List of birds of Cuba

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This is a **list of birds species recorded in the archipelago of Cuba**, which consists of the main island of Cuba and over 1000 smaller cays and islands. The confirmed avifauna of Cuba included a total of 397 species as of 2021 according to the *Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Cuba*. Of them, 25 are endemic, 15 have been introduced by humans, and 144 are noted as rare. Thirty-two endemic subspecies of more widespread species are noted. Two species are known to be extinct and two others possibly are. An additional 13 speces are classed as hypothetical. Fifteen species are globally threatened.

This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the *Check-list of North and Middle American Birds*, 7th edition through the 62nd Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society (AOS). Common and scientific names are also those of the *Check-list*, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
The following tags have been used to highlight several categories of occurrence.

* (R) **Rare** - A species that has occurred fewer than twice per year according to Navarro; includes Navarro's "Rare", "Very Rare", and "Exceptionally Rare" categories.
* (H) **Hypothetical** - "Species...that have been mentioned in different media but with doubtful, uncertain or unsatisfactory confirmation status" according to Navarro.
* (E) **Endemic** - a species endemic to the archipelago of Cuba.
* (Es) **Endemic subspecies** - a subspecies endemic to the archipelago of Cuba.
* (I) **Introduced** - a species introduced to the archipelago of Cuba as a consequence, direct or indirect, of human actions

## Ducks, geese, and waterfowl

**Order**: Anseriformes   **Family**: Anatidae

Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to an oily coating.

## Guineafowl

**Order**: Galliformes   **Family**: Numididae

Guineafowls are a group of African, seed-eating, ground-nesting birds that resemble partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled gray plumage.

## New World quail

**Order**: Galliformes   **Family**: Odontophoridae

The New World quails are small, plump terrestrial birds only distantly related to the quails of the Old World, but named for their similar appearance and habits.

## Pheasants, grouse, and allies

**Order**: Galliformes   **Family**: Phasianidae

The Phasianidae are a family of terrestrial birds which consists of quails, partridges, snowcocks, francolins, spurfowls, tragopans, monals, pheasants, peafowls, and jungle fowls. In general, they are plump (although they vary in size) and have broad, relatively short wings.

## Flamingos

**Order**: Phoenicopteriformes   **Family**: Phoenicopteridae

Flamingos are gregarious wading birds, usually 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside down.

## Grebes

**Order**: Podicipediformes   **Family**: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land.

## Pigeons and doves

**Order**: Columbiformes   **Family**: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.

## Cuckoos

**Order**: Cuculiformes   **Family**: Cuculidae

The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs. The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites.

## Nightjars and allies

**Order**: Caprimulgiformes   **Family**: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is camouflaged to resemble bark or leaves.

 Eastern whip-poor-will | *Antrostomus vociferus* | (R)

## Potoos

Order: Nyctibiiformes   Family: Nyctibiidae

The potoos (sometimes called poor-me-ones) are large near passerine birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are nocturnal insectivores which lack the bristles around the mouth found in the true nightjars.

## Swifts

**Order**: Apodiformes   **Family**: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.

 Antillean palm-swift | *Tachornis phoenicobia iradii* | (Es)

## Hummingbirds

**Order**: Apodiformes   **Family**: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.

 Cuban emerald | *Riccordia ricordii ricordii* | (Es)

## Rails, gallinules, and coots

**Order**: Gruiformes   **Family**: Rallidae

Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. Typically they inhabit dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and to be weak fliers.

## Limpkin

**Order**: Gruiformes   **Family**: Aramidae

The limpkin resembles a large rail. It has drab-brown plumage and a grayer head and neck.

## Cranes

**Order**: Gruiformes   **Family**: Gruidae

Cranes are large, long-legged, and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched rather than retracted.

## Stilts and avocets

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Recurvirostridae

Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

## Oystercatchers

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Haematopodidae

The oystercatchers are large and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.

## Plovers and lapwings

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Charadriidae

The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water.

## Jacanas

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Jacanidae

The jacanas are a group of waders which are found throughout the tropics. They are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat.

## Sandpipers and allies

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

## Skuas and jaegers

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Stercorariidae

The family Stercorariidae are, in general, medium to large birds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They nest on the ground in temperate and arctic regions and are long-distance migrants.

 Long-tailed jaeger | *Stercorarius longicaudus* | (R)

## Auks, murres, and puffins

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Alcidae

Auks are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colors, their upright posture, and some of their habits.

## Gulls, terns, and skimmers

**Order**: Charadriiformes   **Family**: Laridae

Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, kittiwakes, terns and skimmers. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with gray or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds. They have an elongated lower mandible which they use to feed by flying low over the water surface and skimming the water for small fish.

## Tropicbirds

**Order**: Phaethontiformes   **Family**: Phaethontidae

Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their heads and long wings have black markings.

 Red-billed tropicbird | *Phaethon aethereus* | (R)

## Loons

**Order**: Gaviiformes   **Family**: Gaviidae

Loons, known as divers in Europe, are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Europe. It is the size of a large duck or small goose, which it somewhat resemble when swimming, but is completely unrelated to these waterfowl.

## Southern storm-petrels

**Order**: Procellariiformes   **Family**: Oceanitidae

The storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like. Until 2018, this family's species were included with the other storm-petrels in family Hydrobatidae.

## Northern storm-petrels

**Order**: Procellariiformes   **Family**: Hydrobatidae

Though the members of this family are similar in many respects to the southern storm-petrels, including their general appearance and habits, there are enough genetic differences to warrant their placement in a separate family.

 Band-rumped storm-petrel | *Hydrobates castro* | (R)

## Shearwaters and petrels

**Order**: Procellariiformes   **Family**: Procellariidae

The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterised by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary.

 Audubon's shearwater | *Puffinus lherminieri* | (R)

## Storks

**Order**: Ciconiiformes   **Family**: Ciconiidae

Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked, wading birds with long, stout bills. Storks are mute, but bill-clattering is an important mode of communication at the nest. Their nests can be large and may be reused for many years. Many species are migratory.

## Frigatebirds

**Order**: Suliformes   **Family**: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black-and-white, or completely black, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week.

## Boobies and gannets

**Order**: Suliformes   **Family**: Sulidae

The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium to large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish.

 Northern gannet | *Morus bassanus* | (R)

## Anhingas

**Order**: Suliformes   **Family**: Anhingidae

Anhingas are often called "snake-birds" because of their long thin neck, which gives a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged. The males have black and dark-brown plumage, an erectile crest on the nape, and a larger bill than the female. The females have much paler plumage especially on the neck and underparts. The darters have completely webbed feet and their legs are short and set far back on the body. Their plumage is somewhat permeable, like that of cormorants, and they spread their wings to dry after diving.

## Cormorants and shags

**Order**: Suliformes   **Family**: Phalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocoracidae is a family of medium to large coastal, fish-eating seabirds that includes cormorants and shags. Plumage coloration varies, with the majority having mainly dark plumage, some species being black-and-white, and a few being colorful.

## Pelicans

**Order**: Pelecaniformes   **Family**: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. As with other members of the order Pelecaniformes, they have webbed feet with four toes.

## Herons, egrets, and bitterns

**Order**: Pelecaniformes   **Family**: Ardeidae

The family Ardeidae contains the bitterns, herons, and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more wary. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises, and spoonbills.

Great blue heron (dark form)Great blue heron (white form)Reddish egret (dark form)Tricolored heronLittle blue heron, immature
## Ibises and spoonbills

**Order**: Pelecaniformes   **Family**: Threskiornithidae

Threskiornithidae is a family of large terrestrial and wading birds which includes the ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings with 11 primary and about 20 secondary feathers. They are strong fliers and despite their size and weight, very capable soarers.

## New World vultures

**Order**: Cathartiformes   **Family**: Cathartidae
The New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures, but superficially resemble them because of convergent evolution. Like the Old World vultures, they are scavengers. However, unlike Old World vultures, which find carcasses by sight, New World vultures have a good sense of smell with which they locate carrion.

## Osprey

**Order**: Accipitriformes   **Family**: Pandionidae

The family Pandionidae contains only one species, the osprey. The osprey is a medium-large raptor which is a specialist fish-eater with a worldwide distribution.

## Hawks, eagles, and kites

**Order**: Accipitriformes   **Family**: Accipitridae

Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey which includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers, and Old World vultures. These birds have powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons, and keen eyesight.

## Barn-owls

**Order**: Strigiformes   **Family**: Tytonidae

Barn-owls are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long strong legs with powerful talons.

## Owls

**Order**: Strigiformes   **Family**: Strigidae

The typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak, and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

## Trogons

**Order**: Trogoniformes   **Family**: Trogonidae

The family Trogonidae includes trogons and quetzals. Found in tropical woodlands worldwide, they feed on insects and fruit, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits. Although their flight is fast, they are reluctant to fly any distance. Trogons have soft, often colorful, feathers with distinctive male and female plumage.

## Todies

**Order**: Coraciiformes   **Family**: Todidae

Todies are a group of small near passerine forest species endemic to the Caribbean. These birds have colorful plumage and resemble small kingfishers, but have flattened bills with serrated edges. They eat small prey such as insects and lizards.

## Kingfishers

**Order**: Coraciiformes   **Family**: Alcedinidae

Water kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.

## Woodpeckers

**Order**: Piciformes   **Family**: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues used for capturing insects. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks.

## Falcons and caracaras

**Order**: Falconiformes   **Family**: Falconidae

Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey. They differ from hawks, eagles, and kites in that they kill with their beaks instead of their talons.

## New World and African parrots

**Order**: Psittaciformes   **Family**: Psittacidae

Parrots are small to large birds with a characteristic curved beak. Their upper mandibles have slight mobility in the joint with the skull and they have a generally erect stance. All parrots are zygodactyl, having the four toes on each foot placed two at the front and two to the back.

 Cuban parrot | *Amazona leucocephala leucocephala* | (Es) near-threatened

## Tyrant flycatchers

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers, but are more robust and have stronger bills. They do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of the songbirds. Most, but not all, have plain coloring. As the name implies, most are insectivorous.

## Vireos, shrike-babblers, and erpornis

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Vireonidae

The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized passerine birds. They are typically greenish in color and resemble New World warblers apart from their heavier bills.

## Crows, jays, and magpies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Corvidae

The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers, and ground jays. Corvids are above average in size among the Passeriformes, and some of the larger species show high levels of intelligence.

## Swallows

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Hirundinidae

The family Hirundinidae is adapted to aerial feeding. They have a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings, and a short bill with a wide gape. The feet are adapted to perching rather than walking, and the front toes are partially joined at the base.

## Kinglets

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Regulidae

The kinglets, also called crests, are a small group of birds often included in the Old World warblers, but frequently given family status because they also resemble the titmice.

## Waxwings

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Bombycillidae

The waxwings are a group of passerine birds with soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. In the Bohemian and cedar waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax and give the group its name. These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter.

## Gnatcatchers

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Polioptilidae

These dainty birds resemble Old World warblers in their build and habits, moving restlessly through the foliage seeking insects. The gnatcatchers and gnatwrens are mainly soft bluish gray in color and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. They are birds of fairly open woodland or scrub, which nest in bushes or trees.

## Wrens

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Troglodytidae

The wrens are mainly small and inconspicuous except for their loud songs. These birds have short wings and thin down-turned bills. Several species often hold their tails upright. All are insectivorous.

 Marsh wren | *Cistothorus palustris* | (H)

## Mockingbirds and thrashers

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Mimidae

The mimids are a family of passerine birds that includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers, and the New World catbirds. These birds are notable for their vocalizations, especially their ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors. Their coloring tends towards dull-grays and browns.

## Starlings

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds. Their flight is strong and direct and they are very gregarious. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country. They eat insects and fruit. Plumage is typically dark with a metallic sheen.

 Common myna | *Acridotheres tristis* | (I) (R)

## Thrushes and allies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Turdidae

The thrushes are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly in the Old World. They are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Many have attractive songs.

## Old World flycatchers

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large group of small passerine birds native to the Old World. They are mainly small arboreal insectivores. The appearance of these birds is highly varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls.

## Weavers and allies

**Order:** Passeriformes   **Family:** Ploceidae

Weavers are a group of small passerine birds related to the finches. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia. Weavers get their name from the large woven nests many species make. They are gregarious birds which often breed colonially.

## Waxbills and allies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Estrildidae

The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They are gregarious and often colonial seed eaters with short thick but pointed bills. They are all similar in build and habits, but have wide variation in plumage colors and patterns.

 Chestnut munia | *Lonchura atricapilla* | (I) (R)

## Old World sparrows

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Passeridae

Sparrows are small passerine birds. In general, sparrows tend to be small, plump, brown or gray birds with short tails and short powerful beaks. Sparrows are seed eaters, but they also consume small insects.

## Wagtails and pipits

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Motacillidae

Motacillidae is a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They include the wagtails, longclaws, and pipits. They are slender ground-feeding insectivores of open country.

## Finches, euphonias, and allies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Fringillidae

Finches are seed-eating passerine birds that are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large. All have twelve tail feathers and nine primaries. These birds have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings, and most sing well.

 American goldfinch | *Spinus tristis* | (R)

## Longspurs and snow buntings

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Calcariidae

The Calcariidae are a group of passerine birds that had been traditionally grouped with the New World sparrows, but differ in a number of respects and are usually found in open grassy areas.

## New World sparrows

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Passerellidae

Until 2017, these species were considered part of the family Emberizidae. Most of the species are known as sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the Old World sparrows which are in the family Passeridae. Many of these have distinctive head patterns.

## Spindalises

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Spindalidae

The members of this small family are native to the Greater Antilles. They were formerly classified as tanagers (family Thraupidae) but were placed in their own family in 2017.

## Cuban warblers

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Teretistridae

These two species were formerly placed in the New World warblers (Parulidae) but were moved to their own family in 2017.

 Oriente warbler | *Teretistris fornsi* | (E)

## Yellow-breasted chat

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Icteriidae

This species was historically placed in the New World warblers, but nonetheless most authorities were unsure if it belonged there. It was moved to its own family in 2017.

## Troupials and allies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Icteridae

The icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful, passerine birds restricted to the New World and include the grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles. Most species have black as the predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red.

## New World warblers

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Parulidae

The New World warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most are arboreal, but some are terrestrial. Most members of this family are insectivores.

## Cardinals and allies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Cardinalidae

The cardinals are a family of robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinct plumages.

## Tanagers and allies

**Order**: Passeriformes   **Family**: Thraupidae

The tanagers are a large group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World, mainly in the tropics. Many species are brightly colored. As a family they are omnivorous, but individual species specialize in eating fruits, seeds, insects, or other types of food. Most have short, rounded wings.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Navarro, Nils (2021). *Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Cuba* (4 ed.). Ediciones Nuevos Mundos. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
2. ↑ "Check-list of North and Middle American Birds". American Ornithological Society. June 29, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
3. ↑ Orlando H. Garrido and Arturo H. Kirkconnell, *Birds of Cuba*, Christopher Helm, Cornell 2000 ISBN 0-7136-5784-7
4. ↑ Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 15, 2019

## See also

* Cuba portal

* List of birds
* Lists of birds by region