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 / Jamaica / Portland Bight Protected Area

Portland Bight Protected Area

  • About

The Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA), at 724 square miles (or 187,615 hectares) is by far the largest protected area in Jamaica. Its land area (200.4 square miles) is 4.7% of the island of Jamaica, and its marine area (523.7 square miles) is a significant part of Jamaica’s shallow shelf.

The Portland Bight Protected Area runs all the way from the western part of Kingston Harbour, through the Hellshire Hills, then along the Brazilletto Mountains towards Portland Ridge and ending above Rocky Point in Clarendon.

According to the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation:

Dry limestone forests cover 41% of the land area of Hellshire, Portland Ridge, and Braziletto Mountain… this unique forest is rated as the largest relatively intact forests of that type left in Central America and the Caribbean (81 sq. miles, 210 sq. km).  Another 16% of the land area (32 sq. miles, 82 sq. km) is valuable wetlands, the largest almost continuous mangrove stands remaining in Jamaica (about 48 km long).  Parts of the mainland shoreline, as well as many of the coral cays within the Bight, are major nesting areas for sea birds and endangered sea turtles including Hawksbill Turtles and Green Turtles.

The Hellshire Hills have been described as one of the last substantial areas of primary, undisturbed dry forest in the Caribbean. The endangered Jamaican iguana (Cyclura collei) is restricted to dry forests in the Hellshire Hills. The endemic tree frog, two endemic Thunder snakes, and the endemic Blue-Tailed Galliwasp are restricted to the Portland Ridge. Other endemic species present in the area include the Jamaican boa, the Common Snake, the Grass Snake, the Jamaican Coney and 11 endemic subspecies of birds. The last Jamaican populations of the skink are believed to be in the Hellshire Hills.

Little Half Moon Cay, Jamaica
Little Half Moon Cay, Portland Bight

According to BirdLife International’s Important Bird Areas in the Caribbean, this area supports populations of 17 (of the 36) Jamaica Endemic Bird Area restricted range species, including the endemic subspecies of Bahama Mockingbird. Significant populations of the Vulnerable West Indian Whistling-duck and Near Threatened Plan Pigeon and White-crowned Pigeon occur although species numbers are unknown. Regionally important numbers of Magnificent Frigatebird and Brown Noddy nest on the Portland Bight cays.

Portland Bight Protected Area

Jamaica Sites

  • 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

Jamaica Partners

  • Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation
  • Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency


Jamaica Tour Operators

  • Ann Sutton, Independent Guide
  • Arrowhead Birding Tours
  • Wildside Nature Tours

Bird Checklists

Click here for a pamphlet-sized checklist of the birds of Jamaica.

Recommended Field Guides

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica by Ann Haynes-Sutton, Audrey Downer, and Robert Sutton

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

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

Let's make it the #BiggestHourForEarth 🌎 In 60 minutes you can do something positive for your environment 🙌🏽 #Educate yourself ℹ️jco.birdscaribbean.o… ▶️youtube.com/@BirdsCa… Try #birding after dark for 🌌 #owls 🦉, potoos, #nightjars & more! #EarthHour #MyHourForEarth pic.twitter.com/kqjx…

reply retweet favorite
2:01 pm · March 25, 2023
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

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.