including the world famous Amazona Versicolor (the St. Lucian parrot indigenous to the island)...

places to stay

Seascape

http://www.seascape-stlucia.com
Secluded in 3 acres of private gardens sweeping down to the sea where you can swim. Within walking distance the main highway and mini-bus services and only a few minutes drive to the nearest beach...

St Lucia Hotels

http://www.escapetoeden.com/E.Caribbean/newpage2.htm
Listings of a number of hotels and resorts

St Lucia Hotels & Resorts

http://stlucia.wheretostay.com/index.html
A long list of links to hotels etc.

Fighting For A Rare Bird

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1170/is_1999_March/ai_58416420
Before dawn on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, Michael Bobb emerges from the tin-roofed, pink-and-blue cabin that serves as his base in the dense rain forest. A broad-shouldered, barrel-chested officer in St. Lucia`s Forest and Lands Department, Bobb rallies the troops from inside the field station and scattered tents outside: fellow foresters, local students, and foreign biologists and conservationists. Despite the steady downpour, it`s time to look for parrots.

National Bird of St Lucia

http://www.un.int/stlucia/National%20bird.htm
Mating for life and maturing after five years, these long lived birds are cavity nesters, laying two to three white eggs in the hollow of a large tree during the onset of the dry season between February and April...

Natural Attractions of St. Lucia

http://www.interknowledge.com/St-Lucia/lceco01.htm
Birdwatching - In areas such as the Bois D`Orange Swamp, the Rain Forest and Boriel`s Pond, visitors can observe some of St. Lucia`s rare, indigenous species, like the St. Lucian Parrot, White Breasted Thrasher, St. Lucia Peewee, St. Lucia Oriole, and St. Lucia Wren. Arrangements can be made through the St. Lucia Forestry Department for early morning or late afternoon trips. Four-hour excursions cost US$40.00 per person and accommodate a maximum of ten persons, minimum of three.

Saint Lucian Parrot Amazona versicolor

http://www.slumaffe.org/Forestry_Department/The_St__Lucian_Parrot/the_st__lucian_parrot.html
As its name suggests, this bird is found only on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies where it lives in the central mountainous rainforest...

St Lucia Parrot (Jacquot) - Amazona versicolor

http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/stLParrot.html
As its name suggests, the St. Lucia Parrot, or Jacquot, is found only on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies where it lives in the central mountain rainforest. In the darkness of the forest, their feathers appear dull and the parrots blend into their leafy world. But when the sunlight shines on their feathers, they display a brilliant pallet of red, green and blue.

St. Lucia Parrot Recovery

http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/biobulletin/Success/stlucia.html
The St. Lucia parrot (Amazona versicolor) lives in rain forests on the small island of St. Lucia, in the Caribbean Sea. In the mid-1970s, Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust found only 100 parrots left in the wild. The major causes of population decline were the destruction of its forest habitat, capture for the pet trade, and hunting...

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