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THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS
The Western Palearctic’s Last Outpost
Birdquest's Cape Verde Islands birding tour explores one of the least-visited outposts of the Western Palearctic (very few birdwatchers set foot here!), yet one of the region's richest for endemics and other specialities. Our Cape Verde Islands tour comprehensively explores these arid but scenically dramatic islands and targets all the endemics and important seabirds.
Tuesday 16th April -
Friday 26th April 2013
(11 days)
Leader:
Tony Clarke
Group Size Limit: 12
Tour Category: Easy to Moderate
At the southern edge of the Western Palearctic, the Cape Verde Archipelago is home to a number of endemics, excellent seabirds and a selection of interesting African species. This is the endemic (as a breeding species) Cape Verde Shearwater (Tommy Ekmark)
The Cape Verde archipelago lies some 450km off the coast of West Africa. This group of far-flung volcanic islands, towering up to 2800m out of the Atlantic, is one of the least known and least visited parts of the Western Palearctic region. Few ornithologists have managed to reach the islands, some of which are inaccessible except by boat.
Here are found some of the most important seabird colonies in the Western Palearctic, with breeding species including Cape Verde Shearwater (split from Cory’s, and nesting only in these islands), Boyd’s (or Cape Verde) Shearwater (split from Little, and likewise only nesting here), Fea’s (or Cape Verde) Petrel (a species that breeds only in the Cape Verdes and the Madeira group), Bulwer’s Petrel, White-faced Storm-Petrel, Madeiran (or Band-rumped) Storm-Petrel (the local form being a candidate for a split as Cape Verde Storm-Petrel), Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird.
The landbird fauna is quite fascinating. Although relatively impoverished, as is typical with remote island groups, there are 10 surviving endemic landbird species – Bourne’s (or Cape Verde) Heron (split from Purple), Cape Verde Buzzard (split from Common), Alexander’s and Neglected Kestrels (both split from Common), Cape Verde Falcon (split from Peregrine), Cape Verde Owl (split from Barn), Cape Verde Swift, Raso Lark, Cape Verde Warbler and Iago Sparrow. In addition, the islands hold the only Grey-headed Kingfishers in the Western Palearctic and the most accessible Helmeted Guineafowls, as well as Cream-coloured Courser, Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Bar-tailed Lark, Brown-necked Raven and Common Waxbill. The avifauna of the Cape Verdes is still rather poorly known, as little work has yet been done here, and so ornithological surprises are still quite frequent.
The islands were first discovered by the Portuguese in 1460 (or possibly 1456) and at that time they were entirely uninhabited, without any trace of prior human occupation. The islands were soon settled and by 1466 the inhabitants of Santiago had been granted the rights to purchase slaves in Guinea on the African mainland and supply the new colonies in Brazil and the West Indies. As a result of this unusual history, the present day population of the islands is a ‘creole’ mix of Portuguese and African. For most of their history these arid, drought-prone islands, which have little fertile land, have suffered from an impoverished economy. Farming has never been much more than subsistence, while local fisheries have never been developed. The situation became so bad that by the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that many of the inhabitants were compelled to go to sea to earn a living, or emigrate to the New World. Some islands are still uninhabited, whilst others are quite undeveloped, although this is now changing as tourism finally reaches even these remote outposts. Visiting the more remote parts of the archipelago is still a bit of a challenge, but well worth the effort.
We shall start our travels on the island of Sal in the northwest of the archipelago, but will pause only briefly here on our way to the island of São Nicolau, our base for a boat trip to the island of Raso, the only home of the Raso Lark, and in search of pelagic seabirds. Next we travel to the arid island of Boa Vista in search of more seabirds and landbirds that favour desert conditions, and finally to Santiago, by far the richest island for endemic landbirds in the Cape Verdes.
Birdquest pioneered bird tours to the Cape Verde Islands as far back as 1985.
(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)
Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels on Sal, Boa Vista and Santiago are of normal Birdquest standard. On São Nicolau we will be staying in a simple but clean and comfortable guesthouse. Road transport is by coach, minibus, 4x4 or small truck with seats in the back (the typical mode of transport on the smaller islands). Roads are mostly poor (although distances are short).
Walking: The walking effort is easy or moderate.
Climate: The weather will be predominantly warm or hot, dry and sunny. Although it may become overcast, rain is most unlikely. Strong winds blow up from time to time and it can get quite cool out to sea, or from late evening to early morning on land.
Bird Photography: Opportunities are quite good.
Important: Flight schedules in the Cape Verdes change frequently and at short notice, but our itinerary in the islands has a built-in safety margin of extra time to allow for such eventualities.
Linking Birdquests: This tour can be linked with Wild Spain in 2011. Please contact us for further information.
Tour Price: (provisional): $3820 Sal/Praia. Price includes all transportation (including all flights inside the Cape Verde Islands), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.
Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $356.
Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).
Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.
Other interesting seabirds which are difficult to see elsewhere in the Western Palearctic include the attractive White-faced Storm-Petrel (Tommy Ekmark)
... and the supremely elegant Red-billed Tropicbird (Tommy Ekmark)
The attractive Iago Sparrow is one of the more common and easy to see endemics (Tony Clarke)
The Cape Verde form of Fea's Petrel may in fact be endemic to the archipelago as it has recently been proposed that the birds breeding in the Desertas (Madeira) are a separate species! (Tommy Ekmark)
The endemic taxa of the islands have been under close scrutiny leading to the splitting of several forms such as Neglected Kestrel (Tommy Ekmark)
... Alexander's Kestrel (Tony Clarke)
... and Bourne's Heron (Ian Lewis)
More traditional endemics include the vocal Cape Verde Cane Warbler (Tony Clarke)
... and the strange Razo Lark (Tony Clarke)
Other more widespread residents include Black-crowned Sparrow-lark (Tommy Ekmark)
... Spectacled Warbler (Tommy Ekmark)
... and Cream-coloured Courser (Tony Clarke)
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