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Aruba

Burrowing Owls (local race) Athene cunicularia arubensis ©Caribiana Website

Aruba is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea 29 kilometres (18 miles) north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná and 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Caribiana, CC BY-SA 4.0Curaçao. In 1986, Aruba became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and acquired the formal name the Country of Aruba. It has an area of just 179 km2 (69 square miles) and measures 32 kilometres (20 miles) in length from its northwestern to its southeastern end and is 10 kilometres (6 miles) across at its widest point. Aruba is geologically located in South-America, lying on the South-American continental shelf. Alongside Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. The Dutch Caribbean encompasses the ABC islands along with the other three substantial islands, the SSS islands. With a population of 108,000, Aruba is home to about one-third of the total population of the Dutch Caribbean. As one of the four countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, alongside the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, Aruba shares Dutch nationality with its citizens.  Oranjestad is its capital.

Aruba has three distinct landscapes. The northwestern region is primarily characterised by flat batholith landscapes.

Hooiberg Hill – ©Bjørn Christian Tørrissen CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Notable landmarks include the conical Hooiberg Hill and rock formations like Ayo and Casibari. The northeastern part of the island features the oldest formations known as the Aruba Lava Formation. This region is marked by rolling hills, including Jamanota, and is home to Arikok National Park. Limestone terraces surround these two landscapes. The low-lying limestone terrace regions are defined by their white sandy beaches. The high plateaus on the north side of the island, in contrast, are constantly battered by the rough waters of the ocean, featuring caves and small natural bridge formations.

Arikok National Park – ©Mathe94$ CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

In contrast to much of the Caribbean, which experiences humid tropical climates, Aruba has a dry climate with an arid xeric landscape. Its relatively warm and sunny weather persists throughout the year with temperatures rarely outside of the range 27 °C to 30 °C. It averages just 20 inches of rain annually and, notably, remains dry even during its supposed rainy season (September to January). Rainfall can be highly variable, ranging from as little as 6 inches during strong El Niño years to over 39 inches in La Niña years. The arid landscape is not solely a product of its climate, but is also a consequence of extensive deforestation and exploitation during the Spanish colonisation of the island. Consequently, certain crops, such as aloe vera, thrive in this environment due to the high calcium-rich soil.

Birding Aruba

Aruba only has 2% of forest-covered land area and only 0.5% of protected natural area. The Aruba Conservation Foundation oversees the management of the conservation of 16 established protected areas, which encompass a total of nearly 25% of the island’s surface, as well as four Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) the Arikok National Park, established as formal conservation land in 2000, covers 20% of the island.   None of the forest was reported to be primary forest and no forest area was found within protected areas.

Blue-tailed Emerald Chlorostilbon mellisugus – ©Bjørn Christian Tørrissen CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The geography includes naturally formed rooi or gullies that channel rainwater towards dams and ultimately the ocean. Other than Arikok National Park, the Bubali Bird Sanctuary is the only significant body of water on the island that holds the status of protected nature reserve and serves as a brackish water lagoon.

It has white sandy beaches on the western and southern coasts of the island, relatively sheltered from fierce ocean currents. This is where most tourist development has occurred. The northern and eastern coasts, lacking this protection, are considerably more battered by the sea and have been left largely untouched by humans. The hinterland of the island features some rolling hills. Being isolated from the main land of South America has helped the evolution of multiple endemic animals.

Aruban Whiptail Cnemidophorus arubensis – ©Ralf Hüsges CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The island provides a habitat for the endemic Aruban Whiptail and Aruba Rattlesnake, as well as endemic subspecies of birds like Burrowing Owl and Brown-throated Parakeet. The flora of Aruba differs from the typical tropical island vegetation. Xeric scrublands are common, with various forms of cacti, thorny shrubs and evergreens. With the most known plant being the Aloe vera.

Number of Species

  • Number of bird species: 280

    (As at February 2025)
Checklist

  • Avibase

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist includes all bird species found in Aruba , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them.

  • E-Bird

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist is generated with data from eBird (ebird.org), a global database of bird sightings from birders like you. If you enjoy this checklist, please consider contributing your sightings to eBird. It is 100% free to take part, and your observations will help support birders, researchers, and conservationists worldwide.

  • Wikipedia

    Annotated List
    The following is a list of birds of Aruba. The avifauna of Aruba has 245 confirmed species, of which six have been introduced by humans and 111 are rare or vagrants (including three species introduced elsewhere in the region). Two have been extirpated. None are endemic. Two additional species are hypothetical (see below).
Useful Reading

  • Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A Site and Field Guide

    | By Jeffrey V Wells, Allison Childs Wells & Robert Dean | Comstock Publishing Associates | 2017 | Paperback | 474 pages, 59 plates with colour illustrations; colour photos, colour maps | ISBN: 9781501701078 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Birds of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire

    | By Bart De Boer, Eric Newton & Robin Restall | Helm | 2020 | Paperback | 176 pages | 70 colour plates | 5 colour photos | 4 colour maps | ISBN: 9781472982568 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Birds of the West Indies

    | By Guy M Kirwan, Anthony Levesque, Mark W Oberle & Christopher J Sharpe | Lynx Edicions | 2019 | Flexibound | 400 pages, 1600+ colour illustrations, 650+ colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9788416728176 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Birding Aps

  • All Birds West Indies: Puerto

    Android
    This bilingual, mobile field guide for the West Indies includes all 415 bird species of Puerto Rico and the northeastern Lesser Antilles: Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Saint Martin (Sint Maarten), Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Barthélemy (St. Barts), and Saba.

  • Birds of the West Indies

    Apple iOS |
    Explore the vibrant Caribbean islands with Birds of the West Indies – your pocket guide to Caribbean birdwatching!

Organisations

  • Aruba Birdlife Conservation

    Facebook Page
    One of the most globally unique and important biodiversity features of Aruba is now under threat: Aruba’s seabird nesting islands off the San Nicolas coast.

  • Aruba Conservation Foundation (ACF)

    Website
    Aruba Conservation Foundation (ACF) is an independent and not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Aruba’s rich and diverse natural ecosystems. As the only foundation in Aruba solely committed to protecting nature, we are proud to manage the conservation of nearly 25% of the island as well as four Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • *Protected areas of Aruba

    InformationSatellite View
    Interactive list of IBAs, Ramsar etc

  • BS & IBA Bubali Bird Sanctuary

    InformationSatellite View
    It has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it and its surrounding vegetation support populations of a variety of birds, including threatened and restricted-range species as well as large seasonal numbers of migratory waders and neotropical passerines. Originally created as a wastewater treatment facility, the wetland is threatened by encroachment of aquatic vegetation decreasing the area of open water.

  • IBA Oranjestad Reef Islands

    InformationSatellite View
    he area has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International as a breeding site for Sandwich and common terns.

  • IBA Tierra del Sol Salina

    Observatory WebsiteSatellite View
    It has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International as a breeding site for great and snowy egrets, American coots and white-cheeked pintails when it contains water, as well as serving as a roost site for roseate and Sandwich terns, and black skimmers. It is also used during the spring and autumn migration seasons by waders while the surrounding vegetation supports neotropical passerines, especially warblers. Bare-eyed pigeons are resident

  • NP Arikok

    WebpageSatellite View
    The best spot to feel the real natural beauty of the island is in Arikok National Park, which lies in the hilly northeast section of the island. The park consists of rolling hills covered with thorn-scrub vegetation…
Sightings, News & Forums
Guides & Tour Operators

  • Aruba Nature Adventures

    Local T Operator
    Private Spanish Lagoon Mangrove Tour with Bird Watching

  • Michiel Oversteegen BirdwatchingAruba@gmail.com

    Local T Guide
    During the past few years I hosted many private nature tours.
Trip Reports

  • 2017 [04 April] - Max Berlijn - Aruba and Bonaire

    Report PDF
    Clean up the Holarctic Carrabin species
Places to Stay

  • Aruba Beach Club Resort

    Accommodation
    Bubali Bird Sanctuary Aruba Vacations
Other Links

  • Birding in Aruba

    Webpage
    …On a jeep ride through Arikok National Park, a hilly, rocky part of the island opposite the white-sand beaches, two crested caracaras perched as close to the gravel road as they could get (as if people-watching). We saw adorable, chatty bananaquits on the beautiful flowers at—of all places—our hotel. Even the troupials, large oriole-like birds, were everywhere.….

  • Birds of Aruba

    Webpage
    Annotated list

  • Birds of Aruba

    Website
    Between 11 and 21 November 2010; 7 to 23 June; 13 to 27 November 2011, and 13 to 17 and 21 to 31 May 2012, we were (Antonio Silveira) on the Caribbean island of Aruba, where we had the opportunity to make some observations of fauna, especially its birds

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