Cuban Tody was one of the 26 species reported from Cuba on Global Big Day. (photo by Photo by Yeray Seminario/ Macaulay Library)
Birds are inspiring creatures. Their amazing migrations and behaviors capture our imagination, and their global presence lets us appreciate them wherever we are in the world. The power that birds have to bring people together across cultures, languages, and international borders is truly exceptional. Global Big Day is the realization of the magic of birds—a single day where the birding world unites in a shared pursuit, seeking to answer the simple question: how many birds can be seen in one day?
On 13 May 2017, almost 20,000 birders from 150 countries around the world joined together as a global team, contributing more than 50,000 checklists containing 6,564 species—more than 60% of the world’s birds. This is a new record for the number of bird species reported in a single day!
Crested Quail-Dove, endemic to Jamaica, was spotted by Ann Sutton. (photo by Sam Woods)
With one of the highest endemic species ratios, the avifauna of the West Indies is important to have represented on Global Big Day. In the eBird Caribbean region*, 280 species were seen – Check out the list of species reported. Ninety-two participants submitted 334 checklists. These totals are lower than last year’s Global Big Day, but perhaps some people still have not entered their data. Note that it is not too late – your checklists will still be counted!
Birders in Trinidad and Tobago sighted the most number of species—164 in the region. The Bahamas and Puerto Rico were in second and third place with 129 and 95 species observed, respectively, and there was participation through many of the islands—21 countries/islands submitted checklists (see how your country compared to the rest of the region and world here). Thanks to all of you that helped spread the word and participated!
Global Big Day is a celebration of birds. By bringing people together, Global Big Day showcases the great birds from each region—helping bring awareness to birding and conservation regionally and globally. Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports that this year (as in previous Global Big Days), the friendly competition in South America continued to evolve as an inspiring story, with four countries topping 1,000 for the single-day tally: Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. In past years Brazil and Peru had always vied for the #1 slot for species totals, and in 2017 there is a new champion: Colombia. Next year, let’s set a goal for the West Indies to see the most endemics in a region, it can be done!
Thanks again to everyone who participated and made this Global Big Day successful. We hope you had a great time and will continue to participate in eBird Caribbean and future Global Big Days. Of course, eBird Caribbean doesn’t only exist on one day of the year. Global Big Day is just one of 365 opportunities/year to be a part of a global network of birdwatchers, researchers, and conservationists working together with a shared passion for birds. Any bird that you see, anywhere, at any time, can become a part of this global resource—helping your fellow birdwatchers as well as the birds that we all care about. So take a look at eBird Mobile, or how to find birds near you. Go out, explore, have fun, and let all of us know what you saw. Your sightings can help change the world. We’ll see you out there.
*The countries comprising the eBird Caribbean portal consist of the West Indies plus Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Bermuda.
For a more complete report on Global Big Day, click here.
Lisa Sorenson and Jennifer Wheeler wave from one of the many beautiful waterfalls at Topes de Collantes National Park. (photo by Maikel Canizares)
The BirdsCaribbean International Conferences, which take place every two years, are always enriching experiences for scientists, ornithologists, conservationists, students, teachers and bird enthusiasts from across the Caribbean. This year’s conference, which will take place in the beautiful Topes de Collantes region of southern Cuba from 13-17 July, 2017, promises to be no exception.
This year’s theme is “Celebrating Caribbean Diversity.” The organizers aim to make the 2017 meeting even more exciting than the 2015 meeting in Jamaica, which was attended by over 260 delegates. The planned conference program offers a taste of what’s in store. Distinguished keynote speakers will discuss a range of topics of significance to the region’s ecology and biodiversity, including conservation challenges, technological advances, civil society outreach and the latest research and educational programs.
Dr. Lourdes Mugica Valdez, ornithologist and professor at the University of Havana, Cuba.
Headlining the all-star line-up of international keynote speakers is award-winning ornithologist Professor Lourdes Mugica Valdés of the University of Havana. Dr. Mugica will discuss her three decades of work on Cuba’s aquatic birds and their wetland habitats conducted with the University’s Bird Ecology Group.
Dr. Hiram González will present the work of Cuba’s Institute of Ecology and Systematics group on bird migration. Cuba is an incredibly important stopover and wintering site for migratory birds and the Cuban government has set up an impressive network of protected areas to conserve biodiversity, including Cuba’s 26 endemic bird species. As more and more tourists and birders flock to Cuba, however, there is more to be done with international partners to ensure that as many important habitats as possible are not destroyed for development.
Dr. Robert Ricklefs, Ornithologist and Ecologist, Curators’ Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
Dr. Robert Ricklefs, Ornithologist and Ecologist and Curators’ Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, will give a talk focusing on the conference theme of diversity, highlighting how the Caribbean is a global hotspot for birds. He will provide an overview of the evolutionary history of Caribbean birds, island biogeography, and host-parasite evolution (i.e., birds and malaria), using his own research in the Caribbean as well as others, to illustrate how populations expand(which may lead to the formation of new species), and decline over time. He will show how understanding genetic differences between avian populations also informs us about evolutionary uniqueness of island birds and can help us to develop conservation programs.
David Winkler, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) at Cornell University.
Cornell University’s Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Dr. David W. Winkler, will talk about his comparative research on swallows in the genus Tachycineta with partners throughout the Western Hemisphere. He will also share the work he is doing with engineers to develop new technologies for tracking bids and discovering more about their lives, including very lightweight, long-lasting radio tags with ever-expanding capabilities.
Conservation issues are always high on the agenda, and Dr. Nicasio Viña Dávila, Technical Coordinator of the Caribbean Biological Corridor of the United Nations Environment Programme, will present his perspective on those burning issues directly impacting conservation in the Caribbean.
Dominican Republic-based consultant Ms. Leida Buglass, who is Secretary for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Caribbean Regional Committee, will talk about how important it is to engage with partners in civil society to advance bird and habitat conservation, including case studies and lessons learned from many years of community work.
Dr. Nicasio Viña Dávila, Conservation Biologist, Technical Coordinator of the Caribbean Biological Corridor.
And there’s more. Informative sessions and training workshops include promoting sustainable bird tourism and updates on the Caribbean Birding Trail, bird education, the use of media to promote conservation issues, the state of Caribbean forest endemic birds, ecology of migrants, and many more.
There will also be a special Cuba Day, where local ornithologists will share the work they are doing to study and conserve the island’s rich bird life and habitats. There is much to learn and enjoy!
For additional information and registration information, visit the meeting website here. Read more about the conference here and other speakers and sessions here.
Thank you so much to the generous sponsors supporting our conference!
A male Bahama Swallow. (Photo by Melanie Rose Wells)
Maya Wilson is a graduate student at Virginia Tech researching the ecology and life history of the Bahama Swallow, an endangered species endemic to the Bahamas. She is one of the dedicated young scholars who was awarded the BirdsCaribbean David S. Lee Fund Grant and her work is critical to understanding the Bahama Swallow and informing conservation strategies. Here, she discusses her research and describes her exciting field experiences with this unique species.
As we exit the truck, I hear a series of aggressive clicks and feel a rush of air as a wing brushes only a couple inches from my head.
When the Bahama Swallows began breeding, we started watching this particular area intensely, suspecting that the large, still-standing dead pine tree (i.e. pine snag) only a few paces from the old logging road would be a choice spot for a pair of swallows to make their nest. Sure enough, a couple weeks ago we found three white eggs. We are now scheduled to come back to see if those three eggs have hatched, and the parents are obviously well aware of that.
Peeper camera used to study Bahama Swallow nests that are otherwise well out of normal reach. (Photo by Daniel Stonko)
The bird that dove at my head joins its mate on a small exposed branch in a nearby tree and they chatter to each other, seeming to make a plan, before taking off again to resume their “attack.” It is hard to resist the urge to duck as I watch the male turn toward me and dive again, this time straight at my face. However, just like every other time, he changes direction at the last possible second — a signature move of a swallow. In reality, these small (~15 g) birds can’t hurt us.
The three of us walk to the back of the truck and begin to assemble the “peeper” camera so that we can take a closer look. Using several specialized pieces of hardware, we attach the camera to a large extension pole. I hoist the apparatus onto my shoulder to keep it steady, carefully climb over the pile of loose limestone along the road, and circle around to the other side of the snag. The nest is inside a hole (i.e. cavity) about 31 feet (9.4 meters) up, making this one of the highest nests we have studied, and therefore one of the hardest to observe.
I turn the camera on, and Mel confirms that it is wirelessly sending images to the monitor she is holding. I begin hoisting the pole upward, locking each section into place. Finally, the camera is near the correct height, and Shannan, who is standing back so that she has a good vantage point, guides me until it slips into the nesting cavity.
The 2015 Bahama Swallow field team (left to right): Tivonia Potts (Bahamian), me – Maya Wilson, and Nicole Acosta (Ecuadorian)
“Two chicks!” Mel shouts, and then, “wait, the last egg is hatching!” There is a bustle of activity as we all try to look at the small screen to see what is happening in the nest. Sure enough, the last egg has a crack down the middle, and a nestling is trying to fight its way out to join its two siblings in the nest.
We record a short video and then I bring the camera down. We all head back to the truck, disassemble the camera, and pile back in while the adult swallows take turns making sure that their newly hatched nestlings are okay. We have to try our hardest to disturb the nest as little as possible, so we decide to leave this family alone for a few days.
Bahamian pine forest is prime nesting habitat for the Bahama Swallow. (Photo by Melanie Rose Wells)
The memory of watching a Bahama Swallow nestling hatch during the summer of 2016 will stick with me for the rest of my life. I am back on Great Abaco Island again in 2017, and for the third field season in a row our team will be made up of three women in their twenties. Dressed in worn-out field clothes and carrying our peeper camera and other equipment through the forest, we certainly get our fair share of confused stares. But we spend several months of the year in the northern Bahamas for a reason. Great Abaco, Grand Bahama, Andros and New Providence are the only islands within the more than 700 islands that make up the Bahama Archipelago that contain large areas of the native Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaeabahamensis). This is why these three islands have rightfully earned the nickname, “pine islands.”
These pine forests are home to many birds, including five of the six Bahamian endemic species. One of these endemic species is the endangered Bahama Swallow (Tachycineta cyaneoviridis), which has only ever been found to breed on the pine islands. This bird, along with many other Caribbean endemics, is severely understudied.
My graduate research focuses on three main areas, with the overarching goal of providing information that is relevant to the species’ conservation to my main collaborator, the Bahamas National Trust, as well as other local organizations.
(1) How many Bahama Swallows are left, how are they spread across the pine islands, and do birds on the different islands breed with each another?
There have only been a few official estimates of Bahama Swallow population levels over the past 30 years, and they indicate a rather dramatic decline. The IUCN Red List estimates a current population of 1500-4000 individuals. Using multiple survey techniques, I hope to provide a more precise estimate that will shed some light on overall species abundance and whether Bahama Swallows favor certain habitats or islands in general. Using genetic information, we can determine whether the species has become separated into smaller, isolated populations, which would have significant implications for the survival of the Bahama Swallow and subsequent conservation management plans.
(2) When and where do Bahama Swallows breed, and how successful are each of their nesting attempts?
Time series of Bahama Swallow nest monitoring. (Photo by Maya Wilson)
Bahama Swallows are obligate secondary cavity-nesters, meaning that they will only build nests inside a cavity; however, they do not have the ability to create that cavity themselves. Rather, they rely on natural processes or other excavating species to create cavities for them. In 1995, Allen (1996) conducted a study that revealed important information about Bahama Swallow breeding biology and behavior. The swallows breed between April and July, laying an average of three eggs in abandoned woodpecker cavities in pine snags and various other cavities. By locating swallow nests in all cavity types, and then monitoring those that we can safely access, we hope to provide additional information on the determinants and limitations to the breeding biology of the species.
(3) Is breeding habitat limited? How do Bahama Swallows interact with other cavity-nesting species in the same habitat?
Male Bahama Swallow in the hand. (Photo by Maya Wilson)
Almost all of the forest on the pine islands is secondary growth, the result of extensive logging that took place from 1905-1969. It still is not clear what effects the logging and subsequent disturbances (e.g., fire and hurricanes) have had on the structure of the pine forest or the surrounding habitats, and on the species that inhabit them. The Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) is present on all of the pine islands, and is closely associated with the pine forest, although it can be found in other habitats. In The Bahamas, the larger West Indian Woodpecker (Melanerpes superciliaris) is mostly limited to Great Abaco, where it is mostly associated with dry broadleaf “coppice” and human habitation. The swallows and other secondary cavity-nesters rely on these woodpeckers to create cavities for them. However, the availability of cavities and the competition for those cavities may vary between habitats (e.g., pine forest vs. towns). We can look at these interactions by assessing the availability of nesting resources and documenting nests of all cavity-nesting species.
My research has come a long way since it began in 2014, though there is still much to accomplish. My team and I continue to unravel the ecology and biology behind the pine islands and their Bahama Swallows, and are currently getting our 2017 field season underway. I look forward to keeping the BirdsCaribbean community updated as the project progresses and am excited to meet more of you at the Cuba Conference this July.
Roni Rolle observing a Bahama Oriole nest on Andros Island (Bahamas). (Photo by Dan Stonko)
Dan Stonko joined Dr. Kevin Omland’s research group studying the Bahama Oriole as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. With the research team, he traveled to Andros in the Bahamas to search for the nesting Bahama Oriole and gained invaluable field experience while making memories of a lifetime (check out his recent blog article). Here, Dan summarizes his perspective of science, education and mentoring as learned through his undergraduate experiences.
As an undergraduate, I have been incredibly lucky with the opportunities I’ve received. Taking on undergraduate students into your lab can be risky in itself for multiple reasons – we are usually inexperienced, require time and effort to train, and usually can’t contribute nearly as much as a higher-level student/employee. For these very reasons, I have come to be evermore grateful for getting the kinds of opportunities as amazing and impactful as I’ve shared in my previous blog post. Whenever anyone asks me about our lab’s work, I start off by discussing the science and research. Before long, I tend to catch myself getting into the unexpected and memorable lessons I’ve learned. So here are just a few of those lessons:
1. The most impactful learning can happen outside of the classroom
Okay, this might sound cliché. But when I started college, I felt certain that most of my time in college would be spent either in class or studying. I then reasoned that most of my learning would therefore happen in class or while studying.
I graduate in two months and can definitely confirm that this is how I spend most of my time. Yes, as a biochemistry major I have gained much of the central scientific knowledge through classes. However, the science I study has come to life through my research. I’ve applied my knowledge to real-world situations, designed experimental procedures, built relationships with mentors, collaborated with peers, and worked in the field. These lessons and experiences will be with me forever, and they’re the kinds of things you can’t get by simply sitting in class or reading a textbook.
Getting out of a messy situation while in the field in the Bahamas. Photo by Dan Stonko
2. Science is a verb
Whether doing field research in a pine forest, looking through a microscope or telescope, or mixing chemicals in a beaker – I have come to see science, in its purest form, as the pursuit of knowledge. Not a noun, but a verb. It is the act of careful observation, meticulous investigation, and ceaseless questioning of the things around us. If the pieces fit together just right, our curiosity can be rewarded with an expanded understanding of our world.
3. Modern discoveries in science are made possible by our predecessors
Isaac Newton once wrote that, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Before I got involved with research, that adage sometimes crossed my mind; often it would do so while reading or hearing about some unimaginably complex discovery that undoubtedly depended on contributions from many people. This thought always gave me a fundamental admiration for the explorers and scientists who came before us. As a researcher, I’ve gained a new and deeper understanding of Newton’s words.
Going into our first trip, most of what was known about the Bahama Oriole came from earlier research by Dr. Melissa Price. Her work provided the most recent population estimates and gave thorough information on the reproductive ecology of the species. Whether I was in the field collecting data or in lab drafting the manuscript to share our findings – I knew that her work (and that of countless others) influenced our work. It’s a humbling reminder for a scientist to keep in mind: with every day that we work and every discovery that we make, our progress is possible because we stand on the shoulders of the giants who mentor us and came before us to provide our foundation.
4. Observation is the true driver of science
Some areas of popularized science today seem to reinforce (what I believe to be) a subtle yet significant misconception, which presumes that questions are at the bedrock of any scientific endeavor. However, I have found observations are the truest foundation. Countless scientific advances throughout history didn’t arise by seeking answers to specific questions. Even when questions have led to advances, initial observations were always there to lead to those questions in the first place. In other words, we first make observations about our world, which then allow us ask questions such as: What? Why? When? How? It all may seem like semantics, but I believe that grasping this subtle distinction instills a sense of deserved respect for observation as the most critical scientific tool for discovery.
Some of our research on this first trip was oriented towards specific questions or goals, such as the distance sampling surveys that we used to estimate population size. The majority of our efforts, however, occurred without particular goals and depended simply on observation (e.g. catching and banding orioles, recording observations on bird behavior, and finding nests). At first, this idea of working without a particular goal in mind may seem counterintuitive. Nevertheless, the work proved invaluable as it led to us finding orioles nesting in the pine forests. This trip serves as reminder that simply listening, watching, and being present to make observations can lead to unexpected discovery.
The West Indian Woodpecker, endemic to the Bahamas, Cuba and the Cayman Islands, is one of the 172 Caribbean endemics we hope will be counted on Global Big Day. (Photo by Bill Hebner)
How many birds can a world of birders find in one day? Hopefully, you will join us to find out on May 13th — Global Big Day. This is the single biggest day for eBird and we’re inviting everyone to spend some time counting and enjoying Caribbean birds to help support global conservation efforts (and to have some fun in the process). Last year was a huge success that broke records around the world and across the Caribbean. The question is: Can we do it again?
More than one hundred Caribbean birders participated in last year’s Global Big Day, setting a new Global Big Day record for the Caribbean itself- 428 species! Thank you for making this possible. Your contributions to the past two Global Big Days have set back-to-back world records for the most bird species seen in a single day. Last year’s Global Big Day featured more than 60% of the world’s bird species in a single day (6,299!), with sightings coming in from more than 17,500 eBirders spread across 154 countries.
Want to be a part of the fun this year? If you need an excuse to go enjoy birds on a lovely weekend day in May, we’ve got you covered. The West Indies, with it’s 175 endemic bird species, along with it’s near endemics and endemic subspecies, will be key in gathering a snapshot of bird distribution around the globe.
If you’re looking to get started preparing for this year’s Global Big Day, here are four quick ways to have the most fun:
“Scout” your birding spots for May 13. Finding where the birds are ahead of time makes the big day birding more fun, and also gives you more chances to be out enjoying birds. Perfect. Learn how to use eBird to find birds.
Hopefully, a few migrants, like this Ovenbird, are still lingering in the islands and will be included in some checklists! (photo by Bill Hebner)
Use eBird Mobile. This free data-entry app makes it so you don’t have to enter your sightings at the end of the day, and tools like Quick Entry mean you have less time with your face in a notebook. Get eBird Mobile here.
Get a friend involved. Perhaps this is a good birding buddy, or someone who has never been birding before. Make it a friendly competition, or join forces as a Global Big Day team, and put your marker on the global participation map. Share on social media using #eBird_GBD. Check out the Facebook event.
Participating in Global Big Day is a great way to celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, ongoing now! Make this a part of your celebration and organize a birding outing with family, friends or your community.
No matter what you do—have a great time, enjoy the birds around you, and let us know what you find! We’re excited to see what we can achieve together on Global Big Day.
Identifying and counting birds in Cockpit Country, Jamaica. (Photo by Lisa Sorenson)
And don’t forget to enter your Caribbean bird counts into eBird Caribbean – our own portal. All the data goes to the same place but we have some of our own protocols (Step 2 of data submission), for example, counts conducted at wetlands, ponds, mud flats and beaches can be entered as Caribbean Waterbird Census counts.
The new French version of BirdSleuth Caribbean (Connecting Kids through Birds—Teaching how to study, appreciate, and conserve endemic and migratory birds in the Caribbean) – 57 pages of lessons and activities.
BirdsCaribbean is excited to announce that our popular BirdSleuth Caribbean curriculum and supporting materials are now available in French.
BirdSleuth Caribbean is an innovative program designed to teach young learners how to study, appreciate and conserve Caribbean birds. It is part of a larger BirdSleuth program developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The original, US-based BirdSleuth program was adapted specifically for the Caribbean and has been a success in engaging students across the region with their native birds.
This BirdSleuth curriculum includes many fun activities which are perfect for kids that benefit from a hands-on lesson—and who doesn’t? Activities include creating a bird journal, learning how to use binoculars, and conducting bird counts. The best part is, these are the same skills that adult birdwatchers and scientists use. In fact, the bird counts can be entered into the citizen science website eBird Caribbean and used in actual scientific research! This teaches kids that their observations are important in addition to building their science skills. Their data can help scientists learn more about complicated topics like bird migration.
Educators from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic share their bird journals from the International Training workshop in Nassau, Bahamas. Left to right: Israel Guzmán (Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña Inc., Puerto Rico), Ianela Garcia Lau (University of Havana, Cuba), Johanna Rodriguez Paulino (Grupo Acción Ecologica, Dominican Republic).
One benefit of the program is the opportunity to get kids out into nature where they can be active, and observe and connect with the animals in their environment. The overall goal is to develop a strong conservation ethic in young people and promote commitment to environmental stewardship by increasing their knowledge and interest in birds, nature and science. Because of the diverse cultural backgrounds in the Caribbean, it is important that BirdSleuth is available in the languages spoken across the region.
Twenty-seven educators from around the region attended an intensive 3-day International Training Workshop for BirdSleuth in the fall of 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas. Since then they have been using the English and Spanish versions of the curriculum to train local teachers how to use the program. They have also been using BirdSleuth activities in their annual bird festival events, after-school programs and summer camps with great success.
Jermy Shroeter, a ranger at the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, helps a BirdSleuth Caribbean camp participant in Jamaica identify a bird in the Bird Detective game (Lesson 8)
“We can’t wait to use the curriculum here in Guadeloupe” said Anthony Levesque. “It’s so important to teach our young people about science, nature and conservation – birds can definitely act as that spark to ignite an interest in the natural world. Students also learn that they can contribute to local conservation efforts and science through their actions.”
Read more about our BirdSleuth Caribbean program here. The curriculum and supporting materials are available for free download in English, Spanish and French at this link. A limited number of printed copies will also be available. Contact Lisa Sorenson at Lisa.Sorenson@BirdsCaribbean.org for more information.
We are grateful to Parc National de la Guadeloupe for funding the translation of the curriculum to French. Many thanks to Nathalie Hecker for her excellent translation of the BirdSleuth Caribbean curriculum and materials.
Every two years, bird educators, scientists and conservationists from throughout the Caribbean and beyond gather for BirdsCaribbean’s International Conference. This year’s conference will take place in southern Cuba from 13-17 July 2017. More than 250 international delegates are expected to join dozens of Cuban delegates to share the latest in Caribbean bird science, conservation and education.
The Cuban Trogon is not only a beautiful endemic but also the national bird of Cuba. (Photo by Max Schwenne)
The theme for the conference is “Celebrating Caribbean Diversity.” The Caribbean is a hotspot of biodiversity, with many unique plants and animals. Birds are no exception: 172 species are found only in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is also a cultural melting pot, home to the most diverse group of bird scientists in the world.
“BirdsCaribbean conferences have always been a place for scientists to collaborate beyond political boundaries,” said Andrew Dobson, President of BirdsCaribbean, “Bringing an international group together in Cuba is particularly exciting. We are excited to have the chance to work face-to-face with our Cuban colleagues. We are very excited to be able to give our members and partners the opportunity to experience Cuba, to meet Cuban ornithologists and conservationists, and to enhance our joint efforts to conserve birds in the Caribbean.”
The 2017 program will offer something of interest for anyone interested in conservation of Caribbean birds and their habitats. “Whether you want to share your latest findings, upgrade your skills, discuss your work with people with similar interests, or see the 26 Cuban endemic bird species, you will find an opportunity in our agenda,” explained Andrew Dobson, “We will also be supporting participation of spouses and children.”
As always, the conference will focus on the practicalities of implementing conservation backed by sound science. Featured events will start with world-famous keynote speakers talking about current issues in ornithology. There will also be training workshops, symposia and discussions on a wide range of topics including bird tourism (the Caribbean Birding Trail), bird monitoring, how to write effectively to promote conservation, conservation of island endemics, environmental awareness, and many other themes.
The world’s smallest bird, the Bee Hummingbird, is endemic to Cuba. (Photo by Max Schwenne)
The conference will take place at Topes de Callantes, in the Sierra de Escambray- Cuba’s second largest mountain range and home to many unique birds. This is a fantastic opportunity to visit Cuba to learn more about the important role it is playing in conserving the biodiversity of the region, while experiencing its dynamic culture, rich and varied history and wonderful food. There will be many opportunities for exploration, including early morning bird walks, mid-conference field trips to the forests, trails and waterfalls of the Topes de Collantes protected area or to the historic town of Trinidad, as well as options for pre- or post conference field trips to see the endemic birds of Cuba and explore Havana.
“This is BirdsCaribbean’s 21st International Conference,” said Lisa Sorenson, Executive Director. “We are celebrating our anniversary by celebrating the outstanding diversity of the Caribbean in one of the most amazing places in the region. And we are expecting all those who want to get engaged in conserving that diversity to join us. Our meeting in Jamaica in 2015 was one of our best ever. Cuba is going to be even better!”
Registration for the conference is open! Please visit the conference website for more details.
Interested in giving a talk or presenting a poster? Please check out the Call for Papers, we look forward to your submission.
Please also visit our Travel Support page for information about travel scholarships.
Read more about the conference keynote speakers here and other speakers and sessions here.
Thank you so much to the generous sponsors supporting our conference!
Young “bird sleuths” in Jamaica play the Bird Detective Game (Lesson 8) in BirdSleuth Caribbean curriculum. (photo courtesy of Jamaica Environment Trust).
In the Caribbean and around the world, teachers and other educators are looking for new ways to engage students with the natural environment, inspire an interest in science and math and help youth learn to work together as a team. Some environmental educators believe birds may be the perfect focal point for accomplishing these goals, and the BirdSleuth Caribbean program was developed. During an intensive three-day training session in the Bahamas, Caribbean educators learned the program and are now poised to spread the program throughout the region.
The Retreat is a small national park nestled amongst the hustle and bustle of Nassau, Bahamas. Inside The Retreat, two dozen educators and conservationists from different islands throughout the Caribbean gathered October 15 to 17, 2014 to learn the BirdSleuth Caribbean curriculum. After their training, they returned to their islands ready to share this program with teachers and students.
Workshop participants and faciliators enjoying a birding walk at The Retreat, Bahamas National Trust, Nassau, Bahamas.
BirdSleuth Caribbean is a program designed to teach youth how to study, appreciate and conserve Caribbean birds. It is part of a larger BirdSleuth program developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The original, US-based BirdSleuth program was adapted specifically for the Caribbean and its birds. At this workshop, each attendee was trained in the program and return with a full kit of supplies to implement the program. Over the coming months and years, workshops will be held throughout the Caribbean to train local teachers this program so they can share these activities with their classes.
The BirdSleuth curriculum includes many fun, hands-on activities, like creating a bird journal, learning to use binoculars and doing bird counts that can be entered into the citizen science website eBird Caribbean and used in actual scientific research. One benefit of the program is the opportunity to get kids out into nature where they can be active and forge a connection with the animals around them. The citizen science component, learning to identify birds and enter them into eBird, also teaches kids that their observations can help scientists learn more about topics like bird migration.
Workshop participants Portia Sweeting (Bahamas National Trust), Sabrina Compton (Grenada Fund for Conservation and ECO), and Scott Johnson (Bahamas National Trust) spot and ID birds on one of the field trips. (Photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Of course, many teachers and students may feel they don’t have enough experience with birds to teach this curriculum. One key component of the program is training the teachers and students to observe and identify birds. They learn to do this by observing physical characteristics, but also by looking at behavior, habitat and what birds are found in the area. The program also shows that we often know more about birds that we think. Almost everyone can already distinguish a duck from a seagull or an egret.
“The BirdSleuth training workshop was hands down the best training experience I’ve had to date,” commented Falon Cartwright, Preserve Manager for the Bahamas National Trust Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve in Eleuthera, Bahamas. “The curriculum is well designed, thorough, and super engaging and the level of organization and expertise demonstrated by our facilitators made the three days an absolute pleasure. I am so excited to use the BirdSleuth curriculum to encourage young people in Eleuthera to learn about and value our local birds.”
Israel Guzman (Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña Inc., Puerto Rico) had this to say: “Birds Caribbean, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Bahamas National Trust teamed up to bring us one of the best workshops ever. Learning by doing and sharing experiences made us all get the most from this workshop based on the BirdSleuth Curriculum. The whole experience will be replicated to provide students with the right tools to reconnect them to nature, and lead them to love and care about birds and conservation.”
Educators navigate hazards during the Migration Obstacles Game (Lesson 6). (Photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Birds are a powerful tool to help kids and people of all ages connect with nature and develop a conservation mentality. Birds are fantastic ambassadors for nature because they are found everywhere, easy to see and identify and endlessly fascinating. Studying birds is a great tool for encouraging interest in both science and in the outdoors. Collaborative activities like many of the ones in the BirdSleuth program also help kids learn teamwork and cooperation skills.
We thank the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Fund of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, International Programs of the US Forest Service, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Optics for the Tropics, Franklin Dodd Communications, Tropical Shipping, and Vortex Optics for funding and support of the BirdSleuth Caribbean Project. The Wildlife Without Borders program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service provided funding for the pilot project to develop the BIrdSleuth Caribbean curriculum. We also thank the Bahamas National Trust for hosting our International Training Workshop and our many partners and educators for participating in the project and doing an amazing job training teachers and educating youth in their home countries.
28 participants from 23 different countries/islands participated in the BIrdSleuth Caribbean International Training Workshop, November 2014, Nassau, Bahamas.
The Antillean Crested Hummingbird is a regional endemic. It is a common resident throughout the Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Photo by Sipke Stapert.
It’s that time of year again! The Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) begins on Earth Day, April 22nd. This regional celebration highlights the birds that are endemic—the ones that live only in the Caribbean. A wide variety of events will take place across the region through May 22nd, International Biodiversity Day. This annual celebration is organized by BirdsCaribbean, and events are hosted by groups on many islands.
This year’s theme is Our Endemic Birds—Sharing “Stopover Sites.” While the festivals will celebrate the birds that live here and nowhere else in the world, they will also highlight habitat. Our endemic birds share their habitat with migratory birds that are here for only part of the year. Does sharing habitat mean more competition for food and shelter? How can we protect, conserve or even restore these shared habitats? What native plants and trees are beneficial? Which species are especially vulnerable?
The Great Lizard Cuckoo is a regional endemic bird. It is found on the islands of the Bahamas and Cuba. Photo by Carrol Henderson.
The CEBF is a month-long event that Caribbean citizens of all ages enjoy – whether they are senior citizens in Havana, conservationists in Bermuda or schoolchildren in Grenada. And since we are in the Caribbean, our overseas visitors always get involved, too. In 2016, dozens of events celebrating endemic birds took place, providing opportunities for learning and enjoyment for thousands.
Springtime in the Caribbean is always marked by the activities of the birds. As the winter visitors get ready to leave, many of our local birds are already busy building nests and raising families. Hills, valleys, wetlands, fields and gardens are alive with the urgent calls of fledglings, making it the perfect time to enjoy and appreciate our endemic birds. Find out what is happening in your area, or consider hosting an endemic bird event yourself. Visit birdscaribbean.org or find BirdsCaribbean on Facebook for more information about the festival and updates throughout the month.
Dan Stonko, an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, takes us on the journey of his first experience with international fieldwork: into the wilds of the Bahamas to unravel the mystery of where Bahama Orioles nest.
A male Bahama Oriole in all its glory on Andros (Bahamas). (Photo by Dan Stonko)
I can’t remember the last time I was so thrilled to be awake at 4:30 in the morning. There I was – meeting our team and boarding a plane to Nassau as part of a research team studying the Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi)– considered to be one of the most endangered songbirds in the Caribbean. One thing kept running through my mind: if at the very start of college someone had asked me what sort of opportunities I thought I’d get as an undergraduate, I couldn’t have dreamed this would be one of them. What awaited me in the Bahamas were two incredible weeks filled with intense fieldwork, scientific discovery, a fair share of car troubles, and as much exploring as we could possibly squeeze into our spare time.
The Backstory
Here’s a quick summary of what our team was doing and how I ended up in the middle of it all. In 2015, Dr. Kevin Omland, my professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), began the Bahama Oriole Project in collaboration with Bahamas National Trust. At that time, the latest research on the species had come out in 2011 and indicated a declining population of less than 300 individuals. However, conservation efforts were hindered in large part due to the lack of sufficient information about this species. The Bahama Oriole Project was launched with the goal of reversing the bird’s decline through research, conservation and education. I was fortunate enough to join the team, and funded in part by a grant from The Explorers Club Youth Activity Fund, take part in this field research trip alongside Dr. Omland and three other UMBC undergrads. This was the Project’s first official research trip and my first experience with international fieldwork.
The Research
On that oh-so-early early morning in May 2016, we flew from Baltimore to Nassau, then chartered a six-seater plane that took us to the only place in the world where the Bahama Oriole is found today: Andros. It’s the largest and least developed island in the Bahamas with a population of nearly 8,000 people. Andros is a sort of island complex made up of three major landmasses (North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros) and smaller cays that are separated by channels and creeks. For now, our research is primarily confined to our study site in the northern portion of North Andros. Once we landed, we headed to where we’d be staying (Nicholls Town). After unpacking, the exploration finally began.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County Omland Lab on site in the Bahamas.
When I take a step back for a second, the thought of taking four undergrads that don’t know each other to another country for two weeks of field research might seem a little crazy. But to what I’m sure was Dr. Omland’s delight – our team ran like a well-oiled machine from day one. While we did spend some of our time all working together, each undergrad had a particular focus throughout the trip. Jennifer Christhilf was our team’s Magellan; she traversed our study area recording GPS points and habitat measurements to construct habitat maps of the island. Alex Scarselletta and Michael Rowley concentrated on the population surveys. Roni Rolle, a local college student from the Bahamas Agriculture & Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), also joined our team. His expertise on all-things-local was a tremendous contribution to our work. Before our UMBC team even reached Andros, he worked in the field to collect preliminary data by locating orioles and nests. A few days before we arrived, he found something particularly compelling while working in a pine forest– an apparent active oriole nest in a pine tree (Pinus caribaea).
Out of context this finding may seem insignificant, but here’s the thing: all previous research indicated that the orioles nest primarily in nonnative coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) in or near residential and agricultural (anthropogenic) land– but never in pine forests. Not only that, the research suggested that the oriole is dependent on the anthropogenic habitat for nesting. These findings formed the basis of what we thought we knew about the Bahama Oriole and had several important implications. Notably, these assumptions played a defining role in population estimates; and also in determining what conservation efforts would be most effective to protect the species. Any real discovery of pine forest nesting would then have the potential to shake up the basic understanding of Bahama Oriole breeding ecology and affect research and conservation efforts.
On our first day of fieldwork, Roni took us all to the nest site and to our surprise, there it was: an active nest in the pine forest, and actually in a Caribbean pine. This turned out to be a nest of two adult Bahama Orioles that successfully fledged young several weeks later. One of our questions now became whether this nest was an outlier or whether we were on the cusp of an important discovery.
Finding Nests in Understory Palms
A memorable selfie: Roni Rolle (front) and Dan Stonko (back) search for the nesting Bahama Oriole. (Photo by Roni Rolle)
Roni and I ended up working together for most of the trip. We primarily focused on finding orioles and locating nests, especially in the pine forest. All the while- the pine nest was in the back of our minds. What if there were more nests in pine trees? Even more likely, we speculated: what if they’re also nesting in the native palms within the pine forest understory?
During their randomized point counts, Michael, Alex and Dr. Omland heard Bahama Oriole vocalizations at several other locations in and near pine forests. Using these locations as leads, Roni and I scouted them out to see what we would find. One morning in the later portion of the trip we followed one of these leads, which took us down to the southern part of our study site (near the nest Roni found before we arrived). The area is an expansive pine forest with little human development nearby. We parked our car just as the sun was rising and set out hiking. To our surprise, we quickly found a pair of orioles. After over an hour of vigilant following, the pair eventually flew too far away to track. We headed back to the car, glad to have found the pair but sorry that we had lost track of them. As we packed our things up, Roni and I immediately froze at the same instant. We had both just heard it – the distinctive song of the oriole. The bird was perched in a nearby understory palm, but it quickly flew further into the forest.
Now, it is worth taking a moment to describe the typical understory of pine forests on Andros. First of all, the ground is sharp, jagged limestone that makes simply walking an ankle-twisting hazard. Worst of all though, the understory is often dominated by poisonwood (Metopium toxiferum), a type of tree in the same family as poison ivy. Poisonwood can cause some wicked blisters if you contact any part of the plant.
Once we saw the bird fly deeper into the forest, I think we both had the same internal questions: how badly do we really want to follow this bird/potentially find a nest, and would be it be worth the potential poisonwood rashes?? Throwing caution to the wind, we sprinted after the bird and into the forest in close pursuit. All in the name of science! We did our best to keep it in our sights and listened carefully for any vocalizations.
A female Bahama Oriole with nesting material. (photo by Dan Stonko)
In retrospect, I can say that the poisonwood rashes I ended up getting several days later were definitely worth it, because after nearly 20 minutes– we found the nest! On the underside of a frond, the oriole had built its nest in an understory thatch palm (Leucothrinax morrissii). After tracking the bird to the nest, another individual soon appeared. We stuck around for a while to gather measurements, observe more behavior, and– of course– take a nice selfie with the nest tree. I was particularly surprised by the pair’s nonchalance with our presence. Before we knew it, the female was hard at work building her nest once again. She hopped from frond to frond on a nearby palm and skillfully ripped off fibers. Then she flew back to the nest tree and artfully wove the pieces together. How cool was this?! Not only did we find the nest in an unexpected place, but we also got front row seats to watch the nest being built!
In the following days, our team found several more pairs with territories in the pine forest, and we even found a second nest in an understory thatch palm about one mile from the first understory palm nest. As the trip drew to a close, our team of undergraduate researchers was quite proud of our work. We all made significant advances on our respective research projects, plus spent some free time exploring, swimming in blue holes, and snorkeling in the ocean.
What’s Next?
A Bahama Oriole mid-flight in the pine forest. (Photo by Dan Stonko)
Our ability to protect any given species is contingent on having a relevant and accurate understanding of the species. These findings revealed, for the first time and contrary to previous assumptions, that pine forests on Andros are in fact a viable breeding habitat for Bahama Orioles. This new information elevates the significance of the pine forest habitat in terms of oriole breeding ecology. These findings also suggest a need to revisit prior population estimates, since their accuracy depended on the supposition that orioles don’t breed in the pine forests. The team is looking for funding to build on our initial findings and conduct comprehensive point counts across the entire Andros complex.
The discoveries and knowledge gained on this trip (through documentation of pine forest nesting, population sampling, habitat mapping) together allow the Bahama Oriole Project Team to refocus future research by refining the questions we ask. For example, we now know that the orioles nest in the pine forest; this provides unprecedented and critical justification to investigate the potential predators that are present in and/or unique to this habitat. Feral cats, for example, are infamous for their ability to prey on birds. We know they are present in residential areas throughout Andros, but what about deep within the pine forests? If so, could they (or other predators) threaten Bahama Oriole fledglings? On a second trip to Andros this past January, I used motion-activated trail cameras to see what exactly was lingering in the pine forests…but that’s an exciting story for another time.
Stay tuned for Part 2: Finding Bahama Oriole Nests in the Pine Forest—Reflections from a Young Scientist
Kirtland’s Warbler spotted on Cayo Guillermo Cay off the northern coast of Cuba. The bird (male) is identified by its yellow underparts with black streaks on flanks, white undertail coverts, blue-gray upperparts with black streaks, and conspicuous white eye-crescents that contrast with black lores and forehead. This appears to be a first winter male as the bird shows some brown on its upperparts and face. (photo by Anne Goulden)
Anne Goulden, from Sarnia, Ontario, spotted and photographed a Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) on a recent birding trip to Cuba, making this the first “official” sighting of the bird on Cuba.
Anne Goulden has been an avid birder for ten years. “Birding has been a hobby—make that an obsession—since 2007,” she says. Anne had just finished a 9-day birding tour in Cuba with Eagle Eye Tours and had arranged to stay on an extra three nights at their last stop, the Cayo Coco Cays located along the northern coast of Cuba. She wanted to bird at a leisurely pace on her own before returning home. The group was staying at the Iberostar Playa Pilar Hotel in Cayo Guillermo, one of the Cayo Coco Cays, known as a birding hot spot because of the Cuban and regional Caribbean endemics that live in the area.
On February 22nd Anne’s tour group birded for about 1 km along the road between their hotel and the Playa Pilar Beach looking for a Bahama Mockingbird, a species found only in a few locales in Cuba, Jamaica, and in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. “We were out for about an hour and were lucky enough to find a few Bahama Mockingbirds in addition to warblers and a few local birds,” Ann commented. The bus returned to the hotel to send everyone off to the airport to return home.
This photo shows the yellow throat, breast and belly, white undertail coverts and black lores of the Kirtland’s Warbler. The broken white eye ring is also clearly visible. Female Kirtland’s are similar to males but have no black on the face and their upperparts and face are more brown. (photo by Anne Goulden)
The next morning, February 23rd, Ann set out at on her own at about 7am along the same road to see what else she could find. She spotted an unfamiliar bird in a tree with red berries about an hour into her walk. “I wish I could say I knew what it was, but I didn’t,” said Anne. “I knew it was a warbler, but that was about it. I managed to get a few poor photos before it flew off.”
After Anne returned home she looked through her pictures, but still couldn’t place the bird. Ann was disappointed that her photos were not in sharp focus, but she knew that they were clear enough for an ID. She sent the pictures to two local birders who both suggested Kirtland’s Warbler, but it wasn’t even in Anne’s book so she did not include it in her e-bird checklist until the bird was also positively identified as a Kirtland’s by her two tour leaders, Hector Gomez de Silva and Colin Jones (the ID was also confirmed by eBird Caribbean reviewers). The individual appears to be a juvenile male (first winter).
The road where the Kirtland’s Warbler was spotted on Cayo Guillermo, one of the Cayo Coco Cays on the northern coast of Cuba. The road leads to Playa Pilar beach and beyond that to a new hotel under construction. (photo by Anne Goulden)
“I was very excited to have this bird confirmed as a Kirtland’s Warbler,” exclaimed Anne. “I live in Ontario so know about the Kirtland’s and what a rare bird it is, but I never expected to see one in Cuba. I have only had a fleeting look at this bird once before, in Ontario in 2014.”
One of the rarest songbirds in North America, the Kirtland’s Warbler is listed as “Endangered” under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Its current status is Near Threatened on the IUCN “Red list of Threatened Species,” upgraded from Vulnerable in 2005, thanks to successful recovery efforts.
The Kirtland’s Warbler winters primarily in the Bahamas Archipelago, which includes The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It inhabits early successional broadleaf scrub or shrubby habitats, where it feeds on fruits, insects and spiders. Recent surveys indicate that the warblers most commonly winter in the central islands of The Bahamas including Eleuthera, Cat Island, San Salvador, and Long Island.
The Kirtland’s Warbler was spotted feeding on berries of the Gumbo Limbo tree (Bursera simaruba), a very important food source for many birds, including migratory warblers fattening up in their Caribbean wintering grounds for their long journey north to their breeding grounds in spring. (photo by Anne Goulden)
Kirtland’s Warblers are known to overwinter outside of the archipelago, however, as documented by a photograph of an individual during a Christmas bird count on Bermuda in 2004, and a bird photographed in Key West, Florida this past winter. In addition, there have been sight records of wintering Kirtland’s Warblers from northern Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Unfortunately sight records alone are insufficient for “official” documentation, which requires either a good photo or a specimen of the bird. Thus, the fact that Ms. Goulden photographed a Kirtland’s Warbler (with typical field marks visible) verifies for the first time the “official” presence of the warbler in Cuba.
The habitat where the bird was found and the photo of the warbler feeding on the fruit of Gumbo Limbo or Gum Elemi (Bursera simaruba) are all typical of the habitat and behavior of the wintering Kirtland’s Warblers observed in The Bahamas. In addition, the first Cuban sight record of the warbler in 2006 was also from the Cayo Coco cays. The cays located off Cuba’s north coast have typical scrub vegetation including Black Torch (Erithalis fruticosa), Wild Sage (Lantana involucrata), and Snowberry (Chiococca spp.) which also produce the fruits favored by the warbler. The cays also host specialties such as the Bahama Mockingbird and Thick-billed Vireo, both of which are typical birds of the Bahamian bush.
A beautiful Western Spindalis spotted on Cayo Guillermo; this bird is endemic to Cuba, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Cozumel. (photo by Anne Goulden)
In recent years, more and more observations of the Kirtland’s Warblers have been made during the winter months. Some of the increase in observations might be attributable to more birders in the field in the warbler’s habitat. The more likely explanation, however, is that increased wintering grounds observations are attributable to the increase in the size of the Kirtland’s Warbler population at least since the 1970s and 1980s. This increase in the population of the warblers is directly attributable to the success of the intensive recovery effort focused on the warbler’s breeding grounds in Michigan.
Kirtland’s Warbler breeds in early successional Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) habitat primarily in Michigan with recent breeding now established in similar habitat in southern Ontario and Wisconsin. Habitat loss and degradation coupled with nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds were the primary factors contributing to the species decline to record low populations of the 1970s and 80s. In that period, counts of approximately 200 singing males on the breeding grounds were typical, whereas today, thanks to habitat management and cowbird control, the recent breeding ground censuses of singing males is approximately 2,350 singing males. [The biologists are not being sexist, its just that females are difficult to detect and count in contrast to the males which are obvious as they sing on their territories in early spring; the sex ratio is assumed to be 50:50]. Thus the abundance of recent winter observations of the Kirtland’s Warbler is a testament of the success of the conservation program directed at the recovery of this endangered species.
Cuban Bullfinch on Cayo Guillermo, endemic to Cuba and the Cayman Islands. (photo by Anne Goulden)
A recently published article by Dr. Nathan Cooper and his colleagues from the Smithsonian Institution suggests the possibility of some Kirtland’s Warblers occurring in Cuba. The research, based on use of light-sensitive geolocators to track the warbler suggests the occurrence of Kirtland’s Warblers wintering in Cuba; the photo obtained by Ms. Goulden establishes the fact. Congratulations to Ms. Goulden!
“I don’t live far from Michigan and hope in the next year or two to make a trip to the Kirtland’s Warbler’s famed breeding grounds,” said Anne. “Seeing this rare bird on its wintering grounds is, however, probably the most exciting thing that is likely to ever happen to me as a birder! I’m thrilled I was in the right place at the right time and managed to get a photo of the bird. It’s certainly rewarding for ordinary citizens like myself to contribute to science through our birding activities and use of eBird Caribbean!”
By Lisa Sorenson and Joe Wunderle
Anne Goulden’s checklist from 23 February, 2017 with the Kirtland’s Warbler can be viewed at this link.
Andrew Dobson’s checklist from 19 December, 2004 with the Kirtlands Warbler can be viewed at this link.
Congratulations to Anne Goulden for her first official sighting of the Kirkland’s Warbler in Cuba. “Seeing this rare bird on its wintering grounds is probably the most exciting thing that is likely to ever happen to me as a birder! ” she exclaimed.
Cape May Warbler, a common wintering warbler in Cuba and throughout the entire Caribbean region, was also seen in the Cayo Coco Cays. (photo by Anne Goulden)
Beautiful Bahama Birds by Carolyn Wardle, Lynn Gape and Predensa Moore focuses on common birds and is targeted toward young and beginner birdwatchers, as well as tourists.
This attractive, informative little guide is the most recent contribution in a series of island-specific bird guides supported by BirdsCaribbean and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Targeting high school-aged students, beginning bird watchers, and tourists to the Bahama Islands, the guide highlights 60 common birds of the islands. With illustrations borrowed from Herb Raffaele et al.’s (1998) A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies reproduced in a very nice, large format, the book does a good job of synthesizing a general description and habitat for these species. I particularly like the book’s design, with the use of large, bold fonts, and employing colors without overdoing it to the extent that a page becomes a busy mess.
But this book is more than an identification guide too. Introductory chapters in Part I address why birds are interesting to us, and curious facts about birds. A chapter relates how to identify birds, but also covers how to find a bird in your binoculars, and how to become a better birder through learning songs and calls, choosing equipment, and respecting a code of ethics. And Part I includes advice on how to make your yard more bird friendly so as to keep birds safe and coming back for your enjoyment.
Finally, Beautiful Bahama Birds concludes with a well-thoughtout section on conserving birds. Appropriately, lands managed by the Bahamas National Trust and Important Bird Areas are highlighted not only as conservation success stories, but also as bird watching destinations. The many threats facing birds are briefly addressed, as are first steps which newly engaged bird watchers might take to help provide for birds. Finally, the book concludes with a selection of stories and poems that illustrate nicely how birds contribute to Bahamian culture.
The guide includes 60 common birds of the Bahama Islands described using large fonts and simple language- a perfect addition to any new birder’s collection!
Overall, I found Beautiful Bahama Birds to be a well-written and pleasingly designed book which does extremely well in providing an introduction to Bahamian birds. I would recommend it without reservations to any young person or adult interested in exploring what bird watching is all about. I would also suggest to anyone else contemplating writing a similar guide to add to the growing stable of island-specific introductions to bird watching, that they would do well to mimic the many qualities of this fine contribution to Caribbean birdlife
Beautiful Bahama Birds: Common Birds of the Bahama Islands is written by Carolyn Wardle, Lynn Gape, and Predensa Moore and published by Bahamas National Trust and BirdsCaribbean. The guide can be purchased in the US through Amazon here.
This review was provided by Dr. Steven Latta, Director of Conservation and Field Research at the National Aviary. It is featured in the current issue of the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology and can be viewed here.
Scott Johnson, Science Officer with the Bahamas National Trust, shares the work that he and his fellow conservationists are doing to help raise awareness about the issue of wildlife smuggling.
CAWS (Caribbean Against Wildlife Smuggling) logo created by Team Traffic to help raise the profile of the threats to our native wildlife from wildlife smuggling and what everyone can do to help.
As a Caribbean native, I can wholeheartedly understand people’s obsession with our region. The lush green vegetation, white sandy beaches, turquoise waters, delicious food, and warm tropical climate are all hallmarks of the Caribbean experience. Every year many people, aka “snowbirds” flock to this region by the millions for a welcome respite from the frozen north.
In addition to “sun, sea and sand,” visitors also enjoy the Caribbean’s abundant wildlife, including the chance to spot spectacular native birds like parrots, trogons and todies, swim with sharks and rays, snorkel on a tropical reef, interact with rock iguanas, and even watch sea turtles laying their eggs in a nest they dig right on the beach. Unfortunately, some people want to do more than just observe the wildlife—they want to take a souvenir home, purchasing wildlife products for fashion, pets, and novel foods. This is causing a serious threat to the long-term survival of many native species.
Hispaniolan Parrot in the Dominican Republic, a species targeted by smugglers. Parrots are captured in the wild as adults and chicks and illegally kept as pets or sold for the pet trade. Nesting trees are usually damaged by poachers so that they cannot be used by parrots in the future—a hole is slashed or the tree is chopped down, and the eggs or chicks are stolen. This is tragic because good nesting trees are in short supply. (Photo by Dax Roman)
The Caribbean is a virtual treasure trove of biological diversity. In fact, it is one of the most important biological hotspots in the world, home to thousands of endemic plants and animals. For example, 172 species of birds are Caribbean endemics, found no place else on earth. Many of these species are found on only one or two islands in the entire region. The novelty of these species unfortunately makes them key targets for smugglers.
Wildlife smuggling is one of the largest illegal activities in the world, a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. Every year, tens of thousands of animals and animal products are smuggled to places like Asia, the US and other countries to satisfy people’s insatiable appetites for the new and exotic. In Trinidad and Tobago, birds like the Chestnut-bellied Seed Finch and Blue-and-Yellow Macaw are key species targeted by smugglers. In 2011, 74 eggs from both Black-billed Parrots and Yellow-billed Parrots were smuggled out of Jamaica into Austria in rum cake boxes by tourists visiting Jamaica. On the island of Hispaniola, Hispaniolan Parrots have been captured and sold in the wildlife trade and are illegally kept as pets, while a single St. Vincent Parrot is said to be worth $100,000 on the black market.
St. Vincent Parrots, endemic to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in flight. (Photo courtesy of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority)
What’s being done to help curb this threat in the Caribbean?
Kareena Anderson and Laura Baboolal CLiC “Team Traffic” members giving a presentation to enforcement personnel of the Wildlife Section, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo by Praimchand Anderson)
Law enforcement is an extremely important tool in the battle against wildlife smuggling. Sadly, protection of native wildlife from illegal capture and smuggling has not been a major priority for many Caribbean countries. In addition, many enforcers do not have a well-rounded knowledge about their native species. This is where wildlife sensitization comes in.
For the past two years, the Conservation Leadership in the Caribbean (CLiC) Program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been training emerging young conservation professionals from around the Caribbean to tackle wildlife conservation problems in the region. Several of the participants formed a group called TeamTraffic, and took on the challenging issue of wildlife smuggling in their home countries, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago. Over the past year they have been assisting in the training of enforcers in each country, giving them the knowledge they need to properly identify animals in their country and put more emphasis on the protection of native wildlife.
Sharleen Khan holding a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Trinidad. This macaw is the zoo’s Animal Ambassador and is part of the zoo’s education program where the macaw is used to raise awareness of wildlife conservation, specifically conservation of this species in the wild. (Photo courtesy of Emperor Valley Zoo)
Team Traffic has also created a Facebook page called CAWS-Caribbean Against Wildlife Smuggling, to help with outreach and education. International transportation companies such as JetBlue are helping to raise awareness through a public education campaign that advises travellers not to carry any wildlife products from countries visited.
In July 2016, The Bahamas hosted the Regional Wildlife Enforcement Workshop which brought together heads of enforcement agencies from across the Caribbean and International organizations such as CITES and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The successful meeting led to the recommendation of the establishment of a Caribbean Wildlife Enforcement Network aimed at improving wildlife enforcement cooperation in the region.
Scott Johnson, CLiC “Team Traffic” member and BNT Science Officer speaks to Bahamian and Turks and Caicos Islands enforcers on wildlife smuggling during a workshop. (Photo courtesy of Scott Johnson)
CLiC’s Team Traffic group will continue to work with partners both locally and internationally to educate enforcers on the threats of wildlife smuggling in the region. With all of us working together, we will be a strong force against the ever-present threat of smuggling. Please support our CAWS!
What you can do to help
Don’t purchase items such as coral, products made from turtle shells, feathers, or any exotic animal product, as you may be helping to fuel the illegal wildlife trade market.
Never buy wild-caught birds.
Report the capture and sale of wild birds to the authorities.
Plant native trees and shrubs in your yard and support forest reforestation efforts.
Enjoy the beauty of the animals in their natural habitat to ensure them for future generations. If everyone puts in a concerted effort to learn about wildlife and wildlife smuggling, our region will be one step closer towards eradicating this illegal activity once and for all.
Trafficked Species Identification Guide developed by Team Traffic in the CLiC program (Conservation Leadership in the Caribbean).
Many thanks to Scott Johnson, Kareena Anderson, Laura Baboolal and Sharleen Khan, participants in the Conservation Leadership in the Caribbean (CLiC) Program, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supported program. Please follow CAWS on their Facebook page! The issue of wildlife smuggling and how are laws and protected areas help conserve our birds was the theme of our 2016 celebrations of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) and International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD). Click here for more information.
Perhaps the only guide you’ll ever need for the island of Montserrat.If you are a birder visiting the island of Montserrat, this small book will be a necessary purchase. It has a full checklist of birds found on the island as well as photos and descriptions of all the most important and most commonly seen species. Unlike many books, the birds are grouped by habitat—wetlands, forest, open-country—which is practical in many ways and allows the authors to describe the birds and their place within an ecological community at the same time.
The title of this book is a bit misleading…in a good way. It contains a great deal of useful information above and beyond birds and birding. This volume gives a short history of the island, an overview of its geology, maps, directions and images of trails and points of interest and an overview of the non-bird vertebrates of the island. It even has notes on traditional uses of plants and highlights a few of the island’s insects and other invertebrates. It closes with a section of “Practical Information” covering transportation, shopping, dining and more.
Whether you think of it as a travel guide with a bird section or a bird guide with a travel guide added on, definitely get this book before your next trip to Montserrat. It is available as a PDF download for $8 or a print edition shipped internationally for 15 British Pounds, and you can purchase either both online. The book was written by Dr. Mike Pienkowski, Ann Pienkowski, Catherine Wensink, Sarita Francis and James “Scriber” Daley and published by the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum and Montserrat National Trust.
The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology (JCO) is a free, peer-reviewed journal produced by BirdsCaribbean.
With nine research articles, two book reviews, and an ornithological literature review, we are excited to announce the completion of Journal of Caribbean Ornithology’s Volume 29. Collectively the publications highlight valuable work spanning the entire arc of the Caribbean island chain, from Cuba to northern South America. The quality, quantity, and distribution of research represented in Volume 29 is testament to the JCO’s continued mission to build and grow a community of ornithologists around the advancement of scientific knowledge of all the unique avifauna of these island habitats.
These accomplishments would of course not be possible without the commendable teamwork that happens between researchers, reviewers, editors, and volunteers in all corners. Thank you so much for bringing your passion to the table and helping produce such a valuable resource to the field of ornithology.
Volume 29 wraps up with two complementary articles on the Adelaide’s Warblers:
Adelaide’s Warbler on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. (photo by Sean Rune)
1. “First observations of Adelaide’s Warblers (Setophaga adelaidae) outside of Puerto Rico, in the U.S.VirginIslands” is an article by Sean M. Rune and LeAnn M. Conlon that documents the first sightings of this species of warbler outside its endemic range of Puerto Rico (and its island-munici palities of Vieques and Culebra). From one to four individuals were recorded during each of ten observation periods spanning from 24 March to 17 December 2012 on the island of St. Thomas. One observation of one individual on 6 January2013 occurred on the island of St. John. Seeing as Adelaide’s Warblers are known to breed during the late spring and early summer months, these observations may indicate the initiation of range expansion by the species from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands to the east.
Adelaide’s Warbler with white lower eye crescent – a possible female – on St. John. (photo by E. Dluhos in Veit et al. 2016)
2. Further evidence of range expansion by Adelaide’s Warblers follows in the article “Vagrancy and colonization of St. Thomas and St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, by Adelaide’s Warblers (Setophaga adelaidae)” by Richard R. Veit, Lucinda C. Zawadzki, Lisa L. Manne, Pearl Cales, Danielle Fibikar, Shannon Curley, Elizabeth Dluhos, and Robert L. Norton. The authors observed five Adelaide’s Warblers on St. John during January of 2015 and eight individuals in the same area one year later. Given that these vagrants arrived against prevailing easterly trade winds and were observed in the same area from 2012-2016, Veit et al. hypothesize that in current time we are witnessing the eastward colonization of new islands by Adelaide’s Warblers.
A thorough overview of Adelaide’s Warblers highlighting these newly published articles has been written by Jason A. Crotty and can be found in a recent article of the magazine BirdWatching.
Map of the Caribbean; the two final publications in Volume 29 of the JCO focus on the hypothesized range expansion of Adelaide’s Warblers from Puerto Rico eastwards to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Archives Have Grown – We’re excited to announce that we’ve been able to put some serious time into uploading and making available older volumes of the journal. The JCO Archives are now completely catalogued back to the year 2005. Our goal is to continue working our way back in time, ultimately providing easy (and free!) online access to every article of every publication back to the journal’s beginning – Volume 1 in 1988. We encourage you to take some time looking around the archives to remember and discover all the great work that has been contributed over the years. We will continue to make announcements as more volumes are made available.
What’s Coming Up – The 21st International Meeting of BirdsCaribbean set to take place in Cuba this July promises to be an unforgettable event. Detailed information about the meeting can be found here, the meeting website will have a lot of updates in the coming weeks. Regular attendees of BirdsCaribbean conferences and seasoned Caribbean ornithologists should take advantage of this attractive venue to consider reaching out to young, burgeoning researchers across the islands that could greatly benefit from attending. BirdsCaribbean is making an active push to integrate new members into our community, and the best way to do so is by word of mouth from all of our members. Everyone planning on attending the conference should come ready to have an excellent time, and don’t forget to budget some extra time in Cuba if your schedule allows! Volume 30 of the JCO is already underway with a lot of great manuscripts in the pipeline. We’re also looking forward to the release of a Special Issue on Caribbean Forest Endemics that promises to be around a dozen articles in length. Rumor has it that we’ll be seeing some great articles on everything from Elfin-woods Warblers to Golden Swallows to Giant Kingbirds. Stay tuned!
By Justin Proctor, Caribbean Ornithologist; Freelance Writer; Loving Husband. Justin is part of our JCO Editorial and Production team and a frequent contributor to our blog.
David S. Lee Fund award recipient, Grenadian Wayne Smart, scans for seabirds in the Grenadine islands with his spotting scope.
BirdsCaribbean is excited to announce the first award recipients of the David S. Lee Fund for the Conservation of Caribbean Birds. We are extremely pleased to support these dedicated young scholars as they pursue important research that will increase our knowledge of and inform conservation management decisions for Caribbean birds. The award recipients are: Wayne Smart, Maya Wilson, Spencer Schubert, Ramon Williams, Holly Garrod, and Paige Byerly.
The David S. Lee Fund was established in 2016 to recognize the scientific and conservation efforts of David S. Lee, a biologist and naturalist dedicated to Caribbean biodiversity. The award funds innovative avian conservation research in the Caribbean. All projects demonstrate a commitment to engaging with local scientists, government officials, organizations and communities, as appropriate, to involve them in the research, share results, and build interest in local birds and their conservation.
Thanks to support from the David S. Lee Fund and contributions from an anonymous donor, BirdsCaribbean is able to provide grants of $900 to $1,000 for six exceptional conservation research projects in 2017, the first year of funding for the award. Congratulations to all the dedicated and hard-working student recipients, who embody the vision that we all share of a bright future for the conservation of Caribbean birds. We look forward to hearing about their work in forthcoming articles and publications.
Seabird nesting performance, colony declines and invasive predators in the Southern Grenadines.
Wayne Smart holds a Laughing Gull chick during a previous field season. (photo by Wayne Smart)
Wayne Smart, Arkansas State University
Seabird colonies are declining globally for multiple reasons such as habitat loss, introduced predators, and poaching. The Grenadines support five Important Bird Areas and host a number of seabird colonies, though little is known about local seabird decline. Wayne Smart will conduct field work on five uninhabited islands off the north coast of Grenada this summer. By interviewing locals, monitoring nests, and deploying cameras and two types of traps, he anticipates gathering valuable baseline knowledge about the current size and reproductive success of seabird colonies in the Grenadines and how they are impacted by introduced rats. The data will inform seabird management decisions for a community-based conservation program.
The Bahama Swallow is an endangered endemic found on only three islands in the Bahamas. (photo by Melanie Rose Wells)
Population biology, life history and ecology of the Bahama Swallow (Tachycineta cyaneoviridis): informing conservation of an endangered species.
Maya Wilson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
The Bahama Swallow is an endangered species endemic to Grand Bahama Island, Great Abaco Island and Andros Island in the northern Bahamas. The swallow relies on pre-existing cavities in Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea), which are only found in large tracts on these island (they are also found on New Providence Island though the breeding Bahama Swallow likely was extirpated from here). Maya Wilson will undertake her third and final field season to investigate the population abundance, life history traits and nesting resource limitations of the Bahama Swallow. She is collaborating with the Bahama Oriole Project to develop survey techniques to estimate population and habitat data for both species. In addition, gene flow between islands will be analyzed from samples collected during mist netting efforts. Maya’s research will provide important information about two endangered Bahama endemics that will be used to inform conservation strategies for these species and their habitats.
Artificial perch installation as a method for enhancing avian seed dispersal and accelerating early-stage forest recovery in the central Dominican Republic.
Spencer Schubert, Old Dominion University
A group of seed-dispersing Palmchats using a natural perch. (photo by Spencer Schubert)
In Hispaniola, less than 15% of the original wet forest cover remains, primarily due to deforestation for cattle ranching. It is well known that frugivorous birds provide vital ecosystem services that aid in forest growth, such as pollination and seed dispersal. Spencer Schubert will travel to the Dominican Republic this summer to investigate the role of artificial perches as a strategy to increase natural seed dispersal and reforestation. From his previous work in the area, he has identified 24 species of frugivorous birds that aid in seed dispersal. Working with the local NGO Plan Yaque, he intends to install artificial perches in different spatial patterns and measure frugivore use and seed deposition. Results from this study will directly benefit Plan Yaque and their ongoing reforestation effort, local farmers, and the biodiversity and avian communities that rely on forests.
Distribution, diversity, and abundance of Grenadian birds, including endemic and restricted-range species.
The Lesser Antillean Tanager is one of the target species in the study of Grenada passerines proposed by Ramon Williams. (photo by Paulson Des Brisay)
Ramon Williams, University of Manitoba
Like many islands in the Caribbean, Grenada is undergoing rapid development leading to increased human disturbance and habitat loss. The conservation status of Grenadian passerines in response to development is poorly understood as there is little information regarding the distribution, diversity and abundance of species across the island. Thirty-five passerines are found on Grenada, including the critically endangered Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi), the endangered Grenada Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus mirus) and the endemic Grenada Flycatcher (Myiarchus nugatory). Ramon Williams will begin field work this summer to estimate passerine species diversity and abundance, in addition to quantifying vegetation structure, in representative habitat types across Grenada. This study will produce a comprehensive assessment of the status of passerines on the island, potentially identifying areas of conservation priority.
Nest response of Broad-billed Todies (Todus subulatus) to an invasive nest predator, the small Asian mongoose.
The Broad-billed Tody is one of two endemic tody species found on Hispaniola. (photo by Holly Garrod)
Holly Garrod, Villanova University
The Broad-billed Tody is endemic to the island of Hispaniola. Like all todies, this species nests on the ground by building burrows in embankments. This nesting strategy makes todies extremely vulnerable to introduced predators, such as the small Asian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus auropunctatus). This summer, Holly Garrod will return to the Cordillera Central region of the Dominican Republic – where she conducted pilot research in 2016 – to monitor nesting todies and nest predation. She is interested in the behavioral differences of todies in undisturbed and disturbed sites and how this might affect reactions to nest predators and reproductive success. Understanding how birds respond to predators under different environmental conditions has the potential to improve anti-predator management techniques for native bird conservation.
Conservation genetics of the Caribbean Roseate Tern
Paige Byerly, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Roseate Tern chicks in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. (photo by Paige Byerly)
The Caribbean Roseate Tern, a threatened metapopulation of Sterna dougallii dougallii, is thought to be declining across its range, though the trajectory of the population is not well understood. Paige Byerly will undertake a project to analyze the genetics of the Caribbean Roseate Tern in order to investigate gene flow patterns between this population and the similar Northeastern Atlantic population. It is thought there is no movement between the two groups; such genetic isolation has the potential to negatively impact population viability. In addition to gene flow, this analysis will yield information about genetic diversity and effective population size. Samples will be collected this summer from populations in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Massachusetts. Results from this study will provide researchers and conservation managers with valuable new information about connectivity, migratory ecology and population vulnerability.
To learn more about the David S. Lee Fund for the Conservation of Caribbean Birds, click here. If you would like to contribute to the fund and help support future projects, click here. You can choose to designate your gift to the David S. Lee Fund.
BirdsCaribbean thanks the scientists that provided thoughtful and constructive reviews of the proposals. We are very grateful to all that have donated to the David S. Lee Fund. We are pleased and proud to honor Dave’s legacy with the funding of these exciting projects that will advance the development of young Caribbean scientists and contribute to the conservation of Caribbean birds.
Female Magnificent Frigatebird in flight. Frigatebirds feed by skimming food off the surface of the water or stealing it from other birds—they cannot dive. (photo by Ted Eubanks).
Joseph Prosper shares with us his experiences birding in Barbuda and the choices this pristine little island faces. He discusses the importance of conservation and provides wonderful insights into the birds found here.
Barbuda is definitely torn between two lovers and probably feeling like a fool. This island holds two tomorrows in its hands. One is for it to remain a remote, low-key eco-tourism destination, with a small economy that preserves and features the island’s wealth of pristine natural resources and traditional culture. The other tomorrow is Barbuda becoming a tourist destination with mega resorts, modern lifestyles and greatly lessened natural beauty.
Climate change looms over both of these tomorrows, as the low relief is highly threatened by sea level rise. This is their moment to consider and decide. I know what I would choose.
I have been involved in bird watching for 14 years. I crudely define this activity as a form of wildlife observation in which the observation of birds is a recreational activity. Watching birds in Barbuda can be done with the naked eye, through binoculars or by listening for bird sounds. Surprisingly, in Barbuda, many bird species are more easily detected and identified by ear than by eye. Most birdwatchers, including myself, pursue this activity for recreational and social reasons. I have also engaged in the study of birds using formal scientific methods. Many birdwatchers maintain life lists, a list of all of the species they have seen in their life, usually with details about the sighting, such as date and location. The criteria for the recording of these lists are very personal. Some birdwatchers “count” species they have identified audibly, while others only record species that they have identified visually. Some maintain a country list, parish list, state list, county list, yard list, year list, or any combination of these.
West Indian Whistling-Duck (photo by Ted Eubanks)
My ‘birding’ life started in 2002 when I attended a “West Indian Whistling-Duck and Wetlands Education Training Workshop led by Dr. Lisa Sorenson of BirdsCaribbean (formerly the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds) and the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG).
This was my introduction to the West Indian Whistling-Duck which sparked and sealed a lasting interest in birds and birding. This tall, graceful, brown-spotted duck is found only in the West Indies. It was once abundant and widely distributed throughout the Caribbean, but is now scarce and limited in its distribution due to illegal hunting, introduced predators like the mongoose which eat eggs and ducklings, and loss of much of its wetland habitat from development. In my pursuit of the duck, I traversed little known parts of Antigua and Barbuda, spending many hours observing the duck and widening and deepening my knowledge and experience with birds. My fascination and surprise grew as I realised through my association with other local birders, notably Victor Joseph and Andrea Otto, that as small and as dry as Antigua and Barbuda is, the country hosts well over 182 species of birds including numerous migrants.
Unlike many birders, I do not have a life list, but strive to see as many birds as possible, and rarities and endemics are at the top of my list.
I was therefore thrilled to learn that, as tiny as my country was, Barbuda is home to the endemic Barbuda Warbler, recently elevated to species status after genetic research deemed it worthy of this designation.
One of my best birding moments was setting eyes on this warbler in 2005. My guide, Mr. Calvin Gore, took me to the spot for the Barbuda Warbler. This is quite easy to find: Going south on the main road, about 2 miles from the airport is a thick section of pipe on the left. There is an embankment about 100-200 feet to the left, which holds water occasionally, but was bone dry with no signs of having been a pond on my visit. There is a pond on the right as well, mostly dry. Just before reaching the embankment I heard a warbler sing, and shortly thereafter spotted the Barbuda Warbler, flitting about in the dry scrub. It is a beautiful little bird with gray upperparts, bright yellow underparts, a yellow line above the eye and a yellow or whitish crescent below it. I saw and heard many Barbuda Warblers during the 3 hours I spent here.
The Barbuda Warbler is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is endemic to the island of Barbuda and known locally as the Christmas Bird. Its habitat is dry scrubland near wetlands and mangroves. This small warbler has a distinctive bright yellow throat and breast and gray upper parts. (photo by Ted Eubanks).
I spooked a pair of Helmeted Guineafowl and got excellent looks at Lesser Antillean Flycatcher, Mangrove Cuckoo, and Caribbean Elaenia. I saw many migrant and resident shorebirds and waterbirds, including White-cheeked Pintails, Stilt Sandpipers, Short-billed-Dowitchers, Black-necked Stilts, Wilson’s Plover, White-rumped Sandpipers, Common Snipe, and a pair of Pectoral Sandpipers. I walked around the town—there were Cliff Swallows with Barn Swallows at the airport, supposedly rare for Barbuda. There is a place in the lagoon where West Indian Whistling-Ducks come in the evening, uttering their beautiful haunting whistling call as they fly in. Visiting Barbuda to see the warbler and the many other special birds that one can see in Barbuda makes it a worthwhile trip for any birder or nature lover.
Visiting the Magnificent Frigatebird colony in Codrington Lagoon, Barbuda. (photo by Karron James)
My love affair with birds and birding led to my membership in BirdsCaribbean, a non-profit regional organization dedicated to studying and conserving Caribbean birds and their habitats, and my travels all over the Caribbean including Trinidad, Tobago, Puerto Rico, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and beyond to Canada, South America and Europe. Birding allowed me to feed my other great love which is education. I studied birds, focusing on the West Indian Whistling-Duck, and advocated for their conservation on Antigua and Barbuda. and delved into the ways of any bird I encountered. I happily shared my discoveries with many children, residents, and visitors wanting them to experience a similar amazement at the world of birds.
At the Codrington Lagoon in Barbuda where the Magnificent Frigatebird engaged my attention – oh what a sight for my eager eyes! I took a small boat from the harbour in Codrington to the Frigatebird Sanctuary in the northwest of the lagoon. I thoroughly enjoyed the crossing and at the sanctuary I was taken within 2 metres of thousands of birds nesting on top of clumps of short Red Mangrove bushes. They were totally unmoved by my presence. Surveys show there are over 5,000 frigatebirds using the site, making it the largest colony in the Caribbean. It is really something to see these birds and the way they live in the wild. By this time George Jeffrey, my tour guide, was moving me along with a pole, the boat was silent except for the sound of my camera shutter. I was there during mating season (February) and it was fascinating to see the males puffing out their brilliant red neck pouches to attract the females. I could hear the sound of the males drumming their pouches all around me.
Magnificent Frigatebirds adults and chicks in a nesting colony. Perched male Frigatebirds display by inflating their large red throat pouch (photo by Jenny Daltry).
Fascinated, I asked where the ‘downies’ go when there is a hurricane? “When there’s a storm the babies climb deep into the mangroves and wait it out, while the adults fly away,” George said. “Some people call them Weather Birds, because there will be hundreds of them going off in a cloud before the storm hits.” George then provided a demonstration of how important sticks are to the male frigatebirds for building their nests. He threw a stick up in the air and then gave a play-by-play commentary of the male frigates fighting over the stick and even pulling it away from another bird while in flight until they could find a way back to their nest. There were males displaying, chicks and females sitting on nests—an incredible sight. A definite must-see if one is in Barbuda.
My hope is that these birds and the pristine nature of Barbuda will still be here for generations.
Let’s choose a tomorrow that does not succumb to the bulldozer but instead preserves this natural wealth for all to experience and enjoy.
By Joseph (Junior) Prosper, schoolteacher in Antigua and dedicated local conservationist. Reprinted with permission from the tourism coffee table book: Simply Antigua Barbuda. The book is available to order online at this link. The online version of the book can be viewed here.
Male White-cheeked Pintail in Antigua. These sedentary tropical ducks are most often found in brackish waters such as coastal lagoons and mangrove swamps. (photo by Ted Eubanks).
A male White-cheeked Pintail preening. This beautiful sedentary tropical duck is common on a number of Caribbean islands, including Antigua and Barbuda. (photo by Binkie van Es)
Let’s face it: Coffee table books often lie on the table, mostly untouched unless you pick them up in a moment of boredom, flick through the pages, and put them down again. However, once you open Simply Antigua Barbuda, you will become immersed. It is far more varied than the average tourism publication, with a rich diversity of topics – from finely drawn sketches of the islands’ National Heroes to – yes, an article on Birding in Barbuda, and a strong focus on sustainable living and conservation for future generations. As its authors and publishers note, it is“designed to be dipped into” – not only to enjoy the gorgeous photographs but also to obtain detailed information on the history, culture and environment of the twin-island nation. And this 264-page, high-quality publication was all put together in six months!
Magnificent Frigatebird male inflates his bright red throat pouch to attract a mate at Barbuda’s Frigatebird Colony, the largest in the Caribbean. (photo by Kate Lavasseur)
The exquisite photographs portray the islands’ natural beauty, from the calm, unsullied blue of Barbuda’s Codrington Lagoon to hidden hiking trails and Antigua’s 365 famous beaches (“one for every day of the year”). An article authored by Daryl George, board member of Antigua’s Environmental Awareness Group (EAG), includes stunning close up photographs of Hawksbill and Leatherback Turtle hatchlings. EAG and BirdsCaribbean member Natalya Lawrence reminds the reader that there is much more to Antigua & Barbuda than beaches, focusing on the offshore islands. She describes the success of the Offshore Islands Conservation Programme, which has resulted in the removal of alien and invasive species and a surge in numbers in bird populations and native species in the past 20 years. Natalya also highlights the Floating Classroom program, which has opened the eyes of young Antiguans to natural wonders on their doorstep.
The section on Barbuda – a low-key tourism destination that has encountered environmental challenges – emphasizes the welcome move towards low impact, sustainable tourism and programs such as the Blue Halo Initiative, a collaborative coastal zoning project that is helping to protect the island’s fragile coastline and marine ecosystems. Barbuda has the largest Frigatebird Sanctuary in the western hemisphere. This extraordinary bird is among those highlighted in an article by EAG and BirdsCaribbean member Joseph (Junior) Prosper, edited by BirdsCaribbean’s Lisa Sorenson. Striking photographs by other BirdsCaribbean members (Andrea Otto, Binkie van Es and Ted Eubanks) of the supremely elegant West Indian Whistling-Duck, the Barbuda Warbler and other species enhance the text.
Simply Antigua Barbuda Tourism Coffee Table Book
The book beautifully integrates tips on sustainable living with the many attractions Antigua has to offer – including cuisine. There are delicious recipes for the invasive Lionfish, and important information on the closed seasons for the Queen Conch, Parrotfish, Spiny Lobster and several other important marine species. Dr. Evelyn Weekes of the Agro-Ecology Society of Antigua describes several climate-smart projects that help to enhance the tourism product as well as the lives of Antiguans.
Joseph Prosper observes in his article Birds of Barbuda: “Let’s choose a tomorrow that does not succumb to the bulldozer but instead preserves this natural wealth for all to experience and enjoy.” This gem of a book reminds us of the fragility of the region’s island ecosystems, and the need to preserve them – not only for tourists.
The book is available to order online at this link.
The online version of the book can be viewed here.
By Emma Lewis, frequent blogger for BirdsCaribbean and member of BirdsCaribbean’s Media Working Group. Find me at Petchary’s Blog!
Wilson’s Plover chick. This is an excellent opportunity to gain multi-species shorebird ID and monitoring experience.
Your help is needed to protect beach-nesting birds, nests, and young. Conservian is planning for Year 2 of their shorebird and habitat conservation program in the Bahamas. Come join them for the adventure of a lifetime!
Conservian is seeking a weekly crew of 8 to 12 enthusiastic volunteers for our Bahamas shorebird habitat conservation project in May 2017 aboard the 75ft schooner “Dream Catcher”. This is an excellent opportunity to gain field experience and shorebird ID skills. Trip cost for one week is $1,250 and includes your bunk, onboard meals, water, and ground transportation associated with project. Participants will fly to the Bahamas to designated airports for shuttle transport to schooner. A valid passport is required. Airfare and insurance are not included.
Project Summary
In 2017, Conservian and partners will continue on-the-ground protective and restorative measures to limit human-caused disturbance, and control invasive Australian pine at key Piping Plover, shorebird, and seabird sites in the Bahamas. Field volunteers will participate in collecting new data on shorebirds and seabirds of the Bahamas. Selected sites include Globally Important and locally Important Bird Areas and national parks of the Bahamas, such as Lucaya National Park IBA, Peterson Cay National Park IBA, Joulter Cays National Park IBA, and the Berry Islands, as well as additional key shorebird sites on Grand Bahama Island and Great Abaco. Read about our exciting and successful field season in 2016 here.
Our days will be filled with much adventure. The focus of the work is surveying for beach-nesting bird breeding pairs, nests and young, and working with local volunteers to implement protective measures in the field. Focal species include Wilson’s Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Least Terns and other colonial nesting species. We will work in both populated and remote areas, sail blue Caribbean waters, visit white sandy beaches, boat to little islands, conduct ground surveys for beach-nesting birds, nests, and downy chicks, and meet new people. We will work with local volunteers to post and sign shorebird sites and control invasive Australian pine. Field crew will assistant with collecting data on breeding pairs, habitat assessment and human-created disturbance. Field crew will also assist with shipboard duties; sailing, cooking and cleaning. There will be time to fish, snorkel, and visit local island towns.
Our days will be filled with much adventure aboard the 75ft schooner “Dream Catcher”.
Project partners include: BirdsCaribbean, Bahamas National Trust, International Conservation Fund of Canada, USFWS/NMBCA, LightHawk, Dow AgroSciences, Grand Bahama Nature Tours, Optics for the Tropics, Grand Bahama Port Authority, Bahamas Public Parks & Beaches Authority, Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology Commission, Rand Nature Center, Abaco Friends of the Environment, Treasure Cay Community Center, Royal Bahamas Police Force/Marine Support.
Project Activities:
Protect, post & sign shorebird & seabird sites
Collect new data on nesting shorebirds & habitat
Observe/assist with bird banding (conditions permitting)
Control invasive Australian pine on beach habitats
Work with local volunteers to accomplish the above goals
Qualifications: Applicants must be responsible, adventurous, in good physical condition, enjoy working in teams and be capable of walking several miles during warm weather in the Caribbean. Applicants must be comfortable living communally onboard a schooner and riding in small boats to access survey sites.
May expedition schedule and locations (final dates TBD)
Assist for one week or more:
Week 1: Grand Bahama Island- (Freeport GBI Int. Airport)
Week 2: Great Abaco, west- (Freeport/Marsh Harbour Airport)
Week 3: Great Abaco, east- (Marsh Harbour Airport)
If you would like to join our conservation crew for a week or more as part of our Volunteer Field Crew:
Please send 1) letter of interest 2) resume 3) names, email addresses and phone numbers of 2 references to Margo Zdravkovic. Please label all attachments with your name. The review of applicants is ongoing and will continue until positions are filled.
What a start to the year! I am excited and honored to be serving you as President of BirdsCaribbean as 2017 gets under way. It is a wonderful opportunity to work with so many passionate and experienced conservationists in the region and beyond. I hope you will support our organization’s efforts to protect the Caribbean’s amazing birds and their habitats.
Let me tell you a little about myself, and my passion for the islands’ birds. My relationship with BirdsCaribbean began in 2002, when I attended the international meeting in Cuba. As my interest grew, I wrote a Birdwatching Guide to Bermuda in that same year. From 2005 – 2008, I served as President of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds, which is now BirdsCaribbean. I have served on the executive of the Bermuda Audubon Society since 1990 – including many terms as President – and published the Society’s newsletter for a number of years. I have been a regional editor for the journal North American Birds since 1995. In Bermuda, where I live, I have enjoyed coordinating BirdsCaribbean’s outreach programs, such as the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival and International Migratory Bird Day
My love of birds began as a small boy in England. My parents maintained nest boxes in the garden. We didn’t own a car, so weekends were spent on local family walks, which led to a growing appreciation for nature. When I landed my first job, I bought some binoculars; and when I went off to university I was fortunate to meet a birding mentor. Similarly, since I arrived in Bermuda, Dr. David Wingate has been a great inspiration. While I have had a lifetime career as a high school teacher, I have also immersed myself in the world of birds. I am continually fascinated by the variety of bird species in the Caribbean. I especially enjoy getting out in the field, running birdwatching courses and leading field trips – including an annual bird camp. And like many of you, bird photography is something I love to do.
The Caribbean is a biodiversity hotspot, with an impressive 172 endemic species found in the region. It is home to more than 560 bird species. The region is also a vital seasonal home for over 180 migratory species that winter in the region or pass through on migration. However, there are so many threats to our birdlife, such as habitat loss, invasive species, hunting, the pet trade and the effects of climate change.
BirdsCaribbean is leading efforts to reduce these major challenges through a series of innovative programs and projects. Through our new BirdSleuth Caribbean program we are training teachers in the Caribbean to get young people involved in exploring the natural world and in building their science skills. The Caribbean Waterbird Census Program was set up to study, monitor and conserve these birds and the habitats they need to survive. The Caribbean Birding Trail is an exciting initiative that aims to promote birdwatching as a tool to facilitate the conservation of the birds and habitats endemic to the Caribbean, one of the most biodiverse regions of the planet. By promoting birding, showcasing the best birding sites, and training and equipping guides, the program creates jobs and other incentives to preserve habitats.
Andrew Dobson birding with his daughters in Bermuda.
We appreciate your support for our important programs in raising awareness of and halting threats to birds; and we need your continued help to build the capacity of local organizations to tackle these problems. These local organizations are BirdsCaribbean’s lifeblood: they advocate on behalf of birds, and boost Caribbean citizens’ avian knowledge as we seek to advance science and conservation. If we are going to look after our special Caribbean birds, we need to continue to foster an appreciation for the natural environment and the need to protect bird habitat. Above all, we need to get young people on board – not only interested, but also actively involved in the organization, to ensure a future generation of conservationists.
So how about a New Year’s resolution to take some young people birding? I was thrilled when both of my daughters asked for binoculars as birthday presents without my prompting. They now record their sightings in eBird Caribbean. When they were home from university at Christmas, they once again insisted on helping me with the annual Christmas Bird Count. We discovered the first record of a Common Eider in Bermuda – how cool was that! Special moments like that can inspire a lifetime interest in birds.
I look forward to working with you all to save our region’s magnificent birds and their habitats.
Sincerely,
Andrew Dobson
President, BirdsCaribbean
p.s. With your support, together we can build a future where the Caribbean’s unique natural heritage can flourish and form the basis for a future rooted in sustainable relationships between people and the environment. I encourage you to become a member or corporate sponsor of BirdsCaribbean today. If you are already a member, please consider donating your time, efforts and financial gifts to our cause, contact us about volunteer opportunities, come to one of our meetings or training sessions, go on one of our trips, participate in one of our programs, and encourage others to join in our efforts. I promise you will find it one of the most rewarding experiences in your life.
Female Common Eider, spotted 19 December 2016, first record for Bermuda. (photo by Andrew Dobson)
Caribbean Waterbirds is a free ebook available for download at BirdsCaribbean.org.
From our coastlines and mangroves, to ponds, lakes and rivers, waterbirds are an ever-present part of Caribbean landscapes. They include our majestic seabirds, gregarious ducks, elegant egrets and a host of wading birds that make these islands a seasonal home. Learning the remarkable stories of some of these birds is easy with the release of Caribbean Waterbirds, a free ebook produced by BirdsCaribbean.
The ebook contains pieces by six authors, each revealing something different about these birds and the wetlands that sustain them. Learn how clever herons use tools, how waterbirds are found where they are least expected and how birds survive a hurricane. The book, illustrated with gorgeous photos, is a free download on our Resources page.
The timing of the ebook’s release coincides with the beginning of the eighth-annual Caribbean Waterbird Census. This census includes waterbird counts in over 100 locations on over a dozen islands. Although many are conducted by scientists and conservation groups, the census is designed so that anyone can participate.
The Caribbean is home to a wide variety of waterbirds, including both year-round residents and birds that travel thousands of miles to spend their winter here. Projects like the Caribbean Waterbird Census tell us how these birds are faring and what areas are most important to their survival. New discoveries are made every year.
The Caribbean Waterbird Census takes place each year between January 14th and February 3rd. You can learn more about it on the BirdsCaribbean website, or contact a local conservation group to find census activities on your island. Caribbean Waterbirds is available for free download in English, Spanish and French on our Resources page.
White-crowned Pigeon-feeding on the ground on fallen berries after Hurricane Matthew in Grand Bahama. (photo by Erika Gates)
Can Caribbean bird populations survive hurricanes? Or perhaps we should ask, how do they manage to live through the storms’ fierce onslaught as well as survive the aftermath when there is little food and shelter?
In Part 1 we looked at the terrible damage caused by Hurricane Matthew to the human life, infrastructure, wildlife and ecosystems on some of our islands. Matthew arrived just a couple of months ago. Some communities are only just picking up the pieces, and for many, life remains a struggle.
Just as with humans, some birds can “get back on their feet” faster than others. If forests are lost, as in Haiti during Hurricane Matthew, birds are essentially homeless, like a man whose house has blown down, and their chances of survival are not good. As humans are rebuilding their lives, birds have to struggle on with theirs, too, in an environment that has become bleak and hostile, almost overnight. It will take time to restore some kind of normality. Fortunately, like humans, birds are remarkably resilient and they can (and do) bounce back.
Shorebirds like Piping Plovers that spend the winter in the Caribbean are vulnerable to being killed by hurricanes as their habitat takes a direct hit from the storm and they have no place to hide. In addition, their sand dune roosting habitat can be damaged. (photo by Walker Golder)
Recent studies of hurricane effects on birds indicate that these storms have both direct and indirect effects on birds. Direct effects are most likely to cause mortality in those birds that have no place to hide, especially aquatic bird such as waterfowl, pelicans, gulls and terns, sandpipers, plovers, herons and egrets. In a severe storm, their habitats will likely be swamped by storm surges, and the strong winds (often most powerful along the coast) will destroy them. Heavy rains, resulting in floods and landslides, will swamp them. Many land birds can avoid the direct effects of hurricanes by hunkering down on the ground or sheltering in low vegetation, but land birds are also killed by hurricanes.
Hurricanes often destroy favorite feeding trees such as Sea Grape (shown here) and Pigeon Plum, beloved by fruit eating birds, leaving many birds hungry and wandering in search of alternative food sources after a hurricane. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Indirect effects, however, may not only cause mortality but have the longest lasting impact on bird populations. These include loss of food resources or foraging substrates, increased risk of predation, loss of nests and nest or roost sites, and microclimate changes.
In the short-term, birds respond to these indirect effects by changing their diet, habitat, and foraging locations. It should be no surprise that after hurricanes birds will quickly abandon heavily damaged and exposed sites and move into less damaged sites where there is a better food supply and cover from predators. Often birds will wander widely in search of food in the aftermath of storms and feed on foods that are not normally in their diet (as described in Part 1 of this article).
In the first breeding season after a hurricane, breeding is usually disrupted as some species may not be able to find good nesting places, or food may not be sufficient for females to build up the reserves needed to lay eggs and undergo incubation. There might also be shortages of food to feed young. And of course, a number of breeding birds may have fallen victim to the storm. These factors usually result in a decline in breeding success and consequently fewer baby birds post-hurricane for many species, which can shift population age structure.
White-cheeked Pintails are opportunistic breeders and sometimes nest in the fall following a hurricane when ponds become flooded and abundant aquatic macro invertebrates provide food for breeding females and their ducklings. (photo by Jackie Cestero)
In tropical climates where some birds breed opportunistically or all year-round, such as grassquits, they can begin to breed again as soon as conditions improve. As vegetation recovers, terrestrial birds may respond to outbreaks of herbivorous insects (e.g., caterpillars) as defoliated plants leaf out, and to increases in flowering and fruiting. These food resource blooms several months or years after a hurricane can eventually increase breeding success as pairs may produce multiple clutches in a season due to abundant food. Similarly, tropical waterbirds such as White-cheeked Pintails may nest opportunistically in the fall in the weeks following a hurricane when heavy rainfall floods wetlands leading to flushes of aquatic macro-invertebrates, the high protein food that females need to lay a clutch of eggs.
Which bird species are most at risk during and after a hurricane? These tend to be those with a diet of fruit, nectar or seeds (hummingbirds, bananaquits, pigeons, doves and parrots, among others). Birds that live or forage in large, old trees – such as woodpeckers, owls and more – may also suffer; sadly, these noble trees often bear the brunt of the storm. Birds that live in closed forest canopy, that depend on a particular “niche” ecosystem with its own peculiar mini-climate, and/or that live in habitats in which the vegetation recovers slowly are all vulnerable.
The Grenada Dove population suffered a substantial decline and is still recovering from Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 which hit Grenada in 2004. (photo by Greg Home).
These vulnerability traits may increase the risk of severe population decline in those species with small populations isolated in small habitat fragments which includes many of the islands’ endangered endemics of course. For example, the Grenada Dove suffered a substantial decline in its already small population as a result of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 (estimated at 180 doves before Hurricane Ivan), although obtaining a precise population estimate was challenging as the doves moved out of their traditional sites and stopped calling. The most recent census (2013) suggests that the dove is still recovering from this loss many years later.
How can we humans help birds after the passage of a hurricane? One important way is by providing food. Hang up bird feeders – including hummingbird feeders, as nectar from flowering plants and trees is likely to be in short supply, and bird seed. This can help birds survive until their natural foods recover. We should not forget water either! There is usually either too much or too little water available after a hurricane. Birds need plenty of clean water to recondition their battered feathers and of course, to drink. Birds do get dehydrated quite quickly, especially in the hot weather. We should also try to replant as soon as possible – both slow- and fast-growing native trees and plants – to provide shelter, food, and nesting sites.
Painted Buntings returned to Grand Bahama in late December, proof that Hurricane Matthew could not keep this beloved winter visitor away, despite the devastated habitat! (photo by Erika Gates)
Hurricanes such as Matthew are tests of endurance, resilience and adaptability. With climate change life will likely not get any easier, and we can expect the unexpected. While people can prepare for more intense storms that may come our way in the future, our birds cannot plan for the future. Let us see what we can do to protect our birds – whose lives are literally turned upside down by such storms – and their habitats. And, if the worst happens, let us try to help them recover; it’s the least we can do.
By Emma Lewis, frequent blogger for BirdsCaribbean and member of BirdsCaribbean’s Media Working Group. Find me at Petchary’s Blog! Many thanks to Joe Wunderle and Lisa Sorenson for their contributions to this article.
An American Redstart that fell victim to Hurricane Matthew. (photo by Linda Barry Cooper)
Well, the Atlantic hurricane season is finally over, and island dwellers in the Caribbean can breathe a sigh of relief. The 2016 season that ended on November 30 was an “above normal” one, with 15 named storms, including 7 hurricanes – the deadliest season since 2005. It was unusual in many ways; a certain storm named Matthew certainly behaved strangely – and extremely badly. Matthew was a long-stay visitor to the Caribbean, moving very slowly, and far to the south; then turning north, as if he was doing a tour of the islands. At that point, Matthew decided to wreak havoc in Haiti, eastern Cuba and the Bahamas before descending on the southeastern seaboard of the United States. Matthew was a high-intensity storm, and he was mean.
A woman stands in a field of destroyed trees after the passing of Hurricane Matthew, in Sous Roche in Les Cayes, in Southwest Haiti, on October 6, 2016. AFP Photo / Hector Retamal
An estimated 1,700 people lost their lives as a result of Matthew and damage amounted to some US$10–12 billion. But what of the ecological harm, and in particular the damage to birds and their habitats? The Caribbean is still counting the cost. Matthew made landfall on Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula on October 4th as an intense Category Four storm – the strongest storm to directly impact Haiti since 1964. Haiti’s infrastructure is weak, and deforestation remains a major problem. Matthew brought very heavy rainfall along with him, and widespread flooding and landslides occurred, taking hundreds of lives. Worse still, the strong winds (well over 100 miles per hour) destroyed forest habitat as well as crops.
Erika Gates inspects damage at Sea Gate Lane.
The hurricane was a huge setback for reforestation efforts in Haiti, which had achieved 17 per cent tree cover – almost half of this forest in the Grand’ Anse Department (also the nation’s “breadbasket”). Sadly, this southern region was one of the worst affected by Matthew. As a result of the loss of trees there, bird populations suffered terribly. Dead birds (doves, woodpeckers etc) were found. It is feared that during Hurricane Matthew birds had no safe place to weather the storm, and large numbers perished. In the aftermath, the already degraded habitat was largely destroyed, offering little or no food or shelter for surviving birds.
A Black-throated Blue-Warbler male gorging on berries right after Hurricane Matthew passed through Grand Bahama. (photo by Erika Gates)
Reports from the Bahamas were also quite grim, post-Matthew. Grand Bahama took a direct hit from the storm’s eyewall and suffered extensive damage. In some areas, almost all homes were damaged or destroyed and there was widespread flooding. Fortunately, there were no casualties – on the human side. However, bird guide Erika Gates reported the loss of all native mature trees (Poisonwood, Gumbo Limbo, Mahogany, and more) at her Garden of the Gates bird sanctuary and in the Westend and Freeport areas. Nevertheless, many small bushes remained, providing food for the birds after the storm.
Greater Antillean Bullfinch at seed feeder. (photo by Erika Gates)
Pericles Maillis reported from New Providence that he had hundreds of starving White-crowned Pigeons on his farm after the hurricane. “Black clouds” of them fed ravenously on cracked corn he put out, a food source that they normally do not come to like other doves.
There is always hope. Many migrants were observed two days after the storm, Erika reported. She surmised they must have survived by staying low on the ground, or in limestone cavities. Despite sustained high winds for more than eight hours, many wading birds such as ibises, egrets and herons – with their long, fragile legs – seem to have survived. One wonders how and where they sheltered! Hummingbirds such as the Bahama Woodstars and Cuban Emeralds were scarce for a while, however, due to the lack of nectar, and some birds appeared to have changed their feeding habits, at least temporarily; for example, the Greater Antillean Bullfinch was observed feeding on seed, instead of fruit. Other birds such as the Black-Throated Blue Warbler fed voraciously after the storm, almost ignoring the presence of humans close by. Some warblers were even seen feeding from trash cans!
Roaring winds, endless heavy rains and tempestuous seas – all those who have lived through hurricanes have vivid memories of this frightening and unnerving experience. The aftermath is often depressing and harrowing. How our fragile birds survive the storm and adapt to stressful conditions afterwards is nothing short of a miracle. In some ways, perhaps, they are more resilient than we humans!
Aerial photos before and after Hurricane Matthew that show the impact of the hurricane on structures and tree cover.
Check out this link with side-by-side UAV (drone) photos that show the impact of Matthew on structures and tree cover. You can pan around in the photos and see that in the area covered there are no trees at all left standing. It is possible that the impact on birds and vegetative cover here may be longer term than other places with larger forest reserves – and lower daily demand for wood as fuel.
By Emma Lewis, frequent blogger for BirdsCaribbean and member of BirdsCaribbean’s Media Working Group. Find me at Petchary’s Blog! Many thanks to Jim Goetz, Anthony Levesque, Erika Gates, and Lisa Sorenson for their contributions to this article.
Bahama Oriole adult on Andros. It could be a male or a female, as both sexes have this striking black and yellow coloration. (photo Daniel Stonko, UMBC)
The Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi) is the most endangered bird in the Bahamas. It is now restricted just to the Andros Island complex. There may be as few as several hundred individuals left, making it also one of the most endangered endemic birds in the entire Caribbean. Of greatest concern is that the oriole was driven from the Abaco Islands in the 1990s for unknown reasons. It is one thing to have a known killer lurking, but in the case of the oriole, what caused it to go extinct on Abaco is unknown. We hope to help preserve this charismatic and colorful species on Andros, which surprisingly is not that difficult to observe on certain parts of the island. Like many tropical birds, both the females and the males have elaborate coloration – both sexes are jet black with bright yellow patches over much of the body.
We began the Bahama Oriole Project last year with the overall goal of preventing the extinction of this beautiful oriole. The project is a collaboration between the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and the Bahamas National Trust (BNT). We have conducted several field trips to begin to determine how many orioles are left, and to learn what the major threats are to this species. We also need to learn much more about where the oriole spends its time throughout the year, including what it eats, how widely it ranges, and what its preferred habitats are for feeding and nesting. The last published estimates suggest as few as 300 individuals may remain. However, in May 2016 our field team, including students from the Bahamas and from UMBC, discovered previously unknown breeding populations deep in Andros’ vast pine forests. For several reasons, we are guardedly optimistic that good science and dedicated conservation measures can save this species from extinction.
eBird Caribbean sightings of the Bahama Oriole. The oriole is now confined to the Andros island complex, roughly 150 miles SE of Miami. Much of Andros is undisturbed wilderness, just a 15 minute flight from the huge resorts in Nassau. The oriole is now completely absent from the Abaco complex north of New Providence. (Recent sightings are shown in red, sightings older than 30 days shown in blue.)
Our first need is to recruit a PhD student to lead this research effort for the next five years. The student would be advised by Kevin Omland in the Biology Department at UMBC, in collaboration with researchers in the Geography Department at UMBC (Collin Studds and Matt Fagan) and researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (Scott Sillett). The student could choose to focus on any one or two aspects of the project including: 1) population size estimation and habitat usage, 2) breeding ecology including cowbird parasitism and predation by introduced predators, 3) remote sensing and details of habitat usage in breeding and non-breeding season (in relation to fire and climate change), and 4) conservation genetics of populations on three different parts of Andros. Please contact Kevin Omland (omland@umbc.edu) and send a CV and short paragraph on research interests. The application target date for full consideration by the UMBC Biology Department is Jan 1, 2017.
We are grateful for the support and advice given to the project by BirdsCaribbean, and we plan to give updates on the project through blog posts and newsletter items. Meanwhile, we invite you to come to Andros to see all the great migratory and endemic birds there! Be sure to add to our knowledge by posting all sightings of Bahama Orioles to eBird Caribbean and to the “Bahama Oriole Project” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BahamaOrioleProject/
Finally, the project needs ongoing assistance with everything from housing to transportation on Andros, so please consider either monetary or in-kind donations to the project through BirdsCaribbean. Thank you!
By Kevin Omland, Ph.D., Professor, Biology Dept., University of Maryland, Baltimore County
As the holiday season gets underway, we’d like to bring your attention to the most recent batch of articles published in the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology. All three studies stem from islands within the Greater Antilles, and all are valuable contributions to our growing knowledge of Caribbean birds. As all of the JCO’s publications are free and open-access, please don’t hesitate to pass them around, discuss them with colleagues, and reach out to the authors themselves if you are interested in learning more about their research.
Hispaniolan Woodpeckers (Melanerpes striatus) hanging around a nesting cavity excavated in a living Royal Palm (Roystonea borinquena). Hernandez found them to be very common in his Dominican agricultural field site, along with the country’s national bird, the Palm Chat (Dulus dominicus). (photo by J. P. Hernandez)
1. We start off in the Espaillat Province of the Dominican Republic with an article entitled, Avian biodiversity in a pasture-dominated ecosystem, by Jason P. Hernandez. The work focused on gaining a better understanding of bird diversity in altered ecosystems; in this case, agricultural lands. Additionally, Jason collected data on the presence/absence of the Royal Palm (a tree species known to serve as important nesting habitat for several bird species in Hispaniola) as well as seedling recruitment success in pastureland that is heavily trafficked by cattle.
Thirty-three species – 32 of which are residents – were observed at the study site. Fourteen colonies of the endemic Hispaniolan Woodpecker were observed, all utilizing either dead or living Royal Palms, and 76% of the recorded bird species were thought to be tree dependent in some way. Royal Palm seedlings were considerably more abundant in riparian corridors compared to adjacent open pasture land, though both areas contained similar percentages of cattle paths. Though Royal Palms are known to regularly re-establish themselves in disturbed habitats, Jason hypothesizes that the hotter, drier conditions experienced in open pastures compared to cooler, more shaded riparian areas may explain the differences in recruitment. Jason suggests that beyond the good practice of leaving already-established trees throughout agricultural land, seedling recruitment must be considered to ensure future habitat. The replacement of conventional open pastures with sylvopastoral systems may become essential to supporting avian diversity in the presence of continued grazing practices.
Endemic to its namesake, the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) is a tropical songbird now shown for the first time to exhibit both male and female song. (photo by Jose A. Colon Lopez)
2. Moving eastward from the island of Hispaniola, we find ourselves in Puerto Rico’s Maricao State Forest. Documentation of female song in a newly recognized species, the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) is written by authors Susanna K. Campbell, Alcides L. Morales-Perez, John F. Malloy, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Jin A. Kim, Karan J. Odom, and Kevin E. Omland. Campbell et al. set out to determine if female Puerto Rican Orioles sing, how that compares to their male counterparts, and finally how that information fits into the role of female song across the Caribbean oriole clade. The authors point out that female song is especially common in the tropics, whereas the majority of research on bird vocalizations has emanated from temperate regions, a geographic bias that only recently has gained more attention.
Results from the study were positive in confirming the first documented case – and in general – female song in the Puerto Rican Oriole, that males and females sing similar songs, and that when this is incorporated into the phylogenetic reconstruction of the Caribbean oriole clade, there is evidence that this clade likely had a common ancestor that had female song. Furthermore, the Puerto Rican Oriole is a tropic endemic displaying female song, providing further support that female song is correlated with tropical residence. Interestingly, female song was lost in one of the outgroup species of the clade, the Orchard Oriole, when the species moved to temperate residence and breeding. Campbell et al. theorize that female song may be more prevalent in the tropics because longer breeding seasons result in year-round territory holding, increasing the likelihood of female-female competition and the need for joint territory defense.
The beautiful, migratory Black-throated Blue Warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) were among the most commonly mist-netted birds in Jamaican coffee farms during the winter months of Spidal and Johnson’s study. (photo by M. D. Johnson)
3. For the third article, we leap-frog back over Hispaniola to the island of Jamaica, where Aaron B. Spidal and Matthew D. Johnson bring us their work on Sexual habitat segregation in migrant warblers along a shade gradient of Jamaican coffee farms. Spidal and Johnson point out that in the face of ongoing declines in many species of Neotropical migratory birds, attention towards habitat modifications in tropical agricultural landscapes is important. In particular, the authors focus on coffee farms and the degree to which eight different farms across Jamaica vary in percent shade cover over their respective stands of coffee bushes.
Birds and canopy cover were sampled at each site during the winter months of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. 298 mist-net captures produced 14 species of migratory warblers, the most common being Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, and Prairie Warbler. Canopy cover ranged from 0 to 89% with a mean of 56.7%. Spidal and Johnson found that across all species, there was a significant correlation between proportion male and percent canopy cover, with positive correlations occurring in each of the three common warbler species. This suggests that segregation between sexes may be occurring within a single habitat along a gradient of habitat quality, which may be explained by superior food availability available to insectivorous warblers existing higher in the canopy compared with that found in the coffee bushes below. The authors intend this work to set the stage for additional studies testing for whether the degree of sex class segregation of migrant warblers can be indicative of habitat quality on coffee farms.
Map depicting locations of the three most recent studies published by the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology in the latter half of 2016.
We want to conclude by taking the opportunity to thank the greater Caribbean ornithological community for giving the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology another great year of contributions. To all of the researchers, reviewers, and other contributors – thank you for all of the hard work you do. Your time, energy, input, and feedback are what collectively build the JCO into a stronger peer-reviewed publication.
By Justin Proctor; member of the JCO Editorial and Production team and regular contributor to the BirdsCaribbean blog.
Students from the Jose Horacio Cora School, Arroyo, Puerto Rico, were delighted to learn how to use binoculars to spot Magnificent Frigatebirds, Royal Terns, and Osprey feeding in the waters at the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. (Photo by Ernesto Olivares)
As migratory birds arrived to settle in the Caribbean for the winter, a series of festivals celebrating these birds swept through the region’s islands as well. In Cuba, a group of local and international students learned about how birds are captured and banded for research, as well as identified a plethora of migrant warblers in a birding walk. Students in the Dominican Republic visited the National Botanical Garden to spot migratory birds and participate in a bird art competition organized by Grupo Acción Ecológica.
Members of the public in St. Martin were treated to a variety of presentations and activities in a day-long event, including learning about aquatic insects that sustain migratory birds in a Portable Pond Discovery Station, and how two women laid the groundwork for major conservation treaties in efforts to save egrets from exploitation by the fashion industry. Over in Puerto Rico, a group of students were delighted to learn how to use binoculars to spot Magnificent Frigatebirds, Royal Terns, and Osprey feeding in the waters of the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Local and international students learn about how migratory birds are captured and banded for research in the Boca de Canasí Ecological Reserve in Cuba. (Photo by Juan Luis Leal)
What was all the fun about? It was the annual fall celebration of International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD), a hemispheric festival highlighting the fascinating story of bird migration. The festival is coordinated in the Caribbean by BirdsCaribbean, a regional non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about and conserving the region’s birds and habitats. Energetic partners at refuges, parks, museums, schools, botanical gardens and protected areas throughout the region hosted dozens of events, including birding walks and talks, art activities, games, tree plantings, clean-ups and more.
This year the IMBD theme was Spread Your Wings for Bird Conservation, in recognition of the Centennial of the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty, which made it unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell migratory birds. Local organizations and coordinators in each island highlighted how laws, treaties and protected areas help conserve our migratory birds, and what the average citizen can do to help, such as never buying wild-caught birds, reporting the capture and sale of wild birds to the authorities, planting native trees for birds, and supporting local environmental groups that work to conserve nature.
Thanks to educators at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), students from Port Royal Primary in Jamaica were treated to a field trip that included birding and a nature scavenger hunt using BirdSleuth Caribbean materials published by BirdsCaribbean. (photo courtesy of NEPA)
At IMBD events throughout the region, many participants were surprised to learn that the Caribbean islands provide a winter home for dozens of different migratory bird species. However, from ducks to shorebirds, warblers to hawks, many of these species have unfortunately been experiencing declines in recent years due to destruction of native habitats, pollution, hunting, poaching and other threats. “The annual festival provides a unique opportunity to involve people in learning about these birds, and how important our coastlines, wetlands, forests, protected areas and gardens are in sustaining these birds, as well as people,” commented Regional Coordinator, Ingrid Flores.
Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Elementary School of San Juan, Puerto Rico celebrated a week-long Migratory Bird Festival, including the creation of a beautiful collage, a mural and presentations by students about how they can help conserve birds. Meanwhile, others visited protected areas like the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge in Puerto Rico, which held a week-long open house with presentations and videos about migratory birds and the value of the refuge and bird art activities for kids. Youth in Jamaica were treated to a field trip that included birding and a nature scavenger hunt, thanks to the National Environment and Planning Agency.
Fifth grade students from Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Elementary School in San Juan, Puerto Rico gave talks to their classmates about birds and their conservation as part of the school IMBD Festival Week. (photo by Joanna Oquendo)
After a hugely successful 2016 festival, planning is already underway for IMBD celebrations in 2017, which will focus on the importance of “stopover sites”—places for migratory birds to rest and “refuel” during their long migrations. The Caribbean islands host a wealth of such sites, providing another opportunity to get people outside enjoying nature and our colorful and endlessly fascinating winter visitors.
Students from the Herrera Catholic School of Dominican Republic visited the Santo Domingo National Botanical Garden and participated of a drawing competition. (Photo by María Paulino)
By Ingrid Flores, Regional Coordinator, International Migratory Bird Day and Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, BirdsCaribbean
Port Royal Primary School students in Jamaica learned how to use binoculars for a field trip to view seabirds. (Photo by Ava Tomlinson, NEPA – Jamaica)Second grade students from Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Elementary School in San Juan, PR made a banner with as part of the school IMBD Festival Week. ( Photo by Zuleima Sanchez)Migratory birds and the importance of protected areas were the subject of Vieques National Wildlife Refuge celebration of Refuge Week. (Photo by Erick Bermúdez)Students from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade of the Luciano Rios Elementary School visited the Pterocarpus Forest in Palmas del Mar of Humacao, PR to learn about nature, migratory birds and to raise awareness of the importance of habitat conservation. (Photo by Janisse Rivera)Students from the Luciano Rios Elementary School were being motivated to take action to protect birds with the Chart Your Bird Conservation Growth — PLEDGE TO CONSERVE BIRDS as part of IMBD 2016 in the Pterocarpus Forest in Palmas del Mar of Humacao, Puerto Rico, coordinated by Ingrid Flores. (Photo by Janisse Rivera)Students from the Luciano Rios Elementary School connecting with nature and looking for migratory birds in the boardwalk of the Pterocarpus Forest in Palmas del Mar of Humacao, PR as part of IMBD 2016 coordinated by Ingrid Flores. (Photo by Janisse Rivera)
Workshop participants collect aquatic invertebrates from the indoor classroom pond. (Activity 2-C, Pour-a-Pond, in Wondrous West Indian Wetlands—Teachers’ Resource Book, photo by Jessica Rozek)
Protecting Jamaica’s wetlands through a combination of artistic expression, role playing scenarios and traditional science.
“Tell it your school,
Tell it to your church,
Tell it to your community:
We and the wetlands must live in unity!”
These are the words written and creatively performed by Phillip, an employee of the Government of Jamaica, on the first day of the Wetlands Education Training Workshop in Salt River, Jamaica. The participatory song described the wonders of Jamaican mangroves from their biodiversity to the ecosystem services they provide and also highlighted their current threats such as clearing and pollution.
Demonstration of a simple experiment testing the absorption capacity of different natural substrates. (Activity 3-C, Water Soakers, in Wondrous West Indian Wetlands—Teachers’ Resource Book, photo by Jessica Rozek)
Artistic expression, such as Phillip’s song, is just one of the many approaches to wetland education that workshop attendees learned about and participated in during the two-day training event. The goal of this ongoing regional workshop effort is to train enthusiastic community leaders about birds and wetlands and provide them with the skills and materials to teach others in their community. The 29 attendees were varied in their backgrounds, hailing from primary and secondary schools, the Urban Development Corporation, the Forestry Department, NGOs and the local Salt River community. The workshop was held over November 8th and 9th, the best time of year to see and learn about resident and migratory bird species.
A handsome Green Heron, one of many wetland birds spotted in the Portland Bight Protected Area (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Each participant received a copy of Wondrous West Indian Wetlands: Teachers’ Resource Book, a teacher’s guide packed with foundational information and creative activities to engage students of all levels in wetland conservation and ecology. The book provided the backbone of the first day, which focused on content and classroom activities. The program was led by Lisa Sorenson (Executive Director, BirdsCaribbean) and Michele Kading (Wetlands Educator, BirdsCaribbean) and tailored to mirror the book chapters, with many break-out sessions of small group activities. In addition to Phillip’s song, workshop participants created games for learning wetland functions, conducted simple experiments about water storage and fresh-salt water interactions, and participated in stakeholder role-playing scenarios. One of the most exciting activities was the creation of an indoor classroom pond, complete with aquatic invertebrates and all the tools necessary for identification.
Group photo of workshop participants at the site of C-CAM’s Discovery Center.
The training was hosted by the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM). Established in 1997, C-CAM’s mission is to promote coastal conservation in Jamaica. The organization is situated within the beautiful and diverse Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA), a large region located southeast of Kingston comprised of mixed land use, dry limestone forests and wetlands. The PBPA, an Important Bird Area, is home to the largest mangrove forest in Jamaica, and includes Goat Island, a recent conservation triumph.
C-CAM is anxiously awaiting the debut of their next success story: The Discovery Center, a modern wetland interpretation facility that will cater to the public, tourists and school groups. The main building is surrounded by tidal mud flats and mangroves with winding walking paths, boardwalks and an observation blind.
Participants creating an acoustic map of the different sounds they hear while in the mangrove forest. (Activity 6-J, Sounds Wild, in Wondrous West Indian Wetlands—Teachers’ Resource Book, photo by Jessica Rozek)photo by Jessica Rozek)
Of course, The Discovery Center was the perfect place to start the second day of the workshop: field trips to local wetlands! During the morning visit, the mangrove area was bustling with nesting Cattle Egrets, and noisy Northern Waterthrushes and Green Herons. In drier habitat on the property, everyone had the delightful opportunity to view a pair of Green-rumped Parrotlets feeding on cacti through the spotting scope.
Participants used their new Caribbean Mangrove identification guides, illustrated Caribbean wetland, sea and land bird identification cards, and The Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica (generously donated by Ann Haynes- Sutton) to navigate and experience their familiar surroundings in a new way.
The beginning of the field trip day started with exploring the mangroves in Salt River at C-CAM’s new Discovery Centre. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
In the tidal flats of Portland Cottage, the group was able to observe and identify Black-necked Stilts, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, and Greater Yellowlegs. The most challenging bird of the day- a juvenile white morph Reddish Egret- was also the most fun to identify by slowing working through the steps of large wader identification (plumage, bill color, leg color, feet color). In addition to bird watching, the field sites also provided other learning opportunities such as plant identification through transects and plots, evaluation of ecosystem services, and understanding threats to wetlands.
The new Wetland Discovery Center viewed from dried mudflats. (photo by Jessica Rozek)
Each of the activities demonstrated during the classroom and field trip portions of the workshop are described in the Teachers’ Resource Book and the materials for each activity are available in a complete workshop kit donated to C-CAM. When the Discovery Center is open for business, leaders of school and other youth groups will be able to access the materials to facilitate their field trip lessons. Whether it is through bird watching, games, science experiments or artistic expression, the varied educational approaches shared through this workshop will help students and adults better understand, appreciate and advocate for their local natural wetland ecosystems.
Ann Haynes-Sutton teaches participants about line transects through coastal ecosystems. (Activity 6-L, From the Land to the Sea, in Wondrous West Indian Wetlands—Teachers’ Resource Book, photo by Jessica Rozek)
By Jessica Rozek, graduate student, Tufts University. Jessica is researching Caribbean wetland conservation issues for her Ph.D. We were grateful to have her assistance with this workshop!
Plant identification in a 1-meter plot. (Activity 6-L, From the Land to the Sea, in Wondrous West Indian Wetlands—Teachers’ Resource Book, photo by Jessica Rozek)
Urban Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigalla barbadensis) are better problem-solvers and bolder than the rural counterparts. They show highly localised innovative behaviours, such as opening sugar packets. It is classified as ‘Least Concern’. (photo by Arlene Ripley)
Ellie Devenish-Nelson and Howard Nelson share a recent assessment of how our forest endemic birds are doing. The results are sobering, but you can help us turn the situation around – read on!
We are lucky in the Caribbean to have an incredible diversity of forest-dependent endemic birds. Did you know that the Cuban Bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world, the Jamaican Streamertail hummingbird has the longest tail of any hummingbird, the Barbados Bullfinch are renowned for their problem-solving behaviour, and the Pearly-eyed Thrasher is famous as an ‘intrepid poacher’ and ‘supertramp’?!
But, the majority of these Caribbean forest birds are also declining and many are threatened. Semper’s warbler hasn’t been seen in St Lucia since 1961 and the Jamaican Pauraque has not been recorded since 1860. Hurricane Ivan wiped out about a third of the Grenada Doves in 2004, only about 120 pairs of Ridgway’s Hawk remain in one Hispaniolan national park, and the Bahama Oriole is now only found on one Bahamian island complex.
Howard presenting at the BirdsCaribbean/NAOC meeting. (photo by Ellie Devenish-Nelson).
Several years ago, Howard Nelson thought it would be useful to bring together folks working on forest-dependent endemic birds in the Caribbean, to share their findings. These birds are often hard to study, partly because of the terrain of their forest habitats, yet exciting research and management is happening that is important to share. So, at the BirdsCaribbean 2015 Jamaica meeting, Howard chaired a session on the status of Caribbean forest endemics.
Following on from the success of this 2015 session, BirdsCaribbean hosted a well-received symposium on Caribbean forest endemics at the 2016 North American Ornithological Congress, where Howard presented on the ‘Red List Status of Caribbean Forest Endemic Birds.’ It was an incredible opportunity to raise the profile of the Caribbean’s special birds, at such a huge gathering of ornithologists. Here, we summarise some of our current work on the status of Caribbean forest endemics.
There may be less than 200 critically endangered Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi) left in the world. These birds are restricted to just a few areas of dry forest on Grenada and are sensitive to habitat disturbance and natural disasters. (photo by Howard Nelson)
So, how did we go about this research? To understand extinction risk in this group, we first needed to look at how much we actually know. We asked: are species that should be getting attention, getting attention? Are data that we need to manage species available and being published? What is the quality of data, if it exists at all?
To answer these questions we conducted an extensive review of the published scientific literature for each endemic species. We also examined information from the IUCN Red List and the BirdLife Data Zone estimates of the quality of data used for these Red List assessments.
What did we find? Of the 167 IUCN assessed forest-dependent endemic species (there are an additional two recently split species that are not yet assessed by IUCN), 26% are threatened. An overwhelming 53% are in decline, including 79% of all threatened species. Only 4% of all species may be increasing (the rest are 32% stable and 11% unknown). This means that even though the majority of endemics are not considered threatened, most species are not doing well. Only 7% of all species are under active species management, as reported by the IUCN Red List. All these managed species are threatened, but that still constitutes less than a third of all the species that are threatened.
When we looked at the quality of this data, we found that for a staggering 95% of these species, the trend estimates available are either of poor or of unknown quality. Without good quality data it’s hard for us to know how these species might respond to changes in their environment and, whether we need to start managing them.
What about research effort? One way to measure research effort is to count the number of published studies for a given species. We collated over 1,500 records of published research since 1989 for all the Caribbean forest endemics. On average, for the 96% of this group that had some research effort, there were about 9 published studies per species; but the variation around this average was high, meaning there were lots of species at either extreme.
The vulnerable St Vincent Parrot (Amazona guildingii) is one of nine extant parrot species endemic to the Caribbean. Major threats to these birds include hunting and habitat loss. (photo by Howard Nelson)
Which species are studied most? We compared the research effort with what we might expect if research was equivalent across bird families. Some families had much more research, such as the parrots, with an impressive four times more effort than any other family. Other families had a lot less than you would expect, with the cuckoos having a disturbing six times less research than expected.
What does this mean? This definitely does not mean we should stop researching parrots. Quite the contrary. Even though parrots have comparatively more research effort and better quality data than other families, there is still so much we don’t know about them (e.g. survival rates are unknown for most Caribbean parrot species). We think these results point out just how much research we need for all forest endemics, to allow us to begin to understand these birds.
The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), endemic to Cuba, is the world’s smallest bird weighing less than 2g, and is not much bigger than a bee. It is classified as ‘Near Threatened’. (photo by Ernesto Reyes)
What about the data that we need to manage? We probably don’t need to know everything about a bird to be able to manage it, but we do need to know some basics, such as population size for instance. Sadly, we found that 90% of species did not even have a published population size estimate. This doesn’t mean that these estimates don’t exist somewhere, as we only searched the published literature. What it does suggest is a general lack of research and, good quality, accessible data.
An underlying assumption by conservation biologists, is that we use our research to prioritise which species deserve attention and need help first. Thus, a key question we had was whether threat status affects how much research effort a species received. Our preliminary analysis suggests that research is not higher in threatened than non-threatened forest endemics. So, contrary to what we might expect, a higher extinction risk does not appear to direct our research efforts.
The Critically Endangered Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi) is now only found in the Andros island complex in the Bahamas. It is threatened by habitat loss, Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) parasitism and disease killing off its preferred nesting palm. (photo by D. Belasco)
Is research effort increasing? Worryingly, we found that total research output on Caribbean forest endemic birds has not significantly increased since the late 1980s. This concerns us greatly, given the continued, and often increasing threats to the habitats of these species.
What are the conservation implications of existing data gaps? Our findings highlight how worried we should be about families with much less than expected research, given how many species are declining. We’re increasingly seeing throughout the world that common species are undergoing population crashes. The alarming lack of data for many Caribbean forest endemics suggests there’s a real risk that species could move into threatened categories before we even realise they’re in trouble. One positive finding was that for species with active management (e.g. parrots) we can have confidence in the data that exist. So, it’s not yet the Las’ Lap for our Caribbean forest endemics.
The regional endemic Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus) is a very successful nest predator and has a superior ability to colonize and adapt to new habitats. It is classified as ‘Least Concern’. (photo by Hannah Madden, St. Eustatius)
Another uplifting finding of our study was the value of BirdsCaribbean’s Journal of Caribbean Ornithology (JCO) for disseminating research by regional and international researchers and managers on Caribbean forest endemic birds.
How you can help
BirdsCaribbean offers a way for everyone interested in Caribbean endemic birds to get involved in the conservation of the region’s iconic birds. Each year the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival is celebrated across the region. The Caribbean Birding Trail tour guides can help you spot these unique endemics, and the working groups are a hub for researchers and practitioners. In 2017, JCO will publish a Special Issue on the Caribbean’s forest-dependent endemic species. This issue will highlight some of the fantastic research our members are doing on this group. You can read more about our research in the JCO’s Special Issue.
Finally, a really exciting outcome of Howard’s NAOC presentation was our team being invited to take part in the Ornithology Challenge hosted by the Experiment crowdfunding platform. Find out here how you can help us increase our knowledge of Caribbean endemics.
By Ellie Devenish-Nelson (Research Associate, University of Chester) and Howard Nelson (Past President, BirdsCaribbean, Lecturer, University of Chester), with thanks to Doug Weidemann for comments.
The striking White Ibis uses its long down-curved bill to probe for prey in shallow water. It is locally common on some wetlands in the Bahamas and Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Turks and Caicos Islands, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands and Jamaica. (photo by David Raynor)
Earlier this year we asked our dedicated partners in the Caribbean who participate in the Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) to share their experiences and some photos with us. We are grateful to those that took the time to do so. Some of these photos were shared on our BirdsCaribbean Instagram and published on Wetlands International’s website in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the International Waterbird Census (of which the CWC is a part), under the theme, The Biggest Count Ever. We’ve taken the stories and photos and turned them into a beautiful Shutterfly book that you can purchase or view online!
From stilts to sandpipers, ducks to dowitchers, a great diversity of waterbirds were observed and counted by over 260 participants in our 7th annual CWC, including large concentrations of waterbirds in previously unknown sites and many sightings of threatened birds, such as the Piping Plover and Red Knot. We want to thank everyone for making the 2016 regional CWC count another great success (although 2016 is not over and we hope folks are still out there doing their fall migration counts!).
Engaging the local community is key in achieving long-term success for waterbird conservation in the Dominican Republic.
This book was created in honor of the fine work that our partners are doing, such as Maria Paulino from the Dominican Republic, who understands the value of the CWC in engaging communities as well as contributing to science and conservation.
Maria commented, “During the time we’ve been doing this count we have come to realize that our country has a wealth that man can put no economic value on; it is a gift from nature that is still hidden for many. We have discovered the wonders of our wetlands thanks to these counts, and realized that bird species we once considered rare are actually quite common, that these species are there and are part of our fauna. These counts have also served to involve communities so that they can learn about, appreciate and care for these wetlands. We as a group have managed to integrate new people in the counts and they have learned to regard wetlands differently, because they see a great number of beautiful birds. We have also discovered new places in our country with a variety of wonderful birds. It is a pleasure to be a part of the CWC – we are committed to continuing monitoring and protecting wetland habitats, and we look forward to expanding our counts elsewhere in the future.”
The CWC is also an excellent tool for engaging young people to learn about birds, as demonstrated by the National Environment Planning Agency in Jamaica.
Andrea Otto and her team, members of the Environmental Awareness Group in Antigua, as well as many others noted the impact the drought has been having on the region’s wetlands and waterbirds and the vital importance of conservation. “Many areas were devoid of water, highlighting the importance of more permanent wetlands, like McKinnon’s Pond, where the team sighted many species of ducks, shorebirds, herons, egrets and seabirds,” declared Andrea. “The presence of all these birds and many more at McKinnon’s Pond in spite of the severe drought, has cemented its absolute importance as a wetland which should be preserved with herculean effort.”
Below we share with you a small selection of photos from the 2016 CWC, but you can see many more and read stories about the birds that were seen via the link to the Shutterfly book. We will be giving away two copies of this photo book to persons that participated in the 2016 CWC (random drawing). To learn how to participate in the CWC, visit this link – all are welcome!
One of the CWC surveyors at Ashton Lagoon, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (photo by Kristy Shortte)
CWC surveyors at Wheeland Pond, Turks and Caicos Islands. (photo by Eric Salamanca)
A group of Lesser Yellowlegs rests in the shallow water in a Curacao wetland. (photo by Robyn Fidanque)
Fernando Simal braving the elements during Bonaire’s CWC. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
CWC surveyors in The Bahamas. (photo by David Jones)
A flock of Sanderlings feeds along the beach at Cayo Jutia, Cuba. (photo by Alieny Gonzalez)
View of East Seal Dog Island taken from West Seal Dog Islands. (photo by Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society)
Like jewels in the sea, the tiny cays of the British Virgin Islands are scattered around the coast. These dramatically beautiful islets are not just postcard pretty – they provide habitat for some of the most important seabird colonies in the region. Seabirds are one of the most threatened groups of birds in the Caribbean and the world. They are also among the least well known, especially in the eastern Caribbean. Thus in 2015, the Jost Van Dykes (BVI) Preservation Society (JVDPS) and partners, seeking to understand and conserve our breeding seabirds, launched the BVI Seabird Recovery Planning Programme (2015-2017).
With funding from the Darwin Plus Initiative, we are surveying seabird colonies on 43 islands, assessing threats at breeding sites, exploring the use of artificial nest boxes, and writing operational plans to control invasive species such as rats that are destroying some colonies. The information we gather will be used to develop a prioritization plan for BVI-wide seabird recovery.
Roseate Tern in Flight (photo by Jenny Daltry)
One of the BVI’s most important breeding species is the Roseate Tern, which is listed as “Threatened” by the US Department of the Interior. In the Virgin Islands, Roseate Terns nest on small, sparsely vegetated rocky cays. The tiny terns shift breeding sites annually but tend to favor a few spots. Their top choice has usually been 14-acre Green Cay, where until the late 1990s, they habitually nested in considerable numbers. In 1997, 1,755 of the approximately 2,000 total V.I. population’s nesting pairs chose the site. Sadly, as development crept its way across the BVI, rats also found Green Cay. As rats feasted on tern eggs, nest numbers dwindled. By 2015, there was no longer active nesting on the island.
Fortunately, a few small BVI colonies survive, including 2.5 acre East Seal Dog and 6.5 acre West Seal Dog Islands (which supported a few hundred breeding pairs of Roseate terns in 2014 and 2015). Although we also recorded rat predation of tern eggs on the West Seal Dog, these smaller cays provide an important refuge for Roseate Terns from which other sites might in the future be recolonized. Through this project we were able to begin collecting baseline data and working on feasibility and operational plans to rid the Seal Dog Islands of rats. In March 2016, the project carried us to the islands for winter surveys, and we recorded nesting Red-billed Tropicbird and Audubon Shearwater, further demonstrating the importance of these sites for the BVI’s breeding seabirds.
Dr. Louise Soanes, University of Roehampton, working on Seal Dog Islands. (photo by Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society)
Thanks to the Darwin Plus Initiative, we were able to look at sites across the entire network of islands and cays in the BVI including many small sites that had been overlooked because of a previous focus on avian ‘hotspots’ such as the BVI’s three Important Bird Areas (IBAs): Great Tobago, Anegada and Green Cay. If our work had focused on single sites or just the IBAs, the Seal Dog Islands might have easily been overlooked. The BVI Seabird Recovery Planning Programme helped to elevate the profile of these other smaller, but also important sites.
I am happy to report that our work has resulted in new funding to control rat populations at both Seal Dog Islands and Green Cay. While Green Cay is recognized as a globally important site, rat control at the site will prove to be challenging, since it is so close to other inhabited islands that rats can swim over to and recolonize. Rat control is being carried out first at Seal Dog Islands, which will form a critical step in building our local BVI capacity to carry out small island restorations. Through lessons learnt on those cays, we will become better equipped to restore Green Cay and to identify other potential sites for similar conservation actions throughout the Territory.
The BVI Seabird Recovery Programme is led by Roehampton University and organized locally in the BVI by the Jost Van Dykes (BVI) Preservation Society. Other partners include the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands and the BVI Conservation & Fisheries Department. We are also grateful to BirdsCaribbean for the many ways in which their seabird capacity-building and training workshops (funded in part through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation) and the Seabird Working Group network have helped to provide us with access to technical experts, opportunities for skills-building and materials (such as the nestboxes for tropicbirds) to directly benefit this project.
By Susan Zaluski, Director, Jost Van Dykes (BVI) Preservation Society.
Youth field assistant conducting rat bait trials on East Seal Dog Island. (photo by Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society)BVI Conservation Department’s Atoya George in the field at Fallen Jerusalem. (photo by Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society)Endeavor II, JVDPS’s locally-built island sloop at Seal Dogs, used for project transport. (photo by Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society)
