December 28, 2025-January 6, 2026 with Marcelo Barreiros & Alex Sundvall & Lester Nannan as local guide
A very successful Trinidad & Tobago tour with a very nice group, and this time having Alex with us was even better. The T&T tour is a great introductory tour for the Neotropics, with lots of beautiful hummingbirds, such as the Ruby Topaz hummingbird and Tufted Coquette, and colorful tanagers like Bay-headed and Turquoise tanagers. Our first part was at the wonderful Asa Wright Nature Centre, the most famous birding spot in Trinidad, which was renovated a few years ago with better facilities and great wildlife around. During our 5 days in the area, we had great moments, starting with some of the most wanted ones, like the loud and beautiful Bearded Bellbird seen (and heard!!) very close, and about 10 Oilbird seen roosting in their cave. Also, along the trails, we were lucky to see the male White-bearded Manakins displaying, Golden-fronted Greenlet, Golden-headed Manakin, Guianan Trogon, Cocoa Woodcreeper, White-bellied Antbird and one of the greatest moments on the tour, an adult Black Hawk-Eagle perched over the entrance road.
We also did very well along the Blachisseusse road, looking for some hard birds to find in Trinidad, like Blue-headed Parrot, Chestnut Woodpecker, Stripe-breasted Spinetail, Red-rumped Woodpecker, Gray-throated Leaftosser, Streaked Xenops, and we heard an Ornate Hawk-Eagle a couple of times but could not find it, unfortunately. Still in Trinidad, we visited other parts of the island looking for different habitats like the savanna, where we've got Black-throated Antshrike, Rufous-tailed Jacamar and White-tailed Goldenthroat. Along the coast, we had time to work on shorebirds, pelicans, and the rare Rufous Crab Hawk. Beyond that, another highlight on the tour is the Caroni Swamp, a huge protected mangrove area where the wildlife stays safe, including some rarities like Silky Anteater, the smallest one in the world. Later in the afternoon, we parked our boat to watch about 5000 Scarlet Ibis coming from elsewhere to roost. We planned our dinner on board to enjoy a bit longer before going back to Asa Wright Nature Centre.
After some nice days in Trinidad, we flew to the small island of Tobago, which is the tourist part, with lots of vacation resorts, beautiful beaches and more birds for us. Even seeing a lot in Trinidad, we still had some targets in Tobago, and a few other species that only occur in Tobago, like Venezuelan Flycatcher, Olivaceous Flycatcher, Trinidad Motmot and the rare White-tailed Sabrewing, which is much easier to see now thanks to Miss Shurland and her feeders. Beyond the forest birding, we did a nice uphill hike on Little Tobago Island, seeing a few Scaly-naped Pigeons and better looks at the Trinidad Motmot. At the end, we arrived at the lookout to enjoy a few Short-tailed Swifts flying very low above our heads, several Red-footed Booby nesting on the cliffs and the greatest show, the gorgeous Red-billed Tropicbirds with their elegant flight skills, being attacked by the Magnificent Frigatebird while coming to land. Back in Trinidad, we drove to the northern part of the island, with a great stop at Bajnath's State Hummingbird Sanctuary, where we saw a few more new birds, including Plain-brown Woodcreeper, a nice look at Ornate Hawk-eagle, the male Tufted Coquette, and Red-legged Honeycreeper. From there, we drove a bit more to our destination, Point-a-Piere beach, home of the most endangered species in the archipelago, the Trinidad Piping-Guan, with about 200 birds left and the Grand Riviere area is the best place to find it. We saw a few individuals peacefully feeding on a fruiting tree by the lodge a couple of times. In addition to the Piping-guan, we also saw a pair of Trinidad Euphonia, two Gray-headed Kite soaring, and a better look at Silvered Antbird.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/459274
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/tri25bTRIPLIST.pdf
-- Marcelo Barrieros