Caribbean Birding Trail

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You are here: Home / Jamaica / Stewart Town

Stewart Town

  • About Stewart Town
  • The Birds
  • How to Get There
  • Tour Operators and Guides

Winding through the forested hills of Jamaica’s Cockpit Country near Stewart Town is a road traveled only by farmers on foot, bicycle or donkey…and birdwatchers. If you are visiting Jamaica for the first time, an early-morning walk here will add up to 25 Jamaican endemics to your life list, including our spectacular parrots, Red-billed Streamertail, the rare Crested Quail-dove, the enchanting Jamaican Tody and the raucous Jamaican Crow.

Forested hills surrounding Stewart Town.
Forested Hills surrounding Stewart Town by Wendy Lee

While the valleys in this region have been cultivated and used for pasture, the forested hills have been left largely untouched and they support an amazing variety of endemic birds, lizards, butterflies and other species.  The old road, little more than a track, is traveled only by locals.

Farmer coming from the fields.
Farmer Coming from the Fields by Wendy Lee

Tiny Jamaican todies make their burrows in the road banks, which are overgrown with native plants – orchids, vines, ferns, wildflowers – while flocks of parrots fly noisily overhead. On a typical morning walk you will see some 25 endemic birds, and if you know where to look, a Northern Potoo roosting quietly in a forest giant beside the trail. In the winter you will invariably see a wide variety of migrants in addition to the year-round resident birds.

In addition to birds, the banks of the road are covered with wild plants, including endemic orchids (Broughtonia, Bletia), ferns, flowering plants (Pilea, Gesneria and other endemics), vines and epiphytes. The forest has species typical of the Cockpit Country (e.g. Clusia). A variety of endemic Jamaican lizards, butterflies, land snails and giant millipedes are seen along the trail.

28 Northern Potoo in Stewart Town forest 1
Northern Potoo in Stewart Town Forest by Wendy Lee

In the nearby village of Stewart Town, founded in 1815, birders can meet the hospitable local shopkeepers, buy drinks and snacks, and use a bathroom. Many of the buildings in Stewart Town date from the post-Emancipation settlement of the 1840s, including three beautiful old churches.  It is not just the spectacular birding that makes this area so special: the unspoiled scenery, the peaceful and unhurried rural setting, the cool breeze along the trail, and encounters with the always-friendly local people make birding here a unique and memorable experience.

Abandoned house and church in Stewart Town.
Abandoned House and Church in Stewart Town by Wendy Lee

Most of the island’s endemics can be found here: Ring-tailed Pigeon, Crested Quail Dove, Yellow-Billed Parrot, Black-billed Parrot, Lizard Cuckoo, Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo, Jamaican Owl, Mango Hummingbird, Red-billed Streamertail, Jamaican Tody, Jamaican Woodpecker, Jamaican Elaenia, Jamaican Pewee, Sad Flycatcher, Rufous-tailed Flycatcher, Jamaican Becard, Jamaican Crow, White-eyed Thrush, White-chinned Thrush, Jamaican Vireo, Blue Mountain Vireo, Arrowhead Warbler, Jamaican Euphonia, Jamaican Spindalis, Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, Orange Quit, Common Ground-Dove, Caribbean Dove, Olive-throated Parakeet, Northern Potoo, Vervain Hummingbird, Greater Antillean Elaenia, Stolid Flycatcher, Greater Antillean Banana Quit, Greater Antillean Bullfinch, Jamaican Oriole.Female Streamertail Hummingbird

The village of Stewart Town is located on the border of Trelawny and St. Ann parishes in Jamaica, about 10 km south of Discovery Bay. It can be reached from the west, turning inland at Duncans and going via Clark’s Town and Jackson Town; from the south along a narrow, bumpy road from Discovery Bay; and from the east, turning south at Runaway Bay and then west at Brown’s Town.  Park either along the main street in Stewart Town or a short distance (50 m) along the road that heads south, past the Police Station.  This is a public road accessible to anyone, and you are free to walk along it, turning back at your estimate halfway point (timewise).

For a guided birding / natural history tour and introduction to the community of Stewart Town, contact Wendy Lee ([email protected]).

 

 

Stewart Town

 

 

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!

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Richard Hall
Richard Hall
@richhallecology

Presenting the 2nd smallest bird in the world, the Vervain Hummingbird. Weighing in at 2g & 6cm long (including that dinky, 1cm bill), this is one of the cutest birds I have ever seen. Found only in Jamaica, Haiti & the Dominican Republic. So smol! 😍 pic.twitter.com/9TsT…

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3:28 am · February 6, 2023 ·
Retweeted by Birds Caribbean
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Richard Hall
Richard Hall
@richhallecology

A shockingly beautiful Jamaican endemic hummingbird, the Jamaican Mango transforms from looking all-black when backlit to glowing hot pink and purple with a turn of its head. The magic of hummingbird feather iridescence! pic.twitter.com/BDzl…

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3:27 am · February 6, 2023 ·
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Richard Hall
Richard Hall
@richhallecology

The enormous endemic Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is almost twice as long as its Yellow-billed cousin, and uses its robust bill to hunt lizards in forest. In the arid shrublands of Hellshire we encountered groups of insectivorous Smooth-billed Anis with even more gigantic bills (2/2) pic.twitter.com/icHb…

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3:27 am · February 6, 2023 ·
Retweeted by Birds Caribbean
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Richard Hall
Richard Hall
@richhallecology

I went cuckoo for cuckoos in Jamaica. One of two endemic species, this Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo gave us a show fanning its tail and giving territorial calls. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/tBbT…

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3:27 am · February 6, 2023 ·
Retweeted by Birds Caribbean
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josmar Esteban M. 🏳️‍🌈 🇻🇪 🐤🏖🏜🏝
josmar Esteban M. 🏳️‍🌈 🇻🇪 🐤🏖🏜🏝
@Esteban_birds

1/6 #ISTC20 I’m @Esteban_birds, a naturalist studying birds & integrating local communities to foster conservation strategies in Venezuela. I lead @Ave_zona & along w/ @goajiroblanco & the support of @BirdsCaribbean we're studying the importance of Coche Island for SNPL #Sesh4 pic.twitter.com/mua9…

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3:26 am · February 6, 2023 ·
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