Cuban flowers, owls, woodpeckers, crabs


This video from Cuba says about itself:

4 April 2013

Zapata swamp is the natural habitat of the Cuban Crocodile, considered as a national symbol after its resemblance with the geography of the island.

On 14 March 2017, the day after 13 March on Cuba, we were at the Zapata peninsula.

Early in the morning, we went aboard a rowing boat.

Flower, Zapata swamp, 14 March 2017

Many beautiful flowers on the banks.

A Greater Antillean grackle on a bush. A yellow-headed warbler.

The main aim this morning is to see the Zapata wren. When the boat stops, we don’t see it where it is supposed to be.

Flowering grass, 14 March 2017

We do see this flowering grass.

After a walk on a muddy path, we do see the Zapata wren.

As the boat goes back, we see a belted kingfisher.

Turkey vulture, 14 March 2016

And this turkey vulture.

A limpkin flies overhead.

After landing, a flock of Cuban parakeets. They live only in Cuba.

Killdeer, 14 March 2016

And a killdeer plover. Probably, a migrant from North America.

In the afternoon, again a boat: a motorboat this time.

Brown pelican, 14 March 2017

On a lake bank, a brown pelican.

Also, an anhinga, drying it wings. A double-crested cormorant.

A great blue heron.

An osprey sits in a tree.

An Antillean palm swift flying.

A belted kingfisher sits on a bridge.

A yellow-bellied sapsucker on a palm tree.

Later that afternoon, not by boat, but a forest walk.

A blue-headed quail dove.

Stygian owl, 14 March 2017

A bit further, a big owl on a big tree; a Stygian owl.

Greater Antillean nightjar, 14 March 2017

On another tree, a Greater Antillean nightjar: endemic to Cuba and Hispaniola.

Cuban screech-owl, 14 March 2017

Then, in a hole in yet another tree, a smaller owl: a Cuban screech owl, endemic to Cuba.

This video says about itself:

A Fernandina’s Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae) and brief footage of a West Indian Woodpecker (Melanerpes superciliaris) at Hacienda La Cortina, Cuba, on 07 April 2013. The flicker was interested in a cavity in what may have been a royal palm.

Fernandina's flicker, 14 March 2017

On the forest edge, we also saw a Fernandina’s flicker: this male at its nest.

Yellow-bellied sapsucker, 14 March 2017

A bit further, another woodpecker: this yellow-bellied sapsucker.

Cardisoma guanhumi, 14 March 2017

Finally, we see crabs crossing a road. It is their mating season, and it has rained, sending them on migration. They are two crab species: Geocarcinus ruricola; and Cardisoma guanhumi (pictured).

Also about birds in Cuba: here.