Just back from two weeks in Varadero, Cuba with friends, 3-17 February. As is the norm, not a birding holiday but did several early morning beach walks before it got too hot and also had a full day out in part of Zapata National Park with local bird guide Adrian Cobas, who I would highly recommend. He is based in Playa Larga and can be found on Facebook under Casa Ana Birding Endemic. His back garden leads directly into the jungle/dry forest and has a cleared area with feeders. The speciality bird there is Bee Hummingbird and we saw around eight, mainly at his feeders.
Areas Birded :-
Hotel Melia International garden areas and beach front
Varadero Peninsula on open top bus including a stop at the marina
Cayo Blanco Island from Varadero Marina via catamaran and return
Zapata National Park, in the main, around Playa Larga
Trip List :-
Helmeted Guineafowl Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Common Ground Dove White-winged Dove Zenaida Dove Mourning Dove Smooth-billed Ani Great Lizard-Cuckoo Antillean Palm-Swift Bee Hummingbird Cuban Emerald Common Gallinule Limplin Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Caspian Tern Royal Tern Sandwich Tern Wood Stork Magnificent Frigatebird Brown Booby Anhinga Double-crested Cormorant Neotropic Cormorant Brown Pelican Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Turkey Vulture Osprey Cuban Black Hawk Bare-legged Owl Cuban Pygmy-Owl Cuban Trogan Cuban Tody Belted Kingfisher Cuban Green Woodpecker West Indian Woodpecker Northern Flicker Fernandina's Flicker American Kestrel Cuban Pewee Loggerhead Kingbird Cuban Vireo Cuban Crow Cave Swallow Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Red-legged Thrush House Sparrow Yellow-headed Warbler Cuban Oriole Tawny-shouldered Blackbird Cuban Blackbird Greater Antillean Grackle Ovenbird Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Cape May Warbler Northern Parula Black-throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Yellow-faced grassquit
I would say that the Varadero Peninsula wouldn't be the best choice if picking a tourist area for birding although it is only a two hour drive to Zapata and a similar distance into Havana if you wish to visit the capital. Varadero is fairly built up and only really offers beach front birding. There is a reserve towards the marina but it doesn't really get favourable reviews. Still enjoyable though and I have no regrets at our choice of hotel. If I return to Cuba at some stage in the future, I will definitely chose a different location.
A few photos attached of Bee Hummingbird (world's smallest bird), Cuban Tody, Ovenbird and Bare-legged Owl.
Last month I travelled with a small group to visit Cuba. The aim was to see all the available Cuban endemics and Greater Antillean endemics plus much, much more. Quite a lot of kilometres covered but the tour was a great success with only 1 Greater Antillean endemic missed (2 of the Cuban endemics are virtually impossible on an 11 day tour).
Read all about it in the Trip Report section of the main Manchester Birding Website - but the file sizes are large, so be patient when downloading.
Try persuading your 'with' to have a 2 centre holiday Havanna and Guardalavaca there was good birding early morning and evening walking from the resort. The forests down south are also within reach you might even find an Ivory Billed Woodpecker!! I had hummers, tody, plenty of wintering american warblers plus a few of the other endemics. The beach was fantastic, we stayed at the Brisas. It was so nice we did not bother hiring a car. Havanna is a must. Hope this may help.
Hi, it my intension to visit Cuba in Febuary or March of next year. My with wants to go on a two centre holiday Havana/Varadero.Checking past birding reports describes Varadero as Cubas Costa with little chance of early morning trips and occasional trips further afield.Has any body any advice on what hotel to stay at?Cheers Alan
