Date: 8/20/25 6:18 am From: Derb Carter (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Dominica vs. St. Lucia birding & sightseeing
Harry gave a good overview. With the recent splits of House Wren and White-breasted Thrasher, Dominica has three endemics and St Lucia seven. Both islands have several near and Caribbean endemics. But Dominica has Imperial Amazon which was nearly done in by Hurricane Maria a few years ago. Chance to see the rarest parrot in the world so I would opt for it if I had to choose. Plus Dominica has better beaches and snorkeling and you can take a boat with a good chance for sperm whales (April might be a bit late?).
I have contact info for good local guides on each island if you are interested. Ryan Chenery has recently published a photo guide to birds of the Lesser Antilles that is available online. Like Harry said, if I had a week I would consider splitting time between the two islands.
Derb Carter
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From: <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> on behalf of Jeremy Wrenn <carolinabirds...>
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2025 10:01:17 PM
To: Harry LeGrand <hlegrandjr...>
Cc: carolinabirds listserve <carolinabirds...>
Subject: Re: Dominica vs. St. Lucia birding & sightseeing
Thanks, Harry! Very thorough summary, and kind of reinforces what I was wondering.
--Jeremy Wrenn
Wake Forest, NC
On Tue, Aug 19, 2025 at 9:54 PM Harry LeGrand <hlegrandjr...><mailto:<hlegrandjr...>> wrote:
I have been to essentially all of these Lesser Antilles islands in 2024. All are rather small in size and most are mountainous, like these two.
For birding you would want or need about 2 days, and you or a non-birder will get bored after about 3 days, as these are not really places US tourists go for a week for a vacation. I went on a guided Lesser Antilles trip and visited 10 islands in about 15 days and got all of the 30+ endemics. My recommendation, as I know you aren’t going to want to travel that far for just 3 days and back home, is to visit both or a third island for 7-9 days total.
Each of these two has 2-3 endemics but maybe 15 or more of the 30 Antilles endemics, as most occur on two ir more islands. And to see the endemics, you may want or need to have a local guide. Seeing the critically endangered Imperial Parrot on Dominica, which we did, is a big deal and is easy to miss owing to maybe 35-40 birds left. There is another endemic parrot there and Saint Lucia also has another. These are all Amazona species and I think the Imperial is the largest of the several dozens of this group.
And make sure you know how to pronounce these islands correctly — dom-i-NEE-ca and Saint LOO-sha.
Harry LeGrand
Raleigh
Sent from my iPhone
> On Aug 19, 2025, at 9:05 PM, Jeremy Wrenn <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
>
>
> Folks, do any of you have any experience with either/both of Dominica or St. Lucia for birding and/or sightseeing?
>
> Next spring, the first week in April, my wife (who is NOT a birder, but tolerates my obsession and lightly participates) and I are planning a trip and are considering these two locations.
>
> Anyone been there or have any feedback?
>
> Thanks,
>
> --Jeremy Wrenn
