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Birding

For birdwatchers and nature lovers, the island is a true mecca. It’s a place where they can see 18 of the 28 species of Bahamian birds that are not seen in the U.S., Canada or Europe.

Birding Sites

Rand Nature Center

Most people come to the Rand Nature Center, only minutes from downtown Freeport, to see the variety of birds found there, including Antillean peewee birds, red-legged thrushes, stripe-headed tanagers, the endangered Bahama parrot and, occasionally, a Kirtland's warbler.

Along the nature trail that winds through the park, at least 130 Bahamian plants have been identified, which are just as fascinating as the birds. The whiskbroom fern, for instance, is believed to have been the first plant in the world to stand upright. Many other species became very useful in the daily lives of early Grand Bahamians. Uniola, a springy grass, was used to stuff mattresses, the sharp-pointed agave leaves served as needles and threads and love vine is believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac.

 

Species

A Sampling of Grand Bahama Island's Bird Species

Resident Birds
Barn owl
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Brown-headed nuthatch
Great blue heron
Green heron
Least grebe
Mangrove cuckoo
Turkey vulture

Migrating Birds
Baltimore oriole
Black-whiskered vireo
Cape May warbler
Kirtland's warbler
Orchard orioles
Pectoral sandpiper
Ruddy turnstone
Swainson's warbler
Tennessee warbler
Virginia's warbler
Eastern kingbird

Endemic Birds
Bahama swallow
Bahama yellowthroat
Bahama woodstar

Grand Bahama Specialty Birds
Bahama mockingbird
Bananquit
Black-faced grassquit
Cuban emerald
Cuban pewee
Greater Antillean bullfinch
Key West quail-dove
LaSagra's flycatcher
Loggerhead kingbird
Olive-capped warbler
Red-legged thrush
Striped-headed tanager
Thick-billed vireo
White-cheeked pintail
Zenaida dove

 

Birding Guides and Sites with Bahamas Directory on Grand Bahama Island

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