Bonaire Wildlife & Marine Life
On this page read about Bonaire wildlife and marine life in and around the island…
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Bonaire wildlife
Bonaire wildlife is somewhat limited, but marine life is abundant in the waters around Bonaire. Thanks to the island being a leader in marine protection the reefs are in pristine condition – a Mecca for divers in the Caribbean. Bonaire wildlife includes the iguana, many different species of lizard, feral goats, donkeys, gecko, silver snake, and several bat species.
Bonaire marine life
Exciting news: A new species of nocturnal crab has been discovered (January 2017) in the waters around Bonaire – it is a candy striped hermit crab, named so because its claws and legs feature bright red stripes (as reported in the ‘New Scientist’).
No less than 469 species of fish have been recorded in the waters of Bonaire as well as turtles, manta rays, dolphins, eagle rays, octopus, moray eel, sea cucumber, and whale shark.
Fish include (to name but a few) the blue tang, all varieties of parrot fish, angel fish, grouper, seahorse, butterfly fish, spiny lobster, sergeant major, scrawled file fish, grunt, gobies, Jacks, frog fish.
Birds in Bonaire
Around 200 species of birds have been recorded (around 90 species are migrants). Birds in Bonaire include the flamingo, the endangered yellow shouldered parrot, stilts, herons, avocets, pelicans, ospreys, frigate birds and cormorants.
In addition there is the parakeet, bananaquit, troupial, dove, kingfisher, egret, golden plover and Audubon Shearwater. There is also the moorhen, oystercatcher, redstart, herring gull, kestrel, swallow, pigeon and owl as well as different species of warbler. You might see the black bellied whistling duck, and also the grassquit, black noddy, Caribbean coot, grackle, martin, night hawk and comb duck.
Additionally, there are Dunlin, critters, glossy ibis, boobies, gannet as well as several tern species. You might see kite, Ibis, falcon, coot, the oystercatcher and sandpiper. Also there is the beautiful hummingbird, flycatcher, mockingbird, woodpecker, kingfisher, swallow, thrasher and white-tailed Nightjar…
To find out more about birds in the region generally, go to the Caribbean Birdwatching & Birds page in the Caribbean Leisure Activities section.
Caribbean wildlife books
If Caribbean wildlife in general, as well as Bonaire wildlife, is of interest to you, you will probably enjoy our Caribbean Book Reviews section as we have reviewed several Caribbean wildlife books.
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