Map of Jamaica showing 47 Important Birds Areas (IBAs)

Fig 1. Map of Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Jamaica (BirdLife Jamaica 2005)

The Cockpit Country is the most important and largest of Jamaica's 47 Important Bird Areas (see fig. 1) for a number of reasons as it is home to the following groups of birds:

• 27 of Jamaica's *28 endemic species

• Jamaica's four threatened and two near-threatened endemic birds

• 64 of Jamaica's 67 land breeding birds

• 39 Neotropical migrant birds - 35 winter migrants that breed in the USA and Canada from April to August, and four summer migrants that breed in Jamaica.

*28 is used instead of 30, as the endemic Jamaican Petrel and Jamaican Parauque are thought to be extinct.

Sources:

• Cockpit Country - http://www.cockpitcountry.com
• Image of  - Raffaele, Herbert et al(2003).Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press: New Jersey.
• Image of Jamaica's Important Bird Areas (IBAs) - BirdLife Jamaica 2005