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
Anhinga
Cuckoos
Mangrove Cuckoo
Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl
Black-bellied Whistling-duck
Blue-winged Teal
Fulvous Whistling-duck
Masked Duck
Muscovy Duck
Falcons and Caracaras
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Frigatebirds
Magnificent Frigatebird
Grebes
Pied-billed Grebe
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Bridled Tern
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Sooty Tern
Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
Broad-winged Hawk
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Black-crowned Night-heron
Cattle Egret
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Little Blue Heron
Little Egret
Snowy Egret
Hummingbirds
Antillean Crested Hummingbird
Green-throated Carib
Kingfishers
Belted Kingfisher
New World Warblers
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Prothonotary Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Nightjars and Allies
Common Nighthawk
Osprey
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
Audubon’s Shearwater
Swallows
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Caribbean Martin
Swifts
Black Swift
Chimney Swift
Tanagers and Allies
Bananaquit
Barbados Bullfinch
Black-faced Grassquit
Grassland Yellow-finch
Tropicbirds
Red-billed Tropicbird
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
Blue Grosbeak
Dickcissel
Indigo Bunting
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Scarlet Tanager
Summer Tanager
Cuckoos
Black-billed Cuckoo
Common Cuckoo
Greater Ani
Smooth-billed Ani
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl
American Wigeon
Brant
Common Pochard
Common Shelduck
Eurasian Wigeon
Garganey
Greater Scaup
Green-winged Teal
Hooded Merganser
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Orinoco Goose
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Tufted Duck
West Indian Whistling-duck
White-cheeked Pintail
White-faced Whistling-duck
Wood Duck
Falcons and Caracaras
American Kestrel
Bat Falcon
Flamingos
American Flamingo
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 Kite
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
American Bittern
Gray Heron
Least Bittern
Little Bittern
Purple Heron
Squacco Heron
Striated Heron
Tricolored Heron
Western Reef-heron
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Hummingbirds
Purple-throated Carib
Ibises and Spoonbills
Eurasian Spoonbill
Glossy Ibis
White Ibis
Kingfishers
Ringed Kingfisher
Mockingbirds and Thrashers
Pearly-eyed Thrasher
Tropical Mockingbird
New World and African Parrots
Orange-winged Parrot
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
Antillean Nighthawk
Northern Storm-petrels
Leach’s Storm-petrel
Old World Flycatchers
Northern Wheatear
Old World Parrots
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Old World Sparrows
House Sparrow
Owls
Short-eared Owl
Oystercatchers
American Oystercatcher
Pelicans
Brown Pelican
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies
Red Junglefowl
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
Collared Pratincole
Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
Purple Gallinule
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
Wilson’s Storm-petrel
Starlings
European Starling
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
White-tailed Tropicbird
Troupials and Allies
Baltimore Oriole
Bobolink
Giant Cowbird
Yellow-hooded Blackbird
Tyrant Flycatchers
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-pewee
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Vireos, Shrike-babblers, and Erpornis
Yellow-throated Vireo
Wagtails and Pipits
White Wagtail
Weavers and Allies
Northern Red Bishop
Yellow-crowned Bishop
Wrens
House Wren
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.
