Caribbean Birding Trail

Know the Caribbean, Bird by Bird

Donate
  • About the CBT
    • Interpretive Guide Training
  • Countries
    • Countries A-I
      • Anguilla
        • Cove Pond
        • Dog Island
        • East End Pond
        • Forest Bay Pond
        • Katouche Canyon
        • Long Pond
        • Meads Bay Pond
        • Merrywing Pond System
        • Prickly Pear Cays
        • Road Salt Pond
        • Scrub Island
        • Sombrero
        • West End By-the-Sea Ponds
        • West End Pond
      • Antigua and Barbuda
        • Bethesda Dam
        • Christian Valley
        • Codrington Lagoon
        • McKinnon’s Salt Pond
        • Two Foot Bay National Park
      • Aruba
        • Spaans Lagoon
      • Bahamas
        • Abaco
        • Andros
        • Cat Island
        • Crooked Island and Acklins
        • Eleuthera
        • Exumas
        • Grand Bahama
        • Great Inagua
        • Long Island
        • Mayaguana
        • New Providence
        • San Salvador
      • Barbados
      • Bonaire
        • Dos Pos IBA
        • Gotomeer
      • British Virgin Islands
        • Josiahs Bay Salt Pond
        • Sandy Cay
      • Cuba
        • Guanahacabibes
        • Humboldt National Park
        • Mensura-Piloto National Park
        • Viñales
        • Zapata Swamp
      • Curaçao
        • Christoffel National Park
        • Salt Pans of Jan Thiel
      • Dominica
      • Dominican Republic
        • Central Mountain Range
          • Constanza and Valle Nuevo
          • Ebano Verde Reserve
          • Hatillo
          • Jarabacoa with Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez National Parks
          • La Joya de San Francisco
          • Loma Quita Espuela
          • Pico Diego de Ocampo, Santiago
        • Southeast
          • Bávaro
          • Cumayasa
          • Del Este National Park
            • Del Este National Park: Boca de Yuma
            • Del Este National Park: Guaraguao
            • Del Este National Park: Padre Nuestro Trail
            • Del Este National Park: Saona Island
          • Ecological Foundation Trail, Punta Cana
          • Limón Lagoon
          • Los Haitises National Park
            • Los Haitises National Park: Caño Hondo
            • Los Haitises National Park: Los Limones
          • Monte Plata
        • Southwest
          • Aguacate and Zapotén
          • Cabo Rojo and Pedernales
          • Cabral Lagoon
          • Cachote, Eastern Bahoruco
          • Jimaní
          • Lake Enriquillo
          • Loma Charco Azul
          • Oviedo Lagoon, Jaragua National Park
          • Puerto Alejandro and Tortuguero
          • Rabo de Gato and Puerto Escondido
          • Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
            • Los Arroyos, Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
        • North Coast
          • Cayos Siete Hermanos
          • El Choco National Park, Cabarete
          • El Limón, Samaná
          • Estero Hondo
          • Loma Guaconejo
          • Loma Isabel de Torres, Puerto Plata
          • Monte Cristi and Saladilla
          • Nalga de Maco National Park, Río Limpio
          • Samaná
        • Around Santo Domingo
          • Las Salinas de Baní
          • Mirador del Norte Park
          • National Botanical Garden
          • Ozama Wetlands
      • Grenada
        • Antoine Lake
        • Beausejour/Grenville Vale
        • Diamond Rock
        • Grand Etang National Park
        • Levera National Park
        • Mt. Hartman National Park
        • Telescope Pond
        • Woburn Bay MPA
      • Guadeloupe
        • Mountain Road
        • Pointe des Chateaux
    • Countries J-Z
      • Jamaica
        • Ahhh…Ras Natango Gallery and Garden
        • Barbecue Bottom Road
        • Black River Great Morass
        • Cockpit Country
        • Ecclesdown Road
        • Flagstaff
        • Green Hills Field Station
        • Hardwar Gap
        • Hope Gardens
        • Portland Bight Protected Area
        • Stewart Town
      • Martinique
        • Rocher du Diamant
      • Montserrat
      • Puerto Rico
        • Camuy Coastal Area
        • Culebra National Wildlife Refuge
        • Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge
      • Sint Eustatius
        • Pilot Hill
        • Quill/Boven National Park
        • Zeelandia Beach
      • St. Lucia
      • Sint Maarten
        • Great Salt Pond
        • Little Bay Pond
      • St. Martin
        • Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House
        • Étang Cimetière de Grand Case
        • Étang de la Barrière
        • Pic Paradis
      • St. Vincent and the Grenadines
        • Grenadines
          • Bird Sanctuary
          • Mustique Lagoon
          • Mustique Ponds Walk
        • Saint Vincent
          • Richmond Beach
      • Trinidad and Tobago
        • Tobago
          • Kilgwyn Swamp
          • Little Tobago
        • Trinidad
          • Asa Wright Nature Centre
          • Brasso Seco Paria Village
      • Turks and Caicos
        • Grand Turk
        • Middle Caicos
        • North Caicos
        • Providenciales
        • Salt Cay
        • South Caicos
  • Tours
  • Guides
  • Get Involved
  • Contact Us

You are here: Home / Anguilla / Dog Island

Dog Island

  • About Dog Island
  • The Birds
  • How to Get There
  • Tour Operators and Guides

Located just 8 miles north of Anguilla, Dog Island IBA is a 511 acre uninhabited rocky island that is home to 10 species of nesting seabirds. The island is surrounded by a marine park where endangered Green and Hawksbill turtles are present and nest on the island’s beaches. There is simply nothing quite like Dog Island IBA!

Dog Island Salt Pond (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

The center of the island comprised of dense prickly scrub, supports Anguilla’s only colony of Sooty Terns. Counts performed in 2007 documented 113,000 breeding pairs, making this colony globally significant.

Sooty Terns on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Nesting Laughing Gulls and Brown Boobies are also noted to have global significance.

Laughing Gulls on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)
Brown Booby, Chick, and Egg on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Regionally important species include the Red-billed Tropicbird, Masked Booby, Bridled Tern and Brown Noddy.

Masked Booby Family on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)
Bridled Terns on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)
Brown Noddy on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Anguilla’s only colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds dominates the eastern tip of the island. With a breeding cycle that generally starts in the fall, guests will find birds in various stages of development throughout the year. This population is also regionally important.

Magnificent Frigatebird Colony on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Least Terns, the smallest of Anguilla’s tern species, are also known to nest here. Invasive Black Rats were eradicated in 2012 through a multi-agency effort. At the successful completion of that project, the first instance of a nesting Audubon’s Shearwater was documented. This species continues to nest in small numbers.

Pope Cactus Landscape on Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Two large ponds located at Spring and Stoney Bays, play host to a number of species of waterfowl, herons and shorebirds. Land birds like the Caribbean Elaenia, Yellow Warbler, Black-faced Grassquit and Bananaquit can also be seen. During the winter months, Osprey and Peregrine Falcons can are present.

Access to Dog Island IBA is available via boat. Nature Explorers Anguilla conducts tours to the offshore cays on an arranged charter basis.

Entrance to the island is generally made through the beach at beautiful Great Bay on the north side of the island. This bay can fool visitors as it can quickly change from calm lake-like conditions to raging seas, especially during the winter months.

Great Bay, Dog Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Nature Explorers Anguilla offers tours to this site!

Dog Island

Anguilla Sites

  • Cove Pond
  • Dog Island
  • East End Pond
  • Forest Bay Pond
  • Katouche Canyon
  • Long Pond
  • Meads Bay Pond
  • Merrywing Pond System
  • Prickly Pear Cays
  • Road Salt Pond
  • Scrub Island
  • Sombrero
  • West End By-the-Sea Ponds
  • West End Pond

Anguilla Partners

  • Anguilla National Trust


Anguilla Tour Operators

  • Nature Explorers Anguilla

Recommended Bird Guides

A Guide to the Birds of Anguilla by Steve H. Holliday, Karim V. D. Hodge, and Damien E. Hughes

Birds of the West Indies by Herbert Raffaele, James Wiley, Orlando Garrido, Allan Keith, and Janis Raffaele

Birds of the Lesser Antilles by Ryan Chenery

 

Want to know how you can be involved?

Do you know of a place that should be part of the Caribbean Birding Trail? Are you the owner of a lodge or hotel and want to attract eco-tourists? Are you a guide interested in the birdwatching market? Then, get involved with our project!

Get Involved

The Latest from BirdsCaribbean.org

Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Just published in the #JournalOfCaribbeanOrnithology 🗞 (JCO) - understanding susceptibility to 🔬 #avian #malaria in Bananaquits. Learn more about this fascinating study here: bit.ly/JCO-Bananaqui… 📸 Carlos H Almeida #peerreview #openaccess #scicomm #Caribbean pic.twitter.com/BUBT…

reply retweet favorite
5:02 pm · March 24, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

The Smooth-billed #Ani is a bizarre looking #bird 🤨, with its oversized, strangely shaped bill and long tail! Anis are almost always seen in groups and do almost everything together, even incubating #eggs and raising offspring. 📸Russell Campbell ℹ️bit.ly/PhotoContest2… pic.twitter.com/zcdD…

reply retweet favorite
6:01 pm · March 23, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Happy #WorldWaterDay💧 Just like us #birds need water. Sadly, many of their sources are #threatened by #development #pollution & #climatechange But together we can #BeTheChange we want to see & make water conservation a part of everyday life. ✨ ➡️ bit.ly/JA-Backyard-B… pic.twitter.com/xqM2…

reply retweet favorite
3:12 pm · March 22, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Happy #InternationalDayOfForests 🌳 We're celebrating 🎉 by featuring the Bicknell’s Thrush 🤎 —a shy, subtle #bird that depends on #forests year-round. Both in the US, where they breed, & in the #Caribbean 🏝 where they migrate to for the winter. ℹ️ birdscaribbean.org/2… pic.twitter.com/eN6N…

reply retweet favorite
4:30 pm · March 21, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Today is #WorldSparrowDay✨We are particularly excited about this celebratory day because we just can’t resist the cuteness 😊 of these little #birds- like the Grasshopper Sparrow!⁠ Learn more here: youtu.be/7M9FYsM2sxU

reply retweet favorite
7:17 pm · March 20, 2023

Our Site

  • Home
  • About the CBT
  • Countries
  • Tours
  • Guides
  • Get Involved
  • Contact

Search

Follow

Sign up for our Mailing List

Copyright © 2011–2023 Caribbean Birding Trail. A project of BirdsCaribbean.