Caribbean Birding Trail

Know the Caribbean, Bird by Bird

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  • 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
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      • Dominican Republic
        • Central Mountain Range
          • Constanza and Valle Nuevo
          • Ebano Verde Reserve
          • Hatillo
          • Jarabacoa with Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez National Parks
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          • Loma Quita Espuela
          • Pico Diego de Ocampo, Santiago
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          • 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
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          • Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
            • Los Arroyos, Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
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          • Cayos Siete Hermanos
          • El Choco National Park, Cabarete
          • El Limón, Samaná
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          • 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
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You are here: Home / Anguilla / Scrub Island

Scrub Island

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

Located just off the eastern tip of Anguilla, Scrub Island IBA is separated from the main island by a channel merely 500 meters wide. The best location to arrive is at Scrub Bay on the western side. This lovely expanse of beach is a great spot for a picnic and a swim. Like all of Anguilla’s offshore cays, visitors should be mindful of the sea conditions. May through August is generally the best time to visit this uninhabited island.

Scrub Bay (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

A short hike over the dunes and visitors will find a salt pond where a number of species of land birds, waterfowl and shorebirds may be seen and often nest. Proceed to the south or right side of the pond, until you find the path that heads east.

Western Pond on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Continuing east, the ruins of animal pens and an old well are present among the growth of low scrub, barrel cactus, century plants, and wild frangipani.

Ruins of Old Well on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

On the right side of the path as you head east, the remains of an old plane are still visible. Anguillan history tells us that the plane was owned by a smuggler who paid the price for his activities and ended up in jail.

No trip to Scrub Island is complete without a snorkel in the caves where beautiful reef fish abound and a Nurse Shark with pups might surprise you.

Keep an eye out for at least three of Anguilla’s Lesser Antilles Restricted Range species including the Pearly-eyed Thrasher, Caribbean Elaenia, and Lesser Antillean Bullfinch. A variety of doves, Bananaquits, and Black-faced Grassquits are often seen. A Yellow Warbler may even make an appearance as Common Ground Lizards scurry across the arid landscape.

Common Ground Lizard on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

At the end of what was an old landing strip is a series of lagoons right behind Deadman’s Bay. The wide beach is an excellent spot for shelling. A baby shark or two will most certainly be seen lurking in those waters.

Pond Leading to Deadmans Bay on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Look for nesting Willets and Wilson’s Plovers in these shallow ponds while gulls and terns rest and feed along the edge.

Willet Defending a Nest on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Proceed on to the eastern beaches where Laughing Gulls and Anguilla’s only colony of Roseate Terns nest in numbers that carry global significance. Further, Least and Royal Terns are regionally significant. Other nesting species to look out for include: Red-billed Tropicbird, Sandwich Tern, Bridled Tern and Brown Noddy.

Royal and Sandwich Terns on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)
Roseate Terns and Laughing Gulls on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Although not known to nest at this location, Brown Boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds can be seen soaring overhead.

Access to Scrub Island IBA is available via boat. Nature Explorers Anguilla conducts tours to the offshore cays on an arranged charter basis. The trip to Scrub Island IBA is approximately 15 to 20 minutes via boat from the Island Harbour dock. The safest landings are at Scrub Bay.

Roseate, Sandwich, and Royal Terns on Scrub Island (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)
Scrub Island Interior (Photo by Jacqueline A. Cestero)

Junior’s Glass Bottom Boat and Nature Boy Tours also take guests out to explore the island and snorkel the caves. These are not birding excursions.

Nature Explorers Anguilla offers tours to this site!

Scrub 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!

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