October 9th, 2021 is the official date for World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) in the Caribbean, but we celebrate throughout the fall, welcoming home our returning migratory birds. We love the extra color and activity these avian gems bring to our backyards, forests, wetlands, and beaches. This year’s theme — “Sing, Fly, Soar—Like a Bird” — provided a fantastic opportunity for learning and birding fun. Find out how we celebrated across the Caribbean!
Despite the challenges faced during the pandemic, educators and students throughout the Caribbean celebrated WMBD with a range of activities. Caribbean coastlines got busy, with young students wielding binoculars and checklists, guided by their teachers. In some countries in-person events were hosted when possible; otherwise, virtual events or “hybrid” activities – a combination of the two – took place. Islands including Anguilla, Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Bonaire, Montserrat, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago participated, just to name a few. Many more islands are hosting events, activities and are still celebrating this special time for Caribbean birds.
BirdsCaribbean recognized WMBD by hosting several activities with a focus on the region’s endangered migratory shorebirds. At a webinar entitled “A Year in the Life of the Lesser Yellowlegs” Laura McDuffie, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management Program revealed the amazing journeys made by a shorebird species that is facing particular challenges at this time. The webinar and accompanying video (in English, Spanish, and French) can be viewed on BirdsCaribbean’s YouTube channel and below.
A series of four short videos, boosted by social media posts, aimed to raise awareness of the importance of the Caribbean region to migratory shorebirds and the threats, they face, including hunting. These can be viewed on our YouTube channel in English, Spanish and French. BirdsCaribbean partners also shared short, inspiring and amusing videos on what the theme meant to them. October Big Day was an opportunity to go out and see some migratory birds – with excellent results, despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 limitations on some islands.
Highlights from this year’s WMBD activities!
Puerto Rico
Staff at the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources educated participants on migratory birds and plastic pollution. They also donated native trees as gifts at the Service Fair organized by Senator Marissita Jiménez in the Cueva María de la Cruz de Loíza Historical Park.
Dominican Republic
In the second week of October, Babeque Secondary School organized some activities to celebrate the enthusiasm for birds with international institutions. This year they visited the Museum of Natural History Professor Eugenio de Js. Marcano, where the volunteer students learned about the birds that visit the island and participated in lively activities based on the knowledge they had absorbed. Grupo Acción Ecológica (GAE) carried out a variety of activities in the Dominican Republic to celebrate WMBD. They organized a talk and walk, in the National Botanical Garden with Dr. Rafael M. Moscoso. They also held workshops and outreach events with schools and community groups, including with the Doulus de Jarabacoa School. Celebrating with talks, walks and bird watching with the 5th graders. Of course, they also went out to look for migratory birds and caught a female (Black-throated Blue Warbler) as part of their monitoring!
Montserrat
The Department of Environment made an early start to WMBD events in September! They hosted a riveting presentation focused on shorebirds with a church group. Two site visits to observe shorebirds followed.
Later on, in October, the staff made a presentation on bird migration to 4th form biology students at the Montserrat Secondary School, highlighting a few of the bird species that traverse the island during the migratory season. This was followed by a word search race, which included the names of twenty-two migratory species that can be found on Montserrat.
Local radio also played a role, with a spot aired on the national radio station on October 8th and 9th.
Bonaire
For WMBD Monique Grol and her colleagues at STINAPA visited all the primary schools on the island! They taught grade 7 classes all about migratory birds, talking to children in the classroom and taking them out on bird watching trips to local Salinas. With 100s of school kids getting involved.
The children of Bonaire learned all about what migratory birds feed on and how bird beaks are different depending on what each type of food each bird eats. All the classes got poster of migratory birds to hang up in their classrooms. Out in the field the intrepid birding groups had great fun using binoculars and ID cards find and identify any birds they could spot!
Bird Costume Party Winners!
Congratulations to our Bird Costume Party winners from Cuba! Dayami Ravelo Romanguera was runner up in a gorgeous Yellow Warbler costume. Héctor Fidel Ravelo Romanguera won first prize in his dramatic Turkey Vulture costume.
The contest encouraged young Caribbean citizens to take migratory birds seriously, and to consider celebrating and protecting them in the future. The competition was open to children up to 12 years old, who were asked to depict one of the featured eleven species selected by Environment for the Americas this year. Costumes used only recyclable or reusable materials, encouraging the children to think about environmental sustainability.
Thank you to all of the amazing people and organizations in the Caribbean that celebrate WMBD every year and especially during this challenging year! We look forward to celebrating WMBD 2022 with you all!
If you are interested in celebrating WMBD in your country, we encourage you to visit the WMBD website for more information or contact the Caribbean Regional Coordinator, Laura Baboolal, at lbaboolal@environmentamericas.org. If you have an event planned, you can register it and put the Caribbean on the global events map.
WMBD 2021 digital materials from EFTA are available in English and Spanish, at this link.
Information on migratory birds in the Caribbean, including colouring pages, activity sheets , photos, videos, and puzzles are available from BirdsCaribbean at this link.
Last, but not least, don’t forget to share your WMBD events and experiences on social media with EFTA and BirdsCaribbean. You can find us on all major platforms. If pandemic restrictions allow on your island, go out and enjoy the birds. Most of all, have fun!
Enjoy these photos from WMBD celebrations across the Caribbean!
We used the same theme, “Sing, Fly, Soar—Like a Bird,” for our Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) in spring 2021. Check out the highlights from CEBF 2021 here. And here are the fabulous webinars we held, including talks by David Sibley on bird flight, Marta Curti on the Ridgway’s Hawk, and many more.