Its local name is “Little Devil.” But not much is known about this elusive bird, either on land or at sea. An intrepid group of conservationists go on an expedition in the mountains of the Dominican Republic to find out more about the Black-capped Petrel. A Seabird in the Mountains We park the pickup trucks …
“We’re so excited to have an event in Haiti this year!” Ingrid Flores is delighted to add a new country to her map of events. She is the coordinator of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF), organized every year by BirdsCaribbean. Partners across the region host events as part of the festival each spring. Its …
Every year, Global Big Day is an all-out effort to get the “big picture” on birds across the planet. This year, it hit a new world record. In one single day (May 5, 2018) 29,866 people ventured outside in 170 countries, finding 6,963 species, These numbers equate to approximately two thirds of the world’s bird species in …
Become a Sponsor BirdsCaribbean is generously supported by corporate sponsors. This support is critical to our ability to maintain and expand our programs. If you would like to become a corporate sponsor of BirdsCaribbean, please contact us. Wildside Nature Tours Through their bird-watching, photography and nature trips, Wildside Nature Tours has been bringing people to …
It’s springtime in the Caribbean and all across the islands, the landscape will be painted with the vivid colours of the striking yellow and pink poui trees, the gentle blue from the blossoms of the Lignum Vitae, and so many other trees, bursting with colour. This too is the time when our birds settle down …
BirdsCaribbean is excited to announce 2018 awards for the David S. Lee Fund for the Conservation of Caribbean Birds. Five young scholars will carry out important research that will increase our knowledge of Caribbean birds and the actions needed to conserve them. The 2018 award recipients are Yvan Satge, Janine Antalffy, Juan Carlos Fernandez-Odoñez, Eduardo Manuel …
The fall of 2017 was a tumultuous one for the Caribbean. Hurricanes beat relentlessly on our islands, destroying homes, toppling trees and darkening cities. The storms hurt both people and nature, damaging forests, wetlands, and the animals that live in them. Despite the challenges, bird enthusiasts across the region rallied to learn about migratory birds. …
Invasive mammals are known to be a problem on many islands. Holly Garrod shows first-hand how some of these pesky species are causing nest failure for one of the Caribbean’s most well known and best loved birds—the tody. It was a muggy afternoon, typical for the summers in Jarabacoa, the central region of the Dominican …
The islands of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico and the surrounding marine areas provide essential habitats for many migratory and resident birds, including endemics that occur nowhere else in the world. In September 2017, many islands in the eastern and central Caribbean were ravaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The impacts on human …
Cuba has one of the highest rates of endemism in the Caribbean with 26 endemic birds that attract thousands of bird enthusiasts each year. Engaging them to understand the secret lives of these birds is a special skill. From October 9 to 13, the Caribbean Birding Trail Interpretive Guide Training course taught 26 persons how to …
On September 6, 2017, record-breaking Category 5 Hurricane Irma pummeled the northern Lesser Antilles, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. While St. Eustatius (affectionately known as Statia) was spared extensive infrastructural damage and power was restored to most homes within a few days, forest cover in the Quill National Park did not fare …
On September 6th, 2017, a Category 5 hurricane named Irma made landfall on the tiny island of Barbuda, devastating homes, stripping the forest bare, and inundating parts of the island with seawater. We all looked on in shock as the way of life for many Barbudans was destroyed. We also feared another disaster was in the …
All of us at BirdsCaribbean followed the passing of Hurricane Irma with terror, for the people of Barbuda, and also for its birds. Such is the strength of our community that BirdsCaribbean members from nearby Guadeloupe – Anthony Levesque, Frantz Delcroix, and Eric Delcroix – all members of the organization AMAZONA, offered their help in …
It has been an exhausting few weeks for many of BirdsCaribbean’s partners across the region. The hurricane season is not over for another two months, but Caribbean conservationists are hoping for a break. BirdsCaribbean and its wonderful supporters across the region are doing their best to keep up with a variety of urgent needs, from …
2017 is the UN’s International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. So, what better topic to consider than that of Caribbean bird tourism for sustainable development and conservation? Speakers at the BirdsCaribbean 21st International Conference in Topes de Collantes, Cuba (July 13 – 17) will be digging deeper into the eco-tourism field, and the potential of …
Thousands of people throughout the region had fun experiences with birds and nature over the past month during the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival. Dozens of festival events took place on different islands to celebrate the birds that live only here. Activities were held for pre-school and primary students to adults and families. Bird talks were …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Do not attempt, unless you are a ram goat (or a swallow), advises Justin Proctor. From January 15th to February 12th and March 24th to 27th 2015, I surveyed the greater Cockpit Country region of Jamaica in search of the critically endangered Jamaican Golden Swallow (Tachycineta euchrysea euchrysea), accompanied by two other Cornell alumni: Seth Inman …
Gyorgy Szimuly is on a mission to raise global awareness about the astonishing lives of shorebirds. World Shorebirds Day celebrates their journeys but also brings attention to their plights. We are fast approaching the date that many consider to be one of the best shorebird weekends of the year. The third annual World Shorebirds Day and the popular Global Shorebird …
A peek into the sometimes elusive world of the Caribbean’s Piping Plover and the challenges of finding them on their wintering grounds. Elise Elliott-Smith reports Caribbean results for the 2016 International Piping Plover Census, held every 5 years. I’ll never forget the excitement, relief, and wonder I felt in seeing a group of ten Piping Plovers …
Insightful and humorous, Justin Proctor offers some convincing reasons to look for the Caribbean’s ‘Big Five’ aerial acrobats and tips for how to identify them. Are you tired of really crisp, up-close views of beautiful Caribbean birds? Are you repulsed at the idea of having an extended period of time to view a bird, jot …
I’ve been on a Warbler-fest. I am very fortunate to have recently observed several endemic Caribbean warblers, from the Elfin-woods Warbler of Puerto Rico to the Plumbeous Warbler on Guadeloupe. I also watched dozens of North American migrants as they island-hopped northward from the tropics. And, I just returned from Magee Marsh on the shore …
More than one hundred Caribbean birders participated in this year’s Global Big Day, helping to set a new world record of 6,299 species, as well as set a new Global Big Day record for the Caribbean itself! In order to break the old record, birders all over the world spent the 24 hours of May …
