Natural Site
Rocklands Bird Sanctuary
Anchovy, St. James
A hillside garden above Montego Bay where wild hummingbirds feed from the hand, open to visitors since 1962.
Why go
Wild hummingbirds come to the hand here, including the red billed streamertail, the doctor bird, which is Jamaica's national bird and lives nowhere else in the world.
It is a quiet garden on a verandah rather than an attraction with a queue, and that is the whole character of it. You sit still and the birds decide.
Where it fits
Anchovy is in the hills above Montego Bay, roughly twenty minutes from the city. It is a morning rather than a day, and it goes well with anything else inland.
It works particularly well with children and with anybody who has had enough sun. Shade, chairs and something happening at arm's length.
Good to know
It started as one person's garden
Lisa Salmon, one of Jamaica's early conservationists, moved to Rocklands in 1954 and began feeding the birds. She opened the garden to visitors in 1962.
The doctor bird is endemic
The red billed streamertail is found only in Jamaica. Seeing one at close range is the reason most people come.
It is a sanctuary, not a show
The birds are wild and come when they come. Patience is the price of admission and impatience is the only way to leave disappointed.
It is up a hill
The approach is a narrow road into the hills above Anchovy. Worth knowing if somebody in the car is unhappy about that sort of drive.
Our take
Our view: this is the most unexpected hour near Montego Bay. It is small, it is old fashioned, and a hummingbird sitting on your finger is not something the beach is going to do for you.
Guides that go here
More around Montego Bay
Explore from
Montego Bay A city on the water with the island's main airport in it. It can be a practical base for a first trip, especially when you want beaches, city access and the airport close together.Planning a Jamaica trip?
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