Birding Tobago’s Backbone
Faraaz Abdool invites us to look for birds in the Main Ridge Forest Reserve. You don’t even have to look that hard to spot some of the splendid birds that call Tobago home. These photos of Tobago’s rainforest birds courtesy Faraaz Abdool. The Roxborough-Parlatuvier Road snakes over the spine of Tobago, through the oldest patch of protected rainforest in the western hemisphere. Protected since 1776, a few years after Tobago slipped under British rule, the Main Ridge Forest Reserve is home to many species of plants and animals, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. As a region, the Caribbean’s habitat has changed drastically over the years, with rainforest suffering the most. Thankfully, the almost ten thousand acres of rainforest on Tobago remain a reserve. Due to its height and proximity to the ocean, Main Ridge supports a large variety of birdlife. One is likely to see a Collared Trogon on the side of the road and then look up to see a flock of Magnificent F...