There are numerous species of plants and animals on the island of Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

. Some of these are island endemics, while others are found on other Caribbean islands; some are found on the mainland.

Animals

More than 160 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 species have been sighted on Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

, giving it some of the most diverse birdlife in the Eastern Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. Of these, 59 species nest on the island, including two endemic

Endemism in birds

An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....

 and endangered parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

 species.

The Sisserou parrot (Amazona imperialis), also called the imperial parrot, is Dominica's national bird and appears on the national flag

Flag of Dominica

The flag of Dominica was adopted on November 3, 1978, with some small changes having been made in 1981, 1988, and 1990.The flag, adopted in 1978, features the national bird emblem, the sisserou parrot, which also appears on the coat of arms granted July 21, 1961. This parrot is unique to Dominica...

. It is about 51 cm long when fully grown, the largest of all Amazon parrots. It has a dark purple breast and belly and a green back.

The Jaco Parrot (Amazona arausiaca) is somewhat smaller and greener overall, with bright splashes of varied colours. It is also called the red-necked parrot, for the fluff of red feathers commonly found at the throat.

The island has large capaud (Leptodactylus fallax) frogs, small tree frogs, many lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

s, thirteen bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

 species, boa constrictor

Boa constrictor

The Boa constrictor is a large, heavy-bodied species of snake. It is a member of the family Boidae found in North, Central, and South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean. A staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive...

s that grow nearly 3m in length, and four other types of snakes (none venomous).

Among invertebrates, there are 55 species of land and freshwater mollusks and 55 butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 species.

Plants

The most abundant tree on the island is the gommier tree, a huge gum tree traditionally used to make dugout canoes. Flamboyant trees are also commonly found.