Bonaire Birds

Flamingos

Caribbean flamingos

One of the Caribbean’s key nesting colonies

More than 210 bird species have been recorded on Bonaire, and the island has six Important Bird Areas, from Washington Slagbaai in the north to the Pekelmeer salt works in the south (BirdLife IBA). Four of its wetlands are Ramsar sites, first designated in 1980 and extended in 2021 to almost 8,700 ha (Ramsar 2021).

Lora, prikichi and chuchubi are the birds’ names in Papiamentu (InfoBonaire).

Caribbean flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber

Key marks: 1.2–1.4 m tall, pale pink to crimson depending on how many carotenoid-rich crustaceans it eats, with a bill bent downward for filtering food (Wikipedia (ES)).

At Bonaire: Breeds at Pekelmeer in the south, in a 55 ha Flamingo Breeding Reserve set up in 1969 inside the salt works; about 3,000 breeding birds were counted between 1980 and 2017, and the site is closed to the public (Ramsar (Pekelmeer)). Washington Slagbaai holds about 500 more, and several hundred use Gotomeer (BirdLife IBA; Ardea 2009 checklist).

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Watching flamingos

The breeding season runs mainly from March to mid-July (bonaire.com). Pekelmeer is closed to visitors (Ramsar (Pekelmeer)); flamingos can be watched with binoculars from the road near Pink Beach (Sunwise Bonaire). Don’t approach the birds.

Parrots

The lora and the prikichi

Bonaire’s two parrots

Yellow-shouldered amazon (lora) Amazona barbadensis

Key marks: About 33 cm and mostly green, with a whitish forehead, yellow crown and eye area, yellow “shoulders” and thighs, and a red patch in the wing (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: Roost counts rose from an average of about 514 birds in 2005–09 to about 1,152 in 2020–23. Threats include chicks poached for the pet trade, grazing goats and donkeys that stop trees regrowing, and shooting as a crop pest. Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2021 (Frontiers 2024). Most often seen in north Kralendijk, Hato and further north (InfoBonaire).

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Brown-throated parakeet (prikichi) Eupsittula pertinax

Key marks: 23–28 cm, with a yellow face, olive-brown breast and green back; the Bonaire subspecies xanthogenia has an orange-yellow crown and nape (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: The subspecies is found only on Bonaire, almost everywhere except the southern salt works (InfoBonaire). Smaller than the lora.

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Coast

Seabirds and the shore

Seen from the shore between dives

Brown pelican Pelecanus occidentalis

Key marks: The smallest pelican, with a 2–2.3 m wingspan; breeding adults have a white head and a dark brown neck. Plunges bill-first into the sea from high up (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: Hunts along the shore at Pink Beach (Birdingplaces); breeds and feeds at Lac Bay (Ramsar (Lac Baai)).

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Magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens

Key marks: Long, angled wings spanning 2.2–2.4 m and a forked tail. Males are all black with a red throat pouch; females have a white breast; young birds have a white head (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: Roosts at night in the Lac Bay mangroves, historically more than 100 birds; breeding there has not been confirmed (KBA Lac Bay).

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Brown booby Sula leucogaster

Key marks: Dark chocolate-brown with a sharply marked white belly (Wikipedia (ES)).

At Bonaire: Roosts on seven cliffs on the north-west coast of Washington Slagbaai, up to 240 birds in July and far fewer in January; not known to breed on Bonaire (J. Caribbean Ornithology).

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Royal tern Thalasseus maximus

Key marks: A large tern with a stout orange-red bill and a black cap and shaggy crest in the breeding season (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: On Bonaire it nests only at the Pekelmeer salt works, where 170–174 adults were counted in 1999 and 2002 (BirdLife IBA; KBA Pekelmeer).

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Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Key marks: Dark brown above and white below with a dark mask through the eye; dives feet-first for fish (Wikipedia (ES)).

At Bonaire: A migrant only (Ardea 2009 checklist); often seen at Pink Beach (Birdingplaces).

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Land

Gardens and dry forest

Around the dive shops and in the national park

Bananaquit Coereba flaveola

Key marks: About 11 cm, with a black crown, white eyebrow, yellow breast and rump and a slender curved bill (Wikipedia (ES)).

At Bonaire: Called the “sugar thief”: it visits gardens for nectar (InfoBonaire).

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Tropical mockingbird (chuchubi) Mimus gilvus

Key marks: 23–25 cm, grey above and off-white below, with a dark line through the eye, two white wing bars and a long dark tail with pale tips (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: Probably the bird you will meet most often, in almost any garden (InfoBonaire).

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Crested caracara Caracara cheriway

Key marks: 50–65 cm, with a dark cap and belly, a barred buff breast, a bare yellow-to-orange face and pale patches in the wings in flight; often walks on the ground (Wikipedia).

At Bonaire: A scarce breeding resident on Bonaire (Ardea 2009 checklist).

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Credits

Bird photo credits

Reference photos and their sources

There are no photos of Bonaire’s birds in this guide yet. The frigatebird is a reference photo taken elsewhere, credited below; the other birds link to photos online.

Photo credits. Each link opens the page the photo came from.
Species	Photographer	Licence	Source
Magnificent frigatebird	Andrew Turner from Washington, DC, United States	CC BY 2.0	Wikimedia Commons