Endemic birds of the West Indies
This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the World's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.
Contents
Patterns of endemism
This region is notable not just for the high number of endemic species, but for endemism in higher-level taxonomic groupings too.
Family-level endemism
The following families are endemic to the region:
- Palmchat, a passerine family, containing a single species found only on Hispaniola.
- the todies, a family with five species, found only on the Greater Antilles.
Genus-level endemism
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In addition to genera in the families above, the following genera are endemic to the region :
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
- Margarops, with one species, the pearly-eyed thrasher
- Priotelus, with two species, the Cuban trogon and Hispaniolan trogon
Five genera found only on Hispaniola:
- Nesoctites, with one species, the Antillean piculet
- Phaenicophilus, with two species, black-crowned and grey-crowned palm-tanagers
- Calyptophilus, with two species, eastern chat-tanager and western chat-tanager
- Microligea, with one species, the green-tailed warbler
- Xenoligea, with one species, the white-winged warbler
Five genera found only on Jamaica:
- Pseudoscops, with a single species, the Jamaican owl
- Trochilus, with two species, red-billed and black-billed streamertails
- Loxipasser, with one species, the yellow-shouldered grassquit
- Euneornis, with one species, the orangequit
- Nesopsar, with one species, the Jamaican blackbird
One genus found only on Puerto Rico:
- Nesospingus, a genus with only one species, the Puerto Rican tanager
Three genera found only on Cuba:
- Ferminia, a genus with only one species, the Zapata wren
- Cyanolimnas, with one species, the Zapata rail
- Torreornis, with one species, the Zapata sparrow
- Xiphidiopicus, with one species, the Cuban green woodpecker
The following genera are confined to the Lesser Antilles:
- Ramphocinclus, with a single species, the white-breasted thrasher
- Cinclocerthia, with two species, the gray trembler and the brown trembler
- Allenia, with one species, the scaly-breasted thrasher
In addition in the following genera, high proportions of the member species are endemic to the west Indies:
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Endemic Bird Areas
Birdlife International has defined a number of Endemic Bird Areas in the West Indies.
025 | Cuba |
026 | Bahamas |
027 | Jamaica |
028 | Hispaniola |
029 | Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands |
030 | Lesser Antilles |
They have also defined the following Secondary areas:
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
List of species
Species endemic to Cuba
Species endemic to Hispaniola
Species endemic to Jamaica
Species endemic to Puerto Rico
Other species endemic to the Greater Antilles
Species endemic to the Lesser Antilles
Other species endemic to the region
Near-endemics
- Zenaida dove
- Antillean nighthawk
- White-crowned pigeon
- Caribbean coot
- Pearly-eyed thrasher
- Caribbean dove
The following is a list of species endemic to the region as breeding species:
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
The following is a list of species endemic to the region as non-breeding species:
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
The following restricted-range species are also found in the region:
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
The following seabirds are restricted to the region as breeders:
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.