Animals in Jamaica
Red billed Streamertail
Trochilus polytmus
The national bird of Jamaica is the red billed streamertail, a hummingbird that lives only on the island and is known to everyone as the doctor bird. It was chosen as a national symbol around independence in 1962. Males have shiny green feathers, a bright red bill and two very long black tail feathers that flutter behind them in flight. Females are smaller and have no long tail. The doctor bird appears in Jamaican stories and folklore, and it is common in gardens, forests and hills across the island. At Rocklands Bird Sanctuary near Montego Bay it even drinks from feeders held by visitors.
Wildlife in Jamaica
Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, about 11,000 square kilometers, and its Taíno name, Xaymaca, is often translated as land of wood and water. Close to 3 million people live there, many of them in Kingston and along the coast, while the interior rises into green hills and the Blue Mountains, which reach 2,256 meters at Blue Mountain Peak. In a single day you can go from misty mountain forest to the strange limestone hills of Cockpit Country, the river swamps of the south coast and the coral reefs and white beaches of the north, and each of these gives animals a different home. The climate is warm all year, the rainiest months are usually May and September to November, and the hurricane season runs from June to November.
Life on an island far from the mainland for millions of years means that many Jamaican animals, especially birds, live nowhere else. People changed the island fast: sugar plantations, and later bauxite mines and coffee farms, cleared much of the lowland forest, while the Maroons, escaped slaves who built free communities, kept the wild mountains of Cockpit Country and the east. Those same mountains are now the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, which became Jamaica's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015 for both its forests and its Maroon history. On the south coast, the Portland Bight Protected Area, created in 1999, guards mangroves, seagrass and cays where some of the island's last manatees still feed.
Most visitors stay in Montego Bay, Negril or Ocho Rios, where snorkeling and diving on the reefs are a short boat ride away, and many make a trip into the Blue Mountains for the views and the coffee. The wildlife follows the same contrasts as the land: rare island birds in the mountain forests, wild hogs in the hills, waterbirds in the coastal wetlands, and turtles, colorful reef fish, dolphins and sharks in the warm sea.
Most Dangerous Animals in Jamaica
Jamaica is a safe place when it comes to wild animals. The island has no venomous snakes and no large land predators, so hiking in the Blue Mountains or Cockpit Country is safe as far as wildlife goes. On land, the only animal that calls for some care is the wild hog, which lives in remote hills and forests. It usually runs away, but it can charge if it is cornered or hunted, and its tusks can cause deep wounds, so it is best to keep a distance.
Most of the risk is in the sea. Large sharks live in Jamaican waters, and some of them can enter shallow bays and river mouths, especially when the water is murky after rain, although shark bites in Jamaica are very rare. The smaller reef sharks that divers meet are usually calm and keep their distance, and barracudas may strike at shiny objects in cloudy water, so it is best not to wear jewelry when swimming. Swimming at busy beaches in clear water, staying away from river mouths after storms and following the advice of local dive guides keep the risk low. For most visitors, sunburn, strong currents and the hurricane season from June to November are bigger worries than any animal.
Top 10 Animals in Jamaica
Jamaica's best known animals are split between the forests and gardens of the island and the warm sea around it. The doctor bird, the national bird, is the easiest to meet: it visits flowers in gardens and hotels all over the island, and at Rocklands Bird Sanctuary near Montego Bay it feeds from bottles held by visitors. Barn owls hunt over fields and towns at night, and peregrine falcons arrive from North America in winter to hunt over cliffs, coasts and wetlands. Flamingos are only occasional visitors, turning up now and then in the wetlands of the south coast. Wild hogs, which descend from pigs brought by the Spanish, live in the remote hills of Cockpit Country and the Blue Mountains, where hunters still follow them. At sea, sea turtles nest on quiet beaches and feed on the reefs, bottlenose dolphins are often seen from boats off the north coast, and the few manatees left in Jamaica feed on the seagrass of Portland Bight on the south coast. Farther out, tiger and bull sharks live in deeper water, and bull sharks can also come into river mouths and murky bays.
Wild Boar
Sus scrofa
Wild hogs in Jamaica descend from pigs brought by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and they live in rugged forested areas such as the Cockpit Country and the Blue and John Crow Mountains. Hunting wild hogs has deep roots among the Maroon communities, whose way of cooking the meat slowly over pimento wood gave rise to Jamaican jerk. They can damage farms near the hills. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Sea Turtle
Chelonia mydas
Green turtles forage in the seagrass beds and reefs around Jamaica, including the Portland Bight Protected Area and the cays off the south coast, and a few nest on the island's beaches, where hawksbills are the most common nesting species. Historically, Jamaica's Pedro Cays and nearby banks were famous turtling grounds. Today all sea turtles are protected, and community groups monitor nesting beaches. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Red billed Streamertail
Trochilus polytmus
The red billed streamertail, the doctor bird, is Jamaica's national bird and found nowhere else on Earth. Males glow emerald green, with a coral red bill and two tail streamers as long as the rest of the bird. It is the island's most common hummingbird, from coastal gardens to mountain forests at 1,500 meters, everywhere except the far east, home of the black billed streamertail. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Barn Owl
Tyto alba
The barn owl breeds in Jamaica, where it is known locally as the patoo, a name also used for other night birds, and has long been surrounded by folklore that links its screech with bad luck. It lives in open country, farmland, caves and old buildings across the island and hunts rats and mice at night, making it a valuable ally of farmers in cane fields and pastures. The IUCN lists the barn owl as Least Concern.
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
The peregrine falcon is a winter visitor to Jamaica, arriving from North America in autumn and staying until spring. It hunts shorebirds, pigeons and doves along the coasts, wetlands and even around towns, often perching on tall buildings or cliffs with a wide view. It does not breed on the island. The species recovered strongly in North America after DDT was banned, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
Flamingo
Phoenicopteridae (6 species)
The American flamingo visits Jamaica outside the breeding season. Birds from the large colonies of Cuba, the Bahamas and Mexico turn up in small numbers at coastal lagoons, salt ponds and mangrove wetlands, especially along the south coast. They do not nest on the island, but their visits are always a highlight for local birdwatchers, since the species is otherwise absent from Jamaica. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Manatee
Trichechus manatus
Jamaica has a small population of Antillean manatees, probably fewer than a hundred. Most live along the south coast, in the shallow seagrass beds and mangroves of the Portland Bight Protected Area, and in Alligator Hole River in Manchester, where a few have long been seen in the clear, spring fed water. Centuries of hunting reduced them sharply, and today boat strikes, nets and coastal development are the main threats. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Bottlenose dolphins live in the coastal waters of Jamaica, around reefs, bays and the edges of the island shelf, and they are seen by fishermen and boat trips off Montego Bay, Negril and the south coast. Wild dolphins have been captured in Jamaica for dolphin parks, which conservation groups have opposed. Coastal development and pollution affect the reefs where they feed. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda
In Jamaica the great barracuda is one of the largest fish divers meet on the reefs of the north coast, from Negril to Montego Bay Marine Park and Ocho Rios, usually hanging alone at the reef edge. It also lives on the Pedro Bank, a huge offshore shelf south of the island that is the heart of Jamaican fishing. Juveniles grow up in mangroves and seagrass beds, and fishers catch it all around the island. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Tiger Shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
In Jamaica the tiger shark lives in the warm Caribbean waters around the coast, over reefs, seagrass beds and deep channels, and it often hunts sea turtles on the Pedro Bank and around the cays south of the island. Local fishers catch it around the island, and its meat is sometimes sold in coastal markets. Like other large sharks in the Caribbean, it has become scarcer because of fishing, and divers see it far less often than in the Bahamas. IUCN status: Near Threatened.
Parrotfish
Scaridae
Jamaica's reefs have suffered from overfishing and coastal development, and parrotfish were hit especially hard, which helped algae take over large areas of coral. Today stoplight, queen and blue parrotfish are recovering inside the island's fish sanctuaries, such as Bluefields Bay and Oracabessa Bay, where fishing is banned. Their grazing is key to reef recovery, and the sand they produce supports the beaches Jamaica's tourism depends on. IUCN status: varies by species.
Reef Shark
Several species (Carcharhinus melanopterus, C. perezi, C. amblyrhynchos, Triaenodon obesus)
In Jamaica the Caribbean reef shark lives on the coral reefs around the island, but decades of overfishing have made it rare, and divers on the north coast see it far less often than in the Bahamas or Cuba. Jamaica's fish sanctuaries, such as Bluefields Bay, aim to help reef life, including sharks, recover. The nurse shark, which rests on the bottom by day, is the shark divers meet most often in Jamaica today. IUCN status: Endangered.
Bull Shark
Carcharhinus leucas
In Jamaica the bull shark lives in the coastal waters around the island, especially near river mouths, harbors and mangrove lined bays such as Kingston Harbour and the Portland Bight on the south coast, where young sharks find shelter. Adults hunt in murky, shallow water close to shore. Sharks are caught by local fishers, and overfishing has made large sharks much rarer on Jamaican reefs than they once were. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What animals live in Jamaica?
Jamaica's best known land animals are the red billed streamertail, or doctor bird, a hummingbird that is the national bird, and the wild hog, which lives in the hills and forests. Barn owls and peregrine falcons hunt over the island, and flamingos are occasional visitors to the wetlands of the south coast. Most of the larger wildlife lives in the sea, where there are sea turtles, manatees, parrotfish, barracudas, bottlenose dolphins and reef, tiger and bull sharks. Many small Jamaican animals, especially birds, live nowhere else in the world.
What is the national animal of Jamaica?
Jamaica's national animal is usually said to be the red billed streamertail, the national bird, which Jamaicans call the doctor bird. It is a hummingbird that lives only in Jamaica, chosen as a national symbol around independence in 1962. Males are bright green with a red bill and two very long tail feathers that stream behind them as they fly, which gives the bird its name. It feeds on flower nectar and small insects and is common in gardens and forests all over the island. At Rocklands Bird Sanctuary, near Montego Bay, it is famous for drinking from feeders held in visitors' hands.
What animals are native to Jamaica?
Among the animals on this site, the red billed streamertail is native to Jamaica and lives nowhere else in the world. Sea turtles, manatees, parrotfish, barracudas, bottlenose dolphins and the sharks of its coasts are native too, although they also live in many other parts of the Caribbean and the world, as do the barn owl and the peregrine falcon, which visits in winter. The wild hog is not native: pigs were brought by Spanish settlers in the 1500s, and some escaped into the hills, where their descendants still live.
Are there manatees in Jamaica?
Yes, but very few. Jamaica has one of the smallest manatee populations in the Caribbean, and the national environment agency has said it does not know the exact number, with estimates below 100. Most sightings come from the south coast, especially the mangroves, seagrass beds and cays of the Portland Bight Protected Area, created in 1999. Manatees were once common there but were hunted for meat, and today boat strikes, fishing nets, pollution and the loss of seagrass are their main threats. Seeing one in the wild is rare and a real piece of luck.
What endangered animals live in Jamaica?
Among the animals on this site, the most threatened in Jamaica are the manatee and the sea turtles. The manatee of the Caribbean is listed as Endangered by the IUCN, and the turtles that nest on Jamaican beaches range from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered. Reef sharks have also declined across the Caribbean because of overfishing. Jamaica protects them with marine areas such as Portland Bight and a network of fish sanctuaries where fishing is banned, which also help parrotfish, the fish that keep the reefs clean of algae.
Researched and written by Juan Pablo. Sources: IUCN Red List, scientific literature and regional field guides. Last updated: .