Whether you are comfortably settled on a beach chair, strolling along the picturesque waterfront or trekking intrepidly through the underbrush, you're certain to come into contact with several of Curaçao's native birds.
Along the shoreline, look for perky brown and white sandpipers (snepi) and long legged, speckled whimbrels darting along the tideline. Laughing gulls (meuchi), with their black tipped wings, and brown boobies (bubi) make their homes in the caves, crevices and ledges above the rocky shoreline of many beach coves. With a little luck, you'll spot a long-billed pelican in search of a meal.
The magnificent jet black frigate bird (makuaku), with its creamy white breast and large wing spread, is a common sight not only at the beach but also around the harbor, where it feeds on fishy tidbits from the floating market. At night most of the island's frigate birds roost in the mangroves of a tiny islet in St. Jorisbaai (St. Joris Bay) on the northeastern coast.
For serious bird watching, head to a mangrove swamp or salt marsh (saliña) at dusk, when many water birds come home to roost. Although urban development is fast encroaching on this fragile ecosystem, you can still find mangroves at Piscadera near town, Santa Martha and Santa Cruz at the western end of the island, and St. Jorisbaai to the east. There are salt marshes at Jan Kok, Boka St. Michiel and Kenepa.
Look for the leggy yellow-crowned night heron (krabèchi), the green heron (galiña di awa) or one of several species of long-legged egrets daintily stepping in the marshy waters. Also keep an eye out for plovers (lopi) and the black winged stilt (kaweta di patu), a white bird with black wings and neck and fat pink legs.
The Jan Kok salt pans are home to Curaçao's small flamingo colony, which arrived from Bonaire during a particularly rainy year in the mid 1980s. Sometimes they congregate by the dozens in the shallow waters quite close to the road. Since flamingos are a protected species please keep your distance.
Christoffel Park is an excellent place to view the many birds that inhabit the island's countryside. Look for the national bird, the large yellow-breasted oriole (trupial), and its orange-breasted cousin, rumored to be the harbinger of good news if it sings its clear, melodious song while facing east. Orioles love to perch on top of tall pillar cacti; the characteristic bottle-shaped nests of the yellow oriole dangle from large trees. Perhaps you'll spot a flock of chattering green and yellow parakeets (prikichi), one of just two bird species which are unique to Curaçao. A burden to local farmers, the parakeets love to feast on crops.
Also unique to the island is the snowy white nocturnal barn owl (palabrua). Traditionally an inhabitant of the island's limestone caves, where it feeds on bats and small rodents, it is an endangered species; no more than fifty couples are believed to remain.
One of the most common local birds is the diminutive yellow-bellied bananaquit (barika hel), which loves to make forays indoors in search of food and a good place to nest. The mischievous grey tropical mockingbird (chuchubi) is well known for its piercing call, said to bring news or announce visitors, and for its melodious songs. Because of the mockingbird's meddlesome nature, local gossips are often nicknamed chuchubi. Curaçao also has two species of tiny, colorful hummingbirds (blenchi) which flit among flowering shrubs. Several varieties of doves (totolika, buladeifi and ala duru) and pigeons (palomba) keep close to the ground; many are easily lured by a handout. The bare-eyed pigeon has a characteristic black circle around its eyes.
King of the country birds are the high flying falcons (kinikini and warawara), which derive their Papiamentu names from their distinctive cries, and the magnificent hawk (falki). You may spot one soaring gracefully through the air, perched majestically atop a towering pillar cactus, or perhaps waddling ungracefully through the brush.
