Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us in our virtual “From the Nest” edition! Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Endemic Bird of the Day: Barbuda Warbler
A little bird with a big attitude, meet the Barbuda Warbler, known to Barbudans as the Christmas Bird! This gregarious bird, packed with energy and curiosity, is the sole endemic bird of Antigua & Barbuda. The Barbuda Warbler, though near-threatened, outnumbers the entire human population of Barbuda 5:1! This warbler measures between 12 and 13.5cm and weighs about 7 grams. It is characterized by bluish-gray upperparts and yellow throat and breast. It also bears a distinct yellow eyebrow stripe and a yellow crescent just below the eye. Females are slightly duller in appearance than males.
The Barbuda Warbler has a restricted range on Barbuda, preferring dry shrubland near wetlands. Besides its physical attractiveness, another nice thing about this endemic bird is that it is extremely easy to find when visiting the island. Barbuda Warblers are often found in the company of the Yellow Warbler although it appears that they have a competitive rather than friendly relationship with them.
Barbuda Warbler populations have suffered from loss of habitat. Though Barbuda remains largely undeveloped, in recent years the government has pushed for large scale development projects to boost the country’s economy. In 2017, the Barbuda Warbler population suffered a significant decline following the passage of catastrophic super Hurricane Irma. A surprising number of these tiny warblers survived, however, and have thankfully made a recovery since then. The sounds of the warbler’s sweet, melodic trill can again be heard when one wanders the paths through tropical dry shrubland on Barbuda.
Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Barbuda Warbler!
Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the drawing above or photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest
Listen to the call of the Barbuda Warbler
The Barbuda Warbler’s call is a loud trill varying in pitch and speed as well as a mid-strength chick.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the image below to do the puzzle. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Endemic birds face many threats and dangers in their daily life—from habitat loss to storms to non-native predators like cats, rats and mongoose, it’s a challenge for birds to stay alive every day! Read about some of the threats that our birds face and how you can help birds. Then do our maze—Hazards Birds Face—help the bird get past the hazards back home to its nest!
FOR ADULTS: Learn The Truth About the Chickcharney in this fun webinar by Scott Johnson, Science Officer with the Bahamas National Trust.
The Caribbean is home to many different cultures, with intriguing folklore about creatures and spirits such as Bre Bouki and Bre Rabbi, the Lougaroo, Lajabless, Lusca, and many others. However, one creature called the Chickcharney is said to still inhabit the pine forests of Andros in The Bahamas. This bird-like creature with the face of a man is said to bring good and bad fortune to anyone who treats it with respect or disrespects it. What is most interesting about this creature… is that it may be based on a real animal!
Join Scott Johnson of the Bahamas National Trust and BirdsCaribbean as they explore the amazing story of the Chickcharney and the bird that is believed to be the basis of the myth. This webinar helped us launch our celebration of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival 2020, virtual edition, called “From the Nest.” For one month starting on April 22nd, we are celebrating every day with an Endemic Bird of the Day, coloring pages, puzzles, webinars, activities, and much more. All activities are available on our website: https://bit.ly/CEBFFromthenest