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Guyana Rainforest

Guyana is a little-known treasure for birders. Belize is popular with birders because the population density is low, there are pleasant lodges right in the forest, it is a short trip from the airport to the lodges, and the language there is English. What Guyana has that Belize doesn’t is a country list of more than 800 species, almost twice that of Belize. In addition, for birders interested in a tropical birding experience, much of the Belize list is North American migrant or resident birds that range north into the United States. Guyana is too far south and east for large numbers of North American migrants, and very few resident species are common to both countries. Airfare out of New York or Miami is often less expensive to Guyana than to Belize.

Birds of Venezuela, the celebrated update to the Guide to The Birds of Venezuela, is an excellent volume that will work well as a field guide to the birds of Guyana, its neighboring country. Only a few species that are likely to be encountered are not covered. In addition, first-class birding starts right in the middle of Georgetown, the capital, in the botanic gardens, only a 10-minute cab ride from the country’s premier hotel. This is the only capital city I have ever been in where one can often see birds like black hawk-eagle, black-collared hawk, large flocks of snail kites, blood-colored woodpecker, point-tailed palmcreeper, spotted tody-flycatcher, cinereous becard, as well as various nesting macaws, and much more all in the downtown central district, plus have the opportunity to hand-feed manatees.

Day trips out of the hotel can include the Lamaha Water Conservancy, a vast marsh and swamp that is the aquifer that supplies water to most of the country’s population. It is simple to arrange to hire a boatman and his boat to explore this area and see large flocks of red-shouldered and red-bellied macaws along with a few red-and-greens, numerous rufescent tiger-herons, crakes and rails, and many other species of birds as well as giant river otters (the males can be seven feet from nose to tail tip), South American river otters, and the spectacled caiman. Lunch is provided by the boatman, and good looks are provided by the birds. This place is less than 30 miles from the hotel.

Another day trip, only about 10 miles farther is the B & B Flower Farm. This is the experimental farm of Guyana’s leading flower exporter, and it is open to the public for a moderate fee. There is a two-story gazebo that is great for comfortable bird watching, a good refuge from the rain that happens in the tropics, and a place for barbecued lunch with nearby flush toilets. There are trails throughout the farm, with some entering the adjacent secondary forest. Raptors, macaws, toucans, araçaris, puffbirds, and of course flowers. Hummingbirds and small tanagers in quantity are all around. Seasonally the area attracts even opal-rumped and paradise tanagers.

More distant is a boat trip up the Mahaiconey River, about a two-hour drive from Georgetown. The boat closely resembles a larger version of the African Queen of movie fame. Open-country birds such as long-winged harrier and savannah hawk are usual, but the real feature is the little groups of hoatzins that live in the shrubby trees along the bank, affording first-class looks at this spectacularly odd creature that is Guyana’s national bird. Locally it is called canje pheasant. The boat captain is aware of the interest birders have in this outlandish bird and will stop the boat for the best views. It is usual to hire the boat for three to four hours, but longer trips are available.

For the moderately adventurous, there is the Linden Savannah about three miles beyond the flower farm continuing to the mining town of Linden some 25 more miles. Many species unique to the scrubby grasslands live here, including a good variety of seedeaters and seedfinches, grassland sparrows, many flycatchers, and with luck a view of a bearded tachuri, a tiny grassland flycatcher, quite rare and probably endangered. This savannah is not a place to wander alone because it is far too easy to get lost, and beginning around 10:00 a.m. the heat can be oppressive. It is well to have a Guyanese along who knows the area or to stay within hearing of the main road.

The rice farms on the far side of the Demerara River from Georgetown (about a 20-mile ride) are another good birding area with russet-crowned crakes, assorted herons, yellow-hooded blackbirds, red-breasted blackbirds, grassland yellow-finches, and yellowish pipits. This can be done as a day trip but it is perhaps better to do it as part of the trip to Shanklands Lodge, a very attractive facility perched on a small bluff overlooking the Essequibo, Guyana’s largest river. It is 22 miles wide at the mouth. On the back side of the lodge is the rainforest. The lodge is a series of large bungalows, the newer ones with solar hot water. Except during extremely rainy spells there is little problem with mosquitoes, but mosquito nets are provided. Except during the nesting period there are morning and evening flights of parrots, parakeets, parrotlets, and macaws, often by the hundreds. Some 20 species of Psittacidae have been seen at or quite close to this lodge, most being fairly regular. To present an idea of how deep one is in the forest here, black nunbirds nested for three years right next to the lodge’s garage. There is a whole complex of trails going into the forest from one end of the lodge featuring a good variety of antbirds and a 26-mile-long sand road going through savannah, rainforest, and scrub forest at the other end. Besides birds, jaguars, peccaries, and tapirs are common here but hard to see. Jeep rides along this road are available. A short, small boat trip to Makouria Creek is good for king vultures, honeycreepers, tanagers, hummingbirds, and great for silvered antbirds. Several species of hummers do courtship flights over this creek. A longer trip to Marshall’s Falls can be even more productive, but one must start very early to avoid the late morning heat that renders both birds and birders listless.

A four-wheel-drive vehicle will take you over the 26 miles of forest road mentioned above to the tiny town of Sand Hill where you can connect with a twin pontoon boat to a second fascinating lodge on Pokerero Creek. The ride up the creek is in itself a prime birding experience, the boat being stable enough to set up a telescope on a tripod for viewing. The initial few miles go through mixed forest and small agricultural areas, where five species of kingfishers are possible. There are always surprises, the more notable being the slaty-backed forest-falcon and Amazonian black tyrant, though neither can be counted on. The last part of the ride traverses marsh, finally arriving at Timberhead Lodge. This lodge was constructed largely by the local Amerindians using traditional materials and methods. Amerindians constitute most of the staff. Despite the lack of electricity here it is indeed pleasant and comfortable; up on stilts the rooms cool off quickly in the evening. Early birders’ breakfasts are available on request as they are at Shanklands and the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown. The lodge fronts on the marsh, locally referred to as the wet savannah (often very wet) and backs on the rainforest and extensive trails. The lodge has a checklist of more than 400 species, which is quite good as the bird list has been kept for only seven years. The first Guyana Christmas Bird Count was held here and produced almost 300 species, with only five observers. Other features of this lodge include the evening trip up the creek, starting in late afternoon and returning after dark in canoes or small boats, which usually finds many nighthawks, mostly semi-collared, nightjars, owls, potoos, fishing bats, and spectacled caiman. Before sunset the brush clumps along the creek have what was described by a very experienced South American birder as the greatest concentration of hummingbirds he had ever seen in the lowlands. The front yard in one evening produced pauraque, rufous nightjar, semi-collared nighthawk , spot-tailed nightjar, and white-tailed nightjar, all seen, not just heard. A visit to the Santa Mission, the local Amerindian town, is good for buying local crafts and for seeing birds not common at the lodge, since there are open agricultural areas. The marsh opposite the town dock often has the very local velvet-fronted grackle in some numbers.

There are also lodges in the interior, (reached by plane and four-wheel-drive vehicles) that have different fauna to some extent, but these can wait for a future article.

—Richard Ryan, Livingston, New Jersey