birding...

Little Cuckoo Piaya minuta ©Steve Blain http://www.steveblain.co.uk

Suriname is a part of the Guyanese shield, between the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers. It is for a large part covered with Amazonian rainforest. The country has some excellent birding places that are easily and safely accessible. Several national parks and nature reserves can be visited and the organisation that takes care of them STINASU [see the website below] can give assistance with the planning of trips and it also has bird guides available. Several other organisations organize trips to places in the interior, where one can also visit local villages. Most of these trips are by plane and so will cost several hundred dollars. The coastal area and the neighbouring savannas can best be visited with a rented car, and places near Paramaribo by taxi.

The best place to visit for birders is the Ralleigh Falls / Voltzberg nature reserve. Its checklist has more than 450 species. It is part of a larger reserve that is, unfortunately, mostly inaccessible; the Central Suriname Nature Reserve of about 150 by 70 kilometers. This unspoiled rainforest reserve has many large birds, such as Ara`s, birds of prey, [including the Harpy eagle] and gamebirds.

The Voltzberg area has open areas with many hummingbirds, tanagers and parrots visiting the flowers and fruit trees at the edge of the forest. A research station with room for 20 hammocks open for tourists has been made near the Voltzberg, a granite outcrop with a height of 240 meters (Suriname is a mainly flat country, so this is high above the surroundings) and it allows you to be in the best place at the beginning and end of the day. Besides birds there are many mammals to be seen, such as the eight species of monkey. The trip to Ralleigh Falls is best made by boat (several hours must be endured out in the open sun); but it can be made by plane.

Other great birding areas include Brownsberg Nature Park [just 100 km south of the capital, with its very wet rainforest and special fauna because of its 500 meter height] and the savanna near the airport of Zandery and the savanna on the southern border with Brazil, the Sipaliwini savanna.

The coastal areas are very flat and have many marshes. Many waterbirds can be found here and, along the road to the west are many places are of interest to birders, especially in the early morning. Other areas of interest are town parks and old coffee plantations and any of the less populated areas of the country.

All these places are safely accessible. All months are suited for birding trips. The weather at the height of the wet season (June) makes trips by car more difficult, because the road conditions are not at their best.

A beautifull book on the birds of Suriname was revised in 1994 (Birds of Suriname, by Haverschmidt and Mees); but is too large for use in the field. The best field guides to use are the Birds of Venezuela by de Schauensee and Phelps, together with a guide on the birds of eastern North America for the many migrating birds.