Did you know? The world of Caribbean endemic bird vocalisations

We think Caribbean forest endemic birds have some pretty interesting vocalisations. Here are some of our favourites. 

• The Puerto Rico lizard cuckoo is known as the ‘rain bird’ due its raucous ‘ka-ka-ka’ call which is thought to forecast rain.

• The local name for the Hispaniolan breeding endemic black-capped petrel is ‘Diablotín’, which means ‘little devil’. It is so named because it is nocturnal and makes odd-sounding mating calls, which were thought by locals to indicate the presence of evil spirits.

 Black-capped petrel by Don Faulkner licensed under Creative Commons  

• The regional endemic thick-billed vireo has 80 syllables, 32 of which are unique and are not shared between the different populations.  

• Populations of the St Lucia parrot have regional dialects in their flight vocalisation, which is likely to be an important aspect of communication in these social birds.

• The yellow shouldered blackbird displays to each other with a ‘song-spread’, vocalising with a growl-like song as they lift up their wings to expose yellow wing patches.

 Yellow-shouldered blackbird by Mike Morel licensed under Creative Commons  

• The constant vocalisation of the tody is a ubiquitous acoustic presence in the Caribbean islands where these species occur. The most characteristic call ‘pprreeee-pprreeee’, gave the Cuban tody its common name 'Pedorrera'.

• Unlike many owls, the Cuban pygmy owl is often heard during the day, with a low, plaintive call. Pygmy owl calls are often used by birdwatchers to attract birds through mimicking alarm calls, known as ‘pishing’.

 Cuban pygmy owl by Shawn McCready licensed under Creative Commons  

• The Lesser Antillean brown trembler has an ‘excitement song’ during territorial chases, which sounds like a loud jumble of notes. 

• The local name ‘juí’, for the Puerto Rican flycatcher is based on its wistful ‘whee’ call, and is thought to be a sign of both good and bad news.

• The Greater Antillean grackle is a noisy, gregarious bird, whose local name across its range is often derived from its vocalisations, such as Cling-cling in Jamaica and Chinchilín in the Dominican Republic.

• The Jamaican Pauraque has not been seen since 1860. There are no records of its vocalisations, compounding the search for this nocturnal species.

What are your favourite Caribbean endemic bird vocalisations?