Author: Alex Sansom

September 17, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 12

Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.

Migratory Bird of the Day: Blackpoll Warbler

The Blackpoll Warbler is a member of the Parulidae Family, small active songbirds known as wood warblers. Breeding males have a black cap, white cheeks, black malar stripes, and black streaking on the back and sides. Breeding females are more cryptically coloured with olive-gray to olive-yellow upperparts, a dark eye-line, and some streaking. In the fall and winter males are olive above with streaks on the back, and whitish to pale yellow below with blurry streaks on the chest. Females are similar but with reduced streaking. Both sexes have yellow-orange coloured legs and distinctive white wing-bars, which are helpful for identification.

Blackpoll Warblers breed in boreal forest habitat in Alaska and Canada and winter in northern South America. These birds weigh less than 14g, but they make some epic journeys on migration. They can fly nonstop for up to 3 days! In a single flight across the ocean to South America, they can cover over 2,770 km. Not all Blackpoll Warblers make the trip in one go. Many stop over in the Caribbean both in the autumn and spring.On these refueling and resting stops they can be found in many places, such as mangroves, scrubby areas, and woodlands. The total journey made by this tiny bird, from breeding areas to their wintering areas can be over 8,000km. Find out more about their migration here.

Long journeys are tough for such small birds. Before leaving Blackpoll warblers feed until they double their body weight! They eat insects, feeding by picking them off leaves. Blackpoll Warblers migrate at night, sometimes in large numbers. Unfortunately, they are attracted to bright lights. This means they sometimes collide with lighthouses, communication towers, and tall buildings. Long-term monitoring data show that this species, like many other birds, is undergoing a widespread decline. More research is needed on the causes of the decline. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Blackpoll Warbler!

Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the 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 #WMBD2020Carib

Listen to the call of the Blackpoll Warbler

The calls of the Blackpoll Warbler are a thin high-pitched “zeet-zeet-zeet.”

Puzzle of the Day

Click on the images below to do the puzzles. 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!

Female Blackpoll Warbler during the breeding season. She is olive-yellow and streaked which makes here harder to spot than the male. But notice the bright orange legs, which help identify her as a Blackpoll Warbler (Photo by Hemant Kishan)

Breeding Blackpoll Warbler — Breeding Male Blackpoll Warbler has a distinctive black cap and white face. He also has orange legs. (Photo by Hemant Kishan).

Fall Migration Blackpoll Warbler. Both the male and female become more uniformly olive. But the orange legs and wing bars help to identify them. These amazing little birds travel thousands of kilometres to reach their wintering grounds during the fall migration (Photo by Anthony Levesque).

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Guide the Warbler and Sandpiper safely through their migration in our Migration Maze! Watch out for dangerous hazards like power lines, tall buildings and predators and get the birds to safety in the Caribbean. And here is the Answer Key.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

If you visit a woodland, mangrove or even just a patch of scrubby bush there might be some warblers around to you to spot! They start arriving at around this time of year. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of a female Blackpoll Warbler, foraging for insects. You can see that she is looking for them on the undersides of the leaves. Note the bold white wing bars.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.

September 16, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 11

Migratory Bird of the Day: Lesser Scaup

Moving on from shorebirds, but sticking with the watery theme, today’s migratory bird is a duck. The Lesser Scaup is medium sized for a duck and like many ducks, the male and female look quite different from each other. Males have black heads with purple/ green iridescence, a black neck and breast, white sides and greyish ‘marbled’ looking backs. They also have blue bills and bright yellow eyes. Females are warm chocolate brown, with a white patch that varies in size just behind the bill. Both sexes have a white wing-stripe, which runs half-way along the trailing edge of the upper wing and can be seen as they fly.

The Lesser Scaup is a diving duck that swims and feeds under water. Their bills are shaped like scoops, which helps them dig through soft mud looking for aquatic animals and plants. These ducks have quite a wide breeding range, across Canada and part of the US. They migrate south to spend the winter in warmer areas. They wait until there is ice on the lakes in North America before they begin migration, and they spend the winter farther south than any other diving duck in their species group (Aythya). This means that during November some will arrive in the Caribbean. They are most common in the northern Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, but can be found in other islands too.

When in the Caribbean Lesser Scaups can be found on large open water bodies, either fresh or coastal waters, often in groups. This species is very similar to another duck, the Greater Scaup. The best way to tell them apart is by head shape—the Lesser Scaup’s head is more narrow and egg-shaped with a peak (highest point) near the back of the head, while the head of the Greater Scaup is perfectly round. In addition, the sides and back of the Greater Scaup are lighter and it has a larger black nail on the tip of the bill. Luckily the Greater Scaup is far less common in the Caribbean so there shouldn’t be too many opportunities to mix them up! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Lesser Scaup!

Listen to the call of the Lesser Scaup

The Lesser Scaup is often silent, but the females tend to make more noise than males. You might hear their ‘barking’ calls.

Puzzle of the Day

Female Lesser Scaup are mostly dark brown but with a variable size white patch behind the bill. (photo by Matt Grube)

Male Lesser Scaup – a gorgeous bird with glossy purple-black head and breast, white sides and marbled grey back, blue bill and bright yellow eyes. Note how the narrow head is ‘peaked’ – tallest at the back of the head. This the best way to distinguish it from the Greater Scaup which has a perfectly round head. (Photo by Rick Evets)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Find out more about the Lesser Scaup by looking at this cool information sheet! It has facts about where they breed, when and where they migrate, and a map to help you see just how far they travel. And about what they like to eat!

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

Visit a pond or wetland and see if you can find and identify any ducks. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Lesser Scaup in the wild! The first one shows a group of birds feeding (3 males but one is an immature). Watch them ‘vanish’ under the water to forage and the pop back up with food. In the second video you can see a group of males and females flying. The white patch at the base of the females’ bills is obvious, as is the white stripe in the wings of both the males and females.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.

September 14, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 9

Migratory Bird of the Day: Greater Yellowlegs

There is no mystery as to where this elegant, fairly large shorebird got its name. The long, bright yellow legs are a real give-away when identifying this bird. But take care not to mix it up with its smaller cousin the Lesser Yellowlegs! To pick out the Greater Yellowlegs, as well as the larger size, look for the relatively longer beak, sometimes slightly upturned. Also overall look Greater Yellowlegs look a bit chunkier. Greater Yellowlegs are mottled grey above and white on the belly. You will often hear their three to four ringing note “Kiu-Kiu-Kiu” calls, which are another great way to be sure you got the right species ID. (Lesser Yellowlegs usually give only 2 notes and the call is sharper and more clipped.) Greater Yellowlegs breed in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, in bogs and marshes. They start arriving in the Caribbean from August. Greater Yellowlegs are most commonly seen on their southward migration through until October. Some will continue on to South America, but others will spend the winter here. Greater Yellowlegs can be found in wetlands, both freshwater and on the coast. They show up in rice-fields, mud flats and on mangrove edges. They love to wade into the water, searching for small fish, crustaceans and snails. Sometimes this means you cannot see their yellow legs! In some parts of the Caribbean, hunters shoot Greater Yellowlegs and other shorebirds. But, one of the main threats to Greater Yellowlegs is the ongoing loss of wetland habitats, in the places it spends the winter. Making sure that wetlands in the Caribbean are preserved will help this species and many others find safe, food-rich places either to refuel on migration or to spend the winter. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Greater Yellowlegs!

Listen to the call of the Greater Yellowlegs

The Greater Yellowlegs call is a strident three or four-note “Kiu-Kiu-Kiu.“

Puzzle of the Day

Greater Yellowlegs with tiny fish — Greater Yellowlegs. One of the main threats to Greater Yellowlegs is the ongoing loss of wetland habitats, in the places it spends the winter (Photo by Jeff Gerbracht)

Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. The difference in size is apparent if you see them side by side, but when they are alone, it is difficult to judge the bird’s size! In this case, the best ID tip is to use the length of the bill relative to the head size. If it is about equal (1:1), then it is a Lesser Yellowlegs. If it is clearly longer than the head width (about 1.5 to 1), then it is likely a Greater Yellowlegs. (Photo by Anthony VanSchoor)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Migrating shorebirds spend lots of their time flying. Remember that Whimbrels can fly for up to 6 days without stopping! You can make your own flying shorebird, with this flight animator. Just follow the instructions to get your shorebird flying! FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
If you’re able, do a count of the species that you see – learn more about counting waterbirds and the Caribbean waterbird Census at this link. Learn more about World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9, 2020) at this link.
Enjoy the videos below of feeding Greater Yellowlegs. The first video show a bird feeding, as this species often does, in shallow and sometimes deep water, probing and swishing its long beak from side to side to stir up the water and feel for its prey. The second video is longer and shows a useful comparison of Greater Yellowlegs with Lesser Yellowlegs. You can also hear the 3-4 note call tew tew tew that the Greater Yellowlegs often gives when alarmed or taking flight.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.

September 11, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 7

Migratory Bird of the Day: Wilson’s Plover

The Wilson’s Plover is a high spirited, medium-sized shorebird, with a distinctive thick black beak. In fact, this species is sometimes called the “Thick-billed Plover.”

This plover has pale legs and large eyes. Breeding adults are medium brown coloured on the back, and white on the belly, with a single breast band that is blackish in males and brownish in females. During the winter the male’s black breast band turns brown and they start to look more like females.

Wilson’s Plovers will give loud, sharp, “wheep” and “whip” alarm calls, especially during the breeding season. And they perform convincing “broken-wing” displays in an attempt to lure potential predators away from their nests.

Wilson’s Plovers live on the coast and can be found on beaches and at the edges of lagoons and ponds. They breed across a wide area, from the U.S. south Atlantic coast into South America. Wilson’s Plovers can be found in the northern part of the Caribbean during most months of the year and across the Caribbean during the winter months.

Many Wilson’s Plovers live in places with year-round warm weather. This means they are only medium-distance migrants, with only those birds breeding furthest North in the range moving South in winter. Many of the Wilson’s Plovers in the Caribbean are resident and breed here.

One of the Wilson’s Plover’s favourite foods is the fiddler crab. They watch for them, and then run and lunge, capturing them with their large, strong beaks. With their large eyes and amazing eyesight, they can hunt during both day and night. They teach their chicks to hunt for fiddler crabs at about three weeks old.

The Wilson’s Plover is listed in the U.S. as a Species of High Concern, as it is in apparent decline. Loss of habitat and human disturbance to nesting areas are the primary threats to this species. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Wilson’s Plover!

Listen to the call of the Wilson’s Plover

The Wilson’s Plover’s call is sharp “Whit” whistle, which it often repeats.

Puzzle of the Day

Female Wilson's Plover — Female Wilson’s Plover. The Wilson’s Plover is listed in the U.S. as a Species of High Concern, as it is in apparent decline. Loss of habitat and human disturbance to nesting areas are the primary threats to this species. (Photo by Margo Zdravkovic)

Male Wilson's Plover — Male Wilson’s Plover. During the winter the male’s black breast band turns brown and they start to look more like females. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Fiddler Crabs are one of the Wilson’s Plovers favourite foods. They learn how to hunt for them from their parents when they are just three weeks old! Join up the dots and help the Wilson’s Plover find a tasty crab to eat. FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
If you’re able, do a count of the species that you see – learn more about counting waterbirds and the Caribbean waterbird Census at this link. Learn more about World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9, 2020) at this link.
Enjoy the videos below of Wilson’s Plovers at the beach! In the first you can see the difference between the male (with it’s black breast band) and female (the breast band it brown). The second shows a Wilson’s Plover eating a crab- it’s favourite food.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.

September 10, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 6

Migratory Bird of the Day: Whimbrel

Whimbrels are shorebirds that are easy to identify from their large size and long down-curved bills. They are mottled brown in colour, with long legs and a longish neck. The name ‘Whimbrel’ in English is probably an interpretation of the distinctive rippling whistling calls they give.

Whimbrels like most types of wetlands, from ponds, to swamps, marshes, mudflats and sometimes beaches. They love to eat crabs, digging them out of their burrows with that long curved bill. They also eat fish, aquatic worms, insects, and berries.

The Whimbrels that we see on migration in the Caribbean will have travelled all the way from breeding areas in Alaska and Canada. They can fly non-stop for up to 6 days! The best time to see Whimbrels in the Caribbean is during September. They can show up anywhere in the region but you might only see one or two at a time. They can be more numerous in some places in Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Like so many shorebirds, sadly Whimbrels numbers are in decline. They are threatened by hunting and habitat loss, meaning conserving Caribbean wetlands is so important for helping birds like Whimbrels. Especially because some Whimbrels will spend the whole winter in the Caribbean. A satellite tagged Whimbrel, named ‘Hope’ did just that, spending several winters on Great Pond on St. Croix. Hope’s migration story helped to ensure the future of her winter home on St. Croix. You can find out about Hope in the children’s story she inspired called “Hope is Here!” by Cristina Kessler and Marcos Castillo. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Whimbrel!

Listen to the call of the Whimbrel

The Whimbrel’s call is a rapid series of piping notes “whee-whee-whee-whee” that sound slurred and merge together.

Puzzle of the Day

Activity of the Day

For KIDS: Find the hidden words in our shorebird themed word search! All the words are names for types of shorebirds, words linked to their migration, where they live and the foods that they eat. How many can you find? Here is the Answer Key.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
If you’re able, do a count of the species that you see – learn more about counting waterbirds and the Caribbean waterbird Census at this link. Learn more about World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9, 2020) at this link.
Enjoy the video below of a Whimbrel looking for food on a sandy beach in December. You can see it using it’s long beak to find and pull a crab out of the sand! You will also notice how large the Whimbrel is compared to the smaller shorebirds running past it. These pale-coloured birds are Sanderlings who also turn up in the Caribbean in the winter.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.

September 9, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 5

Migratory Bird of the Day: Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plovers are small, stocky shorebirds with medium brown upperparts, white underparts, short stubby bills, and a dark band around their neck and breast. Their legs are orange, and so is the base of their beak; although this fades to black by winter. They look very similar to Piping Plovers, but are a warmer brown colour. The name ‘Semipalmated’ comes from the fact they have slightly webbed toes that they can use to swim short distances.

Semipalmated Plovers breed in the arctic and the far north of the US and Canada. They arrive in the Caribbean in the autumn. Some will venture further south, but many of them will spend the winter here, in tidal areas, salt ponds, beaches, and mudflats. They feed on marine worms, crustaceans, and small mollusks.

Scientists in Brazil noticed that Semipalmated Plovers use something called ‘foot-trembling’ to get food. They stand still on one leg, and shake the other leg very fast, with their foot in the mud. This makes any worms of crustaceans move, which means the Plover can spot them more easily and gobble them up.

Semipalmated Plovers like to flock together for safety and you might spot large groups of them feeding together. As well as their own kind, Semipalmated Plovers are also happy to mix with other shorebird species out on the mud or sand. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Semipalmated Plover!

Listen to the call of the Semipalmated Plover

The Semipalmated Plover’s call is a piping two-note “tu-ee.”

Puzzle of the Day

Activity of the Day

For KIDS: Make your own shorebirds! Download the pieces and then cut out and assemble these two cute shorebirds. You can use them to imagine the long journeys shorebirds like these make and the adventures they might have on the way!

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
If you’re able, do a count of the species that you see – learn more about counting waterbirds and the Caribbean waterbird Census at this link. Learn more about World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9, 2020) at this link.
Enjoy the videos below of Semipalmated Plovers feeding. In the first, filmed in April, the bird is starting to get it’s breeding plumage. This video shows well the ‘run and stop” feeding method of plovers – will see it looking for food items running and then stopping to feed. In the second video (with Spanish commentary) the bird is in it’s winter plumage and can be seen using ‘foot-trembling’ to find food.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.

September 7, 2020

Birds Connect Our World – Day 3

Migratory Bird of the Day: Spotted Sandpiper

The name of this medium-sized shorebird comes from its breeding plumage, when it has dark brown spots scattered across it’s white chest and belly. Even during the winter when this bird loses its spots and is brown above and white below it is still easy to recognize. Look for the orange at the base of its mid-length beak and shortish yellow legs. Spotted Sandpipers also give us other clues as to who they are in the way they behave. They constantly ‘bob’ their tails up and down, and often look like they are teetering forward. They also have a distinctive rapid ‘flap, flap, glide’ flight, holding their wings out stiffly as they go.

Spotted Sandpipers breed in a wide area of Canada and the US and start arriving across the Caribbean from August. They will spend the winter here and can be found at the water’s edge. This might be on a beach, at a mangrove, by a stream, or even in farmland like rice fields. Here they are likely to be alone and will be looking for insects, crustaceans or worms to eat.

For most migratory birds the male arrives first in the breeding area and claims a territory. But for Spotted Sandpipers it is the females that do this. Males then do most of the care for the eggs and the chicks. Some females might even lay several clutches of eggs, each with a different male! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Spotted Sandpiper!

Listen to the call of the Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper‘s call is a piping “we-weet” which it might repeat several times.

Puzzle of the Day

Spotted Sandpiper in Winter Plumage. This species They constantly ‘bobs’ its tail up and down, and often looks like it is teetering forward. (Photo by Darlene Friedman)

Breeding Spotted Sandpiper — Breeding plumage Spotted Sandpiper. You can see the when dark brown spots scattered across it’s white chest and belly that give the bird its name. (Photo by Paul Reeves)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Help us celebrate World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9) with our new Snowy Plover colouring book, Color and Protect the Snowy Plover! Colour in each page and learn all about Snowy Plovers in the Caribbean, the threats they face, and how you can protect them.
Download the English version here
Download the Spanish version here

To see more images from the colouring book and learn more about the artist, click here.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:

Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
If you’re able, do a count of the species that you see – learn more about counting waterbirds and the Caribbean waterbird Census at this link. Learn more about World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9, 2020) at this link.
Enjoy the video below of a Spotted Sandpiper characteristically ‘bobbing’ its tail up and down! You can also see some of the spots which give this bird its name.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats, and conservation actions you can take.