At dozens of events on more than 20 islands, people of all ages came together to celebrate and protect their birds. The events were part of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, organized by BirdsCaribbean. The festival highlights endemic birds—the ones found only in the region—and how to protect them.
There are over 170 kinds of bird that live only in the Caribbean. Many of these live only on a single island, and many are rare. The events celebrating these unique birds are also unique. Groups all over the region find different ways to celebrate and learn about these birds.
This year’s festival theme was a profoundly important one: Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution. As in other parts of the world, the Caribbean faces a serious plastics pollution problem. Coordinators enthusiastically tackled the topic with many activities featuring cleanups and learning about plastic waste. In Puerto Rico, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources took part in several events, including presentations about plastics waste and microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 mm in size) and how they are harming birds and entering the food chain .
In Jamaica, the National Environment and Planning Agency led activities and games from the BirdSleuth Caribbean program. These activities help kids learn about the problems that birds face, like plastic debris. In Venezuela, the group Ave Zona held a beach cleanup on Isla de Coche. On the island of St. Martin, kids decorated bird feeders made from reused plastic bottles.
At the Ponce Museum of Art, Adrianne Tossas led a special guided tour that shared birds and nature in the museum’s artwork. Twenty visitors learned about topics related to ornithology, conservation and sustainable through 14 selected pieces of art. Participants were very enthusiastic and contributed interesting comments. This was the first tour of its kind in the 60 years since the museum was founded. Eliezer Nieves-Rodriguez shared a great video of CEBF activities at the San Juan Bay National Estuary, including learning all about micro plastics and the impacts on birds and the environment.
In Dominica, the Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division went all out with a full month of exciting activities. A major highlight was this year’s Choral Speech competition among the country’s schools with the CEBF festival theme: Protect Birds – Be the Solution to Plastics Pollution. The winner was a group of youngsters from Wesley Primary School who gave a rousing performance with an important message about reducing plastic pollution. The video can be seen at this link. Forestry staff also organized beach clean-ups with communities, bird watching excursions, presentations in schools, an art exhibition on endemic birds, a radio show on plastics pollution, and several tree planting activities with children. The trees species planted included Sea Grape, Almond, Anglin, Kenip and Pwa doux Maron, which will help provide habitat for birds, timber and protect the coastline from future storms and hurricanes.
In Montserrat the Department of Environment (DoE) led several activities including visits to primary schools to give talks on birds and taking kids birding. The schools received bird feeders, bird posters and a tree seedling of their choice. Students received prizes such as activity sheets, exercise books, bottles, bird bands, stickers and child temporary bird tattoos. The DoE also hosted an exhibition all about the birds of Montserrat and shared materials. During the event they gave away nectar feeders so that residents could enjoy the island’s endemic hummingbirds and Bananaquits—great preparation for the upcoming hurricane season. Guests also received bird seed, reusable shopping bags, and pamphlets with information about how to protect birds.
“We are so happy that our 18th Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival reached so many people,” said festival coordinator Eduardo Llegus. “We are especially happy to see the many creative ways people have found to share, honor and help our birds. Our birds are unique symbols of our region. To protect them is to protect our heritage, our nature and our communities.”
The Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival is organized by BirdsCaribbean. Thousands of youth and adults participate each year in activities hosted by dozens of local groups on over 20 islands.
Thanks to all our dedicated and hard-working coordinators for the amazing and creative ways that you found to celebrate with your schools and communities. And big thanks to Environment for the Americas for providing materials and resources.
