Just Published in JCO: First Avifauna List for Conception Island National Park, The Bahamas in over 100 Years

Ospreys nest a the top of a cliff — A pair of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus ridgwayi) constructing a nest atop one of the higher cliffs on the north end of Booby Cay, The Bahamas, on 25 October 2015. (Photo by Shelley Cant-Woodside)

BirdsCaribbean are bringing you some highlights from the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology in our new feature “Just Published in JCO”. Here Zoya Buckmire, the Lead Copy Editor for the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology, tells us all about an article characterizing the birdlife of Conception Island National Park in The Bahamas, read on to find out more about this paper, including an exciting story from the field.

In the midst of the central Bahamas archipelago lies the tiny Conception Island National Park. This multi-island park is designated as an Important Bird Area, but until now, its bird diversity was poorly documented. In this paper, Reynolds and Buckner present the first avifaunal list for this park in over a 100 years, with a whopping 68 species, three of which are Bahamian endemics.

Although this is a much-needed update to the bird list of the park, it was not birds that first drew the authors to Conception Island. Reynold and Buckner’s numerous visits to the area, between 1994 and 2017, focused rather on lizards and snakes. But they made the most of each visit by recording everything else they observed, including the birds.

Years later, as Reynolds compiled their collective data from over the decades, the team decided to collate and publish the bird list as they noticed a glaring knowledge gap. “All the other islands surrounding Conception Island had published bird lists, but Conception did not. Conception Island is one of the most important National Parks in the Bahamas, so we felt that we needed to characterize the bird fauna there.” And what an important characterization it is! The last bird lists for the area were published in the late 1800s and did not exceed 13 species; the new estimate of 68 species is a fivefold increase and a testament to the ecological value of the National Park.

A Cape May Warbler. (Photo by Dax Roman)

As is often the case with nature, nothing can be studied in isolation, and in 2015, the authors’ herpetological (reptile-based) and ornithological (bird-based) interests collided. Reynolds gives the following anecdote: “My favorite moment was in 2015 when I found an endemic Critically Endangered silver boa stalking a sleeping Cape May Warbler in the middle of the night. The boa stalked it for about 10 minutes, then lunged to grab it and missed! The boa ended up with a mouth full of primary feathers, and the bird escaped. The boas were only discovered in 2015, so before that we had no idea that a large predator might be hunting the birds on the island. It turns out that the boas hunt the migratory birds as they rest on the island!”

It is always fascinating to witness nature in action, and we only wish that he had gotten a video of that moment!

This study was not without its challenges, of course. The difficulties of conducting research in the Caribbean are only amplified on remote islands. Expenses were a major limitation for Reynolds and Buckner. Trips to and stays on Conception Island were limited by their budget, so they had to maximize each visit. They did this by spreading their efforts over as many locations and at as many different times of day as possible. This produced bird data that was not systematically collected nor suitable for in-depth analyses, but perfect for the inventory presented here.

The brackish pond on the east end of Booby Cay in 2016. This brackish pond is not permanent and is sometimes completely dry. (Photo by R. Graham Reynolds)

The bulk of new bird records were waterbirds and shorebirds from this pond. Including Yellow-crowned Night Heron (pictured). (Photo by Heron-Hemant Kishan)

As for main takeaways, Reynolds and Buckner want to emphasize that “Conception Island is a tremendously important island for Bahamas wildlife, [and] it is hard to overstate how important it is,” both for seabird breeding colonies and as a stopover for migratory birds.

They are hopeful that this research highlights the value of the Conception Island National Park and the need to both study and protect it. The authors themselves have not been back to the area since 2018 due to changes in The Bahamas’ scientific permitting process, but hope that this paper serves as a step in the right direction. Conception Island National Park is a treasure, and further research will be critical for its continued management and conservation.

Download the full paper here: Reynolds, R.G., and S.D. Buckner. 2023. Characterization of the bird diversity of Conception Island National Park, The Bahamas. Journal of Caribbean Ornithology 36:17–25. or use this link https://doi.org/10.55431/jco.2023.36.17-25

The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology publishes the peer-reviewed science on Caribbean birds and their environment that is so important to inform conservation work. All of the publications are free and open-access.