Natural history of Trinidad and Tobago hummingbirds to the primitive cave-dwelling oilbird (that uses sonar to fly in the dark) to the spectacularly beautiful scarlet ibis. The islands are within a few miles of Venezuela, and the species are therefore typical of tropical South America. However, the variety (although quite exceptional for such a small geographic area) is somewhat impoverished compared to the mainland, as would be expected with small islands. The resident breeding birds are augmented in the northern winter by migrants from North America. Tobago has only about half the number of bird species of Trinidad, but about 22 birds have been reported only
South American snipe South American snipe The South American snipe or Magellan snipe ("Gallinago paraguaiae") is a small, stocky wader. Its taxonomic position is complicated, sometimes treated as a race of common snipe. The Andean population is now usually considered a distinct species, known as the puna snipe. This small snipe breeds in most of South America away from the Pacific coast and eastern Brazil, and also the Falkland Islands, Trinidad and possibly Tobago The nominate lowland race "G. p. paraguaiae" is resident, but southern "G. p. magellanicae" migrates north in winter, abandoning Tierra del Fuego altogether. The breeding habitat is wet grassy