Faraaz Abdool invites you to explore the unique and diverse habitats and species that exist in every corner of Trinidad and Tobago.
Our unique islands at the southernmost extreme of the Caribbean archipelago have distinct geological histories, giving rise to an astounding level of biodiversity. TT is a special combination of continents. Drawing from their collective disparate origins, the country boasts the second-highest species density of birds on Earth.
The impressive species density is the result of the country’s equatorial location along a major migratory pathway as well as the varied habitats that occupy the untamed parts from end to end.
Northeast Tobago includes the islands of Saint Giles the country’s northernmost land holdings. At just above 11 degrees 20 minutes North, these lie near to the nutrient-rich, deep water of the Atlantic Ocean. The islets scattered around this tip of Tobago attract a variety of seabirds. These graceful creatures of the open ocean visit these uninhabited islands annually to breed. The combination of no terrestrial predators and proximity to excellent fishing is irresistible for thousands of tropicbirds, terns, frigatebirds, and boobies.
[caption id="attachment_1128779" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Few airports have a view like that of Crown Point, Tobago. - Photo courtesy Joanna Husain[/caption]
This end of mainland Tobago features a ridge-to-reef ecosystem, with steep, heavily forested slopes giving way to rocky coastlines – many of which remain relatively inaccessible.
Southwestern Tobago, just 40 kilometres away, is a world apart. Here can be found the only stands of mangrove forest on the island. Surrounding coral reefs buffer the impact of the ocean, giving rise to a different cast of shoreline characters.
Frequented by an array of plovers and sandpipers, the beaches and slow-moving waterways of southwest Tobago are essential for the survival of countless long-distance migratory birds. While these birds do not visit to breed – their breeding grounds turn to ice each winter – to survive they must spend this time in appropriate tropical climes like ours. Also escaping the cold are many species of warblers – tiny songbirds that breed in the boreal forests of North America and rely on our wetlands to survive the winter months.
Northeastern Trinidad by contrast is draped in dense lower montane forest. Only at the wind-blasted fringe does this change to the littoral vegetation of seagrape and gnarled almond trees that line the road along the coast. Just venture a short distance inland to experience large-limbed and bromeliad-laden trees.
[caption id="attachment_1128785" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Sunset at Galera Point, Toco. -[/caption]
Within this still relatively untamed forest is the last stronghold of the Trinidad piping-guan. Officially listed as Critically Endangered, this large, turkey-like bird is found nowhere else on the planet except in the eastern end of the Northern Range. Birders from all around the world descend upon the remote villa
