Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Red-legged Thrush

Found in the Bahamas 🇧🇸: Thrush; Cuba 🇨🇺: Zorzal Real; Dominican Republic 🇩🇴: Chua Chua, Haiti 🇭🇹i: Ouèt-ouèt; Puerto Rico🇺🇸: Zorzal Patirrojo; Cayman Islands 🇰🇾: Old Thruss, and Dominica🇩🇲: Pyé-jòn, this Caribbean endemic is similar in behavior to its North American counterpart, the American Robin. The Red-legged Thrush (Turdus plumbeus) is about 25-28 cm long. Its colors vary depending on what island you’re on, but it is always distinguished by its bluish-gray or slate gray upperparts, bright reddish-orange legs, red eye ring and white tail tips. Males are larger than females.

There are six subspecies (three described here). The Bahama race (T. plumbeus plumbeus)  has a black throat, black bill and tail, mid-gray under parts and white chin patch. The  Western Cuban, Isle of Pines and Cayo Coco sup species (T. p. rubripes) has a white chin, black throat, blackish to reddish bill, black tail, greyish breast and orange buff belly. The Hispaniola and Puerto Rican, subspecies (T. p. ardosiaceus) has a boldly striped throat, black tail with white tips, reddish orange bill, with greyish underparts. 

The Red-legged Thrush inhabits forests, pinelands, scrub, shade coffee plantations, gardens, and residential areas. It is a common and year-round resident throughout most of its range. It is omnivorous, feeding on a variety of fruits, insects and small vertebrates like anole lizards and greenhouse frogs. It forages mainly on the ground, working through leaf litter to find invertebrates. Like the American Robin, it is a common visitor to gardens and lawns, hopping along with its tail held up.

Breeding behavior of the Red-legged Thrush is poorly understood and varies with subspecies, but pairs have been observed defending breeding territories. They build cup-shaped nests with roots, grasses, mosses and leaves. Three to four eggs are laid and chicks leave their nests about 15 days after hatching. Breeding may take place from January to September, but peaks from April to July. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Red-legged Thrush!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Red-legged Thrush

The Red-legged Thrush has a number of different calls, including a low weecha and high-pitched chu-week. The song is a melodious but monotonous series of two to three phrases  similar to the Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus), but  a bit more musical: chirri chirri eeyu chirr biyuyu … tewi …shooh tewi

Listen to the song of the Red-legged Thrush

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Enjoy this lovely video of a Red-legged Thrush in Puerto Rico where it is a common resident. It is called  and gray  in Puerto Rico.  You can hear a Black-whiskered Vireo calling in the background. Video by AvesPuertoRico Felpe.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Cuban Parrot

The Cuban Parrot, formerly known as the Rose-throated Parrot, is not actually endemic only to Cuba. It also occurs on two islands in the Bahamas (on Abaco and Great Inagua) and the Cayman Islands. It is a pigeon-sized parrot (~30 cm). Coloration varies between the islands but this attractive parrot is mostly green with a pinkish-red chin, throat, and cheeks, and purplish abdomen. The forehead and eye ring are white and flight feathers are soft blue. The bill and legs are yellow. Is a very noisy bird, especially when they are in flocks in the non-breeding season. During the breeding season they are usually in pairs.

In the Cayman Islands, the parrot is called the Cayman Parrot and it is the national bird of the Cayman Islands. In the Bahamas it is called the Bahama Parrot, and in Cuba – Cotorra Cubana.

In Cuba, the Cuban Parrot lives in dense woodland (including the Isle of Pines). It inhabits native broadleaf and pine woodlands in the Bahamas, and dry forest and agricultural areas in the Cayman Islands. The parrot has also been recorded in savannas with palm groves, mangroves, plantations and gardens. They eat a variety of fruits and seeds, including including gum elemi (Bursera simaruba), poisonwood berries, wild guava, mastic, white torch, mahogany seeds, and fruits of many species of palms. For nesting they mainly use old woodpecker nest holes and dead palms that have lost their foliage. The Abaco Island population has the unique behavior of nesting in limestone crevices in the ground, which makes them vulnerable to predation by feral cats and raccoons. Females lay 3-4 white eggs; breeding is from March to September. 

The Cuban Parrot was formerly much more numerous and widespread. Christopher Columbus was so struck by the numbers of parrots when he made landfall in The Bahamas in 1492, that he wrote in his log, “flocks of parrots darken the sun.” Sadly, this parrot has been extirpated from much of its former range due to habitat destruction and capture for the pet bird trade. Hurricanes also kill birds and damage habitats. Some conservation actions have helped: such as the creation of the Abaco National Park in 1994 to protect the parrot and campaigns to educate people that capture of wild parrots is illegal and they should not be kept in cages. But more work is needed to ensure the long-term survival of this near-threatened species. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Cuban Parrot!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Cuban Parrot

The Cuban Parrot is very noisy, especially when perched in a flock. It has a wide variety of screeches and calls. In flight, it utters a harsh squawk squawk.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Enjoy the videos below which show the Cuban (Bahama) Parrot in the wild. The first video shows a Cuban Parrot feeding on tamarind seed pods in Matanzas, Cuba. The Bahama Parrot video by Scott Johnson and the documentary from 2011 provide details on the threats to Bahama Parrots in Abaco and Great Inagua and research and conservation actions by the Bahamas National Trust to protect the parrot. The fourth video is QUINCY’S SONG – a rap  song created for the first Rare campaign in the Bahamas to protect the  Bahama Parrot in 1992.

Learn more about the Cuban Parrot in these articles:

Amnesty for Pet Parrot Owners on Cayman Islands

Post-Irma, Parrots in the Abaco Pinelands Are Holding Their Own

Hurricane Dorian Recovery: An Update on How Our Appeal Funds Are Being Used

Working to Save and Protect what’s Ours— That’s our CAWS

 

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Antillean Siskin

Take a walk in a sun-filled, rolling meadow up in the mountains of the Dominican Republic (DR). If you’re lucky, you will see a small flock of beautiful black and yellow birds take flight. They emerge from their hiding place within the thick grasses to then swirl up and into the sunshine. These are Antillean Siskins. Contrary to what their name implies, they occur nowhere else but the island of Hispaniola. 

Antillean Siskins are small chunky birds with a light yellow conical bill. Males have a distinctive black head and bright yellow collar and underparts. Their back is olive-green, the tail is black with two yellow patches. Females are olive-green above and yellowish-white below with grayish streaks. Antillean Siskins are incredible songsters. Check out the amazing ensemble of different sounds they can make below. 

Antillean Siskins live in montane pine forest and grass savanna habitats in the border region of the DR and Haiti. They may wander down to other habitats at lower altitudes during the colder, non-breeding months of the year. Siskins feed on seeds from a variety of grasses, shrubs, and trees. They forage in small to large flocks. Breeding takes place in May and June. Pairs build a cup nest made of moss in bushes or the lower branches of pine trees. 

Unfortunately, the “islands in the sky” that Antillean Siskins and other montane species call home are shrinking. The habitat is disappearing due to human encroachment. The next mountain top can be a long flight away, and is likely facing the same problems. It is up to us to protect their remaining habitat. We can also help with ongoing efforts to reforest Hispaniolan mountain forests and grassland habitats. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Antillean Siskin!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the songs and call of the Antillean Siskin

The Antillean Siskin sings an amazingly eclectic song (starting at 0:32) without seeming to take a breath,  including a jut-jut, a shrill and buzzy zzhhreeeee, and a buzzy insect-like zzzzzzzzzt that is upward inflected. 

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Do a word search, about today’s Endemic Bird of the Day – the Antillean Siskin.  Can you find all 12 hidden words? Here is the Answer Key if you need help!

 

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this shirt video of a lovely male and female Antillean Siskin eating fruit – the white-fleshed pitahaya or dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus), a species of Cactaceae.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Hispaniolan Woodpecker

Hispaniolan Woodpecker – friend or foe? This charismatic endemic is found all over the island of Hispaniola and has garnered quite the reputation for itself. With darting lemon yellow eyes, and sporting a flashy bee-striped back pattern, these loud birds can often be seen throwing their heads back and proclaiming a loud waaakkkkkaaaaa to the world. Unlike most woodpeckers they are very social, often nesting in loose colonies of up to 20 pairs. Pairs excavate a cavity for nesting and the adults in the colony defend the nesting tree. Pairs greet each other upon arrival to the cavity by swinging their heads from side to side. 

Although Hispaniolan Woodpeckers prefer to build their nests in Royal Palm trees, many people misperceive this bird as a pest, believing it prefers Dominican homes. But it does not, and these birds are actually quite useful to keep around. First, they are valuable seed dispersers. They eat a variety of native fruits and through their poop, help to regenerate deforested palm savannah pastures. Second, they are  fond of eating those pesky large cockroaches that many people are not too keen to host in their homes. Many people did not realize that the woodpecker provided these valuable ecological services. In the past, it used to have a bounty, with the government paying for each woodpecker tongue collected. Thankfully, even with a price on its head, the woodpecker has persisted, remaining a common and widespread bird. 

Hispaniolan Woodpeckers are buffy dark-olive below, their back is covered in yellow and black stripes. Males have a red crown and nape while females have a black crown and red nape. Their tail base is brilliantly red while the tail itself is black. The rump is olive-grey.  Males are larger than females and their bill size is ~20% bigger. They eat insects, fruit, and seeds taken through gleaning, probing and pecking on trees, bushes, epiphytes and cacti. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Hispaniolan Woodpecker

The Hispaniolan Woodpecker is quite vocal, emitting a range of sounds including yapping, squeaking, rolling and nasal calls. They give a long series of up to 23 notes in long-distance communication. Drumming is done only occasionally.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a male Hispaniolan Woodpecker feeding by probing and pecking on a tree trunks to find insects.

This video has some great footage of a female Hispaniolan Woodpecker perched on a tree trunk and calling repeatedly.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

 

Endemic Bird of the Day: Elfin-woods Warbler

The Elfin-woods Warbler is a rare bird found only in mountain forests in Puerto Rico. Describing it as an elusive bird is an understatement—the warbler avoided discovery until 1969 and was not described as a new species until 1973! This could in part be due to its similarity to the Black-and-White Warbler, which migrates through Puerto Rico. The species was named after Angela Kepler, one of its discoverers. It is the last new species to be described for the region.

The Elfin-woods Warbler is a small bird with black and white plumage. Adults have a black crown and back, incomplete white eye ring, thin white eyebrow and 2 white wing bars. The underparts are white, with black streaks on the throat, breast and flanks. The sexes look alike but males tend to have larger amounts of black streaking on the breast and throat. Juveniles have a similar pattern as the adults, but the black is replaced by grayish-green on the back and yellowish-green on their heads and underparts.

The Elfin-woods Warbler can be differentiated from the Black-and-white Warbler by the absence of white streaks on its back and different black and white pattern on the head. Their behavior also differs: Black-and-white Warblers creep along the trunks of trees whereas Elfin-woods Warblers glean small insects from leaves and small branches of trees and bushes. It moves rapidly among ravines and dense understory of its preferred habitat in moist montane dwarf forest. It often flocks together with other birds – this may also explain how it remained undetected for so many years.

Its current range is limited to just two locations, Maricao Commonwealth Forest and El Yunque National Forest, in the western and eastern parts of Puerto Rico, respectively. The species is listed as Endangered due to its small range and declining population size. The main threat is ongoing loss and modification of its prime forest habitat, even in protected areas. Since the 1980s, the construction of communication infrastructure (e.g., cell phone, microwave and radio towers) and roads, as well as expanded recreation facilities, continues to destroy and fragment its dwarf forest habitat. Conservationists are trying to create a biological corridor that they hope will increase the Elfin-woods Warbler’s range. 

The species’ common name in Spanish Reinita de Bosque Enano refers to the place where it was discovered as well as to its size. In Puerto Rico most people call small birds “Reinita” and “del Bosque Enano” refers to the dwarf forest where it was seen for the first time. It is one of the 12 species of New World warblers exclusively found in the Caribbean region. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Elfin-woods Warbler!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Elfin-woods Warbler

The Elfin-woods Warbler”s song is a series of short, rapidly uttered, unmusical notes on one pitch, increasing in volume and ending with a short series of distinct double notes. It also produces a short metallic “chip” call and a contact call which is similar to the song but without the double-note ending.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Check out the great video of the rare Elfin-woods Warbler moving through the forest vegetation and gleaning insects from the leaves and branches. This video was recorded in the Maricao State Forest (Monte del Estado).

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: White-breasted Thrasher

With a chocolate brown back, striking white chest, and piercing red eye, the White-breasted Thrasher is not among the flashiest of Caribbean birds, but it is certainly among the most elegant. This plumage, its pervasive alarm calls, and namesake habit of thrashing through the leaf litter in search of invertebrate prey makes the thrasher unmistakable among birds in the dry forest.  

“One of the rarest birds in the West Indies,” is how James Bond described the thrasher in the early 20th century, and the species is still rare today. Found only in Saint Lucia and Martinique, where it is known as Gòj Blan and Moqueur Gorge Blanche, respectively, there are fewer than 2,000 thrashers left. Its dry forest habitat has been fragmented by large-scale development for tourism. It has also been degraded by small-scale timber extraction and livestock grazing. In addition, non-native mammalian predators such as rats, mongoose, and cats have invaded the habitat. These invasive mammals prey on thrashers and other wildlife and are a major cause of the species decline. 

Despite being Endangered, however, this bird is not particularly difficult to see if you find yourself in the dry forest. This is partly because they are noisy, but also because they often live in large family groups, a unique behavior called cooperative breeding. Rather than dispersing to breed independently as most birds do after they fledge, some thrasher offspring from one year forgo breeding to help their parents in raising offspring (their siblings) in the next few years. One consequence of this behavior is extremely short dispersal distances, which in turn, has resulted in a lack of gene flow between the two island populations. Should the two subspecies of thrashers in Saint Lucia and Martinique be split into separate species? Probably…stay tuned! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the White-breasted Thrasher!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the White-breasted Thrasher

The White-breasted Thrasher’s call is a short, harsh, rasping (tschhh). It also has a more complex song. Thrashers are particularly noisy when defending a territory, using persistent and variable cries, both metallic and nasally.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: See the White-breasted Thrasher in action! This foraging bird was filmed in Martinique. You can see how it tosses aside leaf litter to find insects and other food items.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Zapata Sparrow

The Zapata Sparrow (in Cuba:  Cabrerito de la Ciénaga) is one of three endemic Cuban birds discovered in 1926 by the Spanish naturalist, Fermín Zanón Cervera. Apparently it had a much wider distribution in the past but now just three small populations persist in three widely separated areas. They are each considered different subspecies belonging to endemic genus Torreornis. The earliest known population was discovered by Cervera in the Zapata Swamp. A second population was found in the Guantanamo province in southeast Cuba in the 1950s. The third population was finally discovered in the Cayo Coco Cays on the north coast in the 1970s. 

Zapata Sparrows are plump sparrows with yellow underparts, a white throat, and a dark mustache stripe. The crown is dark reddish-brown and upperparts are olive-gray. The Zapata and Cayo Coco races are quite similar, with bright colors. The race from the coastal area east of Guantánamo is duller with the crown almost gray. The three races live in quite different habitats. In the Zapata Swamp they live in sawgrass prairie that is flooded about half the year. In Cayo Coco, they inhabit coastal scrub and low forest, and in Baitiquirí (Guantánamo) they live in low thorn scrub with cacti and scattered trees (this is the most arid part of Cuba).

Zapata Sparrows are usually seen in pairs, sometimes accompanied by a third individual. They are weak fliers due to having short and rounded wings. Pairs appear to defend a territory year-round. During the dry season they feed primarily on seeds, fruits, and flowers, but in the wet season they expand their diet to include animal matter such as insects, caterpillars, moths, spiders, snail eggs, and even small lizards. They nest from April to June, and lay two eggs in a cup shaped nest, usually less than one meter from the ground. 

Because of their small ranges and population sizes, all three races are vulnerable to natural threats like hurricanes, and human-caused impacts such as ongoing habitat loss and degradation. The Zapata Sparrow is listed as Endangered by the IUCN. Special care must be taken to ensure that the habitat in the 3 areas where it occurs is not damaged or developed. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Zapata Sparrow!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Zapata Sparrow

The Zapata Sparrow’s typical call is a high-pitched metallic trill tziii-tzziii-tzziii repeated at intervals while the pair forages. 

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Help! There are reports of an imposter Zapata Sparrow! Can you spot the differences between the original and the imposter sparrow? There are 6 differences to find. After writing in your answers, check the Answer Key to see if you got them all correct.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

A lovely video of the handsome Zapata Sparrow, perched on a branch during a windy day in the Zapata Swamp. The bird turns once so that we get a great view of its front and back:

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Golden Swallow

If you ever get the chance to go birding in the mountains of the Dominican Republic (DR) or Haiti, you’ll want to add Golden Swallows to your list of birds to see. It’s not uncommon for people to spend hours watching these amazing birds fly around open meadows where they feed. They twist, turn, and dive through the air with incredible grace and precision as they hunt for airborne insects—their primary food source. These little aerial acrobats weigh only 13 grams—the same as a AAA battery—which allows them to maintain flight for a long time with limited effort! 

As for their name, the debate of whether this swallow’s colouring better matches its English common name (golden) or its Spanish common name (verde = green) is a fierce one. We’ll settle it right here—they are both! The colours you see on their upperparts are ever-changing as they fly around and catch the sunlight at different angles. In a few seconds you might observe a blue-ish sheen changing to a golden iridescence that then changes to an olive-green! 

Because of their erratic flight, it’s challenging to get a good look at a Golden Swallow with binoculars! Instead, you might do better if you can locate one of their nests. They are secondary cavity nesters, which means that they nest in cavities already built. So look for them using old woodpecker holes in dead snags, as well as rocky cliff sides that offer small crevices for nesting. Like many other types of cavity nesting birds (ex. bluebirds and flycatchers), Golden Swallows will sometimes use man-made nest boxes. Scientists in the DR have been successful at attracting Golden Swallows to nest boxes. This has helped them to study the birds and figure out how best to protect them. It turns out that conservation of these swallows is definitely needed! 

Although once found in small numbers on the neighboring island of Jamaica, Golden Swallows are now found only on the island of Hispaniola. We don’t know why they have disappeared from Jamaica, but it could be for the same reasons that other swallow species are declining. Swallows feed on insects, and we now know that insects worldwide have been decreasing at alarming rates for a long time. This is from destruction of native habitats as well as the widespread use of insecticides (also called pesticides). Truth be told,  we’ve become too good at killing insects, and we’re only now waking up to the realization that our ecosystems depend on them. The good news is that there is an easy way that everyone can help: plant as many native plants as you can on your property. Native plants attract native insects (not pest insects!), and these insects provide lots of food (filled with protein!) for MANY different bird species. 

Try to replace lawn space that you don’t use with native trees and bushes. Lead or join community efforts to add more native greenery to your neighborhood. Let’s work together to rebuild the food web from the bottom up to help conserve our birds! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Golden Swallow!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Golden Swallow

The flight call of the Golden Swallow sounds like tchee-weet.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Insects are an important food resource for many species of birds. Can you match the pictures of 8 insects with the name of the insect? How many types of insects can you find in your backyard or neighborhood? Do our Insect Matching Activity and then check your answers with the Answer Key.

If you need help identifying them, download Seek, by iNaturalist, a very cool mobile app that can help you identify insects, plants, amphibians, lizards, birds, mammals, and more!

FOR KIDS & ADULTS:

Learn about key native plants that are beneficial to native and migratory birds with our eBook: Heritage Plants: Native Trees and Plants for Birds and People in the Caribbean. The plants highlighted in this book are perfect for backyard gardens, neighborhood landscaping, and other habitat restoration projects big and small.  Browse the book, get inspired, and find new plants to grow in your backyard! Check with your local Forestry Department as they may have some of these plants available at no cost. Available in both English and Spanish!

Download the book for free. (PDF, 24 pages, English)
Partrimonio Vegetal, descarga gratis en español. (PDF, 24 páginas, Español)

Learn all about nest boxes and bird houses and how to make them for different kinds of birds!

Educator’s Guide to Nest Boxes

All about Bird Houses – How to make a safe, successful home for our feathered friends

Learn more about the Golden Swallow!

The Golden Swallow website – lots of great information here on the work that researchers have done with these swallows over the last ten years.

Video of Golden Swallows at their nest box, in flight, feeding chicks, and more! This video highlights the best footage that scientists were able to capture across three summers of research in the Dominican Republic.  Most of the video is on the breeding population in the Parque Valle Nuevo, with a glimpse of the population at Aceitillar.

Enjoy the video below from Cockpit Country, Jamaica. This is the last place that Golden Swallows were seen on in Jamaica before they disappeared. Watch the morning fog slowly drift away and listen to all of the birds waking up in the lush jungle below. 

Read about Justin Proctor’s marvelous adventures and findings from field work on the Golden Swallow in the DR and Jamaica!

Searching for the Golden Swallow in Jamaica’s Ram Goat Cave

Discovering Gold in the Greater Antilles

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Palmchat

The Palmchat is endemic to and widespread on the island of Hispaniola (Cigua Palmera in the Dominican Republic and Oiseau Palmiste in Haiti). It is a noisy and conspicuous bird, easily seen in flocks in treetops throughout the island. The Palmchat is a very special bird because it is the only member of its family (Dulidae) and genus. Owing to its unique taxonomic status, the Palmchat is the National Bird of the Dominican Republic.

Palmchats are chunky birds, approximately 8 inches in size, dark brown above with an olive green wash on the wings. The belly is cream-colored with heavy brown streaking.You wouldn’t guess from their rather drab appearance that they are the social butterflies of the bird world. They live in societies with up to 50 or more members, all sharing communal roosting and nesting space atop palm trees in large stick-mounds. The communal nest is divided up into multiple nesting chambers, each pair has its own chamber. Nesting mainly occurs in the spring and summer months, but Palmchats industriously maintain the nest and supply new sticks throughout the year as they continue to use it for roosting and socializing. 

While the Palmchat is considered a songbird, it does not so much sing as it does chatter and chirp with members of its community or flock. They have a broad vocabulary of sounds including different types of alarm calls that tell their neighbors whether to focus on a threat on the ground or in the air. They even imitate the calls of hawks and kestrels. Palmchats are also some of the most important seed dispersers in habitats where they live—they move often through open landscapes and help forests regenerate. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Palmchat!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Palmchat

The Palmchat’s call is a noisy array of strange call notes, especially when around the nest.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Play Bird Bingo in your backyard! Look out for hazards and predators and keep your eyes peeled for food and nest materials. Parents – help your kids enjoy and learn about nature in your own backyard and neighborhood. Print the Bird Bingo game cards and play with the whole family!

Learn more about the important role that birds like the Palmchat play in reforesting the forest in these fascinating articles by ornithologist Spencer Shubert:

Birdy Hear, Birdy Do: Does Playback Attract Seed Dispersers to Restoration Sites?

Forest Restoration in the Dominican Republic: How I Got the Birds to Work for Me

Check out the cool video of a Palmchat feeding on the flowers of a Century Plant or Agave plant.

 

 

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Yellow-billed Parrot

Imagine yourself in a cool early morning in Jamaica’s remote Cockpit Country. As the sun rises and the mist gradually clears from the forested hills and valleys, the flights of parrots begin. You can hear them coming from hundreds of metres away. Flocks of these bright green marvels leave the safety of their remote roosts and their nests in cavities of large trees in search of food. In the forests and agricultural lands, they feast on fruit and seeds, sometimes to the despair of farmers. 

There are two species of parrots in Jamaica: Yellow-billed and Black-billed Parrots. The Yellow-bills have light-coloured bills, bluish foreheads, pink cheeks and throats. The Black-bills have dark bills and green faces with a dark spot behind their eyes. Yellow-bills are slightly larger and possibly more abundant than Black-bills. In flight, their wing beats are deeper. Both can be seen in Cockpit Country and the Blue and John Crow Mountains, and there is a population of Yellow-billed Parrots in the Hope Botanical Gardens in Kingston. Both species are threatened by habitat loss and illegal trapping and trade.

Their voices provide further clues to identification. Yellow-bills have mid-range voices, while Black-bills’ voices range both higher and lower. Parrots can be very noisy but sometimes they can be perched above your head, totally silent and undetectable in the green leaves – until they explode into flight with loud squawks.

What are they saying to each other as they fly? Are those squawks and squeaks just random babblings or do they have meaning? Scientists who have studied parrots elsewhere have found that some species of parrots can recognize each other by call and communicate when they have found a good place to feed. Can Jamaican parrots share the location of a fig tree in fruit or juicy flower buds? No one has studied their calls, so we cannot say for sure that this is the case, but it seems likely. 

Maybe one day we will be able to understand the Yellow-billed Parrot calls. In the meantime, we can observe the beauty of their flight and wonder at the variety of the sounds they make. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Yellow-billed Parrot!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Yellow-billed Parrot

Yellow-billed Parrots emit a variety of screeches and squawks, mostly low-pitched  squawks when perched.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Create your own bird colouring page for your favourite bird! Or draw an imaginary bird! And don’t forget add your “Feathery Facts.” Share with us by tagging us @BirdsCaribbean. Have fun!

Check out the wonderful video of two Yellow-billed Parrots calling and interacting in Jamaica!

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Purple-throated Carib

When you think purple throat, you wouldn’t expect that the most obvious field mark for this large hummingbird is it’s accentuated, emerald green wings! Coming in at a whopping 5 inches, this hummingbird tends to appear completely black except for its wings. Try golden hour, with the perfect lighting and the right angles and it transforms before the eyes, living up to its name. The regal purplish-red of its throat and breast are revealed, much to the delight of its observers. 

Male Purple-throated Caribs are slightly larger than females and more aggressive. Both sexes have the same coloration, but the female’s bill is about 30% longer and more sharply down-curved than the male. Both bills are adapted for feeding on nectar but they feed from different flowers that fit the shape of their bills. Males prefer Heliconias with short corollas (petals) while females visit Heliconias with longer corollas. They also eat insects.

Purple-throated Caribs are endemic to only a handful of islands in the Lesser Antilles but may be vagrant on other islands. They are often simply called hummingbirds, but may also be called Doctor Bird, Ruby-Throat, Madè, Fou-fou, and Fal-wouj, depending on what island you’re on. Calls include a strident tsip, and a sharp chewp, which is repeated rapidly when they are agitated.

Nesting takes place between January and July. A cup-shaped nest normally containing 2 white eggs is hung from a fork of a small branch between 3 and 18 meters (9 and 60 feet) above ground. Though their conservation status is classified as Least Concern, they are primarily found in low-level moist forests, and may not be the easiest hummingbird to find. Ask any villager though, and they will tell you to look for Heliconia or a flowering Moringa and there you will find what you seek! Due to the continual encroachment of development, both the habitat and the birds are at risk. Conservation should focus on protecting forest habitats in all the islands. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Purple-throated Carib!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Purple-throated Carib

Calls include a strident tsip, and a sharp chewp, which is repeated rapidly when they are agitated.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Check out the video of a Purple-throated Carib in St. Lucia, perching, flying and feeding on nectar. Towards the end of the video, there is good footage of the male courting a female – he holds his body low and horizontal with wings extended and shakes them while moving his head from side to side. The male and female fly together in a circle round and round in a courtship dance which ends with a quick mating and the female flies off.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Hispaniolan Trogon

Meet the Hispaniolan Trogon (called Papagayo in the Dominican Republic and Caleçon Rouge in Haiti), one of only two trogon species found within the Caribbean (the other being the sister species, the Cuban Trogon). These birds are hefty and distinct, with a glossy green back, gray breast and throat, red belly, and yellow bill. They have a long dark blue tail marked with white below. The sexes look alike except males have fine black and white markings on the wings while females do not.

Although large, these birds can be difficult to find in denser forests. Fortunately their booming vocalizations can often be heard echoing throughout the hills. As the name implies, this chonker of a bird is endemic to the island of Hispaniola. While they are the national bird of Haiti, due to increasing habitat loss, they are more commonly found in the Cordillera Central and Sierra de Bahoruco mountain ranges of the Dominican Republic. They live in pine and broadleaf forest habitats, and have even been recorded as high as 3,000 m in elevation! 

Hispaniolan Trogons are secondary cavity nesters, meaning they’ll take over old cavities from birds such as the Hispaniolan Woodpecker, and enlarge them to make their own nest. Currently the biggest threat these birds face is loss of habitat from deforestation, resulting in their current IUCN listing as Near-Threatened. Some scientists and local conservationists have successfully created nest-boxes for these birds in the scientific reserve, Ebano Verde. The diet of Hispaniolan Trogons is not very well known. They have been recorded eating insects, small anoles, and fruits, especially those of the Parrot Tree (Brunellia comocladifolia). Interestingly, in many other Latin American countries, the Spanish word for trogon is simply trogon, and Papagayo, the name of the Hispaniolan Trogon, is often used for macaws. Be sure to be on the lookout for this striking bird in the mountains of Hispaniola! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Hispaniolan Trogon!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the song of the Hispaniolan Trogon

The Hispaniolan Trogon’s song is described as “cuh kwao or cuh kwao kwao,” or  repeating and carrying over long distances.

The Hispaniolan Trogon has a low rattle or cooing call.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Complete our All about the Papagayo (Hispaniolan Trogon) Crossword Puzzle! How many words do you know? Be sure to read about the Papagayo, our Endemic Bird of the Day, for clues to the puzzle. If you need help, also check out our Glossary for some definitions that will help you complete this puzzle. And here is a the Answer Key to the puzzle.

And check out this short video with nice footage about the national bird of Haiti, called the Caleçon Rouge in Haiti.

Hispaniolan Trogon Crossword Puzzle-small

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Puerto Rican Bullfinch

The Puerto Rican Bullfinch is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known as “Comeñame”. It is ~ 7.5 in (19 cm) long and weighs ~32-33 g. The male is slightly larger than the female. Adults have a black body with a reddish-orange colored band on the crown, throat and under the tail. Juveniles are a dark olive-green color, with a pale reddish-brown marking under the tail. All ages have a large, heavy finch-type (conical) beak.

The Puerto Rican Bullfinch can be spotted in woodlands and forests (dry and humid) and shade coffee plantations throughout Puerto Rico at all elevations. It is a common bird but shy and secretive, so more often heard than seen. The nest is shaped like a cup with an entrance in the side and the female lays 3 dull-green eggs with dark spots. During the breeding season, usually from February to June, the male is aggressive and territorial. Banding studies suggest that bullfinches have long-term territories or home ranges. Bullfinches forage mainly in vegetation but also on the ground. They eat seeds, fruits, flower buds, small insects, spiders and mollusks. 

Bullfinches sing much of the day and throughout the year, but especially during the breeding season. The song of this bird is a series of loud or rising whistles whip whip whip followed by a high-pitched trill or buzz. The second song is a whistled coochi, coochi, chooochii and it also has a low tsuit call note that sounds like striking two stones together. The Puerto Rican Bullfinch is not currently threatened, but it may be declining due to destruction of its forest habitat. We must be vigilant and monitor this beautiful bird to safeguard its long-term survival. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Puerto Rican Bullfinch!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the song of the Puerto Rican Bullfinch

The Puerto Rican Bullfinch’s call is a distinct series (2–10) of rising whistles followed by a buzz. It also whistles coochi-coochi-coochi and a mid-strength check or tsuit call note.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Enjoy this fabulous close-up video of a male Puerto Rican Bullfinch feeding on banana in Puerto Rico.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Cuban Pygmy-Owl

The Cuban Pygmy-Owl is one of the two pocket-sized owls of the Cuban archipelago. At just 17.5 cm, it is considered the smallest West Indian owl. It is the most common of Cuban owls. There are two color phases: one with grayish-brown upper-parts (more common) and one with cinnamon-brown upper-parts. Their underparts are off-white with brown spots and streaks. The head is dark brown with tufts of white and it has large yellow eyes. Their short legs and feet are yellow, covered with white feathers. The Cuban Pygmy Owl can turn its head almost completely around, showing markings on the back that look like two dark, menacing eyes. This adaptation of “eye” markings is meant to ward off predators of the owl. Cuban Pygmy-Owls live in woodlands across the main island, the Isle of Youth and some northern cays. Like most pygmy-owls It is active during the day so easy to see and hear. You can easily find it by listening for its call, a low repeating whistle uh, uh, uh… or an increasingly loud and shrill hui-hui-chiii-chiii-chi-chi-chi... It is usually found in pairs, spread out from one another. Cuban Pygmy-Owls nest from December to May. They lay 3-4 almost round white eggs in tree-holes, often palm trees, that have already been used and abandoned by woodpeckers. Their diet is lizards, large insects (such as moths and beetles), and small birds. Other species commonly “mob” the owl with vigorous jabbering and chasing, attempting to scare it off from the area. It is a curious bird, often allowing humans to approach within 2 meters from its perch! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Cuban Pygmy-Owl!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Cuban Pygmy-Owl

The Cuban Pygmy-Owl’s call is a low, repeating a short uh, uh, uh… (you can also hear a Bare-legged Owl hooting in the recording) Cuban Pygmy-Owl second call, an increasingly loud hui-hui-chiii-chiii-chi-chi-chi… often given when alarmed.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Learn about Caribbean endemic birds and how to draw them with our talented artist, Josmar Esteban Marquez. Josmar is based in Venezuela and studies and monitors shorebirds on the offshore cays and islands of Venezuela. He loves working with communities and children on wildlife art projects. He’s a fantastic teacher!!! (subscribe to our Youtube channel to follow the video series!) Click on the “CC” at the bottom to see the subtitles in English.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

 

Endemic Bird of the Day: Bahama Woodstar

Resourceful, brave, energetic, full of life, beautiful – these are words that perfectly describe the little superstar… the Bahama Woodstar (Nesophlox evelynae).  It is about 8-9.5 cm long. It is green above with males sporting a glittering purplish-pink gorget, white breast band, and a cinnamon-brown belly. It also has rufous and black tail feathers, black wings, and a long, thin, slightly curved beak. Females have a white throat and breast and rufous belly. When they fly you can see that males have forked tails and females have rounded tails. Although they are nectarivores (feed primarily on nectar), they will consume small insects to supplement their protein needs.

Like other species of hummingbirds, Bahama Woodstars are polygynous with males having multiple partners. During courtship, males engage in several courtship displays, one of which is a dive. During the dive, males make a metallic sound using their tail feathers. Bahama Woodstars build their nest using lichen, spider webs, cotton, and other plant fibers, and the papery bark from Gumelemi (Bursera simaruba). They lay two small white eggs. Females build the nest and raise the chicks. Males take no part in the rearing of offspring. Nesting has been observed year-round in this species. Despite their small size, Bahama Woodstars can be very aggressive and will defend their chicks as well as feeding territories from other birds. 

The Bahama Woodstar is endemic to the Lucayan archipelago. It is a common resident on most islands in the Bahamas except for Great and Little Inagua islands, where it is replaced by the closely related Inagua Woodstar (N. Lyrura). It is also resident in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occurs in all island habitats, including pine forests, gardens, and parks. Their call is a sharp tit, titit, tit, tit, titit, often speeding up into a rapid rattling sound. Their song is a dry rhythmic prititidee, prititidee, prititidee. Many native and cultivated plants depend on the Bahama Woodstar for pollination. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Bahama Woodstar!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Bahama Woodstar

The Bahama Woodstar’s call is a sharp tit, titit, tit, tit, titit often speeding to a quick rattle.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Scott Johnson, Bahamas National Trust Science Officer, captured this awesome video of a male Bahama Woodstar courting a female.

 

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Antillean Euphonia

The Antillean Euphonia is a colorful, small bird of the Fringillidae family. It has a remarkable variety of melodious calls and jumbled songs that includes sharp whistles whee, trilling, tinkling notes tuc-tuc-tuc, and a hard metallic chi-chink, hence it’s Latin specific name musica. It is endemic to the islands of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and much of the Lesser Antilles (Antigua south to Grenada, absent from Barbados). These three areas host three distinct subspecies and some authorities even consider them separate species. The three subspecies differ in color, as well as the size of the beak and tail. 

The males of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico have a turquoise blue crown and nape, blackish-violet face, back and wings, a small band of tawny-yellow on the forehead, and rich tawny-yellow underparts and rump. However, males in Puerto Rico have a yellow throat while males from Hispaniola have a dark blue throat. The females of all the groups are lighter overall, with yellow-greenish body and wings, turquoise crown and nape, and the forehead nicely adorned with a spot of gold. The males of the Lesser Antilles have female-like plumage, except for a sky-blue forehead, crown and nape.

The Antillean Euphonia lives in all forest habitats at sea level and up to an altitude of more than 2,000 m, but it seems to prefer humid mountain forests. It can also be found in shade-coffee plantations. Euphonias are seen in pairs during the breeding season (Jan to July) and in small flocks at other times of the year, sometimes with warblers and tanagers. It flits about in the dense forest canopy and can be difficult to see—listen for their musical songs to locate them!  These small birds feed on a variety of plants and berries but have a clear fondness for mistletoe berries (Phoradendron) and are an important disperser of its seeds. 

While the species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, deforestation throughout its range is a concern. It has experienced a particularly worrying decline in Guadeloupe over the past thirty years where it could be classified locally as Endangered or even Critically Endangered according to IUCN criteria. It has become extremely rare in St. Vincent and may even have disappeared from Saba. The AMAZONA association has been studying it in Guadeloupe for the past three years. Further research and monitoring is needed to understand and protect this delightful bird so that it persists in abundance across the islands. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Antillean Euphonia!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the song of the Antillean Euphonia

The Antillean Euphonia has a remarkable variety of melodious calls and jumbled songs that includes sharp whistles whee, trilling, tinkling notes tuc-tuc-tuc, and a hard metallic chi-chink, hence it’s Latin specific name musica. 

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Test your knowledge of what kinds of nests Caribbean endemic birds build and use to lay eggs and raise chicks with our Nest Matching Activity! Draw lines from the colouring book drawings to match each Caribbean endemic bird with its nest type. And here is the Answer Key – don’t look until you have completed the activity!!! More information about our Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book is here. We are sharing a new colouring page from the book each day of our Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival 2020, From the Nest, Virtual Edition.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Grenada Dove

One of the rarest birds in the world – the Grenada Dove – is found only in Grenada. It is a shy and elusive bird, staying well hidden within the forested hills and valleys of its dry forest habitat. It is a medium sized (~200g) dove with brown upperparts, buffy cinnamon-coloured breast and neck, and grayish forehead, face and crown. Its legs and feet are bright pinkish-red. The belly is white with a strip of white feathers that extends from its side up around the bend of the wing (key field mark!). It is a thrilling experience to get a glimpse of one of these rare birds, walking under the canopy looking for food or calling from a branch. Make sure to observe them from a distance of course so that they are not disturbed! 

The Grenada Dove is Critically Endangered. The entire population is estimated at less than 160 individuals*. It lives in just 2 small parcels of remaining dry coastal forest in the southwest and west coast of Grenada. Like most doves, the Grenada Dove spends most of its time scouring the ground for seeds. If you aren’t lucky enough to get a glimpse of this dove, you will most certainly hear them calling during the breeding season. Its characteristic call is a single descending note hooooooo that is repeated every 7-8 seconds, sometimes for long periods during the breeding season when males are territorial. The nest is a platform of twigs constructed in a tree, palm or bush up to 4 m above the ground.

The main threat to the Grenada Dove is loss of habitat. Its coastal scrub habitats are unfortunately prime areas for development (resort, residential and industrial). The dove’s survival is also  threatened from predation by introduced predators, especially mongoose but also cats, rats, and opossum. While there are two Protected Areas legally established for the conservation of the dove (Mt Hartman National Park and Beausejour Estates), they cover only a portion of where the dove is found. The remaining habitat is both crown and private lands. Predator control programmes have also been taking place in the protected areas. Everyone can do their part to help save this beautiful and unique species from extinction by supporting conservation of its forest habitat. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Grenada Dove!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Grenada Dove

The Grenada Dove’s call is a descending hoooo which repeats consistently every 7-8seconds.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: You can see the the Grenada Dove for yourself through a fantastic virtual visit to the Mt. Hartman National Park, established in 1996 to protect the dove in the following videos:

Learn more about Mt Hartman National Park, the dove, threats to its habitat and long-term survival, and the efforts to conserve the dove:

*Frank Rivera et al., 2015. Distance sampling survey and abundance estimation of the critically endangered Grenada Dove (Lepotila wellsi). The Condor: Ornithological Applications 117:87-93.

 

 

 

 

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Puerto Rican Parrot

The Puerto Rican Parrot is one of nine species of Amazon parrots endemic to the Caribbean region. It is the only native psittacid in the island, although 46 species of exotic Psittaciformes have been reported. This species can be distinguished from other green parrots by a red forehead, white eye ring, and brilliant blue flight feathers. It feeds on a variety of wild fruits, like those from the Sierra Palm, but also consumes seeds, flowers and leaf buds.

The Puerto Rican Parrot, locally called Iguaca, was so abundant during Spanish colonial times, that the population was believed to reach about one million individuals, particularly in the coastal forests. Sadly, human activities, mainly development of cities and towns, destroyed the parrot’s native forest habitats. In addition, parrots were captured for the pet trade and shot by farmers who regarded them as pests. All these actions led to a massive decline in the species so  that by 1975 only 13 individuals were left in the wild! 

This led to the Puerto Rican Parrot being listed as Critically Endangered and conservation programs were established to restore their numbers. A captive breeding program in relict habitat at El Yunque National Forest was established in 1973. Careful release of some parrots into the wild rebuilt the total wild population to nearly 200 birds by the middle of 2017. A second captive breeding facility  in Río Abajo State Forest in the north-central karst area began successfully rearing parrots around 1994, and a second wild population was reintroduced there in 2006. This program has been successful in raising many parrot chicks that have been released into the forest and are thriving. After losing the relict wild population in El Yunque to Hurricane Maria in 2017, a new population has been recently reintroduced at the captive-rearing facility there and currently has 28 free-flying individuals and 2 active nests, where none existed less than 4 months ago.

At present, the two Puerto Rican Parrot subpopulations add up to more than 600 individuals, including approximately 180 living and breeding around Río Abajo. But small populations have extra concerns when it comes to conservation. Fewer individuals means less genes to share, resulting in a limited capacity to evolve with a changing environment. They are also more vulnerable to random events like disease and storms. Despite these barriers, thankfully the population is increasing. We hope someday, that with continued efforts to grow the population and restore its habitats, enormous parrot flocks will once again move through the tree tops, flashing their brilliant blue flight feathers for all to enjoy.  Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Puerto Rican Parrot!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Puerto Rican Parrot

The Puerto Rican Parrot’s call is raucous squawks and distinct bugling during flight.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Test your knowledge of where Caribbean endemic birds live with our Colouring Map Matching Activity! Draw lines from the colouring book drawings to match each Caribbean endemic parrot with its home island. And here is the Answer Key – don’t look until you have completed the activity!!! More information about our Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book is here. We are sharing a new colouring page from the book each day of our Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival 2020, From the Nest, Virtual Edition.

 

FOR ADULTS: Read the dramatic story about  the impacts of Hurricane Maria in 2017 on the Puerto Rican Parrot, and ongoing efforts to save it from extinction.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans release of endangered Puerto Rican parrots in El Yunque National Forest

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Bee Hummingbird

The Bee Hummingbird, endemic to Cuba, is the smallest bird in the world! In Cuba they are called Zunzuncito. They measure between 5 cm and 6 cm and weigh 1.6 to 1.9 g, less than the weight of a dime! The male has deep blue to metallic turqouise upperparts and a grayish belly with flecks of blue on the sides. The head and throat are iridescent ruby-red, with feathers changing to a dark metallic sheen color, depending on the viewing angle. During the breeding season these iridescent feathers extend down the sides of the neck, increasing the birds’ attractiveness. When males sing, the elongated feathers of the cheeks vibrate and shimmer with color. The tail is short and rounded, with a slight fork. The female is a little larger than the male and more plain. Her upperparts are turqouise blue combined with green tones and her underparts are more pale. In the non-breeding season, males are similar to females but with a more intense blue color. 

The Bee Hummingbird’s distribution in Cuba is in patches, with very small populations. It has been reported in wooded areas in the west, central and eastern parts of the country. Bee Hummingbirds nest between March and June. The tiny nest is constructed with cotton, grass, hair, and other soft materials, held together with lichens and spider webs. Females lay two tiny white eggs, the size of coffee bean. Bee Humingbirds feed mainly on nectar but they also eat spiders and insects that they catch in the air. In flight their wings making a buzzing sound similar to bumblebees.  

Bee Hummingbirds are shy and solitary. Males spend a lot of time perched on high branches,  devoid of leaves, and may use the same perch for years. During the breeding season, males court females with an elaborate U-shaped aerial display—flying vertically straight up in the air and then descending abruptly. They are aggressive and territorial during the breeding season. Seeing this tiny gem, not much bigger than a large bee, is the thrill of a lifetime! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Bee Hummingbird!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Bee Hummingbird

The Bee Hummingbird’s song is mixture of high-pitched warbling phrases  and a high-pitched long and noisy sizzling buzzy note, very strong for such a tiny bird.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: 

Let your creativity flow with bird-themed poetry! Try out these two different poetry styles: a vertical poem using a focus word that guides the first letter of each line, or a cinquain, a five-lined poem with a set structure. Choose your favorite endemic bird, create a vertical poem or cinquain, and then post it to us on social media (Facebook or twitter) by tagging us @BirdsCaribbean and/or use hashtag #CEBFFromtheNest. Or, send your poem to us via email (info@BirdsCaribbean.org). We’d love to see what everyone comes up with!

 

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Guadeloupe Woodpecker

The Guadeloupe Woodpecker is a stunning bird found just on the island of Guadeloupe and no other islands in the Guadeloupe archipelago. Its plumage is entirely black except for a reddish hue on the  chest. The male is a little bigger than the female and the birds even vary in size within the island. The birds found on the peaks of Basse-Terre are a little bigger than those of Grande-Terre. They are 25–29 cm long and weigh 70 to 96 g.

The Guadeloupe Woodpecker is found from sea level to around 1,000 meters, in all types of forest habitat including humid forest, swamp forest, mangrove, and semi-deciduous forest. They are monogamous and pairs remain in their territory throughout the year. They mainly feed on insect larvae but will also consume fruit and even take small vertebrates. When breeding season arrives, the woodpeckers excavate a cavity in a dead tree in order to nest and lay 3 to 5 white eggs. After 15 days, the eggs hatch. The young fledge in about a month but juveniles spend several months with their parents.

This large dark Melanerpes woodpecker, is the singular endemic bird of the Lesser Antillean island of Guadeloupe. However, this was not always the case. Before their extinction in the 18th century, Guadeloupe was home to three other endemic birds: Guadeloupe Parrot Amazona violacea, Guadeloupe Parakeet Psittacara labati, and the Lesser Antillean Macaw Ara guadeloupensis. Habitat loss and fragmentation (especially the removal of dead trees), and predation by rats are the biggest threats for the Guadeloupe Woodpecker. Thankfully, its IUCN status was amended from Near Threatened to Least Concern in 2019 and the bird is legally protected. Continued protection of this species and conservation of its habitats will help ensure that this beautiful species survives for future generations to enjoy! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Guadeloupe Woodpecker!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Guadeloupe Woodpecker

The Guadeloupe Woodpecker’s call is a wa-uh or wa-ah and a staccato cht-cht-cht-cht-cht-cht-cht-cht.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: 

Let’s celebrate moms AND endemic birds! Mother’s Day is this weekend on May 10th and we’ve got you covered. We have two styles of endemic bird-themed Mother’s Day Cards to download and color. This is a fun activity for people of all ages to celebrate the mother figure in their life.

Each page has two cards on them (Bahama Woodstar and Black-crowned Palm-Tanager). Please download and print in the paper size you normally use: US Letter or A4 Size. It’s best to use card stock, but regular printer paper will do just fine. Once printed, fold the sheet in half (so the short sides touch) then cut along the fold. Now, you will have two cards to fold and color. Don’t forget to write a special message on the inside!

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo

How do birds get their names? Take the case of Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoos. They are definitely Jamaican, for they are found nowhere else in the world. They in no way resemble lizards but they do dine on lizards, and it is this that gives them their middle name. Their last name is “Cuckoo”, which some people find surprising because unlike the European Cuckoo, and like most other New World Cuckoos, they build their own nests—rough platforms of sticks high in the forest canopy.

 Many millions of years ago, the New World Cuckoo ancestors of the Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo flew across the ocean from the mainland to the Caribbean. There they found islands with an abundance of lizards. Mammalian predators were absent—so birds like the lizard cuckoos evolved to take their place. Today, Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico all have their own endemic species of lizard-cuckoos.

 This spectacular group of birds specializes in eating lizards in the forest canopy. They also eat small birds, eggs and insects. They all have long straight bills; large dark eyes surrounded by brilliant red orbital skin; pale throats; rufous patch on the primary wing feathers, and pale reddish-brown underparts; but their most distinctive features are their long dark tails with large, paired, white spots along the edges. They use them for balance and fan them wide in mating displays. 

The behaviour of Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoos is unmistakable – look for them running up branches in the canopy, like very large rats or squirrels, or gliding silently between trees with wings and tails spread out. They can be hard to see in their leafy forest habitats but their calls are loud and distinctive—like the rapid sound of a machine gun being fired. They are generally solitary. They may come out to feed before or after rain; thus they are sometimes called Rain Birds.

 Few Jamaicans think of these birds as Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoos, rather as Old Woman Birds. Country people say that they sound like old women nagging. The (probably male) scientists who named them seem to have agreed—because they gave them the scientific name Coccyzus vetula. Coccyzus is Latin for cuckoo, and vetula means old woman! Birds get their names in many ways—and some of them are not politically correct.

Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo

The Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo’s call is a trailing, low, rapid cak-cak-cak-ka-ka-ka-k-k.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: 

Complete our Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo Crossword Puzzle! How many words do you know? Be sure to read about the Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo, our Endemic Bird of the Day, for clues to the puzzle. If you need help, also check out our Glossary for some definitions that will help you complete this puzzle. And here is a the Answer Key to the puzzle.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Black-crowned Palm-Tanager

Meet the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager, or locally known as Cuatro Ojos (“four-eyes”). This striking bird is a medium-sized passerine endemic to the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) and some satellite islands. Commonly found throughout the island, these birds are easily identified by their olive back contrasting with a gray nape and  underparts, and a black head bearing a unique pattern of four white spots, hence its Spanish name Cuatro Ojos. Interestingly, while these birds are called tanagers, they are not in the same family as many of the other tropical tanagers, Thraupidae. They actually reside in their own family (Phaenicophilidae), along with several other of Hispaniola’s unique endemics. 

The species is common in nearly all habitats, from urban to remote, from wet forest to dry forest, and both low and high elevation. They feed opportunistically on many different foods, including insects, small vertebrates such as lizards, many species of wild fruits, and occasionally nectar. Though they have several vocalizations, the presence of a Black-crowned Palm-Tanager is often announced by a cascading series of soft whistle calls as they move between perches in flight or by an almost cat-like alarm call used when agitated or detecting a predator. Where you find one, you can be almost certain that there is another close by. Mated pairs stay together year-round, and often forage together. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager

The Black-crowned Tanager’s vocalizations include a high thin tseeoo and ts as well as a nasal byu. You can also hear the loud call of a Black-whiskered Vireo towards the end of the recording.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS:  Check out this short video of a Black-crowned Tanager in the wild in the Dominican Republic, such a distinctive and beautiful bird! This video was taken as the Indigenous Eyes Ecological Reserve, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; the second bird shown is a Red-legged Thrush.

FOR ADULTS:Learn more about the Black-crowned Palm Tanager and other endemic birds in the Dominican Republic! Check out these articles on Spencer Schubert’s adventures into the remote corners of the Dominican Republic, all in the name of science and conservation. He is studying how important these birds are in the forest ecosystem as seed dispersers.

Birdy Hear, Birdy Do: Does Playback Attract Seed Dispersers to Restoration Sites?

Forest Restoration in the Dominican Republic: How I Got the Birds to Work for Me

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Barbuda Warbler

A little bird with a big attitude, meet the Barbuda Warbler, known to Barbudans as the Christmas Bird! This gregarious bird, packed with energy and curiosity, is the sole endemic bird of Antigua & Barbuda. The Barbuda Warbler, though near-threatened, outnumbers the entire human population of Barbuda 5:1! This warbler measures between 12 and 13.5cm and weighs about 7 grams. It is characterized by bluish-gray upperparts and yellow throat and breast. It also bears a distinct yellow eyebrow stripe and a yellow crescent just below the eye. Females are slightly duller in appearance than males. 

The Barbuda Warbler has a restricted range on Barbuda, preferring dry shrubland near wetlands. Besides its physical attractiveness, another nice thing about this endemic bird is that it is extremely easy to find when visiting the island. Barbuda Warblers are often found in the company of the Yellow Warbler although it appears that they have a competitive rather than friendly relationship with them. 

Barbuda Warbler populations have suffered from loss of habitat. Though Barbuda remains largely undeveloped, in recent years the government has pushed for large scale development projects to boost the country’s economy. In 2017, the Barbuda Warbler population suffered a significant decline following the passage of catastrophic super Hurricane Irma. A surprising number of these tiny warblers survived, however, and have thankfully made a recovery since then. The sounds of the warbler’s sweet, melodic trill can again be heard when one wanders the paths through tropical dry shrubland on Barbuda.
Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Barbuda Warbler!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Barbuda Warbler

The Barbuda Warbler’s call is a loud trill varying in pitch and speed as well as a mid-strength chick.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Endemic birds face many threats and dangers in their daily life—from habitat loss to storms to non-native predators like cats, rats and mongoose, it’s a challenge for birds to stay alive every day!  Read about some of the threats that our birds face and how you can help birds. Then do our maze—Hazards Birds Face—help the bird get past the hazards back home to its nest!

FOR ADULTS: Learn The Truth About the Chickcharney in this fun webinar by Scott Johnson, Science Officer with the Bahamas National Trust.

The Caribbean is home to many different cultures, with intriguing folklore about creatures and spirits such as Bre Bouki and Bre Rabbi, the Lougaroo, Lajabless, Lusca, and many others. However, one creature called the Chickcharney is said to still inhabit the pine forests of Andros in The Bahamas. This bird-like creature with the face of a man is said to bring good and bad fortune to anyone who treats it with respect or disrespects it. What is most interesting about this creature… is that it may be based on a real animal!

Join Scott Johnson of the Bahamas National Trust and BirdsCaribbean as they explore the amazing story of the Chickcharney and the bird that is believed to be the basis of the myth. This webinar helped us launch our celebration of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival 2020, virtual edition, called “From the Nest.” For one month starting on April 22nd, we are celebrating every day with an Endemic Bird of the Day, coloring pages, puzzles, webinars, activities, and much more. All activities are available on our website: https://bit.ly/CEBFFromthenest

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Montserrat Oriole

The Montserrat Oriole is endemic to the island of Montserrat, where it is the national bird. The male of this species is a striking combination of black and yellow: a rich black head, chest and back contrasts with deep yellowish-orange underparts and rump. The female is mostly olive-green above and yellowish-green below. Both have the characteristic sharp beak of the blackbird family, Icteridae; its color is silver-black.  

While the Montserrat Oriole has always had a small range, things took a dramatic turn for this bird – and the entire island – due to volcanic activity in the mid-1990s. Eruptions of the Soufriere Hills volcano destroyed the southern half of this beautiful island. Lava flows and  ash fall drastically reduced the amount of suitable forest habitat for the oriole by two thirds. The population of the oriole rapidly declined to less than 500 birds and the species was listed as Critically Endangered. After many years of conservation work, the birds have rebounded somewhat and the population is currently stable. As a result, it has been reclassified to Vulnerable. It’s survival is still threatened due to its small population size and extremely small range. 

The oriole inhabits just two wet forested areas on the island: the Centre Hills and the South Soufriere Hills. It breeds mostly between late March and September, during the rainfall season. The nest, built entirely by the female, is a hanging basket structure sewn onto the underside of leaves. While we are thankful for the oriole’s recovery, its history shines an important light on how fragile island ecosystems truly are and the need for habitat conservation and management.  Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Montserrat Oriole!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Montserrat Oriole

The Montserrat Oriole’s call consists of loud whistles and a scolding, harsh chuur.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS:  Test your knowledge of where Caribbean endemic birds live with our Colouring Map Matching Activity! Draw lines from the colouring book drawings to match each Caribbean endemic songbird with its home island. And here is the Answer Key – don’t look until you have completed the activity!!! More information about our Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book is here. We are sharing a new colouring page from the book each day of our Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival 2020, From the Nest, Virtual Edition.

FOR ADULTS: Learn more about the efforts to save the Montserrat Oriole from extinction at this link.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Blue-headed Quail-Dove

The Blue-headed Quail-Dove (Starnoenas cyanocephala) is the largest and most eye-catching of Cuba’s terrestrial doves. It has a cobalt blue crown, black eye line, white facial stripe, and black medallion on the throat and breast bordered by white. The sides of the throat have iridescent blue lines. The body is a cinnamon-brown color that blends in with dead leaves. This shy bird lives in dense forests where it walks constantly on the ground, often in pairs or small groups, searching for seeds, insects, snails, grubs, berries, and other fruits in the leaf litter.

Blue-headed Quail-Doves are endemic to Cuba. They were formerly common and widespread throughout Cuba but today are rare and classified as Endangered. They are now found in only a few forested areas, including Guanahacabibes Peninsula, Zapata Swamp, and in the Pinar del Río Province. The major threats to this species are hunting and habitat destruction. Although protected, the species is still illegally trapped for its good-tasting meat. Blue-headed Quail-Doves nest on the ground or in cavities and low bushes between the months of March and June, and lay two white eggs. Their flight is clumsy, and they produce a characteristic loud noise when they are frightened, very similar to that of the European Partridge (Perdix perdix). This is probably why Spanish colonizers gave it its local name, Perdiz, which is Spanish for Partridge.

The Blue-headed Quail-Dove’s call, a series of two similar notes, whoooo-up, whoooo-up, seems like a whisper in the forest. It should remind us that the forest is the quail-dove’s only habitat and we must protect it to continue enjoying these beautiful birds—considered a jewel of the Cuban avifuana. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Blue-headed Quail-Dove!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Blue-headed Quail-Dove

The Blue-headed Quail-Dove’s call is a series of  two similar notes, whoooo-up, whoooo-up, with the last syllable rising in tone and then stopping short. During the breeding season, male may call from a low perch for long periods at virtually any time of day. You can also hear the chattering call of the Cuban Tody in this recording.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS:  Enjoy this short video of a male Blue-headed Quail-Dove courting a female by following her and head-bobbing. Breeding pairs are socially monogamous and defend territories during the breeding season. The nest is built of loosely placed twigs lined with freshly fallen leaves, placed either on the ground or low to it in a stump cavity, the fork of a branch among the roots of trees, and sometimes among tangled vines.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Bahama Yellowthroat

The Bahama Yellowthroat is one of five endemic bird species found in The Bahamas. It was first discovered by Dr. Henry Bryant during an expedition to The Bahamas in 1865-1866. It is a relatively large warbler species in the Family Parulidae, about 5.5in (14cm) long. There are three subspecies and they can be found on the islands of Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera and Cat Island. There was a population on New Providence, but it is believed to be extirpated.

The Bahama Yellowthroat male has a striking black face mask that makes it look like a bandit. Its back, nape, and tail are olive green, contrasting with a bright yellow throat and belly. The bright yellow coloration may serve as an “honest” signal to potential mates, indicating a healthy mate. The female is duller colored with no face mask. Its song is a loud whichity-whichity-whichity similar to a Common Yellowthroat, but louder and richer. It also has a sharp chip note.They feed on arthropods and nest in low, scrubby vegetation.

The Bahama Yellowthroat is an attractive endemic Bahamian species but it is more often heard than seen due to its skulking behaviour. It can be distinguished from Common Yellowthroats, which are common and widespread winter visitors, by its greater size, longer and heavier bill, and more uniformly yellow underparts. They also live in different habitats—the Bahama Yellowthroat prefers wooded areas while the Common Yellowthroat lives in wetlands. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Bahama Yellowthroat!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Bahama Yellowthroat

The Bahama Yellowthroat’s song is remarkably similar to the Common Yellowthroat, calling loudly and clearly witchity-whitchity-witchity.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Hone your observation skills and go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt! Print the cards on sturdy paper and use a clipboard or piece of cardboard as a writing surface outside. Younger children can do side 1 of the card, older children side 2. English, Spanish and French versions are available for free download here!

All living things have a habitat—a place that provides the food, water, cover, and space that they need to survive. Cover includes nesting areas, places to sleep or rest, places to hide or escape, and shelter. Space means a big enough area to hunt and feed, find nesting areas, and for some bird species, to migrate safely. If a place does not provide the right food, water, space, and cover in a suitable amount, a plant or animal cannot live there.

Talk about this with your kids and then go outside to investigate your habitat using the Habitat Scavenger Hunt cards. Instead of collecting the items on the list, this is an observation scavenger hunt. Have your child or children check off the items (with a pencil or pen), as they are located. When everyone has had a chance to look for the items listed, come back together to chat about where they were located. Were any difficult or impossible to find? Why do you think that was? For example, it might be impossible to find animal tracks when it is very dry, or certain animals depending on the time of year.

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Puerto Rican Woodpecker

The Puerto Rican Woodpecker (Carpintero de Puerto Rico in Spanish) is one of the eight endemic bird species of the family Picidae in the Caribbean region, and one of the 17 endemic species of Puerto Rico. It is abundant and widely distributed in forest reserves throughout the island, but can also be found in woodlots, gardens, and parks in urban areas. The bright red throat and breast, contrasting with solid black upperparts and a white forehead, make this bird easy to identify. It is possible to tell the sexes apart because females have less red on their underparts than males.

The Puerto Rican Woodpecker is frequently found in pairs or groups of five or more birds, which are easily heard from a distance. Its common call is a series of wek-wek-wek or wicka-wicka-wicka notes, that get louder and faster.

Woodpeckers have a powerful bill that they use to probe insects (larvae and adults) from under the bark of trees, and to carve nest cavities in dead trunks or utility poles. Unlike many woodpeckers this is an omnivorous species, eating a wide variety of animals including insects, worms, spiders, and frogs. Fruits are eaten and fed to the young.

Old woodpecker nests can later be used by other nesting birds like Puerto Rican Flycatchers or Pearly-eyed Thrashers. For its beauty, gregarious habits, and wood-working skills this endemic species has been proposed as a national bird for Puerto Rico. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Puerto Rican Woodpecker!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Puerto Rican Woodpecker

While the Puerto Rican Woodpecker has a variety of calls, it most commonly says a fast and loud wek, wek, wek-wek-wek-wek-wek.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: How many birds of Puerto Rico do you know? Download a free copy of a beautiful poster, Aves Endémicas de Puerto Rico (Endemic Birds of Puerto Rico).  Then do a Word Search and find all the species! The names are in Spanish so if you are not a Spanish-speaker, this is a good opportunity to practice! Here is the Answer Key  in case you need help.

FOR ADULTS:  Learn all about the endemic birds of Puerto Rico through a presentation by Adrianne Tossas, Ph.D. a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla, and Board member of BirdsCaribbean. You can view the presentation here for now in Spanish. We will be adding closed caption/ subtitles in English and posting to our YouTube channel as well. Thank you to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Puerto Rico for sharing this poster and co-hosting the webinar!

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo

The Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo is true to its common name: it is found nowhere else in the world but the island of Hispaniola, its diet includes lizards (as well as many different insects), and it belongs to the Cuculidae family. On the Dominican side of the island, this cuckoo is known as Pájaro Bobo (“Silly Bird”), while on the Haitian side it goes by the name, Tako. 

Cuckoos are always a delight to see while birdwatching because they are both fun to watch and listen to. They are a little like squirrels—despite their size (~100g and 45cm in length) they are able to swiftly hop, run, creep, and crawl through dense highways of understory branches—sometimes without making a sound. But when they do decide to make themselves known, their long and drawn-out rattling call will get your attention right away. You may not think at first that the rattling sound belongs to a bird, but rather an insect or frog! 

Any birdwatcher will tell you that cuckoos are all about the tail—it’s downright impressive. Not only does it double the length of the bird, the pattern of white spots checkered over a black base is mesmerizing. The Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo’s striking tail pattern is complemented by a rufous belly and throat, offset by a smooth grey chest. Add in the long, dual-colored, hooked bill, and you’ve got yourself a very sleek looking bird. 

Look for this cuckoo almost anywhere in Hispaniola, from the high mountain broadleaf forests down to suburban gardens. Once you catch sight of one, you’ll certainly want to get closer. While doing so you might be rewarded by this species’ inquisitive behavior, as it hops into a better position to look right back at you. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photo below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo

The call of the Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo is a throaty descending ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kau-kau-ko-ko.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Do a word search about today’s Endemic Bird of the Day: the Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo.  Can you find all 14 hidden words? Here is the Answer Key if you need help!

FOR ADULTS: There’s no question that birds have a special place in the hearts of Caribbean people. The intimate cultural connection between people and birds is reflected in the local names for birds that vary from island to island. They are celebrated in art and literature from the region as well, receiving praise from Bob Marley for “singin’ sweet songs,” and representing the Caribbean spirit in the poems of Derek Walcott.

The true importance of Caribbean birds, however, goes far beyond their beauty and power to inspire. Read about the top Ten Reasons Why Caribbean Birds Matter—The Benefits of Birds to Humans and Nature. Feel free to share with your family, friends and networks!

Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition!  Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Endemic Bird of the Day: Red-billed Streamertail

For a long time there has been much controversy about the taxonomy of Jamaica’s two endemic Streamertail hummingbirds, the Red-billed and the Black-billed; in other words, how closely related were they, and were they one species or two? These two similar hummingbirds were at first considered separate species, but were later lumped into one species: the Streamertail. More recent scientific evidence, however, has suggested that they are indeed two separate species after all—leading them to be split again! Thus, Jamaica hosts two species of this stunningly beautiful bird—the Red-billed Streamertail has a much wider range, covering most of the island, while  the Black-Billed Streamertail is restricted to just a small area in the east. 

Males of both species have two long, thin, fluted tail feathers that flow out behind them when they fly. Their bodies are iridescent, their emerald green breasts contrasting with their black heads with two little tufts at the back of their necks and dark wing feathers. The males of the two species differ, however, in the colours of their bills, their body size, and mating behaviour.  The two species interbreed to some extent in the John Crow Mountains where their ranges overlap, providing a rare example of ‘within island speciation,’ where one species divides into two on a small island ecosystem. 

Confusingly, the females of both species look very similar to each other but completely different from the males. Females have dark bills, white bellies, greenish backs—and no streamers. 

Some people say that the males look like old-fashioned doctors, in their top hats and tailcoats, paying house calls to the flowers to give them injections with their long sharp bills. Perhaps this is why the local name is Doctor Bird. Or maybe it is because the original inhabitants of Jamaica, the Tainos, believed the birds had spiritual or healing powers. The world may never know how these birds got their name!  Regardless, everyone agrees that they are vitally important, both ecologically and economically. This is because of the role they play in fertilizing flowers and fruits in the forests, gardens and orchards, from sea level to the mountain tops, as they fly from flower to flower, feeding on nectar and small insects. That is why they are Jamaica’s national bird.  Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Red-billed Streamertail!

Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest

Listen to the call of the Red-billed Streamertail

The call of the Red-billed Streamertail is sharp, high-pitched, metallic tseet, tseet, tseet, tseet. The wings of the male also produce a low-pitched whrrrrrr sound in flight.

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the image below to do the puzzle.  You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8,  or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS & ADULTS: Try your hand at writing some bird-themed poetry! Haiku is a form of poetry written in only three lines, each with their own set number of syllables. Windsparks is another form of poetry with 5 lines. Chose your favorite endemic bird, create a Haiku or Windsparks poem, and then post it to us on social media (Facebook or twitter) by tagging us @BirdsCaribbean and/or use hashtag #CEBFFromtheNest. Or, send your poem to us via email (info@BirdsCaribbean.org). We’d love to see what everyone comes up with!