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Montserrat

Mangrove CuckooGreater Yellowlegs Coccyzus minor ©Dubi Shapiro Website

Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about 16 km (10 miles) long and 11 km (7 miles) wide, with roughly 40 km (25 miles) of coastline.  It is nicknamed ‘The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean’ both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. The island consists of a mountainous interior surrounded by a flatter littoral region, with rock cliffs rising 50 to 100 feet above the sea and a number of smooth bottomed sandy beaches scattered among coves on the western (Caribbean Sea) side of the island. The major mountains are (from north to south) Silver Hill, Katy Hill in the Centre Hills range, the Soufrière Hills and the South Soufrière Hills. The Soufrière Hills volcano is the island’s highest point; its pre-1995 height was c. 3,000 feet. However, it has grown due to the creation of a lava dome, with its current height being estimated at c. 3,440 feet. The island’s land is classified as agricultural, 20% as arable, 25% as forest and the balance as ‘other’. Montserrat has a few tiny off-shore islands, such as Little Redonda off its north coast and Pinnacle Rock and Statue Rock off its east.

In 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano in the southern end of the island became active and its eruptions destroyed Plymouth, Montserrat’s Georgian era capital city situated on the west coast. Two-thirds of the island’s population was forced to flee (1995-2000), mostly to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island. Before the irruption more than 13,000 people lived on the island, it is currently (2025) just over 5000. (In recognition of the disaster, the people of Montserrat were granted full residency rights in the United Kingdom, allowing them to migrate if they chose.) The volcanic activity continues, mostly affecting the vicinity of Plymouth, including its docks, and the eastern side of the island around the former W. H. Bramble Airport, the remnants of which were buried by flows from further volcanic activity (2010).

Soufriere Hills Volcano – ©Paddy1983 CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The northern part of Montserrat has largely been unaffected by volcanic activity, and remains lush and green. An exclusion zone was imposed, encompassing the southern part of the island as far north as parts of the Belham Valley, because of the size of the existing volcanic dome and the resulting possibility of pyroclastic activity. Visitors are generally not permitted to enter the exclusion zone, but a view of destroyed Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay. The volcano has been relatively quiet since early 2010 and continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. It was announced (2015) that planning would begin on a new town and port at Little Bay on the northwest coast of the island, and the centre of government and businesses was moved temporarily to Brades. After a number of delays, including Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) the Little Bay Port Development Project, a £28 million project funded by the UK and the Caribbean Development Bank has now begun (2022).

Pyroclastic Flow – ©Patrick Hawks CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Montserrat has a tropical rainforest climate with the temperature being warm and consistent year-round, and lots of precipitation.

Birding Montserrat

Montserrat, like many isolated islands, is home to rare, endemic plant and animal species. Work undertaken by the Montserrat National Trust in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has centred on the conservation of pribby Rondeletia buxifolia in the Centre Hills region. Until 2006, this species was known only from one book about the vegetation of Montserrat. In 2006, conservationists also rescued several plants of the endangered Montserrat orchid Epidendrum montserratense from dead trees on the island and installed them in the security of the island’s botanic garden.

Montserrat is also home to the critically endangered giant ditch frog Leptodactylus fallax, known locally as the mountain chicken, found only in Montserrat and Dominica. The species has undergone catastrophic declines due to the amphibian disease Chytridiomycosis and the volcanic eruption. Experts from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have been working with the Montserrat Department of Environment to conserve the frog in-situ in a project called Saving the Mountain Chicken’ and a captive breeding population has been set up in partnership with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. The Montserrat galliwasp Diploglossus montisserrati, a type of lizard, is endemic to Montserrat and is critically endangered. A species action plan has been developed for this species too.

Northwestern Coast – ©P. Hughes CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A biodiversity assessment for the Centre Hills was conducted to support the work of local conservationists. A team of international partners, including Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Montana State University, carried out extensive surveys and collected biological data. Researchers from Montana State University found that the invertebrate fauna was particularly rich on the island. The report found that 1241 invertebrate species occur including 718 species of beetles from 63 families. 120 invertebrates are endemic. The coastal caves house a number of species of bat.

Montserrat has recorded 132 species of birds. However, c. 70 or so are rare or accidental meaning just c. 60 are resident or regular visitors. There is one endemic species, the national bird Montserrat Oriole Icterus oberi. The IUCN Red List classifies it as vulnerable, having previously listed it as critically endangered. Captive populations are held in several zoos in the UK. There is also an endemic subspecies of the Forest Thrush.

Contributors
Number of Species

  • Number of bird species: 132

    (As at October 2018)

    National Bird: Montserrat Oriole Icterus Oberi

Endemics

  • Number of endemics: 1

    Montserrat Oriole Icterus oberi
Checklist

  • Avbibase

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist includes all bird species found in Montserrat , 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
    This is a list of the bird species recorded in Montserrat. The avifauna of Montserrat included a total of 126 species according to Bird Checklists of the World as of May 2023.
Useful Reading

  • Birding In Paradise - The Caribbean Emerald Isle of Montserrat

    | (A Guide to Bird-Watching, Nature and Heritage Sites) | By ike Pienkowski, Ann Pienkowski, Catherine Wensink, Sarita Francis & James "Scriber" Daley | UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum | 2015 | Paperback | 92 pages, colour photos, b/w illustrations, colour maps | ISBN: 9781911097006 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • The Birds of the West Indies

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

  • Birds of the West Indies

    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!

Useful Information

  • BirdLife

    Information
    BirdLife data for Monserrat

  • Monserrat Tourism Authority

    Webpage
    Despite its small size, Montserrat has a wide variety of bird habitats, which increases the range of species found on the island.
Organisations

  • LifeMonserrat

    Webpage
    The LIFE Montserrat project officially ended on June 30. Over the last 5 years, the project has restored 1200 hectares of land and created 120 new hectares of open areas.

  • Monserrat Department of Environment

    Webpage
    The Department’s key roles are to provide environmental stewardship, promote conservation and advise on the sustainable development of Montserrat.

  • Montserrat National Trust

    Website
    Trust preserves the island's environmental, cultural, historic, and archaeological heritage.
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • Centre Hills

    InformationSatellite View
    Centre Hills is a forest reserve on the island of Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea. It forms one of the territory's Important Bird Areas (IBAs), which encompasses the forest reserve as well as additional habitat for the Montserrat oriole, the territory's endemic, and critically endangered, national bird. The IBA was identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports, as well as Montserrat orioles, populations of bridled quail-doves, purple-throated caribs, green-throated caribs, Antillean crested hummingbirds, Caribbean elaenias, scaly-breasted thrashers, pearly-eyed thrashers, brown tremblers, forest thrushes and Lesser Antillean bullfinches.
Sightings, News & Forums
Guides & Tour Operators

  • BirdFinders

    Tour Operator
    ...the “Second Emerald Isle”; Montserrat. You could circumnavigate the island on foot and never once step outside of the lush expanse of dense primary forest that dominates this magical island.

  • Naturalist Journeys

    Tour Operator
    ...the flame-breasted Montserrat Oriole on the “Other Emerald Isle”...

  • Responsible Travel

    Tour Operator
    Montserrat is usually included in an island hopping birding tour that takes in other islands of the Lesser Antilles, with a few days here..

  • Rockjumper

    Tour Operator
    Lesser Antilles - Pearls of the Caribbean...

  • Sunrise Birding

    Tour Operator
    Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Lucia and St. Vincent

  • WINGS

    Tour Operator
    These 10 stunningly beautiful Caribbean islands form the eastern border between the placid Caribbean Sea and the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

  • William Suarez Birding Tours

    Tour Operator
    An island-by-island birding tour to ​observe all possible endemic bird species in the Lesser Antilles.
Trip Reports

  • 2016 [04 April] - Jesse Fagan - Lesser Antilles

    Report
    10 islands, 14 days, 14 flights, 8 hotels, 1 visit to the emergency room, drive on the right, drive on the left,...you get the picture. It requires a lot of action and movement to see these birds! And see them we did. It was another successful island-hopping adventure this year, and the logistics worked out fine on this logistically complicated tour.

  • 2017 [06 June] - Mark Van Beirs - Lesser Antilles

    PDF Report
    Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Santa Lucia, Saint Vincent, Barbados and Grenada were the ten islands we visited on our recent Lesser Antilles tour.

  • 2024 [03 March] - Peg Abbott

    PDF Report
    ...Montserrat Oriole (E-Montserrat) Icterus oberi — (1) We really enjoyed seeing this species, assisted by Nature, our local guide. We saw both male and female, at close range and well...
Other Links

  • Caribbean Birding Trail - Montserrat

    Webpage
    Montserrat has experienced many natural disasters over the years, but the most catastrophic event was the eruption of the Soufrière Volcano in 1997, resulting in the destruction of the capital city, Plymouth, which is now known as a modern-day Pompeii. You are here: Home / Montserrat Montserrat Montserrat has experienced many natural disasters over the years, but the most catastrophic event was the eruption of the Soufrière Volcano in 1997, resulting in the destruction of the capital city, Plymouth, which is now known as a modern-day Pompeii. The volcanic eruption destroyed much of the natural forest habitat and coral reef in the southern part of the island, and resulted in two-thirds of the island being an exclusion zone. The areas of Montserrat outside of the exclusion zone are perfectly safe, volcanic activity being monitored constantly by experts at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. Soufrière Hills Volcano (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski) Soufrière Hills Volcano (Photo by Dr. Mike Pienkowski) The rainforest of the Soufrière Hills volcano was major habitat for the endemic Montserrat Oriole, putting additional pressure on a species already limited in habitat availability on this relatively small island

  • Montserrat Oriole Icterus oberi

    Information
    This species has always had an extremely small range, but recent volcanic eruptions have caused an extremely rapid population decline and extirpated it from all but two disjunct areas. Deposits of volcanic ash have seriously damaged the habitat of the remaining population, and further deposits or an increased frequency of hurricanes could have devastating effects. Although the trend may have since stabilised, the future of this species in the wild remains uncertain, and it consequently qualifies as Critically Endangered. Confirmation of population size and trend may lead to its downlisting in future

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