Faraaz Abdool
In their flight, birds symbolize the boundless freedom we all aspire to achieve – John Grogan.
Faraaz Abdool is a freelance wildlife photographer, writer, speaker, and poet based right here in Trinidad & Tobago. Focusing mainly on birds, his work has been widely published both digitally and in print.
Artist and Illustrator
Title: Belly Full
Medium: Photograph
Size: 15″ x 15″
Asa Wright Nature Centre, 2019
Photograph, stretched canvas
15” x 15”
Rarely, if ever, found singly, Turquoise Tanagers are charismatic residents of forests throughout Trinidad. Very little of them is turquoise, despite their name – the colour is limited to a small band on each wing.
Title: Austral Wanderer
Medium: Photograph
Size: 15″ x 15″
Las Lapas, 2017
Photograph, stretched canvas
15” x 15”
A spectacular sight on any day, the Swallow Tanager is a reminder of the visceral connection we have in Trinidad with the South American mainland. Each year, a few select individuals travel from the mainland to the higher elevations of the Northern Range to breed. Interestingly, their nest is placed inside a hole in an embankment.
Title: Jungle
Medium: Photograph
Size: 15″ x 15″
Main Ridge Forest Reserve, 2022
Photograph, stretched canvas
15” x 15”
Thick branches and massive leaves encase a Cocoa Woodcreeper within the protected rainforest of Tobago’s backbone. Even though this is the largest species of woodcreeper in T&T, it is still dwarfed by the landscape.
Title: Prowler
Medium: Photograph
Size: 15″ x 15″
Morne Bleu, 2020
Photograph, stretched canvas
15” x 15”
The largest and most powerful raptor in T&T, the Black Hawk-Eagle is a menace to a multitude of creatures. It prefers to hunt from a perch within the forest, from where it would make a short but very quick and direct flight toward its intended prey. Its relatively short, broad wings combined with a long tail give it the ideal combination of speed and manoeuvrability in the air.
Title: Opportunist
Medium: Photograph
Size: 15″ x 15″
Asa Wright Nature Centre, 2017
Photograph, stretched canvas
15” x 15”
Most often found in the company of a raging swarm of army ants, the Great Antshrike has a unique and very successful feeding strategy. It follows these rivers of ants as they travel through the forest, ready to pounce on any creatures that may be trying to escape the marauding ants.
Main Ridge Forest Reserve, 2022
Photograph, stretched canvas
21” x 14”
Mature forests with large, broad-leaved trees provide the ideal habitat for the leaf litter ecosystem that is replete with myriad species of arthropods. These small invertebrates fall prey to larger predators such as spiders and centipedes, all are in turn fed on by birds such as this Grey-throated Leaftosser. As its name implies, it systematically throws leaves in the air to reveal any animals hidden beneath.
Title: The Soloist
Medium: Photograph
Size: 21″ x 14″
El Cerro del Aripo, 2021
Photograph, stretched canvas
21” x 14”
Cloud forest on Trinidad is limited to only the very highest peaks of the Northern Range, within which several unique species thrive. One of these is the Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush; this very vocal species provides a rich, melodious soundscape for all who visit its moss-laden realm. This image was published in “Bird Photographer of the Year: Collection 7” as a Commended Image in the Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 Competition.
