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Out of all the 700 islands and cays that make up The Islands of The Bahamas, Grand Bahama Island has the distinction of hosting the second highest number of native bird species. For birdwatchers and nature lovers, the island is a true mecca, 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.  

The Rand Nature Centre, local headquarters of The Bahamas National Trust, is the perfect place for birders to start. It is home to West Indian flamingos, Antillean Peewee birds, Red-legged Thrushes, Stripe-headed Tanagers, and the endangered Bahama Parrot. The Centre maintains a small library with bird books and field guides and can provide information on other ideal birding spots. 

Parrot Jungle's Garden of the Groves has many of the native specialties and, in season, many Neotropic migrants. West End is a true migrant trap, where more than thirty species of warblers and other migrants have been seen. Other sites vary from mangrove swamps, either accessible by boardwalk or kayak, to comfortable walking trails through the Caribbean pine forest (the dominant vegetation on the island), and other ecosystems -- the Whiteland Coppice, the Rocky Coppice, and the Blackland Coppice. And, of course, there are the beaches and the ponds on golf courses where native and migrating wading and water birds gather. 

Owl Hole, one of the blue holes of the Lucayan Cave System leased by the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO), is home to a family of barn owls. Diving is suspended when the owls are nesting there, usually between August and December.  

Fall migrants can be seen in late September and October.  Many of these species spend the winter on Grand Bahama Island and other islands of The Bahamas. There have been rare sightings of the Kirkland's Warbler and an Eastern Phoebe. Birds migrating north in the spring are best seen during March, April and May.  The best time of year to see the permanent and summer resident species is the summer months.

Some of Our Species ...
Resident Birds:   Barn Owl Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Brown-headed Nuthatcher Great Blue Heron Green Heron Least Grebe Mangrove Cuckoo Turkey Vulture Migrating Birds:   Baltimore Oriole Black-whiskered Vireo Cape May Warbler Kirtland Warbler Orchard Orioles Pectoral Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Swainson's Warbler Tennessee Warbler Virginia's Warbler Western 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 Stripe-headed Tanager Thick-billed Vireo White-Cheeked Pintail Zenaida Dove