Birds

Jamaica has the highest number of endemic birds in the Caribbean. Thirty (12%) of the over 250 bird species that can be observed in Jamaica are endemic. That includes the Jamaican Tody (otherwise known as 'rasta bird' or 'robin red breast') which is approximately 9cm (3.5in) in size and can be found in forested areas, both arid and wet, for e.g. The Cockpit Country.

Plants

Jamaica ranks 5th in endemic plants among the islands of the world. Eight Hundred and twenty- Two (27%) of Jamaica's 3000 species of flowering plants are endemic. This includes 14% of the 579 species of ferns and 31% of the bromeliads and orchids.

Other species

Twenty-seven (27) of Jamaica's reptiles, 21 of her amphibians, 3 of her bats and 20 of her butterflies are endemic.

The Giant Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio homerus), one of our endemic butterflies, has a wing span of 15 cm and is the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest in the world.

Protection of our Biodiversity

Jamaica's biodiversity is threatened under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to which Jamaica became a signatory in 1995.

Sources:

• Clearing House Mechanism - http://www.jamaicachm.org.jm
• Image of the Jamaican Tody - Raffaele, Herbert et al(2003).Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press: New Jersey.