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468 species of birds have been recorded on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. There are few places in the world where so many bird species can be seen in such a small area, many of them unique, very rare, or of particular interest. They range from the many species of hummingbird to the cave-dwelling Oilbird (which uses echo-location to fly in the dark) and the spectacular Scarlet Ibis.

The islands are within a few miles of Venezuela, and the species are therefore typical of tropical South America. However, the number of species is relatively impoverished compared to the mainland, as would be expected with small islands.

The resident breeding birds are augmented in the northern winter by migrants from North America, although the range of migrant passerines is very limited compared to Central America.

Species in the list occur on both islands except where indicated. Tobago has only about half the number of bird species of Trinidad, but 22 birds have occurred only on the smaller island, including 12 breeding species. Some of the smaller islands off Tobago, such as Little Tobago, have important seabird breeding colonies.

Tinamiformes

Podicipediformes

Procellariiformes

Pelecaniformes

Ciconiiformes

Phoenicopteriformes

Anseriformes

Falconiformes

Galliformes

Gruiformes

Charadriiformes

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "List of birds of Trinidad and Tobago".

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