Zapotén is a legendary birding area in southwestern Dominican Republic quite close to the Haiti border, and it is a must-visit site for any birder on Hispaniola. This rough track climbs high into the Sierra de Bahoruco, a beautiful mountain range cloaked in pine and broadleaf forests home to a high diversity of species. From a birding point of view, it is the most reliable site to find the localized La Selle Thrush as well as most of the other endemic species found in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. The only problem is that a high clearance 4x4 is required to traverse this road. But there is an easy solution for visiting birders. An ecolodge called Villa Barrancoli is situated only 40 minutes from the start of the rough road and its owner, Kate Wallace, regularly organizes 4x4 transport for birders. And so that is what we did.
October 20, 2025 (continued)
We arrived at Villa Barrancoli in the middle of the afternoon and were met by Kate. Originally from the United States, Kate is a passionate biologist and birder who has lived in the Dominican Republic for much of her life. Kate gave us a tour of the ecolodge and showed us to our cabins. We would be the only guests during our two night stay.
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| Exterior of cabin - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Interior of cabin - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Washroom/shower building - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
The ecolodge is rustic but contains everything you need. Just don't expect luxury. The cabins were simple and came equipped with fans while the toilets and showers were in a nearby building. We found the price a bit steep (75 USD per person per night), but this included our meals and the location was perfect, even if the ecolodge itself was rather basic and in need of some upkeep. And having Kate organize our Zapotén expedition for the following morning was very helpful.
Dan, Laura and I dropped off our bags and headed out for a pre-dinner walk. The ecolodge is situated next to a dirt road/trail called Rabo de Gato that probes deeper into the countryside, accessing dry forest and shallow wetlands. It is a very popular birding trail and many of the more difficult endemic bird species can be found here, including the Bay-breasted Cuckoo and White-fronted Quail-Dove.
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| Rabo de Gato Trail, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Laura came through with an excellent find. "I see a snake!" she yelled and I looked to see a sleek, striped snake vanish off the trail. Fortunately it did not go far. I saw it again and quickly pounced, coming up successfully with the serpent safely in my hands. A Cope's Antilles Snake.
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| Cope's Antilles Snake (Hypsirhynchus parvifrons) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Cope's Antilles Snake (Hypsirhynchus parvifrons) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
This is the same species of snake that Dan and I had seen road-killed that morning. The Cope's Antilles Snake is endemic to Hispaniola and it is closely related to several other species that are only found in the Caribbean. Like all Caribbean snakes, the Cope's Antilles Snake is nonvenomous and harmless. They prey mainly on small lizards such as anoles, of which there is no shortage of here.
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| Cope's Antilles Snake (Hypsirhynchus parvifrons) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Apart from the snake, our late afternoon walk at Rabo de Gato was fairly uneventful. We were unable to find our main target birds (White-fronted and Key West Quail-Doves, and Bay-breasted Cuckoo), though we managed a good look at a Zenaida Dove and a Scaly-naped Pigeon, both of which were new for Laura. We headed back to the ecolodge for dinner.
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| Dominican Graceful Anole (Anolis distichus ignigularis) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Despite a 3:15 AM wakeup call looming for the following morning, the three of us headed back out after dinner for an abbreviated night-hike. I manned the thermal camera while Dan and Laura scanned for herps and insects. I found a few heat signatures that turned into roosting birds - Broad-billed Tody and Black-and-white Warbler - while Dan and Laura found some interesting arthropods including a couple of vinegaroons. These arachnids are well-known for their defence mechanism of spraying acetic acid. This is the same compound found in vinegar, hence the common name.
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| Hispaniolan Vinegaroon (Mastigoproctus proscorpio) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Dan also spotted a couple of Brown Widow Spiders (Latrodectus geometricus), a species closely related to the Northern Black Widow which we have back home in Ontario. Though bites from Brown Widows are apparently painful, they are not as dangerous as bites from the Northern Black Widow.
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| Brown Widow (Latrodectus geometricus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Unfortunately, despite using the thermal I was unable to find any Hispaniolan Solenodons (a large shrew-like creature that is one of only two species of terrestrial mammals native to Hispaniola), and Dan and Laura could not turn up any snakes.
We checked the moth sheet once we returned to the ecolodge. It was covered with insects!
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| Epitragus aurulentus - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Unidentified crambid moth - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Ethmia abraxasella - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Insulatitan youngi - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hieroglyphic Moth (Diphthera festiva) - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
With the 3:15 AM alarm quickly approaching we called it a night and headed off to bed. The Blue Jays were losing 3-1 partway through the critical Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at this point.
October 21, 2025
"The Jays won!!!"
Those were the first words I heard in the morning. Laura must have woken a few minutes before me and checked the score - indeed, they had a massive come from behind win, thanks to a three-run home run by George Springer to erase the 3-1 deficit. I could hardly believe it - the Blue Jays were going to the World Series for the first time in 32 years. Needless to say, the early wakeup didn't seem so rough following that news.
Today was a day that we had been anticipating for weeks as it would be our expedition up the Zapotén Road. Our driver, Rafael, arrived at 3:50 and we loaded the cooler containing sandwiches, cookies and a thermos of coffee into the back of his Toyota Land Cruiser. This is the gold standard vehicle in so many parts of the world for tackling the roughest roads.
The reason for our early wakeup was simple. We needed to be above the third army checkpoint before dawn since La Selle Thrushes can be reliably observed on the road for just a few minutes around 7am. And given the state of the road, it would take around two hours to reach this location.
We stopped only once on the drive up when Rafael heard an Ashy-headed Owl hissing from beside the road just after the first checkpoint. Mere seconds later, he had found it in his spotlight. Clearly, Rafael was more than just a driver - he was a keen birder as well.
We bounced along, slowly making our way up the mountain. We passed the second checkpoint, and then the third. Finally, at 6 AM we had arrived at our destination.
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| Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
We downed the hot coffee while waiting for the sky to lighten. Above us was a most incredible display of stars. Off in the distance the first Hispaniolan Nightjars begin their distinctive song, followed shortly by the Rufous-throated Solitaires. Dawn was imminent and we needed to get moving.
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| Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
All four of us were on high alert as we tiptoed along the road. Up ahead was a famous bend in the road dubbed "La Selle Thrush Corner" for obvious reasons, and the day was brightening up far too quickly. Would we be late for our date with this rare mountain thrush?
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| La Selle Thrush Corner - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
Our first Western Chat-Tanager appeared in the roadside shrubbery, delaying us by a minute or two. But we shouldn't have worried. Right at La Selle Thrush Corner was a solitary La Selle Thrush, hopping along quietly. We crept around the bend in the road, enabling much better views. Not two minutes later it had slunk back into the woods where it would likely remain for the rest of the day. We were lucky.
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| La Selle Thrush - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
This was our first time in the mountains proper and so we soaked in the sights.
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| Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
Despite the clear skies earlier in the morning, now that it was daylight we noticed clouds rolling down the mountainsides, ready to envelop us. This was not good news. It would make finding another big target, the Golden Swallow, nearly impossible. It would also likely quiet many of the other birds.
We kept an eye out for quail-doves on the road but this was not meant to be. Surely, we would have more chances for the endemic White-fronted Quail-Dove near the Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge later that day or the following morning.
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| Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
The birding remained steady and we quickly found a pair of White-winged Warblers. These are not actually true warblers - rather, they are in the family Phaenicophilidae which is endemic to Hispaniola and which also contains the two species of palm-tanager and the Green-tailed Warbler.
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| White-winged Warbler - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
We heard several Hispaniolan Euphonias but they refused to be seen once again. The birding was a bit quiet, possibly due to the gloomy conditions. This satyr was the only butterfly species that we observed at the upper elevations.
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| Calisto archebates - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
A Hispaniolan Trogon started singing next to the road, though it slipped away before Laura or I managed a look. Luckily, we found a second one at the next bend in the road. These trogons can be common during the breeding season, but at this time of the year they are quiet and unobtrusive.
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| Hispaniolan Trogon - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
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| Watching the Hispaniolan Trogon - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
Rafael turned out to be an excellent birding guide; not "just" a driver as we had been led to believe. He knew every sound on the mountain and had locations to try for most bird species. He somehow managed to spot this day-roosting Hispaniolan Nightjar. We were incredulous as to how he managed this feat. Surely this is a known roosting spot? A check of eBird shows no photos of this species taken during the day from this mountain which leads me to believe that he just randomly found this one for us. Incredible.
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| Hispaniolan Nightjar - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
By the time that we returned to the pine forest around the third army checkpoint, the threat of rain had diminished and the sun even came out for a brief moment or two. Rafael and Dan heard an Antillean Siskin (Laura and I were further up the road and missed it), and then a nice mixed flock passed through that contained our first Hispaniolan Elaenia.
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| Hispaniolan Elaenia - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
As I write this a week later, following eBird's taxonomy update, this is one of the new species that my life list has gained. When we were looking at this elaenia it was called the Greater Antillean Elaenia. I had seen the Jamaican subspecies last year. But the Greater Antillean Elaenia has now been split - each island now has its own endemic species.
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| Hispaniolan Elaenia - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
One of my most-wanted bird for this trip was the Hispaniolan Crossbill and we lucked into a female here. Crossbills are nomadic birds of North America's coniferous forests and back home in Ontario we can find White-winged and Red Crossbills. The Red Crossbill in particular has quite a lot of variation, with several varieties that have slightly different vocalizations and bill shapes. These races specialize on different conifer seeds. One of them feeds on Lodgepole Pines in southern Idaho and it has been split off as its own species called the Cassia Crossbill; all of the other races are, for now, still lumped within Red Crossbill. And here in the pine forests of Hispaniola there is a crossbill that somewhat resembles the White-winged Crossbill.
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| Hispaniolan Crossbill - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
One theory is that a group of White-winged Crossbills remained trapped on Hispaniola near the end of the last ice age. As the temperatures warmed, pine forests retreated further north and the only pines that could survive in Hispaniola were these high elevation ones, now called the Hispaniolan Pine. In the thousands of years since, this resident population of crossbills remained and they are distinct enough to be considered their own species - the Hispaniolan Crossbill. It was really neat to spend a few minutes with this female Hispaniolan Crossbill and to observe its unique bill shape and listen to its distinctive calls.
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| Hispaniolan Crossbill - Zapotén, Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
By this point we had found most of our bird targets from the upper elevations, though the Golden Swallow and White-fronted Quail-Dove still eluded us. We started back down the road as we had a few more targets - namely the Hispaniolan Loggerhead Kingbird and Bay-breasted Cuckoo, two of the toughest endemics on the island.
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| Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Beginning around 1000 m in elevation, we made frequent stops to play tapes for both of our target species. Our first handful of stops produced no hits, though we found our first Olive-throated Parakeets of the trip as well as a nice selection of butterflies.
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| Trawling for cuckoos - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Olive-throated Parakeet - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Anasaitis locuples - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Banded Yellow (Eurema elathea) - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Finally, we lucked out with a Hispaniolan Loggerhead Kingbird that responded to the tape. It remained out of sight, though. I had read that this species is quite tape-responsive; perhaps this is only the case during the breeding season.
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| Hispaniolan Violet Dung-Rolling Beetle (Canthon violaceus) - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
One of our last stops produced a vocal Bay-breasted Cuckoo as well! It was also uncooperative, but we would have redemption at our final stop before reaching the first army checkpoint. We heard a pair of Bay-breasted Cuckoos vocalizing from somewhere off the road. I decided to enter the forest and, after following the sounds of the cuckoo, I found it perched just above eye-level. Luckily it stayed long enough for Dan and Laura to bask in its glory. Such an awesome bird!
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| Bay-breasted Cuckoo - Naranjos area, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
With most of our targets in the bag, Rafael drove us back to Villa Barrancoli. But we made one final stop in some agricultural fields and quickly found a pair of Antillean Siskins, yet another endemic species down!
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| Antillean Siskin - Puerto Escondido, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We thanked Rafael profusely for such an excellent day. If anyone is planning a Zapotén expedition through Kate Wallace, ask for Rafael - you won't be disappointed.
