Known for its white sandy beaches and blue seas, Barbados is also home to over 250 bird species. While only a single species is endemic to it – the appropriately named Barbados Bullfinch – many other birds can be found here. These include gulls, sandpipers, and ducks.
The national bird of Barbados is the Brown Pelican, which is rarely seen in Barbados nowadays. However, the bird has a long history with the residents of Barbados and is in the country’s coat of arms, developed by Neville Clarke Connell, the director of the Barbados Museum at the time. The stylized pelican on the coat of arms depicts a small island called Pelican Island, where the Brown Pelican used to be found. However, it serves as a dock for cruise ships today as Pelican Island has been incorporated into a project called the Deep Sea Harbor development.
List of Birds Found in Barbados Native Birds Anhingas
Cuckoos
Ducks, Geese , and Waterfowl
Black-bellied Whistling-duck Blue-winged Teal Fulvous Whistling-duck Masked Duck Muscovy Duck Falcons and Caracaras
Frigatebirds
Grebes
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Bridled Tern Laughing Gull Royal Tern Sooty Tern Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Hummingbirds
Kingfishers
New World Warblers
American Redstart Northern Waterthrush Prothonotary Warbler Yellow Warbler Nightjars and Allies
Osprey
Pigeons and Doves
Common Ground Dove Eared Dove Scaly-naped Pigeon Zenaida Dove Plovers and Lapwings
American Golden-plover Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Southern Lapwing Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
American Coot Common Gallinule Sora Sandpipers and Allies
Greater Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Pectoral Sandpiper Red Knot Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Spotted Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Shearwaters and Petrels
Swallows
Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Caribbean Martin Swifts
Tanagers and Allies
Bananaquit Barbados Bullfinch Black-faced Grassquit Grassland Yellow-finch Tropicbirds
Troupials and Allies
Carib Grackle Shiny Cowbird Tyrant Flycatchers
Caribbean Elaenia Gray Kingbird Vireos, Shrike-babblers, and Erpornis
Red-eyed Vireo Black-whiskered Vireo Non-native Birds Boobies and Gannets
Brown Booby Masked Booby Red-footed Booby Cardinals and Allies
Cuckoos
Black-billed Cuckoo Common Cuckoo Greater Ani Smooth-billed Ani Yellow-billed Cuckoo Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl
Falcons and Caracaras
Flamingos
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Arctic Tern Black-headed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Black Noddy Black Skimmer Black Tern Bonaparte’s Gull Brown Noddy Caspian Tern Common Tern Franklin’s Gull Glaucous Gull Gray-hooded Gull Great Black-backed Gull Gull-billed Tern Herring Gull Kelp Gull Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Little Gull Ring-billed Gull Roseate Tern Sandwich Tern Whiskered Tern White-winged Tern Yellow-legged Gull Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
Black Kite Eurasian Marsh-harrier Northern Harrier Snail KiteHerons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Hummingbirds
Ibises and Spoonbills
Eurasian Spoonbill Glossy Ibis White Ibis Kingfishers
Mockingbirds and Thrashers
Pearly-eyed Thrasher Tropical Mockingbird New World and African Parrots
New World Warblers
Bay-breasted Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Canada Warbler Cape May Warbler Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Connecticut Warbler Golden-winged Warbler Hooded Warbler Kentucky Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush Magnolia Warbler Northern Parula Ovenbird Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Tennessee Warbler Worm-eating Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Nightjars and Allies
Northern Storm-petrels
Old World Flycatchers
Old World Parrots
Old World Sparrows
Owls
Oystercatchers
Pelicans
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies
Pigeons and Doves
African Collared-dove Eurasian Collared-dove Rock Pigeon White-crowned Pigeon White-winged Dove Plovers and Lapwings
Collared Plover Common Ringed Plover Killdeer Northern Lapwing Pacific Golden-plover Piping Plover Snowy Plover Wilson’s Plover Pratincoles and Coursers
Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
Sandpipers and Allies
Baird’s Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Common Greenshank Curlew Sandpiper Dunlin Hudsonian Godwit Jack Snipe Little Stint Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Marbled Godwit Ruff Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Redshank Stilt Sandpiper Terek Sandpiper Upland Sandpiper Whimbrel White-rumped Sandpiper Willet Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Snipe Wood Sandpiper Shearwaters and Petrels
Black-capped Petrel Cory’s Shearwater Great Shearwater Manx Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Skuas and Jaegers
Great Skua Parasitic Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger South Polar Skua Southern Storm-petrels
Starlings
Stilts and Avocets
American Avocet Black-necked Stilt Swallows
Cliff Swallow Common House-martin Cuban Martin Northern Rough-winged Swallow Tree Swallow Swifts
Alpine Swift Short-tailed Swift White-collared Swift Thick-knees
Double-striped Thick-knee Thrushes and Allies
Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson’s Thrush Tropicbirds
Troupials and Allies
Tyrant Flycatchers
Vireos, Shrike-babblers, and Erpornis
Wagtails and Pipits
Weavers and Allies
Northern Red Bishop Yellow-crowned Bishop Wrens
There are several sites where enthusiasts like photographers and birdwatchers go to in Barbados to observe these birds without disturbing them, with September being the most suitable month for birding. Some popular ones include the Graeme Hall Nature Reserve, the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge, and the Chancery Lane Swamp.
