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
      • 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
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You are here: Home / Turks and Caicos / South Caicos

South Caicos

  • About South Caicos
  • The Birds
  • How to Get There

South Caicos’ great variety of habitat within a small island provides excellent bird-watching opportunities. Many areas are within walking distance of the town, but it is advisable to hire a car, golf cart or bicycle to explore further afield. It is about 10 miles from Cockburn Harbour to the end of the peninsula in the north. South Caicos is a quiet, uncrowded place, with a rich cultural history, making it a great destination for bird watching and relaxation. Oval in shape, with a long peninsula extending north on the eastern side, South Caicos is ~3.5 miles across, with the eastern coast ~6 miles long. It has many different types of habitat, giving birdwatchers opportunities to see a large variety of birds. These habitats include a large number of salt ponds and salinas, mangroves, marshes, rocky shores and low cliffs, freshwater wells which tap into the freshwater lens, sandy and rocky shores, and recovering dry tropical forest. The harbour, which services an active fishing industry, is a great place to spot a variety of seabirds, and offshore a mangrove bush, known locally as Bird Cay, is a nesting site for Magnificent Frigatebirds.

Aerial View of the Main Salina from the Northeast, Cockburn Harbour is on the far side, with Long Cay beyond (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)
Aerial View of the Main Salina from the Northeast, Cockburn Harbour is on the far side, with Long Cay beyond (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)

Boiling Hole, where seawater from an underground passage flows into the salinas, is the most productive area for birds, as the water here is oxygenated because of the tidal flow. The other extensive parts of the main salinas in the centre of the island are less so, due to somewhat anaerobic conditions. Near Boiling Hole is where the flock of flamingos can usually be found, and by walking slowly along the old tracks and walls giving access to Boiling Hole, they can be approached quite closely.

Flamingos can normally be seen at close range if you approach quietly and calmly (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)
Flamingos can normally be seen at close range if you approach quietly and calmly (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)

Cockburn Harbour is a good place for looking for seabirds, such as Magnificent Frigatebirds. Watch out also in this area for House Sparrows. North Caicos has a thriving colony, until recently the only one in TCI. House sparrows were introduced by the British to many parts of the world and in some cases have become pests. Ironically they are now in serious decline in Britain.

The Valley, on the eastern side of the island, is an area where the freshwater lens is accessed by some wells. The vegetation here provides a good opportunity to see a number of the land birds, like the Mockingbirds, Smooth-billed Anis, Doves, Warblers, Bahama Woodstar, Indigo Bunting.

The Peninsula is where a low-impact development, Sailrock, is taking place. The vegetation is coastal coppice, and the low cliffs provide nesting areas for White-tailed Tropicbirds.

Basden Ponds has mangrove and marsh habitat, and a variety of waterbirds can be seen here, depending on season and water conditions.

Bahama Mockingbird (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)
Bahama Mockingbird (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)

A guide booklet, “Bird Watching in Paradise – South Caicos; Turks & Caicos Islands: A guide to birdwatching and heritage sites”, with full color photographs of birds, maps and guiding text, can be purchased from the National Museum gift shop and other outlets (e.g. Seaview Supermarket (at the harbor), Ocean and Beach Resort, and the School for Field Studies), or from the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum (UKOTCF) as a PDF download suitable for tablets. It gives full details of how to get to South Caicos, and practical information such as hotels, restaurants, shops, and car and bicycle rental. The two trails are marked by numbered posts and are interpreted with full-colour laminated guides, including photos. The booklet (in hard copy or download) retails for $10, and the trail guide cards for $5 each. Part of the purchase price goes back to supporting conservation in TCI, and maintenance of the trails. There are no entrance fees for the bird trails.

Male Magnificent Frigatebird, showing the red throat pouch, which is inflated when in display (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)
Male Magnificent Frigatebird, showing the red throat pouch, which is inflated when in display (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)

South Caicos

Turks & Caicos Islands

  • Grand Turk
  • Middle Caicos
  • North Caicos
  • Providenciales
  • Salt Cay
  • South Caicos

Turks & Caicos Partners

  • Overseas Territories Conservation
  • Turks & Caicos Museum


Turks and Caicos Tour Operators

We don't currently have any listings for Tour Operators in this area

Recommended Field Guides

Birding in Paradise – Providenciales by Dr. Mike Pienkowski, Ann Pienkowski, and Bryan Naqqi Manco

Birding in Paradise – Grand Turk by Dr. Mike Pienkowski, Ann Pienkowski, and Bryan Naqqi Manco

Reddish Egret hunts for fish on Red Salina at Grand Turk (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski)

Birding in Paradise – Middle & North Caicos by Dr. Mike Pienkowski, Ann Pienkowski, and Bryan Naqqi Manco

Birding in Paradise – South Caicos by Dr. Mike Pienkowski, Ann Pienkowski, Catherine Wensink, and Bryan Naqqi Manco

Birding in Paradise – Salt Cay by Dr. Mike Pienkowski and Ann Pienkowski

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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