Columbus Voyages Discover Birds in America

By James Ed. Ducey

There were four Columbus voyages to sea-side lands of American. After the initial exploration in 1492-1493, others soon followed in response to the original discoveries. The second voyage of 493-1496 discovered the Lesser Antilles and Cuba. There was a third exploration in 1497-1498, with the final voyage of first discovery from 1502-1504.

Christofforus de Columbo received government approval and funding for the first voyage of discovery. Official documents were issued from the king and queen to allow him to sail, expenses paid, for the new world of the west Indies. Articles of agreement were signed in April 1492.

Admiral Columbus set forth a few months later, on August 3rd. The sailing vessels are the now famous caravels Pinta and Nina, and the Santa Maria with their crews of sailing men.

By mid-September while floating along in the western Atlantic Ocean, there were birds being seen. Among the sea birds seen were the boat-swain bird, booby, petrels, and man-of-war bird. Terns and ducks were noted in the chronicles resulting from the brave men's voyages.

It was mid-October when land fall in the new world occurred, and the first sightings were made of new types pf wild birds.

Information from the voyages as summarized here, is based on an original translation of the journal narratives. The original spelling is retained.

Journal of the First Voyage - Discovery of the West Indies, 12 October 1492 - 15 January 1493

Friday, 12 October

"... I saw no animal of any kind in this island, except parrots. ..."

Saturday, 13 October

"... They brought skeins of spun cotton, and parrots, and darts, and other trifles that would be tedious to describe, ..."

Sunday, 21 October

'At ten o'clock I arrived here at the Cape of the Islet and anchored, ... Here are some great lagoons, and around them, on the banks, the verdure is marvellous; and round about there is a marvellous amount of woodland, the grass like in April in Andalusia, and the singing of the little birds such that it would seem that man would never wish to leave here; and the flocks of parrots obscured the sun, and big and little birds of all sorts, and so different from ours that it is marvellous. ..."

Sunday, 28 October

"... never beheld so fair a thing; trees all along the river, beautiful and green, and different from ours, with flowers and fruits each according to their kind, many birds and little birds which sing very sweetly. ..."

Monday, 29 October

"... There were dogs that never barked, wild birds tamed in their houses, ... large birds and small birds and the chirping of crickets, ..."

Saturday, 3 November

"... all he had seen was so beautiful that his eyes would never tire beholding so much beauty, and the songs of the birds large and small. ..."

Sunday, 4 November

"Presently at sunrise the Admiral got into the barge and went ashore to hunt the birds that he had seen the day before. ..."

Tuesday, 6 November

"... They saw many kinds of trees and plants and fragrant flowers; saw birds of many kinds different from those of Spain, except partridges and nightingales which sang; and geese, of which there were many; ... "

Saturday, 17 November

"... many birds he saw ... "

Tuesday, 27 November

"... As he went along it was a marvellous thing to see the trees and greenery and the very clear water, and the birds and the amenity, ... "

Friday, 7 December

"... He went a short distance into that country, which is all cultivated, and heard sing the nightingale and other songbirds like those of Castile. ... "

Thursday, 13 December

"... And because the Indians aboard had understood that the Admiral wanted a parrot, it seems that Indian who went with the Christians told them something of it, and so they brought parrots, and gave them as they wanted, without asking anything for them. ... "

Saturday, 22 December

"... After evening fell the lord gave them three very fat geese, ... "

Sunday, 23 December

"... Afterwards the king gave to each one some cotton cloth which the women wear, and parrots for the Admiral, and some pieces of gold. ... "

Sunday, 13 January

"... He had his face all stained with charcoal, although in parts they are wont to use different colors; he wore his hair very long and drawn together and fastened behind, and gathered into a little net of parrots' feathers; and he as naked as the others. ... "

The explorers returned to Europe in early March 1493, landing in Portugal.

Michele de Cuneo's Letter on the Second Voyage, 28 October 1495

c. Fauna and Flora

"To continue, we shall now tell of the birds.

"First, going from the island of Ferro to the island of Guadaloupe, for six days almost constantly we saw in the air many hawks flying across. We also saw an infinite number of swallows, and that is why we thought we were near either to an island or a continent.

"There are in all the islands, as well as of the Caribs as of the Indians, where I have been, innumerable parrots of three kinds, viz., green all over and not very big, green spotted with red and not too big, and as big as chickens, spotted with green, red and black. Of the last I have eaten several times, their flesh tastes like that of the starling. There are also wild pigeons, some of them white-crested, which are delicious to eat. There are also innumerable swallows and sparrows and some little birds of the forest. ...

"d. The Indians

... the arrows of canes, ... and the feathers are taken from parrots' wings. ..."

Ferdinand Columbus's Account of the Return Passage, 1496

Sunday, 10 April

"... but before they touched land a muster of women came out of the bush, carrying bows, arrows and wearing plumes, apparently determined to defend the country. ... Among other things which they found in the houses were big parrots, honey, beeswax, iron which they used to make hatchets, and looms, like ours on which rugs are made, ...

The Third Voyage of Discovery, 1498-1500

Birds were not noted in America during this voyage, according to a review of the source document. The region visited included the northern tip of current South America and Hispaniola.

Ferdinand Columbus's Account of the Fourth Voyage

Ferdinand Columbus was the son of Christopher Columbus, and accompanied his father on the fourth voyage. A primary area of exploration was the western Caribbean, with a goal of discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean and beyond.

Sunday morning, 14 August 1502

"... But, being pleased with what had been given them, above two hundred came next day to the same place, laden with several kinds of provisions such as native fowls (which are better than ours), geese, roasted fish, red and white beans like our kidney beans, and other things not differing from those of Hispaniola."

Columbus's Lettera Rarissima to the Sovereigns, 7 July 1503

e. Navigation and Miscellaneous Events

"There were many varieties of animals but they all die of the pip; many fowls of great size (having feathers like wool), lions, stags, does and birds. ..."

Localities of Bird Observations

These are the fifteen localities where birds were known to have been observed during the Columbus voyages. The designated names are based on names determined in the original narrative, and based on voyage maps, have been correlated to modern place names.

• Cabo de la Laguna - Bahama Islands • Guadeloupe Island - Bahama Islands • Guanahani - Bahama Islands • Harbor of San Salvador - Cuba • Isabela - Dominican Republic • La Costa de las Orejas - Nicaragua • Lamahich - Jamaica

• Puerto Baracoa - Cuba • Puerto de la Concepcion - Haiti • Puerto de la Mar de Sancto Thomas - Haiti • Puerto Tanamo - Cuba • Rio de Mares - Cuba • Samana Bay - Dominican Republic • Sierra del Cibao - Cuba • Western Atlantic Ocean - West Indies

Species Analysis

There was a small, yet exquisite variety of species identified for the Columbus voyages. Some of the birds had a description sufficient to allow attribution to a particular species, while others can only be attributed to a broad category. And, based on an editorial interpretation given with the translated voyage narratives, this is the list:

• Arctic Tern • Bird effigy • Bird-motif garment • Booby • Cuban Parrot • Dove • Falcon • Goose • Magnificent Frigatebird • Northern Mockingbird • Parrot • Perching birds • Petrel • Phalarope • Pigeon

• Quail • Sparrow • Swallow • Tern • Tropicbird • Unidentified birds • Unidentified waterfowl • Wattled Curassow • West Indian Whistling-Duck • White-crowned Pigeon

A more precise identification of some species, perhaps the quail for example, could perhaps be feasible if the records were studied in detail by those familiar with local avifauna in the regions visited by the Columbus voyages.

The specific bird observations from the Columbus voyages can be summarized as follows:

1492

Cuban Parrot - Cabo de la Laguna - 10/21/1492

Perching birds - Cabo de la Laguna - 10/21/1492

Unidentified birds - Cabo de la Laguna - 10/21/1492

Unidentified birds - Harbor of San Salvador - 10/28/1492

Parrot - Rio de Mares - 10/29/1492

Unidentified birds - Rio de Mares - 11/3/1492

Unidentified birds - Rio de Mares - 11/4/1492

Quail - Sierra del Cibao - 11/6/1492

Northern Mockingbird - Sierra del Cibao - 11/6/1492

West Indian Whistling-Duck - Sierra del Cibao - 11/6/1492

Unidentified birds - Puerto Tanamo - 11/17/1492

Unidentified birds - Puerto Baracoa - 11/27/1492

Northern Mockingbird - Puerto de la Concepcion - 12/7/1492

Unidentified birds - Puerto de la Concepcion - 12/7/1492

Parrot - Puerto de la Concepcion - 12/13/1492

Unidentified birds - Puerto de la Concepcion - 12/13/1492

West Indian Whistling-Duck - Puerto de la Mar de Sancto Thomas - 12/22/1492

Tern - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/14/1492

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/14/1492

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/17/1492

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/18/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/19/1492

Arctic Tern - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/20/1492

Unidentified birds - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/20/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/20/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/21/1492

Unidentified waterfowl - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/22/1492

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/22/1492

Dove - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/23/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/23/1492

Tern - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/23/1492

Phalarope - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/23/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/24/1492

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/24/1492

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/27/1492

Magnificent Frigatebird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/29/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/29/1492

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/30/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 9/30/1492

Tern - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/2/1492

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/4/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/4/1492

Magnificent Frigatebird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/4/1492

Tern - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/4/1492

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/5/1492

Unidentified birds - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/7/1492

Tern - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/8/1492

Unidentified waterfowl - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/8/1492

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/8/1492

Unidentified birds - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/9/1492

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 10/11/1492

Cuban Parrot - Guanahani - 10/12/1492

Cuban Parrot - Guanahani - 10/13/1492

Parrot - Puerto de la Mar de Sancto Thomas - 12/23/1492

1493

Bird effigy - Samana Bay - 1/13/1493

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/17/1493

Magnificent Frigatebird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/18/1493

Booby - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/19/1493

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/19/1493

Magnificent Frigatebird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/19/1493

Magnificent Frigatebird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/20/1493

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/20/1493

Unidentified birds - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/20/1493

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/21/1493

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/21/1493

Unidentified birds - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/21/1493

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/22/1493

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/28/1493

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/28/1493

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/30/1493

Tropicbird - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/31/1493

Petrel - Western Atlantic Ocean - 1/31/1493

1494

Falcon - Guadeloupe Island

Petrel - Guadeloupe Island

Parrot - Isabela

Pigeon - Isabela

Sparrow - Isabela

Swallow - Isabela

White-crowned Pigeon - Isabela

Cuban Parrot - Isabela

Parrot - Isabela

1496

Bird-motif garment - Guadeloupe Island - 4/10/1496 - 1496

Parrot - Guadeloupe Island - 4/10/1496 - 1496

1502

Unidentified birds - La Costa de las Orejas - 8/14/1502

Goose - La Costa de las Orejas - 8/14/1502

1503

Wattled Curassow - Lamahich - - 1503

Unidentified birds - Lamahich - - 1503

References

This review of bird sightings hardly touches on the expansive history associated with the voyages. The best presentation of the events is given by the many source documents published for the explorations during the four voyages of Christopher Columbus and his hearty companions.