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| Saffron Finch |
Day four in Curaçao found us navigating the bustling cruise terminal in Willemstad. Our itinerary focused on enjoying two of the island's renowned attractions: the Curaçao Dolphin Academy and the Curaçao Ostrich Farm. While birding wasn't explicitly planned, we birders tend to be always birding. This led to me seeing four new birds, but only two could be counted as lifers. How's that possible, you ask since a lifer is a bird you see for the first time? You will understand more as tell you about my birding day in Curaçao. |
| One of the American flamingos at the Curaçao Dolphin Academy |
We hired a taxi and went to our first destination in Curaçao, the Curaçao Dolphin Academy. There we saw the dolphins, rays, and other fish and aquatic exhibits. But the most fascinating one was the aquarium with the Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara). It was a gigantic fish! Ironically, after visiting two flamingo havens, my first American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) encounter came here, at the Academy, amidst relatively tame zoo birds. I did see a few wild birds though Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) and Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata magnificent).  |
| Rufous-collared Sparrow, one of the lifers from Curaçao |
Our next destination was the
Curaçao Ostrich Farm. On our way there, I spotted my first lifer for Curaçao, a
Blue-tailed Emerald (Chlorostilbon mellisugusthe). The second lifer, a
Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), appeared while we waited for the tour to begin. I also got my best looks for trip of a
Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) and a
Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) there. During the farm tour, I saw two birds that would have been lifers if they were not captive. They were the
Common Ostrich (Struthio camelus) and the
Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). At the end of the tour, I thought I detected one of my target species of the trip -
Yellow-shouldered Parrot (Amazona barbadensis), when I heard parrots calling among the noisy
Brown-throated Parakeet (Eupsittula pertinax), but I could not locate it despite great efforts.
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| Street art: a mural of Peregrine Falcon, downtown Willemstad |
Our day in Curaçao ended with a tour of the capital city, Willemstad. We were fascinated by the street art. The city was full of colorful murals, many of them featuring birds. We spotted flamingos, swallows, and parrots, but the Peregrine Falcon was my favorite. We walked back to the ship, crossing the famous Queen Emma floating bridge, passing by the Renaissance Mall & Rif Fort, and sampling the pancakes at the
Pancake Sensation. We followed a trail through the Renaissance Park and reached the ship. On our way back, we saw hundreds of Laughing Gulls. That ended my day of exploring and birding on the island of Curaçao tomorrow is scheduled to be a sea-day as we head east towards our final stop.
Number of Species recorded on the Day: 14
Number of Lifers recorded on the Day: 2
Total Species recorded for the Trip: 54
Total Lifers recorded for the trip: 7
Saffron Finch
Lifer #2: Rufous-collared Sparrow
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| Brown-throated Parakeet |
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| Crested Caracara |
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Venezuelan Troupial
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| Common Ground Dove |
The Zooed birds
A few of the colorful murals of birds
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