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.

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 dominican republic.
• the todies, a family with five species, found only on the Greater Antilles.

Genus-level endemism

In addition to genera in the families above, the following genera are endemic to the region :

• 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 (also monotypic within the subfamily)
• 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

Six genera found only on Cuba:

• Ferminia, a genus with only one species, the Zapata wren
• Cyanolimnas, with one species, the Zapata rail
• Margarobyas, with one species, the Bare-legged owl
• Starnoenas, with one species, the Blue-headed partridge-dove (depending on classification, the genus may also be monotypic to the subfamily level)
• 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:

Endemic Bird Areas

Birdlife International has defined a number of Endemic Bird Areas in the West Indies.

They have also defined the following Secondary areas:

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
• Pearly-eyed thrasher
• Caribbean dove

The following is a list of species endemic to the region as breeding species:

The following is a list of species endemic to the region as non-breeding species:

• Kirtland's warbler

The following restricted-range species are also found in the region:

The following seabirds are restricted to the region as breeders:

• Black-capped petrel

References

External links

• The Endemic Birds of Hispaniola