Day at Green Castle

Another option offered, best for more dedicated birding and exploring, is a Day at Green Castle (self-guided tour is US$10 for half day and $15 for full day; guided is $30 half day and $50 full day), where visitors are allowed to roam the vast estate to count bird species, visit the orchid houses, or just relax and enjoy nature along the many hiking trails and coastline. The birds that frequent Green Castle Estate are as spectacular as the orchids and include 20 of the country's 28 endemic species: the chestnut-bellied cuckoo, Jamaican owl, yellow-billed parrot, red-billed streamertail, Jamaican mango, Jamaican tody, Jamaican woodpecker, rufous-tailed flycatcher, sad flycatcher, Jamaican becard, Jamaican elania, Jamaican pewee, Jamaican crow, white-chinned thrush, Jamaican vireo, Jamaican euphonia, orangequit, yellow-shouldered grassquit, and the Jamaican stripe-headed tanager. In total 120 species have been sighted at Green Castle Estate, including the native and visiting birds.