Easy Birding in Trinidad

Typical Itinerary

1. Day 1: Fly to Trinidad & transfer to Asa Wright Nature Centre

   We depart on our international flight to Port of Spain, Trinidad's largest city and the capital. On arrival, we transfer to the Asa Wright Nature Centre, located in the scenic hills of the island’s Northern Range. The Asa Wright Nature Centre protects an area of 200 square kilometres and has established itself as one of the world’s must-visit locations for keen naturalists. With comfortable accommodation and excellent facilities onsite, it is the perfect place to base ourselves for the week ahead.

   Accommodation: Asa Wright Nature Centre, 7-nights

2. Day 2: Birdwatching around the Asa Wright Nature Centre

   Our first full day on Trinidad is spent familiarising ourselves with the extensive grounds of the Asa Wright Nature Centre. With the breaking of dawn, the birds of the forest gradually become more active and, as the morning progresses, the bird song becomes ever louder, as more birds join the chorus. The forest gradually becomes a hive of activity with a wide variety of species visiting the feeding stations on view from the verandah, including a tantalising mix of bananaquits, parrots, tanagers and kiskadees.

   After taking in this morning spectacle, we join one of the centre’s expert guides on a walk through the bird-rich grounds. This is an ideal opportunity to see some of the species that are typically trickier to view from the verandah, such as golden-headed and white-bearded manikins, delightful tufted coquette hummingbirds and several species of honeycreeper. With luck, we may see the manikins displaying at one of the nearby leks, with a further chance of such charismatic species as Trinidad motmot and collared trogon.

3. Day 3: Waterloo & Caroni Swamp

   Following breakfast, we head out on an excursion to Waterloo. This outing provides a distinct contrast to the forest birding that we will have experienced before, as we scan the shoreline exposed by the retreating tide. This habitat is perfect for a variety of waders, herons, gulls and a multitude of other species. During our time, we can hope to see black skimmer, royal tern, brown pelican and greater yellowlegs.

   Later in the day, we venture into Caroni Swamp and board a boat to explore the vast network of mangroves, where we should see striated, little blue, great and tri-coloured herons. In addition to the birdlife, we may also be lucky enough to spot silky anteater or even one of Caroni’s multiple snake species. However, the bird that most of us will have come to see in the Caroni Swamp is the stunning, brightly coloured scarlet ibis, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s national birds.

4. Day 4: Dunston caves & turtle watching

   We dedicate this morning of our itinerary to visit a very special location in the grounds of the Asa Wright Nature Centre – Dunston Caves. Access to these caves is strictly controlled and only guests of the centre are allowed to visit on one day of the week. The reason for this strict access to Dunston Caves is due to the species that resides inside. These caves are home to a colony of the world’s only nocturnal fruit-eating bird, the oilbird. 

   The walk from the centre to Dunston Caves takes around 45 minutes, but this does depend on what we see along the way. The trail is relatively easy-going with a few flights of stairs with handrails, but we are not in any rush and can take our time. Once at the caves, we proceed to enter in small groups with an expert guide who, with the aid of a torch, will show us these unique birds.

   In the evening, we have the opportunity to visit the east coast of Trinidad, where we hope to see leatherback turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. 

5. Day 5: Leisurely morning & afternoon excursion to Wallerfield

   This morning is free to spend at leisure following our late return from turtle watching the previous evening.

   After lunch, we head out to a birding site known as Wallerfield, whose savannah habitat provides a distinct contrast to the forested grounds of the centre. Once at Wallerfield, we are likely to encounter a wealth of dry-country savannah species that we will not have seen previously, such as grey-lined kite, yellow-headed caracara, savannah hawk and plumbeous kite.

   In addition to the raptors, we also hope to catch sight of various other species that include southern lapwing, black-crested antshrike, rufous-browed peppershrike, masked yellowthroat, striped cuckoo, and many more. 

6. Day 6: Blanchisseuse Road & Northern Range

   Today, we take the Blanchisseuse Road to the village of Brasso Seco in Trinidad’s Northern Range to explore the higher forests of Trinidad’s Northern Range above the Asa Wright Nature Centre, with several birding stops along the way.

   There is a good chance that here we could see all three species of trogon found on Trinidad – green-backed, collared and Guianan. Other typical birds here include channel-billed toucan, swallow-tailed kite, golden-olive and red-rumped woodpeckers, lilac-tailed parrotlet, orange-winged parrot, long-billed gnatwren, speckled tanager and the charming ferruginous pygmy owl. Nearby we look for the critically endangered endemic Trinidad piping-guan.

7. Day 7: Aripo & Nariva Swamp

   This morning we make our way to the foothills of Trinidad's Northern Range and the Aripo Savannah. This gives us another opportunity to experience the grasslands on Trinidad and, as a result, will hopefully allow us to encounter some new species from those we've observed already during our time on the island. Our time at Aripo should provide us opportunities to view green-rumped parrotlets, red-breasted blackbird, fork-tailed flycatcher, blue-black grassquit, wattled jacana, southern lapwing and savannah hawk.

   In the afternoon, we venture to Nariva Swamp, which is the island's largest freshwater wetland. Nariva is home to a fantastic array of bird species due to its combination of habitats including forest, marshland and mangroves. Some of the species we hope to encounter are pinnated bittern, red-bellied macaw, anhinga, American pygmy kingfisher and orange-winged parrot as well as blue-and-yellow macaws have been reintroduced here relatively recently. We walk along some of the trails at Nariva which gives us an opportunity to see some of Nariva’s mammals, such as red howler monkey and white-fronted capuchin monkey.

8. Day 8: Depart Trinidad

   On our final morning in Trinidad, we enjoy the Asa Wright Nature Centre and its verandah at our leisure, before transferring back to the international airport in Port-of-Spain to catch our return overnight flight back to the UK.

9. Day 9: Arrive UK