Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us! Our theme in 2023 is “Water: Sustaining Bird Life,” highlighting the importance of water conservation to both humans and birds. 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: Scaly-breasted Thrasher
Some birders have a really hard time trying to find today’s bird, especially novice birders! The Scaly-breasted Thrasher is built like a thrush and looks a lot like it’s cousins, the Spectacled Thrush and Pearly-eyed Thrasher. This handsome bird belongs to the family “Mimidae” – which includes mockingbirds and thrashers.
Scaly-breasted Thashers might be considered by some to be a bit on the drab side. They have a dark gray-brown head, tail, and upper parts. This lack of “field marks” could put even an experienced birder in a frenzy. But look closely and you will see the scaly breast that give this bird its name really stands out, distinguishing it from other similar species! Scaly-breasted Thrashers also have a short dark bill, thin white wing bars, a hint of scarlet on the rump, and a yellow iris.
These thrashers can be found in the Lesser Antilles, from Anguilla all the way down to Grenada. They use a wide variety of habitats, from mangroves and coastal scrub to semi-open woodlands and humid forests. Scaly-breasted Thrashers are also commonly seen in and around human habitations on some islands. They love to forage high in the canopy in Dominica and Guadeloupe, but will be seen feeding much lower in Montserrat and St. Kitts.
These birds are not fussy and eat a wide variety of foods, including insects, fruits and berries, although they are thought to favour fruits. Their breeding season is in May to June, when they raise 2 to 3 chicks.
Scaly-breasted Thrashers sound similar to mockingbirds, but their voice is softer and slower…be sure to take a listen to for their beautiful warbling song. And listen out for the “dew-quip!” given often when foraging.
Scaly-breasted Thrashers are listed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN, but with habitat loss and land-use change they could become less common in the future. For example, birders in Grenada already find it hard to spot Scaly-breasted Thrashers. There is still a lot to learn about this Caribbean endemic and it’s important to make sure we protect its habitats to ensure its future is secure. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Thanks to Quincy Augustine for the text!
Colour in the Scaly-breasted Thrasher
Download our West Indies Endemic Bird colouring page. 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 #CEBFfromthenest
Listen to the song of the Scaly-breasted Thrasher
The song of the Scaly-breasted Thrasher is a series of high-pitched squeaks and lower-pitched whistles.
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!
A Scaly-breasted Thrasher calls from a tree in Guadeloupe. (Photo by Judd Patterson)
A Scaly-breasted Thrasher perched on an African Tulip, Saint-Kitts. (Photo by Steven Mlodinow)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Do you know what the different parts of a bird are called? Knowing them can help you to learn how to describe and identify birds, as well as colour them in. Learn the names for the parts of a bird by checking out the diagram in this page.
Then test your knowledge on today’s endemic bird by matching the correct names to the correct ‘parts of a Scaly-breasted Thrasher’ and completing this sheet.
Want to check your answers? You can see where all the words matched up to here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Scaly-breasted Thrasher in the wild!
The Scaly-breasted Thrasher is endemic to much of the Lesser Antilles. If you want to find out more about the birds to be found across this group of islands we have good news for you, there is an amazing guide to birds of the Lesser Antilles now available! This field guide allows readers to easily identify all the birds they could possibly find, from Anguilla in the north of the chain down to Grenada in the south. Find out more here:
Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us! Our theme in 2023 is “Water: Sustaining Bird Life,” highlighting the importance of water conservation to both humans and birds. 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: Martinique Oriole
Orioles in the Lesser Antilles have black heads and necks, but not the Martinique Oriole! It stands out from the others by having a dark cinnamon hood. Its underparts, rump, and epaulets (shoulders) are a burnt-orange, and wings, back, and tail are black. Looking at the base of the lower bill you will notice that it is actually pale bluish-gray in color. Sexes are alike but the female is a bit duller.
Even though it is brightly colored the Martinique Oriole is still easy to miss. This is because it spends its time foraging in the canopy above for insects, flowers, and fruits. Additionally it has a restricted distribution on the island. Its main habitats include mangroves, dry forest on limestone soils, humid forest, gardens and tree plantations below 700m. Listen out for its song of clear whistles and soft warbles as well as harsh, scolding calls “cheeu.”
Breeding generally occurs from February to July, but has been reported in December too. They weave palm fibers into a shallow pendant basket nest usually 2–4 m above the ground. The nest is attached or stitched to the underside of a large leaf of tree, e.g., seagrape or trumpet tree, to a palm frond, or to the leaf of banana or Heliconia plant. Clutch size is 2–3 eggs that are white to pale bluish with brown spots and blotches. The incubation period lasts a minimum of 14 days. Both male and female feed the chicks and defend the nest.
Its restricted distribution, as well as population decline, have been attributed to brood parasitism by the Shiny Cowbird and deforestation. The Shiny Cowbird will lay her eggs in the nests of other birds and let the other mother bird, in this case the Martinique Oriole, do all of the hard work of incubating and rearing the young cowbirds.
The Martinique Oriole is considered Vulnerable with a decreasing trend in population size and small global range. However, a recent decrease in cowbird numbers has allowed a slight recovery. The species will also benefit from the protection of its preferred habitats from being destroyed and replaced by agriculture, housing, resorts and other businesses.Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Martinique Oriole
Download our West Indies Endemic Bird colouring page. 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 #CEBFfromthenest
Listen to the song of the Martinique Oriole
The song of the Martinique Oriole is a series of clear whistles.
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!
A Martinique Oriole, perched. (Photo by Frantz Delcroix-Macaulay Library-ML61978751).A Martinique Oriole searches for food. They eat both insects and fruits. (Photo by Bussier Romain-Macaulay Library-ML136544221)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Can you find the words in our Martinique Oriole word search? Remind yourself of some of the interesting facts about this endemic bird as you look for all 15 hidden words! Remember the words appear forwards and backwards, as well as horizontal, vertical and diagonal! Need some help? Or want to check your answers? You can see where all the words were here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Martinique Oriole in the wild!
Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us! Our theme in 2023 is “Water: Sustaining Bird Life,” highlighting the importance of water conservation to both humans and birds. 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: Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo
Old Man Bird, as the local admirers call it, is a stunning bird endemic to Jamaica. This large cuckoo stands at 48cm (19in) and is distinguished by its thick, dark gray decurved bill, creamy white throat fading into pale gray on the breast, and contrasting chestnut belly and underparts. Its broad, long, dark gray tail is tipped with large white spots, while its legs are gray.
The Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo (Coccyzus pluvialis) is found in moist woodland, wooded cultivation, or open thickets in the hills and mountains of Jamaica. During the winter, it descends to lower elevations but is only found near the coast in the wettest places. It runs along branches like a large rat or sails silently on extended wings from one tree to another.
The Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo feeds on lizards, mice, insects, caterpillars, nestlings, and eggs.
Even though the Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is known for its hoarse quak-quak-quak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak call, which is most frequently heard from April to June, it makes a very quiet landing in trees. Its nesting period is from March to June, and the nest is an untidy platform made of sticks in the middle or upper canopy of tall mature trees.
While the Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is fairly common and widespread in Jamaica, it is still important to conserve this species due to threats such as habitat loss, predation by non-native invasive animals, and climate change. To help conserve this bird, individuals can support organizations that protect and restore bird habitats, advocate for conservation policies, and participate in citizen science programs that monitor bird populations.
Overall, the Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is a unique and fascinating bird that adds to Jamaica’s rich biodiversity. Its distinctive appearance, behavior, and call make it a remarkable species worth observing and protecting.
Download our West Indies Endemic Bird colouring page. 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 #CEBFfromthenest
Listen to the call of the Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo
The call of the Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is a low, growling “aahhhh” or long “quah-quah-aahh-aahh-aahh-aahh-aahh.”
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!
A beautiful Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo perched in a tree. (Photo by Dominic Sherony)
Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo, Trelawny. Jamaica. (Photo by Michael Warner- Macaulay Library-ML510000521)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: This year our theme for the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival is “Water: Sustaining Bird Life.” We want to highlight the importance of water conservation to both humans and birds.
We often see birds flying, preening, and feeding, but rarely do we see them drinking water. This does not mean that water is not important to birds.
Birds need water just as much as we do. Drinking water helps them regulate body processes like digestion. Water also keeps birds clean and cool on hot days when they take a splish-splash in a puddle, gutter, or backyard bird bath. Many birds also rely on wetland habitats, such as our ponds, salinas, marshes, mangroves, rivers, and coastal waters.
In our activity you can create your own poster to show how important water is to birds. Draw in the various ways birds use water!
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo up high in a tree.
The Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is endemic to Jamaica – it is one of many birds that can only be found on this Caribbean island and nowhere else in the world! Discover more about the endemic birds of Jamaica in our blog article about the launching of a new poster featuring beautiful illustrations of all these special birds. You will also find a link to download a pdf of this lovely poster.
Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us! Our theme in 2023 is “Water: Sustaining Bird Life” highlighting the importance of water conservation to both humans and birds. 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: Bahama Mockingbird
In The Bahamas, when we hear the “trashers” singing, we know spring is upon us. Their rich soulful song is very pleasing to the ears of birders and nature lovers alike. But, there is more to love about these amazing birds than just their song! Here are some fascinating facts about the Bahama Mockingbird.
The Bahama Mockingbird is slightly larger than its Northern Mockingbird cousin and lacks the large white patches on the wings. It has grayish brown plumage with streaks on its sides and a thin white band on the base of its tail feathers. Females are slightly smaller and have a shorter tail. Juveniles have more densely spotted underparts. Their song is rich and melodious, though not as varied as the Northern Mockingbird. Bahamians locally refer to both species as “Trashers.”
The Bahama Mockingbird, Mimus gundlachii, was named after the German Ornithologist Johannes Christoph Gundlach who spent most of his working life in Cuba (1810-1896). If you’re wondering why the Bahama Mockingbird was named after a German ornithologist living in Cuba, that’s because this bird is not just endemic to The Bahamas.
Their current distribution is mainly in the Lucayan Archipelago (The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands), the Camagüey Archipelagoof Cuba (Cayo Coco Cays) and a small area in Southern Jamaica. Historically, this species was also found in Puerto Rico. Genetically, the Bahama Mockingbird is more closely related to Galapagos Mockingbirds than the Northern Mockingbird. But, Bahama and Northern Mockingbirds do sometimes inter-breed!
In The Bahamas, the Bahama Mockingbird is found throughout the archipelago but appears to have its highest concentration in the central Bahamas, especially on Cat Island. Throughout its range, it prefers arid areas and is found in dry forests and scrub habitats. Unlike its northern cousin, it is mainly found in intact native habitats and tends to avoid urban areas.
Bahama Mockingbirds are omnivorous; this means they feed on arthropods, small vertebrates, and fruit. They forage mostly on the ground, sifting through leaf litter and turning small stones with their bills.
Like the Northern Mockingbird, the Bahama Mockingbird builds a cup-shaped nest out of twigs and plant fibers. Both male and female participate in nest building. Clutch size is between 2-3 creamy to pinkish-white eggs with reddish brown speckles. Both parents raise the chicks. Nests are usually located between 0.5m and 4.5m off the ground but they will sometimes even build their nest on the ground.
Whilst not a threatened species, the Bahama Mockingbird has a restricted range, making it highly susceptible to habitat loss caused by climate change and unsustainable development. In The Bahamas the population may be declining due to competition with the Northern Mockingbird for resources like food and nesting sites.Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Thanks to Scott Johnson for the text!
Colour in the Bahama Mockingbird
Download our West Indies Endemic Bird colouring page. 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 #CEBFfromthenest
Listen to the song of the Bahama Mockingbird
The song of the Bahama Mocking bird is a series of phrases, each repeated several times.
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!
Bahama Mockingbird spotted on South Eleuthera, the Bahamas. (Photo by Noam Markus -Macaulay Library-ML188561091)
A Bahama Mockingbird on Cuba. (Photo by Arturo-Kirkconnell Jr- Macaulay Lirbrary-ML93392851)A Bahama Mockingbird perch in a tree at Portland Ridge Jamaica. (Photo by Jeff Gerbracht)A Bahama Mockingbird with nesting material, spotted on Abaco, the Bahamas, during Global Big Day 2022. (Photo by Elijah Sands)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: With lots more Caribbean endemic birds to enjoy and colour in during the coming weeks take a look at our colouring-in guide. This will give you some hints and tips on how to make your endemic birds look even more beautiful! Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest
Enjoy this video of a Bahama Mockingbird foraging in the wild!
If you want to find out more about our conservation work and BirdsCaribbean’s bird banding program you an read all about our bird banding workshop – which was held in the Bahamas in 2022.
Get ready to embrace the color of springtime and honor the Caribbean’s finest and most unique birds with us during the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) 2023!
The festival begins on April 22nd (Earth Day) and runs through to May 22nd (International Biodiversity Day).
This regional event happens across the Caribbean every year and highlights and celebrates the amazing birds that live only in the Caribbean—their natural history, threats, and how we can help reduce these threats.
This year the theme for the festival is “Water: Sustaining Bird Life.”
We are using the same “water” theme as World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) for our CEBF to unify our messages about the importance of water conservation to both humans and birds. (note: we will celebrate WMBD in the Caribbean with this theme in the fall).
Birds need water too!
We often see birds flying, preening, and feeding, but rarely do we see them drinking water. This does not mean that water is not important to birds.
In fact, birds need water just as much as we do. Drinking water helps them regulate body processes like digestion. Water also keeps birds clean and cool on hot days when they take a splish-splash in a puddle, gutter, or backyard bird bath.
Many birds also rely on wetland habitats, such as our ponds, salinas, marshes, mangroves, rivers, and coastal waters. With growing human populations and relentless development, there are growing demands for water and continued destruction of our remaining wetlands.
Pollution, erosion, and prolonged droughts are also directly impacting the quantity and quality of water resources and habitats available for our birds.
This CEBF join us in spreading the message that water conservation is vital for all life on earth, including birds!
More iconic endemic birds to be featured for Endemic Bird of the Day!
The CEBF team has been busy preparing for another stellar line-up for Endemic Bird of the Day! Follow this page during the festival as we share 25 new species! It’s a bit of a struggle for us to not reveal this year’s selected species just yet, but we can tell you this: expect beautiful bird artwork by the talented Josmar Marquez who will once again create our coloring pages. These will be accompanied by natural history information, range maps, puzzles, photos, videos, and activities, all designed to stimulate curiosity, creativity, and enjoyment for both adults and children.
A Key West Quail Dove enjoys a drink. Bird Baths can be a great place for birds!
Be sure to follow BirdsCaribbean on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up to date with our ‘birds of the day’ and to find out about webinars and activities during the festival.
In addition to these online activities our amazing CEBF island coordinators and educators will be celebrating with festivities on their respective islands through in-person events. Birdwatching trips, presentations, arts and crafts, bird fairs, habitat clean-ups, and “birdscaping” of home gardens, schools and parks with native plants are just a handful of the events that will take place across the region this year.
We encourage you to get in touch with your local conservation organizations to find out what events are taking place near you, this includes forestry departments too! You can also get together with your friends and family, or community groups and plan your own event. We have lots of activities on our website and YouTube: quizzes, ‘Learn to Sketch’ and origami tutorials, bug hunts, upcycled crafts, outdoor games, and many more that you can do in small or large groups.
Don’t forget to tag us in your photos and videos @birdscaribbean with #CEBF #FromTheNest #WaterSustainingBirdlife
CEBF Small Grants – Apply Now
BirdsCaribbean will once again offer small grants to help cover some CEBF expenses. To apply, send a short proposal via this form, no later than 10 April, 2023. Remember to include in your budget any in-kind funding you can offer: such as volunteer staff time, other materials, etc. You may also send your proposal to CEBF Co-Coordinators: Eduardo Llegus (CEBF@BirdsCaribbean.org) & Aliya Hosein (Aliya.Hosein@BirdsCaribbean.org), and Lisa Sorenson (Lisa.Sorenson@BirdsCaribbean.org) with the subject line: CEBF Small Grant Proposal 2023. Please contact Eduardo Llegus if you have any questions or doubts about this. We are looking forward to hearing about the many exciting activities you will be organizing this year.
We call on people of all ages to join us for this year’s Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival as we celebrate the diversity and endemism of bird species in the region and come together to raise awareness and nurture environmental stewardship.
You can use our beautiful graphics to promote your events for the CEBF – use them as they are (click in each image then right click and choose ‘save as’) or follow the links to use access a Canva template and add you own logos and information!
Bananaquits have a wide distribution and are found throughout the Caribbean, making them a perfect species to use in this study. (Photo by Carlos Henrique L.N. Almeida)
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 exploring the topic of Avian Malaria using data from Bananaquits.
Like humans, birds are susceptible to parasitic infections, including avian malaria. Similarly, they show variations in hemoglobin structure (a protein contained in red blood cells that is responsible for the delivery of oxygen to tissues) that may influence their susceptibility to these infections. Using one of the most widespread West Indian species, the Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), Humphries and Ricklefs aimed to relate variation in hemoglobin structure to avian malaria infection across several islands. In this paper, they present the results of this fascinating study, with suggestions for appropriate markers for further biogeographic analyses.
Figure 2 for the article in JCO shows the locations that the samples came from, reflecting the wide distribution of Bananaquits in the region
This study came about from Humphries’ general interest in the varying distribution of avian malaria parasites and infections across the Caribbean. Bananaquits were a great focal species for this study, being so widespread throughout the region and with documented variability in their parasites among populations, even on the same islands!
The existence of a long-term dataset of Bananaquit blood samples, collected from 2004 to 2017 by Ricklefs and numerous former students of his graduate lab, perfectly set the scene for Humphries to dig into her questions. As the samples were already collected, Humphries was able to skip the field work and jump straight into data analysis. Humphries comments “Although I prefer being in the field in general, data analysis for this project was an adventure!”
She was able to design and optimize the protocols to analyze the blood samples, looking for a link between the structure of specific blood markers and infection by avian malaria parasites.
A Bananaquit in the hand (caught for banding). (Photo by Holly Garrod)
While the authors intended to study the structure of both alpha and beta globin (two key components of hemoglobin), they could not isolate the beta globin, they say “This is especially unfortunate because in humans, it is the beta globin that enables malaria resistance”. This important link may have had implications for human health and further studies of the disease in birds. For the alpha globin, the results were still not ‘significant’, as they did not find any relation between it and susceptibility to avian malaria.
Even though the study results were not as expected, there is always an opportunity to learn. Humphries still felt it was important to publish their results, and we agree. “Publishing null results is a good thing to do! This will save the next researcher the effort of asking the same questions I did and may stimulate someone else to track down that beta globin after all!” Plus, the alpha globin has potential as a genetic marker for further biogeographic studies, and this sets the foundation for a better understanding of population variation, avian malaria, and by extension, malaria in humans.
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.
More featured articles from “just published in the jco”
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.
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.
We are pleased to share with you the new edition of the Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Cuba, number 6, 2023, by Nils Navarro Pacheco.
The Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Cuba is an annual publication that constitutes the most complete and updated official list of Cuban avifauna. It is the result of a deep and thorough bibliographic review and updating from the field. It serves as a basis for generating regional and global listings and is standardized for use with eBird.
The main objective is to provide up-to-date annual listings of Cuban birds, including reference information on each new report and general statistics about Cuban birdlife, and to serve as a reference platform for ornithological studies in the country. The new list has been enriched with 8 new records for Cuba for a total of 402 species.
This year’s cover highlights the Cuban Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus fringilloides), which could be separated at a specific level very soon. The photo of this beautiful bird was taken by Nils; it is the second most endangered raptor in Cuba.
The 2023 checklist is now available in PDF for free download from the BirdsCaribbean website (see below). The printed version is available on Amazon at a good price. It is not intended to be a field identification guide but is a checklist, updated in accordance with the 63rd supplement of AOS. Nils and the publisher, Ediciones Nuevos Mundos, hope this publication fulfills its role and is useful to all persons interested in Cuban birds and ornithology. Nils welcomes questions or suggestions about the checklist (Nils Navarro).
This checklist edition is dedicated to the memory of Jim Wiley, a great friend, extraordinary person and scientist, a guiding light of Caribbean ornithology. He crossed many troubled waters in pursuit of expanding our knowledge of Cuban birds.
If you are looking for a Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba, you can purchase it here or on Amazon.
Past checklists are all available for download, click on the images below to download a pdf of each.
Whether it’s the regal tropicbird in a crevice, the boisterous Sooty Tern overhead, or the Brown Booby sitting defiantly on its nest, it’s exciting to be among seabirds of all kinds. This year we encourage you to join the excitement during the 2023-2024 Caribbean Seabird Census! (or CSC23/24).
WHO can take part? This groundbreaking effort relies on participants to get out and count seabirds locally. Whether you manage a seabird nesting island as part of your professional duties, are an avid amateur ornithologist or birder, or are new to the seabird world but keen to get involved, you can take part in CSC23/24!
WHEN will CSC23/24 take place?It has already started but will run until the end of 2024! And a bit longer for species that nest over December-January. The best time to census nesting colonies of tropical seabirds is during the peak nesting period. The timing of this peak depends on species and can vary between islands – have a look at our Species Hours webinars (below) to learn more.
HOW to get involved in CSC23/24? Plan and carry out a count at one or more of your seabird colonies! Chances are that if you are a wildlife professional, you are already involved with the Caribbean Seabird Working Group! If not, we encourage you to join our email listserv and our Facebook page for regional information. At the island level, we encourage you to reach out to your local environmental NGOs: most of them already have plans to survey seabirds during CSC23/24 and would welcome any help. Once you have collected census data, you will be able to share it with the Seabird Working Group (more on this below).
Your data will contribute to a regional update of the health of our region’s seabirds, allowing us to determine if historical nesting sites are still active and whether populations are increasing or decreasing compared to previous estimates. We will also be collecting information on localized threats, which can inform conservation actions.
We have put together some great resources to help you get on your way to being a part of this important regional study. Use the links below to find what you need.
Thanks to funding from SPAW-RAC, all of these webinars are available with French subtitles! Spanish translations are on the way. Thanks to Hannah Madden, Frantz Delcroix, and Juan Carlos Fernández-Ordóñez for help with the translations.
Recently we have begun a new series called Species Hours, which covers groups of seabirds; it’s an open forum for experts to share their wisdom and answer questions so you are prepared to go in the field and study seabirds.
Test your knowledge of Caribbean seabirds and field methods with our quizzes, which are linked to our webinar topics! Watch the webinar series to find all the answers (follow the links below for each quiz).
This page is also where you can find the Caribbean Seabirds Monitoring Manual! The manual is a great place to start and is available in English,Spanish and French.
Our Census Data Sheet
We have prepared standardized data sheets which can be used either in the field or as a guide for the types of information the census should include. You may already have a form you use or a well-worn notebook; any format is fine as long as it includes the key elements found in the standardized data sheet.
It’s important everybody collects the same types of information found in the data sheet, such as GPS points, names of observers, species, and number of apparently occupied nests. Using standardized information will allow for easier and more relevant comparison of results across the region.
Once you’ve collected your field data, you’ll need to enter it into our standardized reporting database so we can easily compile and compare everybody’s data.
Your data will then be referenced into the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, a free online, publicly available open-source repository of datasets that will ensure that you remain the full owner of your datasets. Once all CSC23/24 data have been collected, we will reach out to data owners and to Seabird Working Group members for interest in participating in data analyses. If you are keen to be involved in the regional analyses, you can already reach out to us at caribbeanseabirdsurveys@gmail.com. We will also strive to turn the regional analysis of CSC23/24 data into a learning opportunity for all. Once analyzed, the results of the surveys will be shared with the public. We are excited to share what the data tells us about the health of seabirds in the region!
Let’s start surveying!
Grenadines Seabird Guardian citizen scientists (Photo by A. Ollivierre)
The year has already started so we encourage you to get out there and survey year-round breeding seabirds, such as pelicans, frigatebirds, tropicbirds, and boobies which can be found now. The next big surge in nesting will be when migratory seabirds like gulls and terns return.
You can also join the Working Group’s Facebook page to hear about other people’s projects and share about your surveys. We are ready to help make your survey dreams a reality!
Graphics for the 2023-2024 Seabird Census are available in English, Spanish and French. Click on each image in the gallery below to enlarge then right click on an enlarged image and ‘save image as’ to download.
The 2023 Caribbean Seabird Census is jointly organized by BirdsCaribbean and EPIC, with support from SPAW-RAC and individual donations.
Dayamiris holding a bird during a banding session. (Photo by Omar Monzón)
Dayamiris Candelario and her husband Omar traveled from their home island of Puerto Rico to the Willistown Conservation Trust in Pennsylvania for a one-month bird banding internship. As someone new to bird banding it was a steep but rewarding learning curve for Dayamiris. Find out more about her experiences in her blog post below.
“In my hand I held the most remarkable of all living things, a creature of astounding abilities that eludes our understanding, of extraordinary, even bizarre senses, of stamina and endurance far surpassing anything else in the animal world. Yet my captive measured a mere five inches in length and weighed less than half of an ounce, about the weight of a fifty-cent piece. I held that truly awesome enigma, a bird.” (A. C. Fisher Jr.)
My work as an environmental educator at Centro Ambiental Santa Ana, a nature center located in an urban forest in Puerto Rico, involves many activities in bird education. As a member of staff for more than twelve years, I have presented many Endemic and Migratory Birds Festivals and birdwatching workshops for urban residents of the island.
Dayamiris offering a guided hike to Girl Scouts about Puerto Rican birds. (Photo by Yaritza Bobonis)
It is here, while preparing for these activities, that my interest in birds peaked. I was often in awe at how these tiny and fragile beings could face so many perils throughout their lives. My daily tasks as an interpretive guide emphasize birds as a key to get my audiences hooked in our Puerto Rican nature. But before the experience that I’m about to narrate, a question always lingered in my mind: “How many secrets do birds hold to overcome their life’s obstacles and still live amazing lives?”
A beautiful setting for bird banding
A Gray Catbird, well known for its catlike “meow” calls and “orange underpants” (cinnamon undertail coverts).(photo by Alan D Wilson)
It was a serendipitous invitation that brought me closer to getting answers to my questions about birds. I was invited to release a live Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) on September 1st of 2022, just after arriving at the Rushton Woods Preserve Bird Banding Station in beautiful Pennsylvania, a natural protected area managed by the Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT).
I was beginning my one-month bird banding training internship with my husband, Omar, hosted by the Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT), in collaboration with BirdsCaribbean, the Powdermill Avian Research Center of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the Northeast Motus Collaboration.
We stayed at the beautiful historic house located next to the Rushton Farm, part of the Preserve. We felt the chilly autumnal breeze in the grasslands, bushes, and meadows. I let the sweet scent of the goldenrod flowers fill my lungs, while listening to the soft rocking of tree branches as the wind commanded their movement. Whenever we walked towards the bird banding station at dawn, we heard the lively chirping and tweeting of the birds. We wanted to learn as much as we could. After participating in the bird banding training activities, which started very early in the morning until almost midday, we would work remotely in our respective jobs. And in the evenings, we would devour all the literature that the Bird Band Station uses for their activities.
The farmhouse at Rushton Woods Preserve, Willistown Conservation Trust
From a beloved pet bird to a wild bird
I still remember what I felt when Blake from WCT put the bird in my hand to let me release it after it was banded. I have held a live bird before: my dear Chuqui, a Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) that taught me that her dearest person EVER was my husband. He died at fifteen years of age in the hands of her beloved. I learned about Chuqui’s juvenile and preformative plumage; how to correctly sex her (we thought she was a male until she started laying eggs!); her molt once per year (and the mess of feathers that would follow); and how to not expose her to artificial light to avoid her laying eggs. I remember feeling her tiny bones and observing carefully the differences of her body feathers from the wings and tail.
Dayamiris at Powdermill. (Photo by Omar Monzón)
Our experience at WCT was different, however, because I was touching for the first time a bird that faces the daily challenges of being wild and free—the “Green Fire,” as described by Aldo Leopold in the film, “A Land Ethic Of Our Time.” I remember feeling the vibration of the Gray Catbird’s body, the warmth of its belly, and how it grabbed my fingers tightly with its toes. That was my first encounter with the daily work of education, research and conservation of this bird banding station, which has been operating for 14 years, as part of the WCT’s Bird Conservation Program.
How (or how not) to extract a bird
In the following weeks, Lisa Kiziuk, Director of the Bird Conservation Program, and her staff introduced me to the station’s inner workings as well. I learned the proper timing and setting up of mists nets and their location; how to extract birds from nets ;the different bird banders’ grips to ensure birds are handled safely ;the most common species banded; species that are selected for radio tags to detect migration patterns; and the different sizes of bands used. Measurements were taken to determine population health, habitat preferences, and to detect changes that could signal a threat. Some of these measurements are: the wing chord, weight, fat deposits, molt, and aging, which was the most challenging for a novice like me.
Dayamiris and her husband Omar band birds at WTC. (Photo by Blake Goll)
I remember how frustrated I was the first time I tried to extract birds because I was fearful that I might hurt them. I later realized that bird extraction is a puzzle with a time limit—you need to figure out in a short time how to free wings, head, legs, and feet from the thin and entangled fibers of the nets. In particular, I had some delightful moments of laughter from my encounters with the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). After several failed attempts at the net to extract them, they escaped and looked at me triumphantly from a nearby branch! In the end I did extract one, but it still got away when I was about to band it! Thanks to the patient training, supervision, and guidance of Lisa and her staff, my final bird banding tally was 41 birds from at least eleven different species – most en route to their southern journey, and some not commonly seen wintering in Puerto Rico.
The meow of the Gray Catbird and the blue of the Blue Jay…
One of the most common species at the station, the Gray Catbird, was very memorable because it is not as common in Puerto Rico. Therefore, whenever this bird is spotted in the island, a generalized buzz from birders would follow in order to watch and hopefully listen to this bird’s peculiar “meowing” while wintering in the Caribbean. I proudly banded 16 of them (comprising 40% of my first bird banding training batch) – which created envy among my local fellow birders!
The Northern Cardinal also left a memory and some bite marks in my fingers too!! I was told this species was a “biter” and I can proudly declare that I survived its powerful beak. Also, I was in awe when I had the pleasure of banding a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) – a beautiful and HUGE bird that stayed calmly in my grip while I banded it. I did observe its exceptionally long feathers (resembling silky hair) as I blew on its head, breast and belly looking for molt and fat deposits. I have never seen a blue so magnificently blue!!
A stunning male Northern Cardinal – not a bird seen in the Caribbean!
A gorgeous Blue Jay – a treat for Daymi to see and hold up close!
…And a very special bird
But I have a special place in my “bird bander’s” heart for the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). I will never forget how I often peeked at the bird bag to take hold of it. I always found a beautiful large eye looking at me. Next, I would feel the warmth of its round belly, while its bright brown and streaked plumage seemed as if it was painted on the bird. Some other species that I banded included: Swainson’s Thrush (Catahrus ustulatus), Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla), Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus), American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus), and Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens).
“A very special bird” the Wood Thrush
A striking black and white, female Hairy Woodpecker
Motus installations and wild apples: A great learning opportunity in Vermont
Dayamiris helping to assemble the Motus station. (Photo by Omar Monzón)
We also learned from WTC about efforts through the Northeast Motus Collaboration to promote bird conservation through research, especially by installing antennas to track the movements of birds in the northeast of the U.S. We accompanied the antenna installation team in their task of installing three antennas in the beautiful state of Vermont: one at Bennington College, another at Wolcott Research Station at the University of Vermont, and the last one in Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville. Assisting them in installing these antennas with their metal tubes, cables and bolts served as a reminder of the amount of background work involved in installing all this infrastructure, all to aid ornithologists and researchers as they seek to understand bird movements.
On a funny note, I also discovered that you could easily find wild apples to eat in many places in Vermont!
Thanks to WTC, we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay for a few days at the Powdermill Nature Reserve to learn about the operation of its Avian Research Center, part of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History of Pittsburgh (CMNH). We observed a major bird banding operation at one of the oldest bird banding stations in the U.S., 60 years in operation. We were amazed at the number of mist nests they could operate with a small staff. We also learned about the research being carried out onsite to determine the best glass window materials to prevent bird collisions. We got to know many of the staff from the station and some other personnel from the Museum, who invited us to visit their avian specimen collection. We took a good look, and asked a million questions.
Kindness and support for a “newbie” bird bander
For me, a newcomer in bird banding, I have to say that I was very fortunate to be able to answer my existential question about birds because of all the kind, patient, and warm people that offered us their best skills, knowledge, guidance, food, coats, places to stay, opportunities to meet new people, jokes and laughter, making us feel at home and ready to learn while being away from Puerto Rico. From the WTC there was Lisa, Fred, Allison, Blake, Aaron, Shelly, Kirsten, Todd, Phyllis, and Holly; and at CNMNH Cheyenne, Cullen, Annie, Lucas, Loren, Mallory, Rose, and Serina.
Birds inspired me, and brought us together
Our farewell to WCT’s staff. Dayamiris (center) with Aaron Coolman (Northeast Motus Collaboration crew), her husband Omar Monzon (Para la Naturaleza), Holly Garrod (Caribbean Bird Banding Network Coordinator, BirdsCaribbean), and Lisa Kizuik (Director, Willistown Conservation Trust).
As I write this article, I am in the middle of my second opportunity to train in bird banding – this time in my home island, learning with resident species and Holly Garrod, Project Manager of BirdsCaribbean’s Bird Banding Program, which is working hard to build capacity for banding in the region through workshops, providing bird bands, and banding internship opportunities, like this one.
I thank all of the people who inspired me to want to become better at this new skill. Fingers crossed that in the near future I will become a certified bander. This will help me amplify my capabilities and skills as an Environmental Scientist and Educator, furthering the conservation of birds as a gateway to the conservation of all Nature.
The birds’ wings, molts, beaks, songs and amazing journeys did much more than just existing. The birds succeeded in uniting people from different backgrounds, languages and cultures, who continue to work, in awe of their amazing superpowers.
Rushton Woods Preserve garden and barn, Willistown Conservation Trust, Pennsylvania
Dayamiris Candelario is an Environmental Manager that works currently as an Environmental Educator for Centro Ambiental Santa Ana, a nature center located in an urban forest in the island of Puerto Rico; and as a Coordinator for the Blue Flag Program for Organización Pro Ambiente Sustentable. Daymi is also a Certified Interpretive Guide from the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), and uses these skills to provide meaningful experiences to Puerto Rican children about their local nature. Her experience involves environmental education initiatives, many focusing on endemic and migratory birds, in outdoor informal settings, community projects, and research on air pollution and karst ecosystems. In her free time, she enjoys birdwatching, drawing and painting nature, traveling, writing, and hiking in natural areas.
New and returning members of BirdsCaribbean Board 2023-2024
We closed the 2021-2022 term with a feeling of happiness and satisfaction. Our organization has accomplished much in promoting the conservation of Caribbean birds and their habitats. Our new board of directors are looking forward to helping to make 2021-2024 just as successful!
Particular highlight from last year include launching our new program- the Caribbean Landbird Monitoring Program which includes our Caribbean Landbird Monitoring Network, Caribbean Bird Banding Network, and the Caribbean Motus Collaboration, as well as the many achievements of our ongoing projects (e.g., Caribbean Waterbird Census) and multiple, dedicated Working Groups.
We also co-hosted a major in-person international conference, and capacity -building workshops in different islands, all while maintaining active awareness campaigns through our website and social media, and continuously fundraising to support much-needed educational efforts throughout the region.
We want to express our immense gratitude to outgoing officers, Vice President Justin Proctor (two terms) and Secretary Emma Lewis (one term). It is impossible to describe just how much these two individuals have contributed to BirdsCaribbean over the last few years. Briefly, Justin served as Managing Editor of JCO and worked hard to transition our peer-reviewed journal into a first-class well-respected online journal, that serves our community even more effectively. He also was the organizer-in-chief for our epic 2019 conference in Guadeloupe and a key member of the team organizing AOS-BC in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 2022. Emma is an incredible writer and editor and also keeps an eagle’s out for new developments of any kind related to birds and the environment in the Caribbean. She is a wonderful advocate for all kinds of environmental and social justice causes and has provided terrific guidance and input to our programs. Thankfully, Emma will stay on as Chair of our Media Working Group, continuing to assist us with our media work, including press releases, blog articles, social media.
Now, we are delighted to present the new Board of Directors to the organization, and to our community. This broad group brings unique talents and backgrounds, as well as representation from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominica, and the United States.
We also welcome back several members of the previous Board, who are eager to help guide the transition and continue their hard work on behalf of BirdsCaribbean. As a reminder to our member base, an election was waived this year because all candidates ran unopposed. Below you can meet the new faces in this great team. Along with the returning Board members, they are ready to help steer BirdsCaribbean into the next phase—which will again be packed full of new and exciting projects.
Vice-President
Andrea Thomen, Ph.D. candidate
Previous or current links with BirdsCaribbean: Andrea presented her graduate work in the 2015 BirdsCaribbean’s conference in Jamaica. Since then, she has attended conferences in Cuba and Guadeloupe, describing these experiences as life-changing. Andrea worked as the in-country coordinator for the Caribbean Birding Trail initiative from 2015 through 2017, where she oversaw capacity-building activities regarding birding tourism and improved environmental interpretation at Ebano Verde Scientific Reserve. She has also planned over 50 education and outreach events for the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival and Migratory Bird Festival.
Experience: Andrea is a B.A. in Environmental Studies and International Studies from Manhattanville College in Purchase and an M.Sc. in Conservation Biology from SUNY ESF in Syracuse, New York. She is currently part of a long-distance, part-time Ph.D. program based at Manchester Metropolitan University in the U.K. regarding the conservation of the Hispaniolan Parrot and Parakeet. Since 2015, Andrea works as the Projects Manager for Grupo Jaragua, a nonprofit that seeks to promote biodiversity conservation on the island of Hispaniola. As a researcher, she is mainly interested in threatened bird ecology and understanding population responses to changing forest landscapes. Andrea actively participates in advocacy campaigns for Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is a great believer in social media conservation messaging.
“As the Vice-President of BirdsCaribbean, I want to focus on inter-island knowledge-sharing and strengthening bonds between BC Members. I would like to do this by creating new networking, leadership, and capacity-building opportunities during the biennial conference experience.”
Secretary
Natalya Lawrence
Previous or current links with BirdsCaribbean: Natalya began to work with BirdsCaribbean in April, 2011 leading the local effort to create the Landbirds of Antigua and Barbuda Bird ID Card. It was a huge learning curve since at the time, she knew very little about birds, or local birding experts. Since then, she has received extensive training from BirdsCaribbean to identify and monitor Caribbean endemic and neotropical migratory birds. She has also attended and made presentations at every conference held from 2011 to 2019. Natalya for several years led local activities for region-wide efforts, including the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, World Migratory Bird Day and BirdSleuth Caribbean. Following the passage of the devastating super-storm Hurricane Irma, in 2017, Natalya coordinated and participated in emergency assessments for birds on Barbuda, particularly the Magnificent Frigatebirds and the country’s sole endemic, the Barbuda Warbler. The ecological assessments were done with the support of the Department of Environment, in collaboration with BirdsCaribbean, the Environmental Awareness Group, and Fauna & Flora International.
Experience: Natalya has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Tourism, and a Master’s degree in Project Management. She has ten years’ experience and training in offshore island restoration and invasive alien species detection and management. She has successfully managed projects to conserve resident and neotropical migrant avian species, and their habitat, to conserve critically endangered reptiles and their habitat and to connect residents to nature, through conservation education.
“One of my favourite themes for a past Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival is Connecting People to Nature Through Birds. I hope to support the continued expansion and diversification of the BC membership, connecting people and grassroots organisations to connect to nature, through our beautiful endemic birds. I hope to encourage them to understand how nature and humans are interdependent, and to take small actions to effect positive change in our natural world.“
Directors at Large
David Ewert, Ph.D.
Previous or current links with BirdsCaribbean: Dave has attended four BirdsCaribbean conferences: two in The Bahamas; Guadeloupe; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has assisted with the development of the James Kushlan Endowed Fund.
Nationality: USA Residence: East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Experience: Dave’s dissertation was on the song of Eastern Towhee. He was on the faculty of Central Michigan University for 3 years. He then spent 35 years with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in science roles in Iowa, Michigan, the Great Lakes region, and The Bahamas. Following his tenure with TNC he joined American Bird Conservancy where he has continued to focus on Kirtland’s Warblers, especially on the Bahamian wintering grounds. With Robert Askins (retired from Connecticut College), he has worked on overwintering migrants in the Virgin Islands National Park including the response of migrants and resident species to hurricanes.
“I plan to (1) focus on the application of science to conservation programs while building conservation capacity in the Caribbean region and (2) encourage the establishment and maintenance of protected areas and programs that sustain both migratory and resident species, especially endemic species.”
Greg Butcher, Ph.D.
Previous or current links with BirdsCaribbean: I started attending BirdsCaribbean conferences in 2013 in Grenada and haven’t missed since. I started bringing my wife Linda Fuller with me in 2015 in Jamaica, and she hasn’t missed since. I am pleased that U.S. Forest Service International Programs has been able to support BC consistently over the years, and I’m glad I was able to be part of that.
Nationality: USA Residence: Reston, Virginia, USA (near Washington DC)
Experience: Greg was the Migratory Species Coordinator with the U.S. Forest Service International Programs (retired in December 2022). As part of his role, he worked on a diversity of projects throughout the Western Hemisphere, including grassland and forest bird, shorebird, and waterbird research and conservation. In his ornithological career he collaborated with the National Audubon Society, American Birding Association, Birders World magazine, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and was part of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, and Partners in Flight. Greg is a recognized public speaker and interpreter for bird conservation and ecology worldwide. He welcomes the opportunity to contribute his vast knowledge of avian ecology to promote the conservation of resident and migratory bird species of the Caribbean region.
“BirdsCaribbean is my favorite bird conservation group by far. We are working so hard to diversify conservation in the United States, but diversity is a natural in BC: not just race or gender, but nationality, language, interests, approaches, and personality. My goal is to help empower Caribbean residents to achieve their personal and conservation goals.”
You can find information about the full BirdsCaribbean Board 2023- 2024 here
Survey team in Cuba searching for Piping Plovers during CWC2023. (Photo by Daniela Ventura)
2023 is the 14th year of our annual Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) regional count. Many of our dedicated friends and colleagues got out and about in our wonderful wetlands, all across the Caribbean, to count waterbirds! This year we asked people to make a special effort to find wintering Piping Plovers. Many of you did just that and plenty of other beautiful birds were encountered during the three-week count period. Read on to hear about where Piping Plovers were seen (or not!) and for some highlights from around the islands. Every single survey makes an important contribution and we are so grateful to everyone who took part in our 2023 CWC!
Waterbirds delight both visitors and locals on Bonaire
In Bonaire Susan Davis tells us that the amazing waterbirds of this island did not disappoint. During the CWC 2023, bird enthusiasts who flocked to Bonaire were treated to a breath-taking sight. At the famed “Flamingo Island” visitors got to witness the awe-inspiring breeding colony of American Flamingos from afar. The magnificent birds were in the midst of their breeding season, building mud nests and raising their single chick. Although the breeding area is strictly off-limits, birders had plenty of opportunities to observe other coral-colored flamingos up close and appreciate their beauty.
Reddish Egrets – Adult being followed by two juveniles. (Photo by Susan Davis)
Flamboyant flamingos displaying during the breeding season on Bonaire. (Photo by Susan Davis)
The magnificent white morph of the Great Blue Heron (photo by Susan Davis)
Birders enjoying their waterbird experience on Bonaire. (Photo by Susan Davis).
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Visiting birders were also thrilled to spot the rare Great White Heron, which has become something of a celebrity on the island. Fondly referred to as “Big Bird” by local birders, the white morph of the Great Blue Heron is considered quite rare outside Florida or Cuba. Susan tells us that it has been on Bonaire for a year now!
As if that wasn’t enough, local birders had been keeping a close eye on a nesting site of Reddish Egrets since early September. During the 2023 CWC two chicks now 14-weeks old were present. The chicks had learned to forage on their own, but they still acted like “children” whenever one of their parents returned to the nest. The entire experience was a joy to behold, and birders left Bonaire with memories that will last a lifetime!
A migratory Peregrine Falcon visits Bonaire during CWC. (Photo by Steve Schnoll)
Caren Eckrich, who is a Biologist with STINAPA on Bonaire, carries out CWC counts quarterly through the year. She tells us that during this past year there has been more rain than normal and that the salinas were incredibly full. CWC surveyors noticed the difference this made in the species and abundances of birds in the different salinas. Highlights during the regional count included some rare finds and several birds of prey. Merlins, Ospreys, Crested Caracaras and, best of all, Peregrine Falcons were all seen hanging around the salinas in Washington Slagbaai Park. Caren’s favorite find during her CWC counts, was a shy Sora spotted in Salina Tam where she had never seen this bird before!
Flocking together and flying solo in Jamaica
Several small groups of BirdLife Jamaica members counted waterbirds during the CWC, and others did solo counts at several sites across the island. Jamaica is currently entering a drought period; nevertheless, the birds of Port Royal, at the entrance to Kingston Harbour, were enjoying life with the fisherfolk and begging for scraps. These included Snowy Egrets, Brown Pelicans, Ruddy Turnstones, and Black-bellied Plovers. On the Harbour itself, Royal Terns and a host of Laughing Gulls were seen; one Royal Tern was banded. On the North coast, at the mouth of the White River Fish Sanctuary, there were night herons, egrets and Common Gallinules a-plenty.
A Brown Pelican has a stretch. (Photo by Emma Lewis)
White Ibis spotted near the mangroves in Jamaica. (photo by Vaughan Turland)
A pair of Least Sandpipers in Jamaica. (Photo by Stuart Reeves)
A Sanderling taking a rest. (Photo by Stuart Reeves)
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One intrepid birder, in search of more unusual species, was rewarded with a Grasshopper Sparrow and West Indian Whistling-Ducks in two wetland locations, a Yellow-breasted Crake, Masked Duck, and three species (Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck and Lesser Scaup) were at Montego Bay Sewage Ponds. Sewage ponds are a favorite spot for waterbird spotting!
“Birders just want to have fun!” – the BirdLife Jamaica members during CWC 2023
Picking up a Pelican in Puerto Rico
BirdsCaribbean President Adrianne Tossas shared some of her CWC 2023 experiences on social media. She carried out waterbird surveys at the mouth of the Anasco River.
On their way to survey Aguadilla Bay the survey team picked up a feathered friend on their boat-ride to get to the survey site!
Adrienne Tossas and her-students at Aguadilla-Bay, PR
Mouth of Anasco River, PR (photo by Adrienne-Tossas)
Magnificent Frigatebird soaring over Aguadilla Bay, PR (photo by Adrienne Tossas)
Adrienne Tossas and her-students boat for CWC2023, PR
Adrienne, Luis, Fernando, Victor, Jose at Anasco River, PR
The Anasco River in Puerto Rico provids a home to species like the West Indian Whistling-Duck and it is a source of fresh water on the island. (photo by Adrienne Tossas)
Flock of birds at mouth of Anasco River, PR (photo by Adrienne Tossas)
Adrianne and Brown Pelican on a boat during the 2023 Caribbean Waterbird Census.
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Celebrating wetlands in the Dominican Republic
In northwestern DR Maria Paulino and her team from Grupo Acción Ecológica (GAE) continued their long-term CWC monitoring of the wetlands of Monti Cristi National Park. GAE’s repeated visits to this important wetland complex are vital, not just to count the birds but also to continue to identify threats to these wetlands. As part of their work in this area the group continue to remove illegal snare traps. These are set to capture flamingos, which are then sold to hotels, but are of course a threat to many other wetland birds.
The GAE team count waterbirds a Monte Cristi. (Photo by GAE)
Flamingos and shorebirds share the mud and water at Monte Cristi in the northern Dominican Republic. (Photo by GAE)
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As part of GAE’s outreach work to raise awareness about wetlands and the special birds that use them, Maria and the team celebrated World Wetlands Day (February 2nd) with the children of Jose Garbriel Garcia Primary School in Monte Cristi. The children learned all about wetland birds and were then delighted to venture out to see them for themselves at the Estero Balsa wetlands.
Maria Paulino teaches a group about waterbirds and wetlands. (Photo by GAE)
Children in Monte Cristi enjoying the birds during World Wetlands Day. (Photo by GAE)
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In search of Piping Plovers in Cuba
Members of the Grupo de Ecología de Aves (GEA) from Havana University went in search of Piping Plovers, to contribute to the regional survey of this shorebird during CWC. Daniela Ventura tells us that they headed to Playa del Chivo, a small but important stopover and wintering site for waterbirds just in the outskirts of Havana Bay. This area has been greatly modified by people and is a site with lots of disturbance. But one member of the team reported a Piping Plover just last September, so hopes were high! The team surveyed the area twice for this CWC. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the “most wanted plover in town,” but they did count more than 20 different bird species and encountered two of the CWC 2023 featured birds: Little Blue Heron and Brown Pelican! Daniela and the team also manage to capture an idyllic picture of some pelicans, chilling with a stunning view of Havana city to their backs.
Pelicans chilling at Playa del Chivo with the Havana city skyline behind. (Photo by Daniela Ventura)
A young Little Blue Heron, one of our CWC 2023 featured birds. (Photo by Daniela Ventura)
Short-billed Dowitchers resting at Playa Las Canas. (Photo by Daniela Ventura).
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Not giving up, GEA members Lourdes Mugica, Martin Acosta, Saul González, Susana Aguilar, and Daniela Ventura, headed to Playa Las Canas, south of Pinar del Rio province. There have been historical sightings of Piping Plover in this location. No luck again, but at least they could marvel at a large flock of Black Skimmers, and a most varied gathering of shorebirds, including Dunlin, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitchers, Least and Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated and Wilson’s Plover and many others. Daniela says “It was an amazing opportunity to share with ornithologists and colleagues from other Cuban institutions, like Zaimiuri Hernández from Flora y Fauna Group, and for kids to enjoy the joy of birdwatching!”
Black Skimmers spotted during CWC counts in Cuba. (Photo by Daniela Ventura)
Kids enjoying the birds and joining in with CWC surveys in Cuba. (Photo by Daniela Ventura)
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Cuba´s contribution to this CWC were also added to with surveys conducted by two other GEA collaborators: Rodolfo Castro in Los Palacios, Pinar del Río, and two additional counts made by Zaimiuri Hernández at Playa Las Canas.
Making connections on US Virgin Islands
The Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife of the US Virgin Islands participated in the 2023 CWC joined by community birders on the islands of St. Croix and St. John. Some highlights of these surveys included sightings of the rare and vibrant Purple Gallinule and immature Little Blue Heron on St. Croix and a beautiful Scarlet Ibis on St. John! These efforts were made for the conservation of native and migratory waterbird species of the USVI and to strengthen the connection with the larger birding community throughout the Caribbean and beyond.
Jahnyah Brooks, a DFW Wildlife Biologist on St. Croix carries out a CWC survey.
Community Birders on St John.
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Searching for waterbirds in St Vincent
CWC counts were also conducted in the gorgeous mountainous country, St Vincent and the Grenadines. A BirdsCaribbean crew was there during the week of January 22nd to deliver a Landbird Monitoring Workshop in partnership with St Vincent Forestry and SCIENCE. They managed to sneak in a little time to visit several wetlands and coastal areas to conduct several counts before the workshop started. And on the final day of the workshop, all the participants enjoyed visiting the same wetland sites and were thrilled to identify and count many waterbirds! The groups spotted Royal Terns, Brown Boobies, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Spotted Sandpipers, Brown Pelicans, Common Gallinules, Little Blue Herons, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, and much more.
CWC birding crew in St Vincent showing off their Piping Plover Census 2023 shirts.
Identifying waterbirds for CWC2023, St-Vincent. (Photo by Maya Wilson)
Workshop participants enjoy early morning CWC count at Buccament Bay, St. Vincent (photo by Mike Akresh)
CWC birding crew on-bridge at Buccament Bay (photo by Lisa-Sorenson)
St Lucians, Jeanette Victor and Aloysius Charles count waterbirds at Buccament Bay (photo by Aliya Hosein)
The Layou River in St. Vincent is an important freshwater site. (Photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Little Blue Heron eating-a very large fish (photo by Mike Akresh)
Enjoying road-side barbecue corn en route to the next CWC site in St Vincent!
Resting Royal Terns (photo by Mike Akresh)
Plover Patrol! Joanne Gaymes, Lisa Sorenson, Maya Wilson, Ingrid Molina at Buccament Bay for pre-workshop CWC count.
Plover Patrol
In addition to the efforts Daniela described above to find Piping Plovers in Cuba during our CWC2023 Caribbean Piping Plover Survey, several people sent us their plover sightings from around the Caribbean.
In Anguilla during her CWC surveys Jackie Cestero from Nature Explorers Anguilla looked for Piping Plovers at a site where a single bird has visited in previous winters. During her visits Jackie actually spotted two Piping Plovers hanging out with small group of Semipalmated Plovers on the beach. So her lone wintering bird seems to have found a friend! Jackie carried out several survey during the CWC period and 58 species of birds including a Lesser Scaup, White-cheeked Pintails, a Sanderling that had been banding in New Jersey, as well as spotting an elusive Mangrove Cuckoo! You can read more about Jackie’s CWC efforts on her blog post here. And check out her wonderful video is this post.
Green-winged Teal spotted during CWC in Anguilla. (Photo by Jackie Cestero)
Two Piping Plovers on Anguilla, hanging out with a small group of Semipalmated Plovers. (Photo by Jackie Cestero)
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In Puerto Rico a special effort was made to carryout CWC surveys at wetland sites around the island with the hope of finding wintering Piping Plovers. With the help and coordination of Dimaris Colon, survey teams were assembled who covered a total of 23 sites! These consisted of a range of wetland habitats; many of the sites surveyed were in places where Piping Plovers had been recorded in the past. Only a single Piping Plover was seen at one site—Arroyo Lighthouse! This bird was on the beach amongst seaweed. However, the effort was not wasted, the surveyors across the many sites recorded a wide range of wetland birds, including an impressive diversity of shorebird species such as American Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Least Sandpiper, and Snowy Plover.
Shorebirds perched at sunset, Punta Cucharas, Puerto Rico.
Greater Yellowlegs seen during CWC surveys at Punta Cucharas
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Over on the Caribbean coast of Mexico we got an exciting Piping Plover update from the team at Green Jay Bird Conservancy. Juan Flores let us know that during their waterbird surveys they spotted several Piping Plovers. Amongst the group of 38 at Isla Blanca they spotted an old friend – a banded Piping Plover “H54” has spent the last 8 winters in the area, having been banded 2014 in the Great Lakes!
“H54” has been wintering in Isla Blanca for 8 years! (Photo by Green Jay Bird Conservancy)
The survey team in Mexico. (Photo by Green Jay Bird Conservancy)
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In the Bahamas Chris Allieri of the NYC Plover Project took the same journey as the migratory Piping Plovers and traveled south to take part in our 2023 CWC Piping Plover Survey on Andros! Chris was rewarded for his amazing efforts by some thrilling sightings, including counting over 100 Piping Plovers in one little spot in the Joulter Cays! Dozens of Piping Plovers and many other wintering shorebirds were spotted and counted in the other places they surveyed on Andros and nearby cays. You can enjoy the wonderful video Chris made whilst doing his CWC surveys.
The Caribbean Waterbird Census is an ongoing, long-term survey effort and provides us with important data that helps to keep track of the birds using Caribbean wetlands, understand threats, and to raise awareness. We appreciate every single CWC count that gets done during the annual 3-week regional census in winter. Thank you to all those who sent us highlights and all those who led or joined a CWC survey this year. If you missed this year’s regional census don’t worry – you can do a CWC count at any time of year! Counts are valuable at any time of year and add to our knowledge of the resident and migratory birds using our wetlands and beaches. Just be sure to use a CWC protocol in eBird Caribbean to enter your data and do your best to do a complete count, i.e., record all the birds you see and hear.Find out more about the CWC and how to participate here: https://www.birdscaribbean.org/our-work/caribbean-waterbird-census-program/count-waterbirds-in-the-caribbean/ and get practicing for next year’s annual census!
Enjoy some more posts shared by our Partners on Social Media during CWC 2023!
The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology publishes the peer-reviewed science on Caribbean birds and their environment that is so important to inform conservation work. In this annual blog feature, JCO’s staff is proud to show off the amazing research from scientific teams around the Caribbean. Let your curiosity lure you into exploring:
Warblers eat lizards and fish? What is the preferred snail diet of the Grenada Hook-billed Kite? How can nesting success of terns be improved? There was once a Giant Barn Owl roaming Guadeloupe?
Look back and discover how James Bond, a pioneer of Caribbean ornithology, relied on the expertise of little-known Caribbean experts. Or look forward and reflect on the future prospects for bird conservation in our age of unprecedented human impact on Caribbean nature.
As JCO’s Managing Editor, I am immensely grateful for a dedicated team of editors, reviewers, copyeditors, proofreaders, and production specialists that have worked together so well this past year to produce high-quality publications. And of course, our fabulous authors that do the work on the ground to help us better understand the biodiverse Caribbean and the challenges it faces. With the non-profit BirdsCaribbean as our publisher, JCO emphasizes access: trilingual content, support for early-career researchers, and open access–from the latest article to the very first volume from 1988.
While our 100% open-access publication policy is the most prominent and public-facing feature of our work at the journal, there has been a lot going on “behind the scenes” as well.
In 2022, JCO welcomed Caroline Pott, our new Birds of the World (BOW) Coordinator, and huge thanks to our outgoing first BOW coordinator, Maya Wilson! Caroline works with authors and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to produce BOW accounts of Caribbean bird species. Zoya Buckmire took the reins as the new JCO Lead Copy Editor, and helped to recruit Laura Baboolal and Kathryn Peiman to the copyediting team. Dr. Fred Schaffner will join us for editorial help with English manuscripts from authors for which English is not their first language. Joining our Associate Editor board were Dr. Virginia Sanz D’Angelo, Caracas, Venezuela, Dr. Jaime Collazo, North Carolina, and Dr. Chris Rimmer, Norwich, Vermont. We are looking forward to hearing from you, our readers and supporters, and working with the JCO team in 2023!
With Volume 35, JCO introduced the assignment of a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to each article, making it easier fo the scientific community to locate an author’s work in the published literature.
Map depicting research locations of the studies published in Volume 35.
The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology relies on donations to keep all of our publications free and open-access. Support our non-profit mission and give a voice to Caribbean ornithologists and their work by becoming a supporter of JCO. Consider being a sustainer with monthly contributions of $5 or more!
The Cueva Martín Infierno protected area in Cuba is well-known for its cave and stalagmite formations, but what about its bird community? Located in the Guamuhaya Mountains, one of Cuba’s biodiversity hotspots, this protected area is sure to support a thriving bird community, but this aspect is previously undocumented. In this paper, Montes and Sánchez-Llull present the first comprehensive record of birds in Cueva Martín Infierno, including several endemics and species of conservation concern.
Monica Gala, Véronique Laroulandie, and Arnaud Lenoble
What has two talons, feeds on large rodents, and used to roam the Caribbean night sky? Giant owls! Giant barn owls (Tytonidae) once inhabited the Caribbean in precolonial times, as evidenced by recent palaeontological research. In this paper, Gala et al. describe a bone fragment of an unspecified giant barn owl found on Guadeloupe, the second such record for the Lesser Antilles.
Plastic waste is an increasing source of pollution worldwide, especially in marine environments. Seabirds are particularly vulnerable to marine litter, as they can ingest, become entangled in, or incorporate this waste into their colonies and nests. In this research note, Coffey reports on two Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus) interactions with marine litter in the Grenadines, one instance of nest incorporation and another of entanglement and mortality.
Fernando Simal, Adriana Vallarino, and Elisabeth Albers
The hypersaline lagoons of northern Bonaire are home to several populations of seabirds, making it a regionally significant nesting site in the southern Caribbean. Among the species that breed there are the Eastern Least Tern (Sternula antillarum antillarum), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus), and Cayenne Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis eurygnathus). In this paper, Simal et al. quantify breeding success for the terns at these sites in Bonaire, and provide timely recommendations for increasing tern populations, such as island creation and predator exclusion.
Andrew Fairbairn, Ian Thornhill, Thomas Edward Martin, Robin Hayward, Rebecca Ive, Josh Hammond, Sacha Newman, Priya Pollard, and Charlotte Anne Palmer
How are hurricanes affecting Caribbean landbirds? Like other native species in the region, birds likely evolved under the threat of hurricanes, but as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of storms, this question becomes increasingly important. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Fairbairn et al. sought to compare the bird community on Dominica to that pre-hurricane. In this paper, they present those results, including the disproportionate effects on some functional groups that may predict which species fare better long-term.
Arnaud Lenoble, Laurent Charles, and Nathalie Serrand
It’s a well-known fact that Hook-billed Kites eat snails- their wonderfully adapted bills tell us that much. But, will any old snail do, or do these high-flying molluscivores have a preference? In this paper, Lenoble et al. present their observations on the diet of the Grenada Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus mirus), with prey availability and distribution having the potential to inform conservation planning for this endemic subspecies.
Ezra Angella Campbell, Jody Daniel, Andrea Easter-Pilcher, and Nicola Koper
How is the Antillean Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus antillarum) faring habitat loss and degradation across its small-island ranges? Campbell et al. aim to investigate the status and distribution of this species in Grenada, comparing its distribution by habitat, elevation, and season. In this paper, they present their results as well as recommendations for the conservation of this species that are applicable both to Grenada and across its Caribbean range.
Michael E. Akresh, Steven Lamonde, Lillian Stokes, Cody M. Kent, Frank Kahoun, and Janet M. Clarke Storr
Wood warbler (Parulidae) diets are varied and interesting, from arthropods to fruits and sometimes even nectar. Occasionally, wood warblers may also consume vertebrate species, primarily Anolis lizards, but these instances are not well documented and have not previously been compiled. In this paper, Akresh et al. present a comprehensive literature review on wood warbler vertebrate consumption throughout the Caribbean and USA, and also describe three new observations from The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Florida.
Jeffrey V. Wells, Elly Albers, Michiel Oversteegen, Sven Oversteegen, Henriette de Vries, and Rob Wellens
The Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) is a stunningly charismatic seabird without many documented or published records in the southern Caribbean until recently. To shed light on this species’ distribution and trends over the decades, Wells et al. sought to compile records from near the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. This review accompanies an erratum note in this issue, and details all previous sightings of the species, with records as far back as 1939.
James Bond, renowned ornithologist of the 20th century and the namesake of 007, contributed dozens of publications to the field of Caribbean ornithology. Throughout his decades of work, he established a network of scientists and laypeople alike, without whom his work would not have been possible. In this Perspectives and Opinions piece, Aubrecht compiles the biographies of Bond’s most important contributors, highlighting the importance of collaboration and networking in advancing scientific study across the region.
The Caribbean Biodiversity Hotspot is well-known for its avian diversity, with over 700 species! Of which more than 180 are endemic. Unfortunately, the wellbeing of these avian populations is often constrained by the inherent challenges of small island developing states, increasing effects of climate change, and colonial histories. In this piece, Nelson and Devenish-Nelson explore these challenges, with concrete examples of endemic birds across the region, and describe a possible way forward for regional conservation of our species as we navigate the Anthropocene.
The annual compilation of the most important articles that appeared elsewhere, annotated by Steve Latta.
Article by
Zoya Buckmire – Lead Copy Editor for the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology
Stefan Gleissberg – Managing and Production Editor for the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology
TheJournal of Caribbean Ornithology relies on donations to keep all of our publications free and open-access. Support our non-profit mission and give a voice to Caribbean ornithologists and their work by becoming a supporter of JCO.
Have you spotted a Little Blue Heron during CWC 2023? (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
Today is the last day of #CWC2023 and our featured waterbird helped Jerome Foster win third place in our Global Big Day Photo Contest back in 2021. This handsome bird, the Little Blue Heron, can be blue-gray, white, or something in between.
The Little Blue Heron is a small heron with a slender neck and long legs. It has rounded wings with a long straight bill. Adults have a rich purple-maroon head and neck and dark slaty-blue body, yellow eyes, greenish or dark legs, and a bill that is pale blue at the base and black at the tip. They may be mistaken for the Tricolored Heron but lack the white on their neck and belly. Juveniles are entirely white with yellowish legs, and immatures molting into adults have both white and blue-gray plumage as seen in the photo captured by Jerome (see our gallery below).
If you’re heading to your local estuary, mangrove, salt pond, or swamp for this year’s Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) keep an eye out for these birds. Here they forage for fish, grasshoppers, dragonflies, crabs, and shrimps. And unlike the Tricolored Heron which uses a variety of tactics to capture prey, the Little Blue Heron is a stand-and-wait predator. This means they stand and look, watching the water for prey, or walk slowly.
They are more frenetic, however, when it comes to defending food or nesting sites, actually chasing and attacking other Little Blue Herons, by striking and jabbing at each other with their bills.
Like all waterbirds, Little Blue Herons are vulnerable to pollution and risk eating prey contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals. They will also abandon nests, eggs, and chicks if disturbed by humans resulting in low breeding success.
Adult Little Blue Heron perches above the water. (Photo by Steve Oxley)
Little Blue Heron perched in a mangrove in Cuba. (Photo by Roberto Jovel Macaulay Library-ML255148881)
Little Blue Heron, Brazos Bend State Park, Near Needville, Texas
Immature Little Blue Heron, perched. (Photo by Jerome Foster)
Little Blue Heron in white juvenile plumage. (Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar)
Little Blue Heron with a vantage across the water. (Photo by Dario Sanches)
The striking purple-red and slate gray plumage in close-up. (Photo by Becky Matsubara-Macaulay Library-ML216411061)
A patchwork of white and gray—an immature Little Blue Heron molting into adult plumage. (Photo by Alejandra Pons Macaulay Library- ML299124311)
A small flock of Little Blue Herons comes in to land. (Photo by Matthew Addicks Macaulay Library-ML189076771)
Little Blue Heron in flight. (Photo by Brad-Imhoff Macaulay Library-ML472120011)
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A Little Blue Heron walks along the water’s edge. (Photo by Cole Schneider)
We would love to know if you spotted any Little Blue Herons, with their moody hues of blue and purple, during your #CWC2023. Don’t forget to tag us in your photos and more importantly add them to your eBird Caribbean checklists!
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs through Friday February 3rd. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
A dapper dabbler who spends the winter in the Caribbean. (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
Do you know this dapper dabbler? Our Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) 2023 featured bird today is the Green-winged Teal!
Green-winged Teals actually breed in the forest wetlands and river deltas of Alaska and Canada. But they migrate south during fall and some of them spend the winter with us in the Caribbean! So if you’re heading to a wetland for your #WaterbirdCount keep an eye out for them.
Males are recognized by their coppery orange head with a metallic green stripe through the eye, and a slate gray body with a buffy booty. Males also have a vertical white shoulder stripe. Females look similar to other female dabbling ducks – mottled brown – but they have an overall darker dappled plumage and a darker, thinner bill. From the right angle, or in flight, these birds display an emerald green speculum or wing patch from which they get their name.
You may also be treated to one of their many courtship displays, since male Green-winged Teal court females and form pair bonds on the wintering grounds. Often, males will surround one or more females in social courtship, performing ritualized robot-like displays such as the “Burp,” “Grunt-whistle,” “Head-up-tail-up,” and “Turn-toward-female.” These displays are accompanied by whistles and grunts. Females choose a mate from amongst these suiters. Males follow their mates back to the breeding area and defend her from advances by other males during egg-laying and early incubation.
A Male Green-winged Teal, resplendent in the sunshine. (Photo by Doug Greenberg)
A male Green-winged Teal ventures across the mud. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
A Male Green-winged Teal performs a courtship display, Mexico. (Photo by Juan Miguel Artigas Azas- Macaulay Library-ML306358661)
Green-winged Teals in flight, their green wing-patches clearly visible. (Photo by Andrew Reding)
A female green-winged Teal. (Photo by Andrew Reding)
Male Green-winged Teal in flight. (Photo by Matt Misewicz Macaulay Library- ML501469651)
A pair of Green-winged Teals. (Photo by Dana Siefer Macaulay Library- ML283065691)
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs through Friday February 3rd. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
Workshop Group photo (with: Eliézer Nieves-Rodriguez, Ancilleno Davis, Gisselle Deane, Shanna Challenger, Esteban Márquez, Maya Wilson, Anne Sutton, Alcides Morales, Juan Carlos Fernández Ordóñez, Johnella Bradshaw, Adrianne Tossas, Daniela Ventura, Omar Monzón, Holly Garrod)
In 2022 BirdsCaribbean ran its first Caribbean Bird Banding workshop in the Bahamas. Get a first-hand account of the highlights of this workshop from Cuban participant Daniela Ventura. Want to know what a ‘Molt Nerd’ is? Read on to find out!
No, surely not! Not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that in 2022 I was going to have the good fortune to visit not one, but two Caribbean other islands. As if that wasn’t unbelievable enough, the trips were scheduled with less than a month apart. But that’s exactly how things went: from learning to monitor landbirds using PROALAS point counts in the rainforest of the Dominican Republic’s misty mountains, I moved to the sunny beaches of Nassau in The Bahamas.
No need to tell you that birds were again the main driver and motivation. This time, I would receive training on banding techniques during the first Caribbean Bird Banding Workshop organized by BirdsCaribbean. The Retreat Garden of the Bahamas National Trust was our training oasis from 8 to 12 March.
Jewelry for birds?
Putting bracelets on birds? Have ornithologists gone mad? No, ornithologists are not crazy; and we do this for very specific and important reasons. It’s not about bird fashion either, though for me they look pretty fashionable.
Scientific banding has been a powerful tool for assessing bird populations for centuries. Nonetheless, I must admit that the first time I heard about banding I also was a bit lost. That happened at the 2017 BirdsCaribbean conference in Cuba. I was a sophomore student of Biology during the first and largest scientific event so far in my career. My mind was swirling! I wanted to absorb everything.
Claire explains how to account for feather wear in an American Redstart
One day I entered the conference room and met Alina Pérez. She was giving a talk about her project monitoring migration in the Guanahacabibes Peninsula. I was amazed that such fabulous research was done in Cuba. At that time, I only knew they captured birds with mist nets, put tiny metal rings on their legs and let them go unharmed afterwards. I could not think of anything but the privilege it must be to hold a bird in your hand – and that I wanted to have that experience. After the conference I looked for Alina, introduced myself as an eager and inexperienced bird enthusiast, and told her I would love to volunteer with her project and learn from her. Alina gave me the warmest of her smiles and said “yes” right away.
I cannot thank Alina enough for the mentorship I received. Not only did she give me the opportunity to start learning the skills required to band birds safely and for scientific purposes, but she taught me so much more. During the three seasons I have spent volunteering on her project I still haven’t got used to the wonder of holding a bird in my hands. Most importantly, though, I discovered my obsession. Soon, I knew that I wanted to become a trained bander and to design research that incorporated this technique.
And so it was that, five years after the conference that changed my life, I was in a plane heading to Nassau, with my banding mentor sitting by my side, ready to walk the next steps of my path to become a certified bander. As I expected, the reality would surpass my expectations by far.
Breaking the bias
Trainer Claire Stuyck demonstrates best practices for mist net setup. In the background, trainer Holly Garrod explains the procedure.
The first day of the workshop coincided with the celebrations of International Women’s Day. We had plenty of reasons to be joyful. This year’s theme, Break the Bias, highlighted the importance of addressing how our own social and cultural biases influence gender inequalities. The conservation industry in particular has a long history of being mainly male-driven. BirdsCaribbean is proudly breaking the bias as an organization led and carried by strong, committed, enthusiastic, and proficient women in science.
The main workshop organizers and trainers were women: Maya Wilson, Holly Garrod, and Claire Stuyck. Besides, among the participants we had the pleasure of having Anne Haynes-Sutton, one of the most influential conservationists in the Caribbean for her work with seabirds, and one of the pioneers of bird banding in the region. Nearly half of the attendees were also female, many of them young but already with important leadership positions and success stories in conservation to share. Alina Pérez, Adrianne Tossas, Shana Challenger, Zoya Buckmire, Johnella Bradshaw, and Giselle Deane were there to prove that women’s contribution to science and conservation should not be neglected and overlooked anymore.
Eating apples, admiring doves, and tying knots on Day One
Trainer John Alexander shows participants some knots for setting up mists nets
Sessions were held at The Retreat Garden, a former private botanical garden and currently a National Park managed by The Bahamas National Trust. The park’s staff are world-class event organizers. They took good care of us by having a steady supply of coffee and snacks. This helped us to keep focus during the intense classroom and field sessions. If it wasn’t for the apples, I wouldn’t have made it! I must acknowledge that I have a serious addiction to apples and I was nicknamed the “Apple Terror” by my Puerto Rican friends. They had no choice but to head first thing in the morning to the snacks table, to grab and put aside an apple if they wanted to have a chance of eating one – before I went to the table and magically made them disappear. Sorry, pals!
The first lesson hadn’t started yet and I already had a lifer to add to my list. A pair of Caribbean Doves, walking unaware of our presence around the classroom facilities made such a pleasant view. Aside from the Cuban endemics, they are the most beautiful doves I have ever seen.
At the banding table, Daniela Ventura studies banding data sheets with Juan Carlos Fernández Ordóñez and Alcides Morales-Pérez. In the background, Holly holds a bird bag carrying the next-to-be-processed bird.
I was lucky to get good views of other notable Bahamian birds, like the stunning male Bahama Woodstar, the Bahama Mockingbird, and of course the ubiquitous White-crowned Pigeon. Definitely, the doves were the dearest to my heart.
Activities began when the trainers, Claire Stuyck and John Alexander from Klamath Bird Observatory, Steve Albert from the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP), and Holly Garrod from BirdsCaribbean, greeted and welcomed us to the five-day intense banding schedule. They had barely finished introductions when we were already getting hands-on learning about setting up mist nets, security guidelines, and tying knots. Making knots can be fun as well as stressful, at least for a person like me who doesn’t have a good spatial memory. But it speaks highly of our instructors’ teaching skills that I soon forgot my insecurities and became immersed in tying knots – and even had a lot of fun!
Getting to know (and love) the Birder’s Bible
Lessons comprised a blend of field practice in the mornings and theory talks in the afternoon. These sessions covered the nitty-gritty of setting up an organized and well-planned banding table, with all the tools and the equipment properly set up to meet our needs. There were talks about the Bander’s Code of Ethics; bird and human safety at banding operations; the use of molt strategies to identify ages; education and public outreach; the use of banding for scientific research; and other related topics.
We split our time between banding demonstrations given by the experts Claire and Holly and conducting regular net runs. We had the luck of getting a closer look at resident birds like the Red-legged Thrush, La Sagra’s Flycatcher, Bananaquit, Thick-billed Vireo, Caribbean Doves, and Common Ground Doves, but also common winter migrants like Cape May Warblers, Black-and-White Warblers, and the American Redstart. Although the birds we captured were never enough to please us, everyone had their chance to learn how to extract birds safely out of the nets, and even handle and band them.
Juan Carlos Fernández Ordóñez in a presentation aboout the Bander´s Bible: Pyle´s Identification Guide to North American Birds
John Alexander explain some molt terminology to the workshop participants gathered at the retreat facilities.
During the low-activity periods, time was well spent learning how to use the Bander’s Bible: The Identification Guide to North American Birds, known simply as “the Pyle”. Diving through the Pyle can be a hard pill to swallow for every amateur bander, but once you realize you can’t have a stronger ally at your banding operations, it becomes as dear to you as an old friend. Helping to make that connection even stronger was the fact that we knew the actual Pyle (yes, Pyle – the “Bander’s God”) knew about us, through his colleague from the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP), Steve Albert. We could feel his presence while we struggled to study molt patterns.
The molt obsession
Now – talking about molt. You can’t be a skilled bander without being a molt nerd. No doubt about that. In the beginning, we thought Holly was nuts when she started talking in a weird fashion about three-letter codes. Wolfe-Ryder-Pyle (WPR) codes for aging birds are another jaw-dropper for anyone new to the secrets of bird identification.
At the banding table, more molt talk by Juan Carlos Fernández Ordóñez. Listening attentively: Alina Pérez, Esteban Márquez, Carlos Peña, Daniela Ventura, Alcides Morales, Jose Ramón Fuentes.
But of course, Holly is far from being nuts. She infused us with so much excitement while talking about molt strategies, that we all got enthusiastic about it. Pretty soon, our days became molt-centered – not only during the sessions, but at dinners, night gatherings at the hotel terrace, and even during the short but necessary break at the Orange Hill Beach. Everyone was truly proud at the end to be called a molt nerd.
I know some of you may already be asking, what’s all this for? Are we actually helping birds by showing off our knowledge of fancy letters and metal and colored rings? In fact, we are helping both birds and humans alike. You probably already know that birds are powerful sentinels of change. Studying how their populations respond to and cope with changes to their habitats, and other threats such as climate change, are useful tools for planning conservation strategies. The Caribbean region is home to more than 700 species, 176 are unique to these islands. The region is also one of those places on Earth that are suffering from rapid transformation by humans.
Banding connects us with nature
But we have another problem, and it is that plenty of our birds’ natural history is still unknown, or at least inadequately studied. Banding can be a powerful tool to begin filling those gaps. Birds in the hand provide us with loads of data about population estimates and trends, survival rates, movement routes and timing, disease prevalence, overall health and condition, molt strategies, physiology, breeding phenology, and much more basic data for ornithological studies. Besides, holding banding demonstrations for the public offers a gateway that helps humans connect with nature, an invaluable resource to educate people about wildlife and conservation. I believe that holding a bird in the hand and then watching it fly away can have a profound effect on someone’s life. And I say this from my personal experience! Banding not only helped me discover my passions, but connected me with nature and conservation like nothing else had before.
Red-legged Thrush is examined before being banded. (Photo by Holly Garrod)
The whole aim of the workshop was to create a network of banders across the Caribbean that could employ a series of standardized protocols to begin answering questions still unaddressed about our birds’ basic ecology. The Caribbean is a crucial stopover and wintering area for many declining North American songbirds. For this reason, the workshop also included talks about the collaboration with the MoSI (Spanish for monitoring winter survival) program from IBP and the installation of MOTUS towers. By combining traditional banding and modern tracking technologies we could boost our understanding of the movements of Neotropical birds throughout the Caribbean region and beyond.
But the main step, besides establishing these connections, is training and capacity-building. We need to end the traditional model of “parachute science” and train our next Caribbean generation of banders and trainers. I am so happy that I can brag about being a friend of the brand-new certified North American Banding Council (NABC) trainer: Juan Carlos (JC) Fernández Ordóñez (yes, the humorous Latin team “influencer”). You can tell when JC is talking about bird stuff because it is the only time you will see him with a serious look on his face. And that does not necessarily mean he is not making jokes. JC has been banding for 25 years. He is knowledgeable about molt strategies and bird ID, not only of Neotropical but also European, African, and Asian species. Most importantly, he enjoys teaching and sharing all he knows with everybody. I am sure that with JC’s example and Holly’s magnetism, most of the participants left with the ingrained desire to continue mastering our banding skills and obtain NABC certification in the near future. That will help lift the banding movement in the Caribbean.
Real Bahamian hospitality!
Welcome to The Bahamas street mural
“Welcome to The Bahamas” are not only the letters of a beautiful mural painted on Bay Street, but the greeting me and my friends received everywhere we went: at the hotel, restaurants, and from people driving a car late at night through the Downtown area. If nothing else, I will never forget from this trip the beautiful aquamarine, gold, and black Bahamian flags waving from almost every building, and the kind hospitality of the people. The Bahamians I met during that week were courteous, smiling, spicy-food lovers, and proud of their history and traditions. Our Bahamas National Trust colleague and fellow trainee, Giselle Dean’s organizational skills made the workshop run smoothly, and she would humbly say it was nothing. Bahamian Scott Johnson not only was kind enough to give us a ride every day from the hotel to The Retreat in his car, but entertained and amazed us with his tremendous knowledge of Bahamian natural history and culture. Chris Johnson was quiet much of the time, but surprised us by generously giving each of us a beautiful calendar with his bird photos! Many of the species are shared by Cuba and the Bahamas, so it is nice to flip through the months of the year and recollect the memories from the trip. Ancilleno Davis was a model host, giving us a tour around Downtown Nassau during the last day of our stay, and providing us with a taste of Bahamian arts, architecture, and history.
The “Plus/Delta” of it all
Participants gather at the banding table, while Holly Garrod explains how to take the data (in the photo, right to left Zoya Buckmire, Alina Perez, Alcides Morales, Claire Stuyck, Juan Carlos Órdoñez, Esteban Márquez, Adrianne Tossas, Holly Garrod, Carlos Peña, Ann Sutton, Daniela Ventura)
The “Plus/Delta” was a daily exercise for us at the end of the sessions. We highlighted the most significant aspect of the day for each of us and reflected on the areas where we needed more study or practice. It’s really difficult for me to decide on the overall Plus/Delta of my Bahamian experience. I have many of them. My Plus was the chance to bond with old and new friends; strengthen collaboration networks that will aid in my future professional development; improve my banding and molt ID skills; and widen my understanding and appreciation for other cultures.
And the Deltas? I also have plenty: I am determined to continue growing my expertise in all subjects regarding banding, bird ID, molt strategies, and overall bird ecology. A key step for achieving that goal is to become a certified NABC trainer. With this qualification, I do not want to only band and contribute to the understanding of Cuban resident species. I would also like to share and hopefully instill enthusiasm for these studies in the new generations of Cuban ornithologists. In the long run they will accomplish the visions we dreamed of on the beaches of the Bahamas. My biggest Delta is the hope that soon a large and powerful network of Caribbean banders will be the authors of a new round of success stories in regional bird conservation.
BirdsCaribbean Acknowledgments
This workshop would not have been possible without our dedicated trainers, enthusiastic participants, and funders, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Forest Service and BirdsCaribbean generous donors and members.
A beautiful and striking seabird! (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
This Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) featured bird has a love of tropical water and nests in ‘igloos.’ It’s the White-tailed Tropicbird!
White-tailed Tropicbirds are medium-size white seabirds with black markings on the wings, long white tail plumes, and a bright yellow bill. Juveniles have black barring on the back and upper wings, a short tail, and pale yellow bill.
White-tailed tropicbirds use holes in inaccessible cliffs as their nests. This puts them at the mercy of human housing developments on coastlines and severe weather events, like hurricanes and the erosion of coastal cliffs. The loss of natural nesting locations on the island of Bermuda, has led to our colleagues on the island providing artificial nest boxes, nicknamed ‘igloos’ for their shape. Did this conservation intervention work? Yes! White-tailed Tropicbirds readily accept these replacements for their natural cliff holes! Bermuda hosts the largest population of ‘Longtails,’ as they are locally called, in the Atlantic, estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 breeding birds.
Outside of the breeding season White-tailed Tropicbirds can be seen wandering at sea. (Photo Kansas Photo)
Juvenile White-tailed Tropicbird. (Photo by Mary Gillham)
White-tailed Tropicbird in flight. (Photo by Matthew Paulson)
White-tailed Tropicbird egg. (Photo by Mary Gillham)
White-tailed Tropicbird flying to a cliff. (Photo by Kansas Photo)
Juvenile White-tailed Tropicbird. (Photo by Mary Gillham)
White-tailed Tropicbird in Bermuda. (Photo by Kansas Photo)
Flying over the sea. (Photo by Kansas Photo)
The striking sight of a White-tailed Tropicbird against a blue sky. (Photo by Florida Brandon Trentler)
Breeding colonies can also be found in the Bahamas and Greater and Lesser Antilles. We understand that in the town of Tarreau on the island of Dominica, there is a pair of White-tailed Tropicbirds that nests in the cliffs. The locals look forward to their return every January!
Watch this video from our YouTube channel to see what the artificial ‘igloo’ nests look like!
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs through Friday February 3rd. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
Have you seen a Pied-billed Grebe during your CWC2023 counts? (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
Meet the Pied-billed Grebe, another one of this year’s seven selected waterbirds for the Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC)! It has the widest distribution in the Americas of any grebe, breeding from northern Canada through the West Indies and Central America to southern South America.
The Pied-billed Grebe can be distinguished from other grebes with its brown plumage, slightly darker above and more tawny-brown on the underparts and short, arched brownish-buff bill. During the breeding season, it sports the two-tone bill- bluish white with a black vertical band- that gives this bird its name! Males and females look alike but males are larger in size. Juveniles have striped faces with a dull orange-red bill.
They can be found in ponds, flooded agricultural fields and other non moving bodies of water like sewage ponds. This is because they mostly forage in open water, among aquatic plants capturing crustaceans, frogs, tadpoles, insects and fishes. They are very opportunistic feeders i.e. they will eat what is readily available. They also favor nest sites where the water is deeper than 9 inches, which allows for escape, feeding, and nest platform construction.
They are so well adapted to an aquatic lifestyle that when threatened they can stealthily sink out of view. They remain quietly hidden underwater with eyes and nostrils above the water, just like a crocodile! Or less gracefully, they might crash-dive, kicking water several feet into the air.
We hope you see these chunky swimmers on your CWC2023 count and if you do, don’t forget to add to your Caribbean eBird checklist.
Pied-billed Grebe with chicks.
Pied-billed Grebe on its nest in Puerto Rico. (Photo by Coral Aviles Santiago Macaulay Library-ML407309211)
Pied-billed Grebe its stripe-headed chicks (Photo by Alison-Davies Macaulay Library- ML355042851)
Non-breeding Pied-billed Grebe, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Benny Diaz Macaulay Library- ML193870101)
Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe takes on a meal of crawfish! (Photo by Robin Hood Macaulay Library- ML251037921)
Pied-billed Grebe stretches its wings. (Photo by Lima Huber Macaulay Library-ML313142441)
Pied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage. (Photo by Becky Matsubara)
A Pied-billed Grebe swimming, in breeding plumage. (Photo by Doug Greenberg)
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs through Friday February 3rd. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
2022 was a year of new beginnings. With the COVID era mostly behind us, we focused on moving forward, with a host of activities and projects under way. It was hectic!
Puerto Rico vibes!
Group photo of some Caribbean delegates at AOS-BC Conference 2022 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Our 23rd International Conference in Puerto Rico – co-hosted with the American Ornithological Society (AOS) for the first time – in partnership with Para la Naturaleza, and Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña, was a reflection of our upbeat approach. The theme was “On the Wings of Recovery: Resilience and Action,” and the event was packed with symposia, roundtables, workshops, working group meetings…and of course, networking! Over 800 conservation professionals from 34 countries gathered for the conference, from June 27-July 2, 2022. This meeting was much larger than usual, but we didn’t get lost! There were many opportunities to make new friends and expand our horizons for research, collaboration and information-sharing in hundreds of different ways.
Launched: the Caribbean Landbird Monitoring Network
The Puerto Rico conference included a Caribbean Landbird Monitoring Training Workshop, as part of our ongoing efforts to build a regional network that will employ standardized methods to monitor and protect our landbirds. In February, we brought wildlife professionals from 16 countries to the Dominican Republic for our first Caribbean Landbird Monitoring Training Workshop. With 26 enthusiastic participants, this was a refreshing occasion to “reconnect” in person with old friends. The workshop also introduced the Programa de América Latina para las Aves Silvestres (PROALAS) bird survey protocols, as well as the eBird Caribbean database, to those who were not familiar with it. We will be heading to St. Vincent for another Landbird Monitoring Training Workshop from January 23 – 27. We are grateful to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, the US Forest Service (International Program) and many others for funding and support to develop our Landbird Monitoring Program.
Jeff Gerbracht presents at Landbird Monitoring Workshop in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Adrianne Tossas).
The entire group at Rancho Baiguate, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Zara Palmer).
Participants in the Landbird Monitoring Workshop, Puerto Rico, look for birds in the forest. (Photo by Holly Garrod)
Listening out for the Whistling Warbler
This year, we will be continuing our work to monitor and assess the status of St. Vincent’s charming, endemic and endangered Whistling Warbler (the “Oreo Bird”). A team from Antioch University joined BirdsCaribbean and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Department of Forestry to determine the impact of the island’s volcanic eruption of April, 2021. Find out what the group learned about the status of this bird here.
We’re on a learning curve!
Participant selfie at Bird Banding Workshop. (Photo by Scott Johnson)
These workshops formed part of our renewed thrust towards capacity building in the islands of the Caribbean. We plan to continue training, educating and engaging with students, ornithologists, conservationists, and non-governmental organizations to enhance the skills and increase the knowledge base of our bird conservationists of the future. Last year, we provided skills training, mentoring and materials to over 175 Caribbean wildlife professionals from more than 21 islands! If you would like to support us in our efforts, we would greatly appreciate it!!
Here are some highlights:
In September we hosted a two-day Wetlands Education Training Workshop in Walkers Reserve, Barbados, where participants not only learned about wetland birds but also the importance of protecting this significant habitat. We are grateful for funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada for this program.
The group at Walkers Reserve learn about different types of wetlands.
Following our session in Nassau, we were thrilled to announce that the Caribbean Bird Banding Network now has its very own North American Banding Council (NABC) certified banding trainer, Juan Carlos Fernandez. In addition, three Caribbean nationals passed the rigorous exam and were certified as banders in 2022. It’s important for our young Caribbean conservationists to have a certificate in their hand. We are so proud of our trainees, and feel sure they will inspire others. Learning is sharing!
The group observes a bird banding demonstration. Workshop Facilitator, Claire, bands a Red-legged Thrush.
Motus is moving…
Motus station installation in Barbados (Photos by Maya Wilson)
One of the most exciting developments of 2022 is the Caribbean Motus Collaboration, now under way. This dynamic monitoring research network was developed by Birds Canada, using automated radio telemetry to track flying creatures with nano-tags (including birds). The system already includes hundreds of receivers and thousands of tags, across the United States and Canada and more recently in Central and South America. The Caribbean cannot be left out, as it is more critical than ever to track our migrating birds, their flyways and stopover sites.
So, we kick-started our Motus network with the installation of two towers in Puerto Rico in March. It was an amazing learning process for twelve trainees, supervised by experts from our supportive partners, the Northeast Motus Collaboration (NMC). As part of our Caribbean Landbird Monitoring Network, this is yet another skill that our Caribbean trainees have been working on – and this should develop into a “train the trainers” opportunity across the islands.
We are keeping up the momentum! You should see more Motus towers going up in the next year or so in The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Saba, and several other islands. And birds are already being tracked by the new towers!
Expressing love for Caribbean birds…
The theme of our Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (April 22 to May 22, 2022) was “Loving Birds Is Human Nature.” Well, isn’t that true? It inspired all kinds of creativity through our first ever poetry competition and a short story competition. The eloquent and passionately expressed entries, in English and Spanish, were compiled in a beautiful online anthology. Also online, we continued our “From the Nest” series with a focus on Caribbean endemic birds, providing all kinds of information on the very special birds that make up almost one third of the total number of species found in our region.
The World Migratory Bird Day theme this fall was “Dim the Lights for Birds At Night.” Activities across the islands included talks on this subject (light pollution is a growing problem for migratory birds, even in the Caribbean), bird walks, and more. The 2023 theme is already revealed, and it is simply “Water” – that essential for all forms of life!
Global Big Day got bigger (again)
Global Big Day (Saturday, May 14) was nothing short of spectacular for the Caribbean. The numbers literally soared, as observers spotted 473 species, with Cuba coming out on top with 166. Record numbers of observers and checklists were posted on eBird Caribbean. Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica all saw over 80% of their endemic species. As in past years, BirdsCaribbean’s fifteen teams were in hot competition, while raising funds for Caribbean travel to the AOS-BC conference in Puerto rRicao. We are looking forward to more records being smashed in 2023!
… AndSpeaking up for Caribbean birds
Phew! What a year – and there is much more to come. On a more sober note: we know that many of our birds are in decline. In fact, about one quarter of the species that live in the Caribbean and nowhere else are in trouble. Additionally, a number of the migratory species that visit our region annually are facing challenges. These include development (housing and coastal tourism), pollution, unsustainable agricultural practices, wildlife trafficking, and a range of impacts from climate change, including extreme weather events, sea level rise, and higher temperatures. BirdsCaribbean will continue to be a champion for our birds. You will hear our voice as we seek greater protection for them.
A mixed flock of shorebirds, including Willets and Short-billed Dowitchers, enjoying a Caribbean wetland. (Photo by Ernesto Reyes)
Despite all the concerns, thanks to our amazing Giving Tuesday and year-end fundraising efforts, we continue to move ahead in a spirit of optimism. We are enormously grateful to all our donors and supporters. Stay tuned for more exciting news – and ways in which you can get involved – in the very near future!
Keep an eye out for Brown Pelicans during CWC2023. (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
Without a doubt, today’s featured #CWC2023 waterbird is one of the more easily recognized birds by birders and non-birders alike. It’s the Brown Pelican!
Perched on rocks along the coastline or gliding just above the water it’s an unmistakable bird with its large and stocky brown body, oversized bill and long thin neck. Breeding adults have a pale yellow to whitish head, a reddish-brown hindneck, and white fore-neck. Nonbreeding adults have a pale yellow head and white hindneck. Juveniles are overall grayish-brown.
Brown Pelicans feed on small fishes near the surface of the water by diving head first into the water. During a dive they tuck their heads in and rotate their bodies to the left, possibly to protect the trachea and esophagus from impact. Its throat pouch expands to capture the fish and in the process fills with up to 2.6 gallons of water! They sometimes feed by sitting on the surface of the water and capturing prey with their bills or steal food from other seabirds.
Brown Pelicans have relatively large webbed feet which help them to swim and incubate their eggs. Yes, pelicans incubate their eggs by standing on them! The skin on their feet helps keep the eggs warm. During the 1950s, researchers reported that pelican eggs were cracking under the weight of the parents. You might think the parents were getting too heavy but the eggshells were actually thinner. This was caused by the pesticide DDT. Following the strict enforcement of pesticide use regulations, Brown Pelicans made a full comeback from the brink of extinction.
Adult Brown Pelican in breeding plumage, St. Martin. (Photo by Mark Yokoyama)
Brown Pelican diving. (Photo by Rafael Arvelo)
Adult Brown Pelican. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
At the busy nesting colony.
A pair of breeding Brown pelicans and their hungry chick. (Photo by Nelson Biffar)
Dinner time! A Brown Pelican chick gets a meal. (Photo by Jason Wilder Macaulay Library- ML200507701)
A Juvenile Brown Pelican takes a swim. (Photo by David Barnas)
Juvenile Brown Pelican feeding. (Photo by Mark Yokoyama)
Brown Pelican diving for fish. (Photo by Bernie Duhamel)
Adult Brown Pelican perched, St. Martin. (Photo by Mark Yokoyama)
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs through Friday February 3rd. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
We are tracking where Piping Plovers have been seen during CWC 2023. Send us your sightings as you make them and we will update the map. This means you can track our progress in finding Piping Plovers live during the survey. You can check back to this post to see map updates or follow them on our Caribbean Piping Plover Survey page.
Zoom in or out to view your region or the whole Caribbean. Click the icon in the top right corner to see a larger map. You can share your sightings, including a grid reference and your count of Piping Plovers at that location (if more than one was seen) with waterbird.manager@birdscaribbean.org or on the BirdsCaribbean listserv.
NOTE: If you are not within the Caribbean but have seen a Piping Plover during the CWC survey period you can still share your sightings and we will add them to the map! And we will continue to add all sightings of Piping Plovers in 2023 to this map, so please continue your CWC counts and send us your eBird Caribbean checklists. Remember that although we have one annual 3-week regional count period (14 Jan-3 Feb), we encourage everyone to carry out CWC counts year-round, especially during fall and spring migration. We need much more information on all the habitats that shorebirds and waterbirds use throughout the year. Thanks!!!
Why Join the Survey?
This small, round shorebird is listed as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN with an estimated global breeding population of just 8,400 birds. They breed in restricted areas of North America but migrate south in fall with some birds spending their winter in the Caribbean. It’s vital that we continue to learn more about the numbers and distribution of this rare shorebird in our region.
We already know about some of the main islands and areas where Piping Plovers spend the winter in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, and Turks and Caicos Islands. We also know they have been spotted in smaller numbers in other countries, including Puerto Rico and its offshore islands and cays, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the US and British Virgin Islands, St Kitts, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, and Bonaire (there are just one or two records for some of these countries). But in the ‘right’ habitat there are likely more Piping Plovers to be found, both in ‘new’ locations on islands where they have been seen before and perhaps some islands where they haven’t been seen yet. We need more people out there looking for them!
Share Your Survey Experience
As well as sharing your Piping Plover locations with us we’d love for you to send us any photos or videos from your CWC surveys! These can be of the birds you see or the amazing places you visit during your surveys or of you and your survey buddies taking part in CWC! You can share your photos and videos with us on social media, tag us @birdscaribbean in your posts and use #CWC2023 or share with waterbird.manager@birdscaribbean.org or on the BirdsCaribbean listserv.
We look forward to finding out where you spot Piping Plovers during CWC2023!
Resources to Help With Surveys
ID Resources
Piping Plovers are small, round shorebirds with ‘stubby’ black bills and orange legs. Their upper parts are pale brown, the colour of dry sand, and they are white below. We have made a handy ID guide to help you pick out Piping Plovers from some of the other small plovers that winter in the Caribbean.
They also have a unique two-note high to low pee-too call that you can listen out for.
Piping Plovers can be quite vocal, even during the winter. They often give a mellow two-part whistle, that drops in pitch, pee-too. Sometimes they only give the first part of this call as single, repeated with several seconds between each call: pee … pee … pee.
Don’t forget to scan the legs of any Piping Plovers you see for colour bands. Finding and reporting these bands can help us learn more about where different breeding populations spend the winter. You can find out how to report bands in our helpful guide (above). More information and different versions of this guide to reporting banded Piping Plovers are available to download on our Shorebird Resources webpage.
Guide to Piping Plover Habitats
Piping Plovers in the Caribbean are often seen in small flocks resting and feeding on sand flats. Even here, out in the open, they can be tricky to spot with their ‘dry sand’ coloured plumage blending with their surroundings. Be sure to also check any seaweed (wrack) on the beach as this is another favourite haunt of theirs. Other places Piping Plovers might be found include mudflats, mangroves, and along rocky areas of shoreline, where again they blend in beautifully, especially if they are resting. Check out and share our handy graphics, with artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez, to remind you where to look.
Click on each image to enlarge then right click to “save as….” a jpeg. Use these links to download each image in higher resolution as a pdf: Sand Flats, Mangroves, Beach Wrack, Rocky Shore
We want as many people as possible to join in our effort to look for Piping Plovers during the 2023 CWC regional count period. Be sure to watch Sidney Maddock’s webinar before you plan your surveys. You can also use and share these survey tips to get the most out of your Piping Plover surveys.
When you do your surveys please treat them like all your other CWC surveys. This means you should count all the bird species that you see (in addition to any Piping Plovers). Make sure you enter your data in eBird Caribbean using one of the CWC protocols on Step 2 of data entry (online). If using the eBird app, set your portal to eBird Caribbean to access the CWC options for your checklists.
Look and listen out for Piping Plovers during CWC2023. (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
The Caribbean Waterbird Census starts today! And our featured bird is the small, round, sand-colored Piping Plover.
These plump shorebirds have ‘stubby’ bills that are orange at the base with a black tip in summer and completely black in winter. When they are breeding they have a black band all or part of the way around their neck and breast. In the autumn and winter some birds will completely lose this band. Piping Plovers are white below and their ‘dry sand’ colored plumage above can make them tricky to spot. Don’t forget to look out for their orange legs! You can listen out for their distinctive two-note “pee-too” whistling call to help you locate them.
Listed as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN the small global Piping Plover population only breeds in restricted areas of North America. Developments on beaches and lake shores mean Piping Plovers have lost some of their breeding habitat. This means Piping Plovers are now far less common than they used to be. Nesting areas on beaches are now often protected from disturbance to try to help the population increase.
Look out for banded birds and be sure to report and sightings. (Photo by Patrick Leary)
A Piping Plover in winter plumage with an all-black bill.
A Piping Plover chick. Piping Plovers breed in restricted areas of North America.
A small flock of Piping Plovers in winter plumage. (Photo by Walker Golden)
Piping Plovers wintering in Cuba. How many can you see in this flock? (Photo by Martin Acosta)
Juvenile Piping Plover. (Photo by Stephen Buckingham)
A Piping Plover in breeding plumage. (Photo by Stephen Buckingham)
Wintering Piping Plover on a sand flat. (Photo by Lisa Sorenson)
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs through Friday February 3rd. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
Look and listen out for Clapper Rails during CWC2023. (Artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez)
This year we have featured seven waterbirds in our Caribbean Water Census graphic! Find out more about each of these beautiful birds in our blog posts and on social media.
It’s January, which can only mean… the Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) is back! Get ready with us for the CWC2023 and meet this year’s featured waterbirds. First up is a bird you’re most likely to hear before you see it— the Clapper Rail.
The Clapper Rail is one of our larger rails. Their coloration varies across the geographical range, but in the Caribbean they are a dull buffy-cinnamon overall with gray on the face. They have pale-orange down-curved bills. Clapper rails rarely fly, spending most of its time on the ground concealed by dense vegetation, typically mangroves. This makes them hard to spot! You will need to listen for its call which can be a short series of clacking “cac-cac-cac” or grunting notes.
If you’re lucky, you may be able to see it boldly stalking prey like small crabs, aquatic insects, and small fishes, twitching its short tail as it walks, or swimming across a tributary. Although large bodied and abundant across its range, along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, and also in the Yucatan and Caribbean, its secretive habits mean its biology remains somewhat a mystery.
Marshes and mangroves are important areas for the Clapper Rail and although not a species of conservation concern, habitat modification can hamper successful nesting. Draining for example causes low marsh plants to be replaced by high marsh or terrestrial plants reducing availability of suitable nesting sites for this rail.
Searching for food in shallow water in Cuba. (Photo by Christoph Moning- Macaulay Library- ML89873881)
Hiding in the mangrove, Bahamas. (Photo by Martha Cartwright)
Clapper Rail in a mangrove, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Dubi Shapiro- Macaulay Library- MLS105126447)
Out on the mud in full view! (Photo by Dubi Shapiro- Macaulay Library- ML495063441))
Clapper Rail amongst mangrove trees. (Photo by Carlos Gomez)
Clapper Rail spotted in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Objio Sarraff)
If you see any Clapper Rails on your #CWC2023 counts this year, don’t forget to tag us @birdscaribbean and share your amazing photos!
CWC 2023 starts on Saturday January 14th and runs to Saturday February 4th. See below for detailed instructions and free downloadable resources to help you make the most of your waterbird counts and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Piping Plovers!
This small, round shorebird is listed as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN with an estimated global breeding population of just 8,400 birds. They breed in restricted areas of North America but migrate south in fall with some birds spending their winter in the Caribbean. It’s vital that we continue to learn more about the numbers and distribution of this rare shorebird in our region. Read on to find out how you can help us.
The 14th annual Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) Region-Wide count will be taking place at the start of 2023, from January 14 to February 3. This year we are asking you to make a special effort to find and count Piping Plovers. You can do this by planning your CWC surveys in places where Piping Plovers have been seen before (explore their sightings on eBird). Or by doing surveys in places where there might be suitable habitat for wintering Piping Plovers. We have plenty of information and resources to help you plan your surveys and pick out Piping Plovers from the pack!
Track Piping Plover Sightings Live!
We are tracking where Piping Plovers have been seen during CWC 2023. Send us your sightings as you make them and we will update the map. This mean you can track our progress in finding Piping Plover live during the survey. Click on each point for more information about each sighting.
Zoom in or out to view your region or the whole Caribbean. Click the icon in the top right corner to see a larger map. You can share your sightings, including a grid reference and your count of Piping Plovers at that location (if more than one was seen) with waterbird.manager@birdscaribbean.org or on the BirdsCaribbean listserv.
NOTE: If you are not within the Caribbean but have seen a Piping Plover during the CWC survey period you can still share your sightings and we will add them to the map! And we will continue to add all sightings of Piping Plovers in 2023 to this map, so please continue your CWC counts and send us your eBird Caribbean checklists. Remember that although we have one annual 3-week regional count period (14 Jan-3 Feb), we encourage everyone to carry out CWC counts year-round, especially during fall and spring migration. We need much more information on all the habitats that shorebirds and waterbirds use throughout the year. Thanks!!!
What to look for
Piping Plovers are small, round shorebirds with ‘stubby’ black bills and orange legs. Their upper parts are pale brown, the colour of dry sand, and they are white below. We have made a handy ID guide to help you pick out Piping Plovers from some of the other small plovers that winter in the Caribbean.
They also have a unique two-note high to low pee-too call that you can listen out for.
Piping Plovers can be quite vocal, even during the winter. They often give a mellow two-part whistle, that drops in pitch, pee-too. Sometimes they only give the first part of this call as single, repeated with several seconds between each call: pee … pee … pee.
These little birds can sometimes be very tricky to spot and blend in to their surrounding so you’ll need to look carefully to find them! If you do find any Piping Plovers don’t forget to scan their legs for colour bands. Finding and reporting these bands can help us learn more about where different breeding populations spend the winter. You can find out how to report bands in our helpful guide (above). More information and different versions of this guide to reporting banded Piping Plovers are available to download on our Shorebird Resources webpage.
Where to look
Thanks to dedicated survey efforts over the past few years, we already know about some of the main islands and areas where Piping Plovers spend the winter in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, and Turks and Caicos Islands. We also know they have been spotted in smaller numbers in other countries, including Puerto Rico and its offshore islands and cays, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the US and British Virgin Islands, St Kitts, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, and Bonaire (there are just one or two records for some of these countries). But in the ‘right’ habitat there are likely more Piping Plovers to be found, both in ‘new’ locations on islands where they have been seen before and perhaps some islands where they haven’t been seen yet. We need more people out there looking for them!
Piping Plovers in the Caribbean are often seen in small flocks resting and feeding on sand flats. Even here, out in the open, they can be tricky to spot with their ‘dry sand’ coloured plumage blending with their surroundings. Be sure to also check any seaweed (wrack) on the beach as this is another favourite haunt of theirs. Other places Piping Plovers might be found include mudflats, mangroves, and along rocky areas of shoreline, where again they blend in beautifully, especially if they are resting. Check out and share our handy graphics, with artwork by Josmar Esteban Márquez, to remind you where to look.
Just how do you spot those easily camouflaged, tiny plovers? Graphics from Josmar Esteban Marquez shared all the tips!
Click on each image to enlarge then right click to “save as….” a jpeg. Use these links to download each image in higher resolution as a pdf: Sand Flats, Mangroves, Beach Wrack, Rocky Shore
We want as many people as possible to join in our effort to look for Piping Plovers during the 2023 CWC regional count period. Be sure to watch Sidney Maddock’s webinar before you plan your surveys. You can also use and share these survey tips to get the most out of your Piping Plover surveys.
When you do your surveys please treat them like all your other CWC surveys. This means you should count all the bird species that you see (in addition to any Piping Plovers). Make sure you enter your data in eBird Caribbean using one of the CWC protocols on Step 2 of data entry (online). If using the eBird app, set your portal to eBird Caribbean to access the CWC options for your checklists.
Thanks to Environment and Climate change Canada for helping to funding these resources and our efforts to survey Piping Plovers during our 2023 CWC!
Celebrating World Migratory Bird Day in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Maria Paulino)
Every year thousands of birds make epic journeys south, visiting our region on the way. Throughout the fall we celebrated these amazing migratory birds in the Caribbean during World Migratory Bird Day. Check out the fun and creative ways that Caribbean organizations got involved from Laura Baboolal, the Caribbean Coordinator, of World Migratory Bird Day for Environment for the Americas.
October 8th, 2022 marked the official date for World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) in the Caribbean. However, it is celebrated throughout the fall migration season. This year’s theme for WMBD was “Dim the Lights for Birds at Night.”
Light pollution is known to adversely affect wildlife. For migratory birds in particular, it causes disorientation when they fly at night, leading to collisions with buildings. It also interferes with their internal clocks, which they use to time their migrations.
The good news is that more and more cities are taking measures to dim their lights at night, especially during spring and fall migration phases. Find out how the Caribbean is doing its part to ensure the safety of birds during migration.
Since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions on most islands in the Caribbean, educators were all excited to get back out there hosting in-person WMBD. Activities were held in Anguilla, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Bonaire, Montserrat, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, just to name a few.
Here we highlight some of this year’s WMBD activities!
On a learning curve in Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico several organizations joined together to celebrate WMBD 2022. Víctor Cuevas from US Forest Service, Hilda Morales from Asociación Puertorriqueña de Interpretación and Educación (APIE), Emilio Font from Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña (SOPI), and Yaritza Bobonis from Fundación Amigos de El Yunque hosted birding walks, talks about the importance of birds, migration, how to observe birds, and other educational activities.
Click on images to enlarge
Víctor Cuevas from US Forest Service, Hilda Morales from Asociación Puertorriqueña de Interpretación and Educación (APIE), Emilio Font from Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña (SOPI), and Yaritza Bobonis from Fundación Amigos de El Yunque. (Photo by Nancy Merlo)
A WMBD birding walk in Puerto Rico. (Photo by Brenda Peña )
Learning about migratory birds and light pollution. (Photo by Yaritza Bobonis)
A swampy experience in Trinidad and Tobago
Across in Trinidad and Tobago, a local school teacher Sabira Ali, who hosts private birding activities for children, celebrated WMBD for the first time with her group of 14 students. The activity included a presentation at the Caroni Swamp Visitor’s Centre about migratory birds followed by an art activity – decorating bird masks. Afterwards, the children enjoyed a casual bird walk at the swamp. The evening was spent checking birds off their checklists. We are also happy to share that the group sent letters to local businesses, requesting that they turn off building lights at night (and explaining how this helps the birds).
Click on images to enlarge
Decorating bird masks in Trinidad! (Photo by Sabira Ali)
Learning about migratory birds at Caroni Swamp. (Photo by Sabira Ali)
Taking a walk at Caroni Swamp Trinidad. (Photo by Laura Baboolal)
Birding delight in the Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic the search was on for migratory birds. At El Jardín Botánico Nacional (The National Botanical Garden) students from el Politécnico Movearte (Movearte Polytechnical School), el Liceo Panamericano (the Pan-American High School) and el Liceo Benito Juárez (the Benito Juárez High School), went birdwatching and were delighted to see the following species: Cape May Warbler, Prairie Warbler, American Redstart, and Merlin.
Maria Paulino, of local environmental NGO Grupo Acción Ecológica, hosted a 3-day workshop entitled “Introducción al Maravilloso Mundo de las Aves” (Introduction to the Wonderful World of Birds) for fifth grade students of Grado del Colegio Doulos (Doulos College) in Jarabacoa. One day was designated Observation Day, where participants could see birds in their natural habitats; these included several migratory species such as the Black-throated Blue Warbler, Ovenbird and Black-and-White Warbler.
Click on images to enlarge
Making bird masks in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Maria Paulino)
A School group enjoying WMBD activities in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Maria Paulino)
Birding in the Botanic Gardens. (Photo by Maria Paulino)
Light can be a bad thing for birds…
On Antigua and Barbuda, the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) encouraged students and teachers to think about light pollution and its effects on migratory birds. Presentations were given at Antigua State College and St. Anthony’s Secondary School, by Joshel Wilson.
Click on images to enlarge.
Learning about light pollution and migratory Birds with Joshel Wilson from EAG. (Photo by EAG)
Joshel talks to School group about World Migratory Bird Day. (Photo by EAG)
Members of the Wadadli Warblers, a local birding club on the island, also joined in the WMBD festivities. They carried out several point counts at various locations around Antigua and Barbuda, which were then uploaded to eBird Caribbean.
We extend a massive thank you to all the amazing people and organizations celebrating WMBD – this year and every year! We look forward to learning more about your fantastic activities planned for 2023.
World Migratory Bird Day 2023—Announcement of the theme!
World Migratory Bird Day 2023 is just around the corner! We have already started planning the campaign, which will focus on the topic of water and its importance for the survival of migratory birds. Water is fundamental to life on our planet. The vast majority of migratory birds rely on aquatic ecosystems during their life cycles. Inland and coastal wetlands, rivers, lakes, streams, marshes, and ponds are all vital for feeding, drinking, or nesting, and also as places to rest and refuel during their long journeys.
Unfortunately, these watery ecosystems are becoming increasingly threatened around the world – and so are the migratory birds that depend on them. The increasing human demand for water, as well as pollution and climate change, are having a direct impact on the availability of clean water and the conservation status of many migratory birds. The campaign will seek to highlight and identify key actions for protecting water resources and aquatic ecosystems.
Water is so precious!
If you are interested in celebrating WMBD in your country, we encourage you to visit the WMBD website for more information or contact the Caribbean Regional Coordinator, Laura Baboolal, at lbaboolal@environmentamericas.org. If you have an event planned, you can register it and put the Caribbean on the global events map.
With bird migration in full swing September was the perfect time for BirdsCaribbean to head to Barbados for a Wetlands Education Training Workshop! From September 27-28, 2022 30 participants took part in this ‘train the trainers’ event at Walkers Reserve, where they learned all about the wondrous wetlands and wetland birds on Barbados.During the two daysof fun-filled and hands-on learning, participants were armed with tools, resources, andinspirationto help them share what they learned with others. Read all about what the workshop was like from the perspective of workshop participant Meike Joseph.
In September I completed a two-day Wetlands and Bird Education Training Workshop held by BirdsCaribbean at Walkers Reserve, Barbados. Initially, when I found out about this workshop, I got excited. I see birds on a regular basis but have not been able to identify them. So now you know why I joined this workshop – I wanted to learn how to identify birds. As it turned out I learnt so much more than that! Considering that this workshop was just two days, the information was extremely useful for my field of work. I did not feel overwhelmed at any point. The facilitators made learning easy, explaining all aspects of each topic in its simplest form so we could easily understand and absorb the information.
Talking about wetlands
On the first day of the workshop we were given a substantial amount of learning materials including bird identification charts, colouring books, and a book, Wondrous West Indian Wetlands: Teachers’ Resource Book, which is packed with information on Caribbean wetlands and birds, including many educational activities that can be done with kids and communities. We were also given a pop quiz as soon as registration was completed. Needless to say, I panicked as I didn’t know much about birds or wetlands! However, this quiz was helpful. As we did the same quiz at the end of the two-day period, it allowed the facilitators and myself to see how much we had learned, and it was a lot!
The group at Walkers Reserve learn about different types of wetlands from Michele Kading.
Marvelous mangroves
We gained a significant amount of knowledge on wetlands, including definitions of wetlands and what we would find within these amazing ecosystems, with a focus on mangroves. This intrigued me as I am very passionate about them. We received a booklet on Mangroves of the Caribbean which assisted in mangrove identification, and also learnt about how important they are as homes and protection for all kinds of birds, fish, crustaceans and other organisms.
Learning about the different types of mangroves on Barbados.
Pouring a pond!
We then participated in a demonstration titled Pour-a-Pond (Activity 2-C in Wondrous West Indian Wetlands). This was the highlight of the first day for me. We made a small pond-like structure from a sheet of plastic which was filled with water from the ponds at Walkers Reserve. We were then asked to catch and identify the various organisms that we spotted in the water, using an identification chart that was given to us by Dr. Sorenson and Ms. Kading. This activity resulted in lots of interaction between the students who were all fascinated by the many organisms they found. After this demonstration, we learned a lot about the importance and value of our wetlands, the ongoing destruction of these unique ecosystems, and why we should make efforts to save them.
Next, John Webster, an experienced birder and bird guide in Barbados gave an excellent presentation on Wetlands in Barbados and the many resident and migratory birds that use these sites. I found this riveting! I am a local person, but I had never seen or heard about some of these locations. John pointed out that many of these wetland areas were once used for bird shooting but some are now becoming conservation areas.
John Webster talking to the group about wetlands in Barbados
Time to get active
At noon, we separated into six groups to partake in different activities from the workbook. We then demonstrated them to the other participants. The title of my group’s activity was ‘Salty Currents’ where we gathered materials and used them to show what occurs when fresh and saltwater meet, as they do in swamps. We also discussed how water temperature and salinity influence plant and animal habitats in wetlands. All activities were wetland-and bird-focused and resulted in extensive discussions, and even heated debates!
One such activity, called ‘Difficult Decisions,’ was a role-play where participants in the group discussed real-life environmental issues in a Town Hall setting. Each person took on the role of a different stakeholder, all with different interests in the outcome, for example, debating the fate of a mangrove slated for destruction to make way for a new hotel. The development company, environmental minister, tourism minister, fisherman, eco-tourism guide, local restaurant owner, environmentalist, etc. all have different opinions about whether or not the development should move forward. Each passionately argued their case and voiced their opinion, sometimes sounding like well-known local public figures in similar situations! This brought on laughs but the exercise is valuable in that it places students in the position of decision-makers and challenges them to make up their own minds about what to do.
Another important activity, ‘A Hunter’s Tale,‘ addressed the issue of hunting. This was another role play intended to stimulate students to think about the issue of hunting and make up their own minds about it. Barbados provides important stopover habitats for many migratory shorebirds, however, many of these wetlands are private “shooting swamps” managed for hunting. Hunting has a long history in Barbados and in the past, tens of thousands of shorebirds were killed each fall. Thankfully, some of the “shooting swamps” have been converted into shorebird refuges in recent years, now providing vital habitat for birds like the Lesser Yellowlegs that need a place to rest and feed on their long migrations. These refuges are now wonderful places to see hundreds of shorebirds and waterbirds up close – we were grateful to the hunting clubs that allowed us to visit and enjoy the birds on the field trip the next day!
“There were many highlights to my learning experience at the workshop. It was exciting gaining knowledge on birds but also thrilling to learn about wetlands, particularly the mangroves within them.” – Meike Joseph
Birding 101
Following the peer-teaching activities was a presentation on bird identification. Prior to this presentation, many of us had limited knowledge on identifying birds. We learnt about how to identify birds, including observing size and shape, beak size and curvature, color patterns, behavior, habitat, and more. I found it very interesting that birds change their feather colors or plumage, based on the season – the breeding or non-breeding season. This would sometimes make it tricky to identify some birds! This lesson added to my eagerness to observe birds on Day Two.
Lisa Sorenson gave the group some helpful tips on how to identify birds. (photo by Alex Sansom)
After this presentation, the day ended and we were on our way home, armed with a range of learning materials and a significant amount of knowledge on wetlands and birds.
Day two: On the road we go
Day Two was one of adventure and learning. We headed off to two wetlands to observe and identify the various birds that we saw with our binoculars which had been given, compliments of BirdCaribbean, to be used for continued outreach and education at Walkers Reserve.
Meike (in the foreground) and the group using binoculars to watch birds at Congo Road Swamp and Private Bird Sanctuary, Barbados. (photo by Kierra Clarke)
That relaxing feeling when bird watching
Our first site was Congo Road Private Bird Sanctuary, a former shorebird shooting swamp. We focused on observing and identifying all the birds that we saw. Ms. Kading first led an activity called Sound Mapping (Activity 6-J), which I thought was quite calming. It was a highlight for me at this location. We were asked to sit quietly, to listen to all the sounds around us and also to note the direction of these sounds. This made me realize how long it had been since I quieted down and really tuned in to nature’s beautiful sounds. As I was sitting and listening, I also noticed a bird hunting for food in the water, diving to catch its prey – a fascinating sight.
The second place we went to was one that was unfamiliar to me – a beautiful wetland on the north of the island called Foster’s Swamp, another former shooting swamp, turned bird sanctuary, filled with a great variety of birds. It’s here that I was able to observe a unique bird for me, a juvenile American Golden Plover resting on the grass. This was a beautiful and informative day. We used the knowledge gained from Day One to assist in identifying different wetland birds.
A beautiful American Golden Plover in Barbados, this bird is less common in the Caribbean than the similar looking Black-bellied Plover. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Getting up and active, the group take part in a migration game, Migration Headache, Activity 4-G) on day two of workshop
Later at Foster’s Swamp the group also took part in several of the fun games and activities from the Wetlands Workbook about migration and food webs. Games played included “Migration Headache” which involved ‘migrating’ (running) from breeding areas to increasingly limited wetland habitat (paper plates), learning about the threats faced by migrant birds from habitat loss, pollution, hunting and hurricanes. In “Deadly Links” the participants playing the role of ‘Ospreys’ caused havoc amongst their hapless ‘prey’ – only to discover that they had consumed so many pesticides (accumulated in the food-chain) that their next clutch of eggs wouldn’t hatch. Another intriguing activity was Mangrove Metaphors—learning about the functions and values of mangroves from everyday household objects (e.g., sponge, sieve, cereal box, etc.). Other games involved making a ‘human food web’ and then untangling it, as well as learning about how limited food and habitat resources affect migrating birds in a game called “Habitat Havoc.” Thankfully the weather had cooled during the afternoon and these games got everyone up and active!
Got that Certificate!
The second day of the birding workshop ended with us receiving our certificates stating that we successfully completed the Wondrous West Indian Wetlands Education Training Workshop. Gaining this knowledge on birds was personally satisfying and also assisted me in creating birding tours.
Meike gets her certificate from Michele Kading and Lisa Sorenson. (photo by Kierra Clarke)
Meieke Joseph is a Project Officer and Tour Manager for Walkers Institute for Regeneration Research Education and Design (WIRRED) and environmental non-profit based at Walkers. Whilst studying at UWI Cave Hill she completed a research project on Remnant Wetlands on the West Coast of Barbados. This has fueled her passion to work on mangrove restoration on the island and has also motivated her to work towards more regenerative practices for Barbados.
This workshop was made possible with funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada, and additional support from Walkers Reserve, WIRRED, CPRI Barbados, Vortex Optics, US Forest Service International Programs, and Southeastern Printing. Thanks also to Congo Road and Fosters Swamp Private Bird Sanctuaries for kindly hosting us on the field trip. You can learn more about the Wonderful West Indian Wetlands project here.
If you want to learn more about shorebirds in the Caribbean check out our shorebird resources page here, which has downloadable ID resources, outreach materials, videos and information pages.
The 14th annual Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) Region-Wide count is just around the corner! This year we are asking people to make a special effort to look out for Piping Plovers- read on to find out everything you need to know about CWC in 2023.
Starting in 2010 our annual CWC region-wide count has seen enthusiastic birders venture into wetlands across the Caribbean to systematically survey all types of waterbirds. This fascinating and varied group includes shorebirds, seabirds, wading birds, marsh birds, and waterfowl! In its 14th year CWC 2023 begins on Saturday, January 14 and runs until Saturday, February 3. As always we need you to help by surveying all types of waterbirds in the wetlands on your island! Anyone can participate in the CWC – just head out to your nearest wetland or beach, and record the birds you see. Detailed information about how to conduct surveys can be found here. A wonderful world of waterbirds awaits!
Note: Our beautiful CWC promotional graphics (created by Josmar Esteban Márquez) are available for free download in English, Spanish and French, and also as a template in Canva so that you can add your logo and modify it for your events – see links below. This year’s featured birds include (clockwise from upper left) the Brown Pelican, White-tailed Tropicbird, Little Blue Heron, Green-winged Teal, Clapper Rail, Pied-billed Grebe, and Piping Plover.
Why the CWC?
Why do we want to take part? It’s more than just an opportunity for another great birding excursion. The Caribbean is home to 185 species of waterbirds! Many of these are migratory but the group also includes many endemic species and a number that are endangered globally. Waterbirds and their wetland habitats in the Caribbean face a range of threats, including development, pollution, human activities, and climate change impacts. A structured, long-term survey program, like the CWC, is essential for understanding how to best conserve this exceptional group of birds and manage their habitats.
Help is at hand! Become a Waterbird expert!
Handy tips for your CWC surveys- also available in Spanish and French (see end of post)
How do you get started? We are here to assist you! If you have never participated in the CWC before or you just want some tips for how to plan and carry out your CWC surveys in 2023, then you can use our handy ‘CWC Survey Tips’ infographic to help you get started. This is also available in Spanish and French. You can also share these tips with others to encourage them to take part! Another great way to learn more about CWC and how to carry out surveys is to watch our webinar “How to Participate in the Caribbean Waterbird Census” which is available on our YouTube channel. And there are CWC survey guidelines here.
We know that waterbirds and shorebirds can sometimes be difficult to identify. One sandpiper can look very much like another. Long bill? Short bill? Yellow legs? But don’t despair! BirdsCaribbean is here to help you build your ID skills! We have free online resources that will help you pick out those plovers in their winter plumage and get to grips with your sandpiper ID – which is a fine art in itself.
You can get ready for your CWC surveys by downloading our ID Guide to Common Caribbean Shorebirds, which you may like to print and take with you. It’s really helpful to have a pictorial guide with you when you are standing in that muddy wetland or at the beach. You can also watch our two other CWC webinars on waterbird and shorebird ID. These and many other ID and outreach resources are available for you to use and download on this page.
Our Caribbean shorebird poster is available for free download in English, Spanish and French.
2023 Piping Plover Alert
For CWC 2023 we are asking that people make an extra effort to look for Piping Plovers. Piping Plovers are small rotund shorebirds that are a delight to see. But they are also listed as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN, with a small population size. They breed in restricted areas of North America but migrate south in fall with some birds spending their winter in the Caribbean!
Piping Plovers in the Turks and Caicos Islands. (photo by Eric Salamanca)
We already know about some of the main places where they spend the winter, like the Bahamas, Cuba, and Turks and Caicos. We also know they have been spotted in other places including Jamaica, Bonaire, and the Dominican Republic. It’s very likely that in the ‘right’ habitat there are more Piping Plovers to be found! Including in ‘new’ places on islands where we already know they winter. They may even spend their winters on some islands where they have not been recorded before. We would like to know more about their whereabouts and to record them on eBird.
It’s vital that we continue to learn more about the numbers and distribution of this rare shorebird in our region. Knowing where their habitat is will help us protect and conserve the beaches and wetlands that Piping Plovers and other shorebirds need to survive. Keeping an eye open for these birds is extra important, for this reason. We already have some resources to help you. You can find out all about surveying for Piping Plover, including ID tips, the habitats they use, and survey considerations in our recent Piping Plover webinar from expert Sidney Maddock. Check out also the ID cards and habitat types to look for Piping Plovers in this article. We also have information on what to do if you spot a color-banded Piping plover (or other bird) on our shorebird resources page.
Finally, check out the awesome Piping Plover merchandise, including t-shirts, hats, sticker and more – just what you need for your 2023 CWC surveys! Note: These items are shipped from the US so ordering via a US based mail service or doing a group order to a Caribbean island should help reduce shipping costs. Check our social media and web pages too, for more Piping Plover resources to come!
Don’t forget to eBird!
An important aspect of the CWC is that it is all captured and stored on eBird Caribbean. As you enter your sightings, you must be sure to use the CWC protocol on Step 2, under “Observation Type.” eBird is playing an increasingly crucial role in the CWC process. If you’re new to eBird, check out our helpful video here on how to use eBird and Merlin. If you need help with eBird submissions (it’s really not complicated!) or with setting up an eBird account, do contact Alex Sansom: waterbird.manager@birdscaribbean.org
Have fun! Stay safe, count responsibly, and enjoy your day (or days) of counting during this three-week period!
Promotional Graphics for CWC 2023 are available in English, Spanish and French. We also have ‘CWC Survey Tips’ graphics in all three languages formatted for Facebook or Instagram . You can add your own logos or event information. Click on each image in the gallery below to enlarge then right click on an enlarged image and ‘save image as’ to download. You can also download our graphics from Dropbox here (higher resolution versions) or use these links to Canva to use our promotional graphics as a template (each link contains graphics in all three languages):
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in 2022! This year’s theme is “Dim The Lights for Birds at Night”. 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: Brown Booby
The Brown Booby is a smart looking seabird with deep chocolate brown plumage above contrasting with a bright white belly. They have pale dagger-like bills and bright yellow legs. Males and females can be distinguished by the color of their bills, their size and their vocalizations. Females have a pink tinge to their bill, are bigger and make a loud honking sound compared to the smaller males which have a blue coloration to their bill and have a much more high-pitched whistling sound.
Brown boobies can be found all over the tropics. This seabird feeds by plunge diving into the ocean to catch its prey, which primarily includes flying fish, and squid. Boobies often forage in mixed seabird flocks and benefit from sub-surface predators such as tunas which drive fish to the surface. While they don’t make a long-distance migration like some birds, they will disperse away from breeding areas and out to sea during the non-breeding season.
They nest in colonies on hillsides, beaches or rocky cliffs of offshore islands and cays. Both males and females share in the incubation of their eggs and the feeding of their young until they fledge at around 100 days old. Females can lay up to 3 eggs, but only one chick ever survives, if younger chicks hatch in the nest the larger first-born chick ejects them out of the nest and the parents stop feeding it. It is believed that parents lay more eggs than they can actually raise as an insurance policy in case the first egg does not hatch or the chick dies at a very young age.
Brown boobies are listed as least concern by the IUCN, however, as ground nesters they are extremely vulnerable to introduced predators such as rats, cats and mongoose. They do best on predator-free islands. At sea they face threats from entanglement in fishing lines (by-catch) and can also act as indicators of at-sea plastic pollution, as they collect plastics from the sea surface and include them in their nests. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Brown Booby
Download the Migratory Birds of the Day Colouring Page! Use the picture above and the photos on this page 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 #WMBD2022Carib
Listen to the calls of the Brown Booby
Mainly silent when at sea, at a breeding colony females make quacking “kaak-kaak-kaak” call.
Puzzles of the Day
Click on the images 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!
An adult Brown Booby at a breeding colony. (Photo by Mark Yokoyama)Two fluffy white Brown Booby chicks. (Photo by Mark Yokoyama)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: We have reached the end of our 2022 celebration of migratory birds in the Caribbean! We hope you have enjoyed learning all about the fascinating birds that we have featured this year, but…..how much do you remember about migratory birds? Remind yourself of some the birds we featured and some of the ‘key words’ linked with bird migration with our Bird Migration Word Search. We have made it challenging with 20 words for you to seek out! Look carefully and find them all.
Remember that word can be straight across, up and down or diagonally and that words can also be forwards or backward. The Once you think you have found all the hidden words you can check your answer here. If you missed one of our birds, want to tackle another puzzle or activity or want to remind yourself of some of the birds that we featured in 2022 or in 2020 you can find all of our past ‘Migratory Birds of the Day’ here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Brown Booby
Read all about the amazing transformation of the island of Redonda : This small island is part of Antigua and Barbuda. It is uninhabited but has become an eco haven for many wildlife including seabirds, migratory birds, and an endemic reptile! Before 2018 the island was overrun by introduced black rats and goats. The now lush and vibrant island is a stark contrast to what Redonda used to look like! Find out how the committed and hard-working team of local and international conservationists was able to transform the island from a barren rock to a green gem.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in 2022! This year’s theme is “Dim The Lights for Birds at Night”. 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: Worm-eating Warbler
The early birder sees the Worm-eating Warbler! On first appearance these drab warblers appear similar to the skulky Swainson’s Warbler we featured earlier, but be sure to check out their face. Worm-eating Warbler has a black stripe through the eye and another black stripe above the eye, whereas Swainson’s Warbler has more of rusty line through the eye and rusty-brown cap. Worm-Eating Warblers have a buffy-tan colored head and more olive colored body compared to the warm brown tones of the Swainson’s Warbler.
They are well known for their habit of hopping through the understory and probing dead leaves, a technique they employ both on their breeding and wintering grounds. Their favorite food is caterpillars which is what earned them their “worm-eating” name.
Within the Caribbean they can mainly be found overwintering in the Bahamas, The Cayman Islands, and the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. They have been recorded occasionally on several other islands throughout the region including Guadeloupe, Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands, Barbados and Curacao. So be sure to be on the lookout this fall! They don’t overwinter exclusively in the Caribbean however, as part of the population will overwinter in Southern Mexico and Central America.
Like many other migratory birds, Worm-eating Warblers choose to migrate at night, giving us another reason to turn the lights off during high volume migration periods. They appear to travel long distances when they are on the move, and it seems they have a preference to hug the Mexican coastline down rather than crossing the Gulf of Mexico. The majority of the data about these birds on both their overwintering grounds and migration stopover comes from Mexico and Central America. There is still more to understand about these birds during their overwintering/migration in the Caribbean.
Be on the lookout for Worm-eating Warblers in forest and scrub habitats in the Greater Antilles. Like other drabber warblers, they tend to be more skulky, hiding in the dense understory. Similar to many other migratory birds, these warblers are suffering from habitat loss, especially on their overwintering grounds, though more study is needed. Have you seen a Worm-eating Warbler on your island? Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Worm-eating Warbler
Download the Migratory Birds of the Day Colouring Page! Use the picture above and the photos on this page 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 #WMBD2022Carib
Listen to the calls of the Worm-eating Warbler
The calls of the Worm-eating Warbler are a load “chip, chip, chip“
Puzzles of the Day
Click on the images 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!
Worm-eating Warbler with a tasty caterpillar. Its caterpillar eating habit gave this bird its name! (Photo by Bryan Calk-Macaulay Library- ML54410741)Worm-eating Warbler perched on the ground. (Photo by Ryan Zucker- Macaulay Library- ML441690171)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Many of the ‘migratory birds of the day’ we’ve met so far make amazing journeys during fall, coming to the Caribbean to rest and refuel or to spend the winter with us. Some of our migratory birds are short and medium distance migrants, like the Black-crowned Night-heron. Perhaps traveling several 100km from their breeding areas to their wintering grounds. Others, like the Worm-eating Warbler are long-distance migrants and might travel 1000s of km during their migratory journeys! Why not try to ‘match’ some of our amazing long distance migrants by taking part in our Tracking Your Migration Miles activity. In this activity we are challenging you to switch some of your journeys from using the car to ‘active travel’ (waking, cycling etc.) to cut your carbon footprint. Don’t worry we are not asking you to run 3,000km, like a Least Sandpiper’s migratory journey! We’ve scaled down our distances (from 3-10km) to make it a fun activity everyone can take part in! Track you progress on our recording sheet here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Worm-eating Warbler
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in 2022! This year’s theme is “Dim The Lights for Birds at Night”. 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: Roseate Tern
Roseate Terns might be one of the Caribbean’s most elegant fliers, flitting about like bats as they swoop down to catch tiny silver baitfish. They are so good at finding schools of baitfish that in some parts of the Caribbean they are known as “Bonito birds” because fisherfolk know that if they cast lines under where Roseate Terns are diving, they are likely to catch bonitos and tuna that are also in the area to catch small bait fish prey!
In the spring when Roseate Terns arrive in the Caribbean to breed, they have solid black beaks and a light rosy blush across their white chests, which gives them their name. As spring progresses, Roseate Tern beaks start to turn dark orange and they lose their pink coloration. By the time they leave the Caribbean for their wintering grounds in South America in the fall, they look very different then when they arrived!
Roseate Terns have a restricted range in North America, meaning they only breed in certain areas. In continental North America, they primarily breed only in a few large colonies in Massachusetts, New York, and Maine. In the Caribbean, they are scattered across the region, with breeding colonies in Florida, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, to name a few. Wherever they are found, breeding Roseate Terns nest only on tiny cays and islets, where they are better protected from predators. They nest right on the ground, and usually only have one chick per year. By September, all breeding Roseate Terns in North America head south to the Brazilian coast, where they will spend the winter eating fish and resting on beaches. They will start arriving in the Caribbean in late April to mid-May, so look for them then!
Terns can be very difficult to identify, so you will need a lot of practice to tell Roseate Terns apart from other Caribbean terns like Sandwich Terns and Royal Terns. In spring, good clues are their all-black bills and bright orange legs. Roseate Terns may be in flocks with other terns, but are distinguished by their longer forked tails and elegant flying style. They are usually found only over ocean water, but tend to stay close to the coastlines, so look for them in the mouths of bays and sandy-bottomed shores, where they like to fish. Their call is said to sound like ripping paper, so keep your ears open as you look! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Roseate Tern
Download the Migratory Birds of the Day Colouring Page! Use the picture above and the photos on this page 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 #WMBD2022Carib
Listen to the calls of the Roseate Tern
The calls of the Roseate Tern include a high-pitched “keek”
Puzzles of the Day
Click on the images 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!
Roseate Tern in breeding plumage. (Photo by Tim Melling)Roseate Tern in flight. (Photo by Karen Gallo)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Today why not imagine that you are a Roseate Tern and take part in our My Migration Journey creative writing activity! We have provided a template for you to write a short story about a migration journey. Pretend that you are a migrating Roseate Tern flying from the US to warm and sunny Brazil. Imagine getting ready to make this epic journey- how would you be feeling having to fly so far? Think about the places you will see along the way and perhaps about other migratory birds you could ‘meet’ on the way. This is a long journey so you should also think about challenges you, as a Roseate Tern, might face!
As well as writing about the journey you might also want to add some pictures to your story. Perhaps you could add a map of where you would be traveling or you could add some pictures of the other migratory birds on the route, of a particular challenge you might face or of a ‘rest stop’.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Roseate Tern preening and taking a rest on the beach.
Read all about Dr. Paige Byerly’s research investigating genetic diversity among Roseate Terns in the Virgin Islands !
FOR KIDS: Do you know what the different parts of a bird are called? Knowing them can help you to learn how to describe and identify birds, as well as colour them in. Learn the names for the parts of a bird by checking out the diagram in this page.
