The true subtropical 'Rain forest' occupies very little area in Puerto Rico, only a single, crescent shaped, band on the windward side of the El Yunque mountains. It lies wholly within the National Forest Reserve. This life zone is characterized by an annual total of 3,400 mm of rain. Its' main features are the Sierra Palms and a superabundance of epiphytes. Photos of the giant tree ferns, Icacos River dam and a hiker.

Rainforest pictures of the Dwarf forest and the Palm forest

The 'Dwarf forest' is located at the top of the rainforest on the windward slopes and has an even greater abundance of palms, ferns and epiphytes, and rain. In the dwarf cloud forest much of the vegetation on the exposed ridges has a windswept appearance. This forest is an invaluable biological curiosity, it represents an environmental extreme and, as such, is an excellent and fascinating opportunity to see the response of natural ecosystems to environmental stress. The dwarf forest is habitat for moss, orchids, bromeliads and other epiphytic plants covering available surfaces. The trees are small with twisted trunks and small thick leaves with roots that grow over the surface of the ground. Several hiking trails lead up to the dwarf forest, such as the Mt. Britton trail. The dwarf forest can only be accessed from the north side of the Forest.

'Guaraguao' and chick. (Red tailed Hawk) Nesting in the mountains of Puerto Rico. (shown at left) Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service.

The Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vitatta) pictured below. (about 12 inches, bright green with blue primary wing feathers) is one of the ten most endangered species of birds in the world.

Right: Puerto Rican Parrots, few people ever get to see these rare birds in the forest.

The Caribbean National Forest Service website.

Caribbean Forest Luquillo Experimental Forest.

Just below the rain forest is the subtropical 'Wet forest'. This forest is characterized by open crowned trees and is also called the 'Colorado Forest' for the abundance of Cyrilla racemiflora, a large, reddish barked canopy tree. This type of forest also occurs up to the summit of other mountains above 3,000 feet. Toro Negro Forest and Guilarte Forest Reserves are subtropical wet forest as is El Yunque just below the rain forest. Toro Negro and Guilarte Forests both have higher elevations than El Yunque and enjoy even cooler temperatures. Toro Negro is, perhaps, a better place to camp (read information on the camping page). Just below the subtropical wet forest lies the lower wet forest or the 'Tabanuco' forest; below this classification lies the subtropical 'Moist forest' zone which categorizes most of Puerto Rico.

US fish and wildlife determines the Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus brunnescens) and the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk or Halcon de Sierra (Accipiter striatus venator) (below, young adult) to be endangered. EFFECTIVE DATE: October 11, 1994. More information. Detailed forest explanation by the US Government. The red tailed hawk or 'Guaraguao' is distinguished by a longer tail showing red underneath when flying.