Birds of Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda is home to a wide variety of birds, several of which are easily spotted on the beaches and forests of the island nation. Some, like the Bananaquit, have adjusted to human presence so well that they have been recorded stealing sugar from tourists having breakfast.

The beautiful Magnificent Frigatebird is the national bird of Antigua and Barbuda, with the males known for their inflatable red gular sacs.

Birds of Antigua and Barbuda

List of Birds Found in Antigua and Barbuda

Native Birds

Boobies and Gannets

  • Brown Booby

Cuckoos

  • Mangrove Cuckoo

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

  • Green-winged Teal
  • Ruddy Duck
  • White-cheeked Pintail

Falcons and Caracaras

Frigatebirds

  • Magnificent Frigatebird

Grebes

  • Pied-billed Grebe

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

  • Brown Noddy
  • Laughing Gull
  • Least Tern
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull
  • Royal Tern
  • Sandwich Tern

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Hummingbirds

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

  • Pearly-eyed Thrasher
  • Tropical Mockingbird

New World Warblers

  • Northern Waterthrush
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • Prothonotary Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Northern Parula
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Barbuda Warbler

Oystercatchers

  • American Oystercatcher

Pelicans

  • Brown Pelican

Pigeons and Doves

  • Common Ground Dove
  • White-crowned Pigeon
  • Zenaida Dove

Plovers and Lapwings

  • Black-bellied Plover
  • Wilson’s Plover

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

  • Clapper Rail
  • Common Gallinule

Sandpipers and Allies

  • Lesser Yellowlegs
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Stilt Sandpiper
  • Upland Sandpiper
  • Whimbrel

Shearwaters and Petrels

  • Audubon’s Shearwater
  • Barolo Shearwater

Stilts and Avocets

  • Black-necked Stilt

Swallows

  • Bank Swallow
  • Caribbean Martin
  • Cliff Swallow

Tanagers and Allies

  • Bananaquit
  • Black-faced Grassquit
  • Lesser Antillean Bullfinch

Tropicbirds

  • Red-billed Tropicbird

Troupials and Allies

  • Carib Grackle

Tyrant Flycatchers

  • Caribbean Elaenia
  • Gray Kingbird
  • Lesser Antillean Flycatcher

Vireos, Shrike-babblers, and Erpornis

  • Black-whiskered Vireo

Non-native Birds

Tanagers and Allies

  • Grassland Yellow-finch

Swallows

  • Barn Swallow

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Guineafowl

  • Helmeted Guineafowl

Pigeons and Doves

  • Bridled Quail-dove
  • Eurasian Collared-dove
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Ruddy Quail-dove
  • Scaly-naped Pigeon
  • White-winged Dove

Cuckoos

  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Smooth-billed Ani
  • Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Swifts

  • Black Swift

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

  • American Coot
  • Black Rail
  • Purple Gallinule
  • Sora

Plovers and Lapwings

  • American Golden-plover
  • Killdeer
  • Northern Lapwing
  • Piping Plover
  • Semipalmated Plover
  • Snowy Plover

Sandpipers and Allies

  • Buff-breasted Sandpiper
  • Curlew Sandpiper
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Hudsonian Godwit
  • Least Sandpiper
  • Little Stint
  • Long-billed Curlew
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Red Knot
  • Red Phalarope
  • Ruff
  • Sanderling
  • Short-billed Dowitcher
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Western Sandpiper
  • White-rumped Sandpiper
  • Willet
  • Wilson’s Phalarope
  • Wilson’s Snipe

Skuas and Jaegers

  • Pomarine Jaeger

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

  • Black-headed Gull
  • Black Tern
  • Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Bridled Tern
  • Caspian Tern
  • Common Gull
  • Common Tern
  • Forster’s Tern
  • Great Black-backed Gull
  • Gull-billed Tern
  • Herring Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Roseate Tern
  • Slender-billed Gull
  • Sooty Tern

Tropicbirds

  • White-tailed Tropicbird

Shearwaters and Petrels

  • Cory’s Shearwater
  • Great Shearwater

Boobies and Gannets

  • Masked Booby
  • Red-footed Booby

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

  • Northern Harrier
  • Red-tailed Hawk

Falcons and Caracaras

Nightjars and Allies

  • Antillean Nighthawk
  • Chuck-will’s-widow

Hummingbirds

  • Purple-throated Carib

Stilts and Avocets

  • American Avocet

Jacanas

  • Wattled Jacana

Southern Storm-petrels

  • Wilson’s Storm-petrel

Northern Storm-petrels

  • Band-rumped Storm-petrel
  • Leach’s Storm-petrel

Storks

Pelicans

Ibises and Spoonbills

  • Glossy Ibis

Osprey

  • Osprey

Kingfishers

  • Belted Kingfisher

Woodpeckers

Cardinals and Allies

Vireos, Shrike-babblers, and Erpornis

  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Yellow-throated Vireo

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Thrushes and Allies

  • Wood Thrush

Waxbills and Allies

  • Scaly-breasted Munia

Old World Sparrows

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

  • Antillean Euphonia

Troupials and Allies

  • Bobolink
  • Great-tailed Grackle
  • Shiny Cowbird
  • Venezuelan Troupial

New World Warblers

  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Hooded Warbler
  • Kentucky Warbler
  • Louisiana Waterthrush
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Ovenbird
  • Prairie Warbler
  • Worm-eating Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Thanks to the nation’s small size, it is possible to visit all the popular birding sites in one visit. Commonly visited places include Wallings Reservoir, the Christian Valley Birding Trail, and McKinnon’s Salt Pond. There is also a privately owned island called Great Bird Island the public can visit, which is home to avian species like the Brown Pelican, the Red-billed Tropicbird, and the West Indian Whistling-duck.

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