Category: Waterbirds

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: Black-crowned Night-Heron

While birdwatching at your local wetland, you are most likely to see the Black-crowned Night-Heron perched on trees near the water during the day. As the sun sets, it becomes active searching for food and calling out “Woc” or “Quock.”

Scientists think they feed at night when competition for food is low, since other herons and egrets feed during the day. But they are not picky eaters and will feed during the day in the breeding season. They eat a variety of foods including leeches, earthworms, insects, crayfish, clams, fish, frogs, snakes, eggs, carrion, plants, and even garbage from landfills!

The Black-crowned Night Heron is a medium-sized stocky heron with a short neck and legs – giving it a hunched appearance. Adults have a white head with a distinctive black cap and upper back. Wings, rump, and tail are gray with white to pale gray underparts. Eyes are red and legs yellow-green. During the breeding season, their yellow-green legs turn pink, they develop long white head plumes, and the black on the head and back acquires a blue-green gloss. Juveniles are noticeably different – brown all over with white flecks and yellow eyes.

There are resident populations of Black-crowned Night-Herons on many Caribbean islands, including the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and possibly Barbados. The breeding season varies from as early as January to as late as August. Like many herons they nest in colonies. Males choose the nest site up in a tree and begin to build the twig and stick nest, which they then advertise to prospective mates. Colonies in good locations, free from predators and other disturbances, may be used for 30-50 years!

During fall and winter Black-crowned Night-Herons from colder climates migrate south. Some will travel from as far as Massachusetts or Alberta to spend winter in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean. Mudflats, shallow ponds, creeks, swamps, and marshes are important areas for this bird and should be protected. Black-crowned Night-Heron may even be able to tell you how healthy these areas are. Because they are high-up in the food chain, have a widespread distribution, and are colonial nesters, they make excellent environmental indicators of contamination. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Black-crowned Night-Heron

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 Black-crowned Night-Heron

The calls of the Black-crowned Night-Heron include a croaking abrupt “Woc“

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 Black-crowned Night-Heron, showing the long white plums they grow during the breeding season. (Photo by Stephen Buckingham)

A Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron skulks low down in vegetation. (Photo by Alan D Wilson)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: What facts can you remember about todays migratory bird – the Black-crowned Night-Heron? Test your knowledge by filling in the missing words in our Black-crowned Night-Heron facts! We have given you all the correct words to use but can you put them into the right fact? You can re-read the information all about this bird above, or search on the BirdsCaribbean webpages or online for lots more information about the Black-crowned Night-Heron! Then, when you have completed all the sentences, you can check your answers here.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a Black-crowned Night-Heron in the wild! You can see this bird in the classic ‘hunched over’ posture that this species adopted. Watch it as it hunts for food using a ‘stabbing’ motion with its sharp pointed bill- and eventually catches a fish!

October 13, 2022

Birds Connect Our World – Day 47

Migratory Bird of the Day: Ruddy Duck

A common member of the stifftail family, the Ruddy Duck is a small, compact duck with a scoop-shaped bill. This duck has a long, stiff, spiky-looking tail often held upright. The Male has a black cap and bright white cheeks. During the breeding season, he sports a bright sky-blue bill and chestnut-coloured upperparts. He pairs this ‘ensemble’ with unusual but entertaining courtship displays. In the non-breeding season males are a bit less flashy with -brown upperparts and blackish bills. Females and immatures are brown overall with a dark cap and a distinct dark stripe across the pale cheek.

When breeding males perform a ‘bubbling’ display, the male will hold his tail straight up while striking his bill against his inflated neck. Bubbles are created in the water as air is forced from the feathers. A courting male may also drop his tail and run across the water, making popping sounds with his feet. Males also utters a nasal “raa-anh” call during courtship displays, but outside the breeding season these small ducks are mainly silent .

Ruddy Ducks are resident in parts in the Caribbean, found in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, Virgin Islands and Barbados. Here they use open fresh-water and brackish ponds and lagoons. They feed mainly on aquatic insects, crustaceans, and other invertebrates, as well as small amounts of aquatic plants and seeds. They forage almost exclusively by diving, but are occasionally seen skimming food from the water surface. During fall and winter the Caribbean population is swelled by migratory Ruddy Ducks that breed in the Prairie Pothole region of North America. After breeding they head south to the Caribbean as well as the Gulf Coast, Mexico, and East Coast of the US to spend the winter.

Since Ruddy Ducks depend upon wetlands for their survival, they are directly impacted by threats to these areas such as pollution, habitat loss, and invasive species. It is vital to conserve and protect our wetlands. They provide habitats for the Ruddy Duck and many other species.They also provide invaluable services to humans such as flood protection, improved water quality, natural products, recreation, and so much more! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Ruddy Duck

Listen to the calls of the Ruddy Duck

Outside the breeding season Ruddy Ducks are often silent, but you might hear a nasal “raanh” call

Puzzles of the Day

A male Ruddy Duck during the breeding season performs his display. This involves him raising his tail and making the a distinctive sound and causing the water to bubble by slapping his bill against his chest. (Photo by Rick Evets)

A female Ruddy Duck. She does not have the distinctive bright blue bill of the breeding male but her small size and stiff up-pointed tail are characteristic of this species. (Photo by Gordon Johnston-Macaulay Library-ML354838041)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Ruddy Ducks can be found on ponds, reservoirs and in other wetlands all teaming with life! Ruddy Ducks like to feed on invertebrates and small crustaceans as well as plants. But within a wetland ecosystem all sorts of interactions take place as each animal living there looks for enough food to eat. A food web represents how living animals and plants gain energy from their environment. Take a look at our wetland ecosystem, including the Ruddy Duck, and see how many different links you can find! Think about what types of foods the different animals will eat to get energy. Use lines to make individual food chains. You can find some answers here.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a male Ruddy Duck feeding in the wild! He is diving down to find food, perhaps he is looking for some aquatic vegetation or invertebrates? Notice that now the breeding season is over this male has a black bill (rather than the blue one he has when breeding).

October 2, 2022

James A. Kushlan Research and Conservation Fund to Support Research on Caribbean Waterbirds

BirdsCaribbean is delighted to announce its very first endowed fund, the James A. Kushlan Research and Conservation Fund.

The Fund will provide support on an annual basis for biological, ecological and conservation research on waterbirds in the Caribbean region.

“This is a first for us, a tremendous donation for BirdsCaribbean, and a great opportunity to promote waterbird research in the region,” said Executive Director of BirdsCaribbean Lisa Sorenson, expressing her appreciation for the donation.

“We are very much looking forward to receiving proposals from the Caribbean and to awarding our first grant this fall. We will be announcing a call for proposals in the next couple of weeks.”

Through this generous donation by Dr. Kushlan, BirdsCaribbean will award a competitive grant every year to a deserving waterbird project, based on written proposals. Calls for proposals will advertise the size of the grant (~$4,000 to $4,500), which will provide funds up-front for a project and not require matching funds. Grants will be awarded to anyone (individuals or organizations) without restriction as to academic credentials or affiliation. Applicants from the Caribbean will be given consideration over other nationalities. Studies on rare, endemic, resident, and at risk species and studies leading to their conservation in the Caribbean will be prioritized.

Dr. James A. Kushlan is a distinguished ornithologist, writer, educator, and conservationist, with long ties to BirdsCaribbean and the region through his research on waterbirds and as a co-member of The Waterbird Council. Professionally, he has served as research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, director of Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, professor of biology at the University of Misssissippi and Texas A&M, and wildlife biologist with the U.S. National Park Service. He is the author of ten books and over 250 technical papers and articles.

Dr. Kushlan has served as president of the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society) and Waterbird Society. He is the founder and past chair of Heron Conservation (the IUCN Heron Specialist Group), the North American Waterbird Conservation Initiative and Waterbird Conservation for the Americas, the Bahamas Environment Fund, and the Bird Conservation Alliance, and was a founding member of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative and Wetlands International. Visitors to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida, may explore the Kushlan Bird Walk, supported by the James A. Kushlan .

Tricoloured Heron with a fish — Waterbirds like this Tricolored Heron, photographed in Cuba, will benefit from research funding through our new Kushlan Fund. (Photograph by Aslam Ibrahim)

“The focus of my studies and conservation work in the Caribbean has been on waterbirds, including wading birds such as herons, storks, and ibises,” said Dr. Kushlan. “Many waterbird species are under threat due to habitat loss, climate change, and other factors. I hope that these funds will encourage Caribbean conservationists to conduct some ground-breaking research into these fascinating birds, which deserve greater attention.”

Further details on when and how to apply will be supplied in an announcement in early October.

September 13, 2022

Birds Connect Our World – Day 45

Migratory Bird of the Day: Willet

Willets are large shorebirds with long gray legs and a dark straight, slightly heavy bill, which is sometimes pale at the base. Overall, Willets can look quite nondescript and dull-colored in their winter plumage, with plain gray-brown plumage above and pale feathers below. However, when they take flight look out for the bold white-and-black striped pattern on their wings. This is a give away that you’ve seen a Willet, as none of the other similar-sized shorebirds have this wing-pattern. You can also listen out for their “kip-kip-kip” call which they might make if alarmed or agitated.

Most of the Willets that we see in the Caribbean are long-distance migrants, coming south from their in-land breeding and coastal breeding areas in North America. During fall and winter they can be found on our beaches, mudflats, and other coastal wetland areas. Here they feed on small crabs, worms, clams, and other invertebrates. Willets are often found feeding together in small flocks.

A very small number of Willets actually breed in some parts of the Caribbean including on Puerto Rico, Cuba and Anguilla. During the breeding season they are still overwhelmingly gray-brown in appearance, however their feathers become more streaked, mottled and slightly darker.

As with so many shorebirds, Willets are likely to be negatively affected by habitat loss and degradation across their breeding, migration, and wintering ranges. These changes are occurring through increased agriculture, commercial fishing, shrimp aquaculture, and tourism development. Willets are also hunted in parts of their range. Although currently listed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN it is important that wetland habitats are conserved for Willets and all of our shorebirds. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Willet

Listen to the calls of the Willet

During migration and in winter you might hear Willets make a “kyah-yah” often in flight or as they take flight.

Photos of the Day

Willets are gray-brown in appearing and quite dull looking, until they open their wings an reveal a striking white and black pattern. (Photo by Brad Imhoff)

In winter Willets can be found on beaches and mudflats, where they use their long bills to probe for food. (Photo by Jesse Gordon)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Shorebirds, like Willets, make long migratory journeys in the Fall and Spring between their breeding areas and the places where they will spend the winter. Often their migrations can cover 1000s of kilometres and might involved several re-fuelling stop-offs on the way! Shorebirds ‘wintering grounds’ are often far to the south of where the birds breed. This is so that Shorebirds can survive through the winter in warmer climates, away from the freezing conditions further north. Warmer weather on the wintering grounds also means that food is more abundant and easier to find for these hungry shorebirds. Can you help this Willet find its way on its long migratory journey? Can you help this Willet find its way on its long migratory journey? Find the route through the maze to guide it to warm weather and plenty of food on its wintering grounds. You can find the solution here.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Need some help with your Shorebird ID? We know that these long-legged, long billed, gray-brown birds can be confusing sometimes! If you struggle to pick out Willets from the somewhat similar Short-billed Dowitcher take a read of this blog post by Allison Caton who has some handy tips for you.

Sisters from Different Misters? Learning to Differentiate between Willet and Short-billed Dowitcher

Finally enjoy this video of Willets, moulting into winter plumage, feeding on the beach! Notice how they probe the sand with their long bills, in search of tasty bivalves and crabs.

September 7, 2022

Birds Connect Our World – Day 44

Migratory Bird of the Day: Sanderling

These striking pale-coloured sandpipers are easy to pick-out from other ‘peeps’ (small sandpipers). In their winter colors they have an almost black and white appearance, with black legs and bill and plumage that is pale gray above and white below. You can also look out for a distinctive black shoulder bar, which helps you to be sure you’re seeing a Sanderling. However, perhaps it is their behavior that really gives them away. These ‘wave-catchers’ are constantly running into and out of the surf edge in search of food. Often you’ll see small flocks of them, dashing back and forth along the sand in a blur of black legs and white feathers.

During the breeding season the Sanderlings gray plumage becomes a striking brick-red. They nest in the far north, in high-arctic tundra. But in winter, these ultra long-distance migrants become one of the most wide-spread shorebirds in the world! At this time of year they can be found on almost any temperate or tropical sandy beach, anywhere across the globe. Of course, with our beautiful beaches, this includes the Caribbean.

During each year a proportion of juvenile Sanderling, who are not ready to breed, choose to take a beach holiday. Rather than making the long journey back to the arctic to breed they stay on their wintering grounds. This means they get an extra long rest, and have a better chance to build up their energy reserves before their long migration north the next year.

As a very wide-spread bird, Sanderling populations are not considered to be under threat. However, because Sanderlings love to hang out at beaches, just like people, in some places they are losing access to their habitat. This is from both coast development and increased disturbance by humans at beaches. It’s important that we remember to make space for our birds and share the shore with these beautiful wave-catchers. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Sanderling

Listen to the calls of the Sanderling

Sanderling call softly to each other within a flock with a squeaky “wick wick” call.

Puzzles of the Day

Sanderling in the surf – its favorite habitat! (Photo by Gary McHale)

Sanderlings (Photo by Scott Hecker) — Sanderlings foraging on a beach in a flock. Feeding in a group helps reduce the risk of being caught by a predator. (Photo by Scott Hecker)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Many migratory shorebirds have special features that mean they are perfectly adapted for life on on the mud and sand. These adaptations can range from the shape of their bill and the position of eyes, to the length of their legs and the colours of their feathers. Of course Sanderlings spend a lot of time at the beach. Can you match the Sanderling adaptations to their functions ?

There are four ways in which Sanderlings are adapted for a beach life given, all you need to do is match them up to the correct body part on the Sanderling. You can find the correct answers here. Sanderlings are often seen feeding and flying together in groups. When you download our Sanderling adaptations answer sheet you can also read all about some of the reasons why Sanderlings like to feed together in flocks, and about how this helps protect them from predators, like birds of prey.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a flock of Sanderlings feeding together at a the beach! You can see them running back and forth into and out of the waves in search of food. This is typical Sanderling behaviour and is why some people call them ‘wave-catchers’.

September 6, 2022

Meet Sami the Snowy Plover: a New Graphic Novel for World Shorebirds Day Tells his Survival Stories

BirdsCaribbean is delighted to announce the publication of a new graphic novel, just in time for World Shorebirds Day (September 6, 2022). “Sami the Snowy Plover: Stories of Survival” focuses on the vulnerability of these charming little shorebirds, which overwinter and nest on sandy beaches and salt flats on some islands throughout the Caribbean. You can leaf through this beautifully illustrated book here below or online in English or Spanish.

Josmar E. Márquez, the author and illustrator of the book, is passionate about these fragile shorebirds, whose IUCN status is Near Threatened. As he leads monitoring projects on Coche Island in his native Venezuela, his observations have made him come to love these round-bodied, pale brown plovers as they hurry across the sand. He also recognized the Snowy Plover’s susceptibility to human impacts and disturbances. He decided that he wanted to use his skills as an artist to tell stories that the reading public could empathize with, as he does. Hence little Sami’s story was born.

A naturalist and shorebird researcher and member of BirdsCaribbean and local NGO AveZona, Josmar is Coordinator of the Snowy Plover Monitoring Project in the offshore islands and cays of Venezuela. He explained that the idea of the novel grew in 2020 from a colouring book he created on the Snowy Plover. He worked with BirdsCaribbean’s Executive Director Lisa Sorenson and her team to make it a reality.

Photo of a Snowy plover standing on the shore. — The Snowy Plover is a small, plump ground-nesting shorebird. In the Caribbean, they are primarily found in open, sandy areas near water like beaches, salt ponds, sand and mud flats, and barrier islands. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)

“Getting people to understand the risks faced by many shorebirds, especially Snowy Plover, is a personal goal. I have seen how Snowy Plovers are affected by human activity in their habitat,” says Márquez. To him, the book is “beautiful, tragic and hopeful.”

Page 3 of the graphic novel depicting an ATV being driven across the beach and causing stress to Sami the Snowy Plover. — One of the pages from the book, highlighting the disturbance posed by driving vehicles on the beach causing stress and harm to the Snowy Plover and other ground-nesting shorebirds.

Please take a read through the poignant stories of little Sami, which also have a message for all of us to take to heart. We would also welcome your feedback!

You can read the graphic novel online in both English and Spanish on our Flipsnack account where it is also available for free download. Please share with your networks!

Thanks to Josmar for creating this heart-warming but impactful resource!

Josmar Marquez, from AveZona, has lead bird monitoring projects on Coche Island in Venezuela since 2018. In addition to data collection, his work involves mentoring young conservationists and promoting nature-friendly behavior changes in the local community of the island.

Protecting the Snowy Plovers of Coche Island Through Science and Community

September 6, 2022

Movements of Snowy Plovers in the Offshore Islands of Venezuela—What we have Learned from Banding and Community Monitoring

Naturalist, illustrator, and shorebird researcher Josmar Márquez, who has just produced an online graphic novel “Sami The Snowy Plover: Stories of Survival” shares some encouraging news from the offshore islands and cays of his native Venezuela. His research and field work on Coche Island and Margarita Island for AveZona was supported by BirdsCaribbean through the David S. Lee Fund for Conservation.

Snowy Plover chick resting on salt crystals at Saline San Pedro de Coche, Coche Island. — Snowy Plover chick on salt crystals at Saline San Pedro de Coche, Coche Island. (photo by Sabino Silva)

The Snowy Plover is a special bird, in so many ways. Known in Venezuela as Frailecito it runs across the sand, pauses, and quickly catches its food (flies are its favorite) from the surface. Listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, its population is decreasing. It needs our protection! Let’s take care and share the beach, which is home to these and other shorebirds. Many have migrated long distances, and others use the beach as a breeding area. The Snowy Plovers breed from January to March on these islands. They build their nests by making a small depression in the sand, where they lay three to four eggs. The pair take turns incubating the eggs.

AveZona’s work in monitoring the Snowy Plover population began on Coche Island in 2018. During this year and into 2019, we were able to establish a positive relationship with people in the community. This has helped us to continue periodic counts of this wonderful species in the Saltpans of San Pedro de Coche, despite the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic. All the results of these years of research will be published shortly in The Journal Caribbean Ornithology.

Sabino Rafael Silva, resident of Coche Island, has faithfully monitored the Snowy Plovers and other birds on the salt pans and salinas of Coche Island.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper locally called Playerito dorado (Calidris subruficollis). (Photo by Sabino Silva)

Working under tough conditions…

Coche Island resident, Sabino Rafael Silva, was a major supporter of this project. Due to the travel limitations during the pandemic, when others were not able to visit the island, he was the one who spent many hours walking under the burning sun and extreme conditions on the salt flats. He managed to observe and count the population of Snowy Plovers, and also observe other species of shorebirds in this study area. In other areas of the Isla de Coche, he also observed species not previously reported for the island and for this region of Venezuela.

Two field volunteers- a man and a woman, walking across a lagoon on Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Anahy and Sabino walking in the Restinga Lagoon National Park, Margarita Island. (Photo by Josmar Marquez)

A group photo of Josmar and other members of his team in the lagoon on Margarita Island.

Josmar, Sabino and other members of his team in the Restinga National Park, Margarita Island. (Photo by Josmar Marquez)

Additional important members of the team were Anahy Marcano, Guilberto Figueroa, Carlos Amundarain and Zenaida Martinez. They are “Margariteños” who were able to record the Snowy Plover on several occasions in the Marites Lagoon Natural Monument, a protected area on Margarita island, near Coche Island. These observations were made in conjunction with the Caribbean Flamingo Monitoring Project.

…and involving local residents through volunteerism

Just like Sabino, Anahy, Guilberto, Carlos and Zenaida are volunteers and friends of AveZona who have carried out valuable work on Coche and Margarita Islands. This is a growing group of community members who are now paying greater attention to their birds and the conservation of the islands’ biodiversity. This is an example of “participatory science,” engaging local communities in a conservation project.

A group photo of young children sitting on the floor, while holding a shorebirds of the Caribbean poster. In the background two adults hold a banner with a pair of life-sized flamingo wings printed on it. — Group of young birders in the Marites Lagoon National Monument, Margarita Island. (Photo by AveZona)

AveZona’s programs offer a great learning and bonding opportunity for children, youth and adults in the island region of Venezuela, establishing a sincere and respectful relationship with local communities. These groups will be able to observe, share information, and protect the birds and biodiversity of the islands of Venezuela.

The Snowy Plover, traveling between islands

One of these seven “Frailecito,” tagged with the black band, which can be read from a distance, is individual 6A, banded on Coche Island in February 2020 by Josmar Márquez and Antonio Ros.

6A has since been observed and photographed three times on Margarita island, flying 14 km one way and 14 km back, over the Caribbean Sea. This tagged Snowy Plover has shown us that the plovers that breed in the salt flats of Coche Island may travel between nearby islands and possibly to the coast of mainland Venezuela.

It is possible that all the populations on the Island of Coche are closely related to those observed in the Marites Lagoon Natural Monument and other areas of Margarita Island. We estimated there were 96 (95% CI: 46-201) and 116 (95% CI = 61-220) Snowy Plovers in the Coche Island salt flats in February and December, respectively.

As shown in the table, several of the individuals were seen frequently in the Coche Island salt pan, while others have not been seen since the day of banding. This raises several questions about the survival rates, migration, or dispersal of many of the individuals. As explained above, a population of 96-116 individuals is estimated in the Coche Island salt flats, thus, it may not be possible to observe all the banded individuals.

We hope to hear soon from some individual birds, such as the 4A, 5A, 6A, and 7A that have not been resighted often or at all. We wish 6A the best of luck in his travels to Margarita Island. Perhaps 6A may decide to settle on this Island. In the future, we hope to be able to use other monitoring methods such as Motus nanotags in this population and in the entire population of Snowy Plovers on different islands of Venezuela.

Snowy Plover banded with tag ‘6A’ on Coche Island in February 2020 seen again walking on the mud flat at Margarita Island on September 9, 2021. (photo by Josmar Marquez)

A Snowy Plover, with a black leg ring '6A SNPL' with its head down, searching for food in the mud flat.

Another photo of ‘6A’ on September 9, 2021 at Las Marites Lagoon, Margarita Island. (Photo by Josmar Marquez)

A Snowy Plover, with a black leg ring '6A SNPL' walks along the shore.

Snowy Plover ‘3A’ tagged on Coche Island and photographed on July 17th, 2021. (Photo by Sabino Silva)

Exciting news! Two new protected areas on Coche Island may shelter shorebirds

A great victory for the shorebirds of the island of Coche is the recent creation of the first two areas protecting the biodiversity of this island. Under Official Decree No. 4,550, a Reserve of Wild Fauna was declared for Bahía El Saco, with an area of Four hundred and Eighty-Nine hectares (489 ha).

Map showing Punta de Palo Wildlife Reserve. — Map showing the new Bahía el Saco Wildlife Reserve (green polygon), 489 hectares, and in orange the towns. Map by the Ministry of Ecosocialism of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Under Official Decree No. 4,551, a Reserve of Wild Fauna in Punta El Palo was declared, with an area of Two thousand Nine Hundred Sixteen hectares (2,916 ha). These two areas are of utmost importance for the population of shorebirds and seabirds on the island of Coche.

Map showing the new Bahía el Saco Wildlife Reserve. — The new Punta de Palo Wildlife Reserve, in green the polygon of the Protected Area (2,916 hectares, in orange the towns and in yellow the tourist hotels. Map by the Ministry of Ecosocialism of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

If you spot any of these Snowy Plovers or other shorebirds banded with black flags and white code, please report it to www.paave.net (website of the Bird Banding Program in Venezuela) or at https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/

Acknowledgments: I greatly appreciate support from IDEA WILD for providing equipment for the execution of this project, and to the David S. Lee Fund for the Conservation of Caribbean Birds for funding for the field work.

Josmar Esteban Marquez, from AveZona, has lead bird monitoring projects on Coche Island in Venezuela since 2018. In addition to data collection, his work involves mentoring young conservationists, creating artwork to educate about birds, and promoting nature-friendly behavior changes in the local community of the island.

Meet Sami the Snowy Plover: a New Graphic Novel for World Shorebirds Day Tells his Survival Stories

Protecting the Snowy Plovers of Coche Island Through Science and Community

September 5, 2022

Birds Connect Our World – Day 43

Migratory Bird of the Day: American Oystercatcher

With their large size, striking black and white plumage, pink legs and carrot-like orange bills, American Oystercatchers are truly unmistakable! Males and females look the same, and in addition to their distinctive plumage they have yellow eyes with a red eye ring. If their size and coloring don’t make them conspicuous enough American Oystercatchers will be sure to alert you to their presence with their loud, excited, high-pitched “hueep hueep hueep!” calls.

American Oystercatchers can be found year-round and breed in some islands of the Caribbean, including Cuba, the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Hispaniola, and some Lesser Antilles islands. Outside of the breeding season they can be found across most of the West Indies, with birds migrating south in Fall from breeding areas on the Atlantic coast of the U.S.

Oystercatchers are true coast-lovers, and can be found in areas of rocky shoreline and on beaches and offshore cays. Their orange bills might look comical but they serve a serious purpose. These shorebirds specialize on feeding on bivalve mollusks. Their bills are powerful with razor-sharp edges for breaking into tightly closed clams, oysters and mussels.

The diet of American Oystercatchers means they are restricted to coastal areas. Although they are not currently considered to be of conservation concern by the IUCN, they are on the Partners in Flight’s Yellow Watch List. This is because their population size was estimated at only 10,000 birds in 2000. This led to a flurry of research on the species and conservation actions by the “American Oystercatcher Working Group.”

Biologists learned that American Oystercatchers are threatened by direct loss of their breeding habitat from coastal development and the impacts of human disturbance. They are less likely to breed successfully on beaches with high levels of human activity. Management actions such as raising public awareness and protecting breeding sites from disturbance are helping the population to recover. Undisturbed coastal areas are vital to help them thrive throughout the year in the Caribbean too. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the American Oystercatcher

Listen to the calls of the American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatchers have loud high-pitched ” hueep” or “weeer” calls, which they can repeat in rapid succession (often with increasing rapidity and volume).

Puzzles of the Day

American Oystercatcher. American Oystercatchers use their sturdy, strong bills to pry open mussels, clams, and other bivalves. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)

American Oystercatcher with Chick. Oystercatchers nest in some islands in the the Caribbean, but are just winter visitors on other islands. (Photo by Phillip Simmons)

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Can you find all the words in our American Oystercatcher word search? There are 15 words in total for you to look for. All the words you need to find are linked to the appearance, behaviour, food or favourite habitats of the American Oystercatcher. You can find the answers here.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Don’t forget that you still have time to take part in this year’s Global Shorebird Count. This takes place between September 1 – 7! To take part all you need to do is visit your local wetland and count all the shorebirds (and other birds) that you see there. Then share your eBird Caribbean list with ‘worldshorebirdsday’. You can find out more about how to take part in our handy blog post. This is full of tips and hints for carrying out a successful survey, including links to help out with shorebird ID.

Enjoy this video of an American Oystercatcher. In the video you can see it using it’s bill as it forages on the rocky shore on some tasty mollusks!

September 2, 2022

Birds Connect Our World – Day 42

Migratory Bird of the Day: Least Sandpiper

Meet our smallest Caribbean shorebird, the Least Sandpiper! Even the second part of their scientific name “Calidris minutilla” means “very small” in medieval latin. In fact, these tiny sandpipers, part of the group of shorebirds known as ‘peeps’ are not much bigger than a sparrow. These diminutive wetland inhabitants have a compact body, with brown or reddish-brown plumage above and white below. They have a thin slightly down-curved bill, which is black.

Their legs are quite short for a shorebird, and are a distinctive yellowish green color. Look out for these yellow-colored legs, they are a great way to tell Least Sandpipers apart from other very similar looking peeps, such as Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers, who have black legs. Take care though—their legs are sometimes covered in dark mud making the yellow difficult to spot! In addition to their slightly smaller size, yellowish legs and thin, slightly down-curved bill, another way to tell them apart from other peeps is to look for a warmer, browner tone to their plumage. Listen also for their distinctive cheep call.

Least Sandpipers might be small but that doesn’t stop them from making an amazing long-distance migration in the Fall. These birds head south from breeding grounds in subarctic regions in the far north of North America. They travel 1000s of km to winter in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Least Sandpipers will migrate in groups and once they arrive in their winter areas they also like to stay in a flock. They can be found in muddy areas of wetlands, both on the coast and inland. Here they can be seen in a typical ‘hunched over’ posture feeding on tiny invertebrates on the mud surface.

Least Sandpipers are listed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN. However, like all shorebirds they are threatened by disturbance from humans and habitat loss. During migration and overwinter these tiny birds rely on the food that wetlands provide for their survival. Protecting our wetlands is vital to helping conserve shorebirds like the Least Sandpiper! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.

Colour in the Least Sandpiper

Listen to the calls of the Least Sandpiper

Least Sandpipers make a distinctive high-pitched “greeep!” call. You might heard this as a small flock takes flight.

Puzzle of the Day

Look out for browner colored plumage and yellowish legs to be sure you are seeing a Least Sandpiper and not a different small sandpiper. Also note the pointed down-curved bill (Photo by Ray Robles).

Least Sandpipers will often flock together in a loose group. Listen out for their rolling “cheep” call as they take flight (Photo by Maikel Canizares).

A Least Sandpiper searches for food on the mud. Least Sandpipers often feed further from the water on dryer parts of the mud, compared to other ‘peeps’ (Photo by Ted Lee Eubanks).

Activity of the Day

FOR KIDS: Test your shorebird ID skills with our “Spot the Least Sandpiper” challenge! Small sandpipers or ‘peeps’ as they are known can look very similar to each other. As well as their small size they share other features such plumage that is brown or grey above and white below, pointed black-coloured bills and a habit of feeding in muddy wetland areas. But Least Sandpiper so have things that help you pick them out from the crowd, read the text above and look closely at the pictures of Least Sandpipers we have shared. Once you’ve done this take a look and see if you can pick out the Least Sandpiper! (there are some extra tips for you on the second page if you get stuck). You can find the correct answer here.

FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Don’t forget that from September 1 – 7 it is the Global Shorebird Count – with World Shorebirds Day taking place on September 6. Take part by heading to your local wetland and counting all the shorebirds that you see, then making sure to share your list with ‘worldshorebirdsday’ on eBird Caribbean. Need some extra help with your shorebird ID? No worries, we have you covered, check out our shorebird resources page here. Find out more about the Global Shorebird Count and World Shorebirds day below.

Show up for Shorebirds! Join the Global Shorebird Count: September 1-7, 2022

Finally enjoy this video of a small flock of Least Sandpipers foraging at the waters edge- can you spot their yellow legs?

May 26, 2022

BirdsCaribbean urges French authorities to protect Brown Pelicans on Guadeloupe

Sustained harassment of nesting Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe, in recent years, has resulted in the abandonment of the largest colony of this species in the French Caribbean islands. BirdsCaribbean is greatly concerned by this unfortunate development and urges French authorities to take action to stop any harassment and ensure the birds return to breed in this important colony. (en français ci-dessous)

Brown Pelicans in the Caribbean rarely nest in urban settings, and yet this colony is just a few steps away from both a library and primary school. BirdsCaribbean regrets that the pelican colony in Le Gosier did not receive adequate consideration and protection from the local authorities of the town that proudly takes its name from the Brown Pelican. This indeed is a missed opportunity for education where, with the right will and incentives, the name-sake of the town can turn a human-wildlife ‘neighborhood dispute’ into a source of pride for the small town of Le Gosier.

A pair of Brown Pelicans cares for its three young chicks in the Le Gosier colony, during the 2013-2014 nesting period (Photo by Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles – Régis Gomès).

History of Brown Pelicans on Guadeloupe

Part of the pelican Le Gosier colony during the 2013-2014 breeding period (Photo: Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles – Régis Gomès). Note numerous chicks (white plumage with brown wings) on nests – a sign of a healthy and fully functional colony.

Brown Pelicans were extirpated from Guadeloupe in the 19th century following hunting and persecution. Low numbers nested in the archipelago in 1984 and 1996 but the species only resumed breeding permanently in 2007. This is the same year that a few nests with chicks were rediscovered at the Le Gosier colony. From a handful of nests in 2010-2011, this colony increased in size to reach a maximum of 117 nests in 2016-2017, covering a large area on the spectacular sea cliffs of Boulevard Amédée Clara. This made it one of the largest nesting colonies of Brown Pelicans in the Lesser Antilles. It hosted as many breeding pairs as the other three colonies known to have re-established in Guadeloupe combined, and represented the largest colony of this species in the French Caribbean islands. In fact, the town of Le Gosier takes its name from “gwan gosyé”, the traditional Créole name for the Brown Pelican. This majestic bird is also the town’s emblem and, as such, appears on numerous buildings and monuments.

For the first time since 2007, Brown Pelicans did not nest at the Le Gosier colony in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. This fact was brought to the attention of BirdsCaribbean in November, 2020 by the Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles (ASFA). Visits by rangers of Parc National de la Guadeloupe in December 2020, and by Association AMAZONA in January 2021, confirmed the abandonment of this breeding site. Visits by ASFA in early 2022 confirmed that Brown Pelicans did not renest in 2021-2022.

“When, in 2007, we announced that we had discovered a Brown Pelican colony in Le Gosier, we thought it would stimulate decision-makers to make the return of the Brown Pelican in Guadeloupe a success. The loss of this colony is a resounding defeat for the recovery of this species.” — Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles

Threats to the Caribbean Brown Pelican

Despite its familiar presence on our shores, the Caribbean Brown Pelican population is still considered at risk in the region. It is also listed as a strictly protected species under the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol, of which France is a signatory. In Guadeloupe, nesting Brown Pelicans are listed as Vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species in France (IUCN France 2021) and protected under the Arrêté du 17 février 1989. Under this arrêté, any form of destruction, removal, capture or use of this seabird or its nest is forbidden.

As early as 2014, ASFA alerted relevant French authorities of the potential human-wildlife conflicts that could arise from the growth of the colony, but no action was taken by the administration. Indeed, intentional disturbances directed at the nesting Brown Pelicans accelerated. ASFA shared with BirdsCaribbean that, over the years, people were observed deliberately and regularly throwing rocks at nests from both the top and bottom of the cliffs; demolition works directly above the colony repeatedly disturbed pelicans during nest initiation; and vegetation that supported nests was cut or degraded before or during the breeding season. Although the Arrêté du 17 février 1989 makes it unlawful to hurt or kill pelicans and their chicks or eggs, it does not protect them against disturbance (whether accidental or intentional), nor does it protect their breeding and resting sites from intentional destruction.

Estimated sizes of the Brown Pelican population in Guadeloupe between 2011 and 2021. Counts of fledgelings, and resulting estimates of productivity, were only carried out until 2018. (Data from Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles.)

The failure of France to curb these threats to a protected species partly results from the long-overdue revision of this arrêté, stuck in negotiations. BirdsCaribbean urges the French government to hasten the acceptance of the revision of Arrêté du 17 février 1989 to actually provide full protection to the Guadeloupean birds it seeks to protect. Furthermore, the Brown Pelican colony of Le Gosier did not receive the protection it needed from French authorities as pledged under the SPAW protocol, despite France being a signatory and ratifying country, and Guadeloupe hosting the offices of the Regional Activity Centre that oversees its implementation.

“The case of the Brown Pelican is a good example: France should make a priority of revising our weak national regulations. It could also easily compensate for the loss of breeding habitat for the Brown Pelican by protecting îlet Rousseau, a public land with strong potential not only for pelicans, but also for Magnificent Frigatebirds.” — Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles

Brown Pelicans breeding at the Le Gosier colony during the 2013-2014 nesting period. In the upper left corner, note the three big chicks sharing a nest – a sign of a healthy and fully functional colony. (Photo by Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles – Régis Gomès).

Next Steps

The Brown Pelican colony at Le Gosier was a jewel of Caribbean wildlife, one that was enjoyed by local people and visitors alike, but no longer – it only took only a few misplaced acts to destroy it.

BirdsCaribbean calls on the government and local administration to:

1) investigate and document what happened to the colony in 2020-2021;

2) put into place an action plan to avert a similar tragedy happening in 2022-2023 and the future;

3) monitor the areas where Brown Pelicans return and nest again, ensuring that they are not disturbed;

4) educate the local community to instill pride in the town’s name-sake, showing that it deserves our protection;

5) complete the revision of the Arrêté du 17 février 1989, and ensure that adequate legislation is in place to protect wildlife from disturbance and destruction.

En Francais

BirdsCaribbean est extrêmement préoccupée par l’abandon en 2020, 2021 et 2022 de la colonie de nidification de pélicans bruns du Gosier, en Guadeloupe, suite à des dérangements prolongés.

BirdsCaribbean est extrêmement préoccupée par les dérangements répétés de pélicans bruns (Pelecanus occidentalis) nicheurs ayant eu lieu au Gosier, en Guadeloupe, ces dernières années. Ces dérangements ont provoqué l’abandon de cette importante colonie de reproduction durant les saisons de reproduction 2020-2021 et 2021-2022. Les autorités responsables doivent agir pour arrêter et prévenir tout dérangement, et assurer le retour en nidification lors de la saison 2022-2023. Ceci aura des bénéfices économiques et pédagogiques pour la commune du Gosier. Dans les Caraïbes, les pélicans bruns nichent rarement dans des zones urbaines : malgré tout, la colonie ayant subi les dérangements n’est qu’à quelques pas de deux écoles et d’une médiathèque, dans une ville qui prend son nom de ces mêmes pélicans !

Photographie 1: Un couple de pélicans bruns s’occupe de ses trois jeunes poussins à la colonie du Gosier, pendant la saison de reproduction 2013-2014. (Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles – Régis Gomès).

Histoire des pélicans bruns en Guadeloupe

Pour la première fois depuis 2007, les pélicans bruns n’ont pas niché à la colonie du Gosier en 2020-2021 et 2021-2022, une information que l’Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles (ASFA) a partagé avec BirdsCaribbean dès novembre 2020. Des visites effectuées par des gardes du Parc National de la Guadeloupe en décembre 2020, et par l’Association AMAZONA en janvier 2021 ont confirmé l’abandon de ce site de nidification. Des visites de l’ASFA début 2022 ont montré que les pélicans n’avaient pas re-niché en 2021-2022.

Photographie 2: Une partie de la colonie de pélicans bruns du Gosier, pendant la saison de reproduction 2013-2014. (Photo: Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles - Régis Gomès). Noter les nombreux poussins (plumage blanc et ailes brunes) sur les nids, signe en bonne santé écologique. — Photographie 2: Une partie de la colonie de pélicans bruns du Gosier, pendant la saison de reproduction 2013-2014. (Photo: Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles – Régis Gomès). Noter les nombreux poussins (plumage blanc et ailes brunes) sur les nids, signe en bonne santé écologique.

Le pélican brun a été éradiqué de Guadeloupe au cours du XIXième siècle par la chasse et la persécution. Des effectifs limités ont niché sur l’archipel en 1984 et 1996 mais l’espèce n’a recommencé à nicher de façon permanente qu’en 2007. Cette même année, des nids avec des poussins étaient découverts à la colonie du Gosier. De quelques nids en 2010-2011, cette colonie a ensuite gagné en taille pour atteindre, à son maximum, 117 nids en 2016-2017, utilisant alors une grande partie des falaises spectaculaires du Boulevard Amédée Clara. Ceci en faisait l’une des colonies de nidification les plus grandes des Petites Antilles. Elle abritait autant de couples nicheurs que les trois autres colonies recensées en Guadeloupe combinées, et était alors la plus grande colonie de cette espèce dans les Antilles françaises. La ville du Gosier prend justement son nom du “gwan gosyé”, le nom créole du pélican brun. Cet oiseau majestueux est aussi l’emblème de la ville et, en conséquent, il apparaît sur de nombreux bâtiments et monuments.

“En annonçant, en 2007, que nous avions découvert une colonie de pélicans bruns, qui plus est, dans la ville du Gosier, nous pensions susciter une mobilisation des décideurs pour que ce retour de l’espèce en tant que nicheuse sur l’Archipel guadeloupéen soit un succès. L’abandon de la colonie sonne le glas d’une pleine reconquête de l’espèce.” —Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles

Menaces sur le pélican brun des Caraïbes

Malgré sa présence familière sur nos côtes, la population caribéenne du pélican brun est toujours considérée comme à risque dans la région. Elle est aussi listée comme strictement protégée au titre du protocole SPAW, protocole dont la France est signataire. En Guadeloupe, les pélicans bruns nicheurs sont listés comme Vulnérables sur la Liste Rouge des Espèces Menacées de France et sont protégés par l’Arrêté du 17 février 1989. En vertu de cet arrêté, toute forme de destruction, capture ou enlèvement de cet oiseau marin, de ses œufs ou de son nid est interdite.

Dès 2014, l’ASFA a alerté les autorités françaises compétentes des potentiels conflits qui pourraient découler de l’expansion de la colonie de nidification du Gosier, mais l’administration n’a pris aucune mesure. Au contraire, les dérangements intentionnels envers les pélicans bruns nicheurs se sont accélérés. L’ASFA a d’ailleurs informé BirdsCaribbean que, au fil des ans, des personnes ont été observées en train de jeter des pierres sur les nids, depuis le haut et le bas des falaises, de manière délibérée et régulière ; des travaux de démolition juste au-dessus de la colonie avaient dérangé les pélicans à plusieurs reprises au commencement de la nidification ; et la végétation sur laquelle les nids étaient construits avait été coupée ou dégradée avant ou pendant la saison de reproduction. L’Arrêté du 17 février 1989 rend illégal la destruction et la mutilation des pélicans, de leurs poussins et de leurs oeufs, mais il ne les protège pas des dérangements (accidentels ou intentionnels), et ne protège pas non plus leurs sites de reproduction et de repos de destructions intentionnelles.

Figure 1. Effectifs de population du pélican brun en Guadeloupe entre 2011 et 2021. Les comptages de jeunes à l’envol, et les estimations de productivité en découlant, n’ont pas pu être effectués après 2018. Données : Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles.

L’incapacité de la France à limiter ces menaces à l’encontre d’une espèce protégée est en partie le résultat de son incapacité à réviser l’Arrêté du 17 février 1989. BirdsCaribbean exhorte donc les autorités françaises à finaliser la révision de l’Arrêté du 17 février 1989 afin de véritablement offrir l’entière protection de la loi aux oiseaux de la Guadeloupe que cet arrêté prétend protéger. Par ailleurs, la colonie de pélicans bruns du Gosier n’a pas reçu la protection des autorités françaises, en directe opposition avec le protocole SPAW qu’elles ont pourtant signé et ratifié, et malgré le fait que les bureaux du Centre Régional d’Activité qui supervise la mise en application dudit protocole se trouvent en Guadeloupe .

“Cet échec est un bon exemple : la révision de la réglementation nationale devrait être la priorité de la France. Il serait aussi facilement réalisable de compenser les pertes survenues sur la colonie du Gosier en protégeant l’îlet Rousseau, un terrain public à fort potentiel non seulement pour les pélicans mais aussi pour les Frégates.” — Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles

Photographie 3: Des pélicans bruns en nidification à la colonie du Gosier, pendant la saison de reproduction 2013-2014. (Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles - Régis Gomès). Dans le coin en haut à gauche, noter les trois grands poussins dans un même nid, un signe d’une colonie en bonne santé écologique. — Photographie 3: Des pélicans bruns en nidification à la colonie du Gosier, pendant la saison de reproduction 2013-2014. (Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune des Antilles – Régis Gomès). Dans le coin en haut à gauche, noter les trois grands poussins dans un même nid, un signe d’une colonie en bonne santé écologique.

BirdsCaribbean regrette que la colonie du Gosier, qui est située face à la médiathèque et aux écoles du Boulevard Amédée Clara, n’ait pas reçu une considération appropriée de la part des autorités locales d’une ville qui emprunte fièrement son nom au pélican brun. Nous regrettons, par ailleurs, que cette opportunité pédagogique et économique ait étée négligée : avec des bonnes intentions et des soutiens adaptés, l’espèce qui prête son nom à la ville aurait pu transformer un “conflit de voisinage” entre humains et faune sauvage en une source de fierté pour la petite ville du Gosier.

Prochaines étapes

La colonie de pélicans bruns du Gosier était un joyau de la faune des Caraïbes, autant appréciée par les locaux que par les visiteurs, mais elle n’existe plus : il n’a fallu que quelques actes déplacés pour la détruire. Par conséquent, BirdsCaribbean demande au gouvernement français et aux administrations locales de

1) enquêter et documenter ce qui est arrivé à la colonie de pélicans bruns du Gosier en 2020-2021 ;

2) de mettre en place un plan d’action pour éviter qu’une tragédie similaire ait lieu en 2022-2023 et dans le futur ; 3) de suivre les zones où les pélicans bruns pourraient revenir et nicher, afin d’assurer leur protection ;

4) de développer des programmes pédagogiques à destination des communautés locales, afin d’inspirer de la fierté pour l’espèce qui prête son nom à la ville et de montrer qu’elle mérite notre protection ; et

5) de finaliser la révision de l’Arrêté du 17 février 1989 et de s’assurer qu’une législation appropriée soit en place pour protéger la faune sauvage des dérangements et des destructions.

En attendant de recevoir de vos nouvelles rapidement, je vous remercie pour votre assistance.

February 25, 2022

Around the Islands – Your Highlights From the Caribbean Waterbird Census 2022

January 19, 2022

Join the Conservian Bahamas May 2022 Live-Aboard Schooner Expedition

Conservian is setting sail again this May for important shorebird and seabird conservation and research – join us! The mission is a continuation of on-the-ground protection and restoration measures at key shorebird and seabird sites in The Bahamas with support from Conservian, BirdsCaribbean, Bahamas National Trust, and partners.

Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Habitat Conservation & Restoration!

We need your help to protect beach-nesting birds, nests and young. Conservian is seeking a weekly crew of 10 enthusiastic volunteers for our Bahamas Shorebird Habitat Conservation Program in May 2022 aboard our 75ft research schooner. Crews fly to The Bahamas each week to designated airports for shuttle transport to the schooner. All trips include bunk, onboard meals, drinks, and ground transportation associated with the project. A valid passport is required. Airfare and health travel insurance are not included. Trip cost is $1875 per person/week. Please go to Coastalbird.org for more info!

Greater Antillean Grackles enjoyingfountains Hope Gardens Jamaica

This is a wonderful opportunity to gain field experience and shorebird ID skills or simply a once-in-a-lifetime experience! In 2018, BirdsCaribbean’s own Jennifer Wheeler joined the trip. Read all about her amazing adventures here. And check out an article by Margo about one of the past expeditions.

Conservian, BirdsCaribbean, Bahamas National Trust, and partners continue on-the-ground protective measures to limit human-caused disturbance and restore coastal habitats at key shorebird/seabird sites.

May 2022 Expedition Dates & Locations:

Choose one week or more! Each week includes 7 nights aboard the schooner.

Week 1: May 1-8 – Joulter Cays & S. Andros (Nassau Int Apt)

Week 2: May 8-15 – Exumas & Great Exuma (Nassau Int Apt/Exuma Int. Apt)

Week 3: May 15-22 – Cat Island & Eleuthera (Exuma Int. Apt/Nassau Int. Apt)

Long Island flats. (Photo by Margo Zdravkovic)

To join our conservation pirate crew please contact Margo Zdravkovic at MargoZ@Coastalbird.org Watch the short video below, and visit Coastalbird.org for more information on our 2022 expedition itinerary and Conservian’s coastal bird conservation work.

Expedition flyer (Click to open as a pdf).

IMPORTANT: Applicants must be responsible, adventurous, in good physical condition, enjoy working in teams, and be capable of walking several miles during warm weather on Bahamas beaches. Applicants must be comfortable living communally onboard a schooner for a week and riding in small boats to access survey sites.

January 6, 2022

Wade In! Are you Ready for the 13th Annual Caribbean Waterbird Census 2022?

January 5, 2022

12 Days of Christmas – BirdsCaribbean Remix

This festive season we introduced 12 fascinating Caribbean birds in our twist on the classic carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. This English Christmas carol was first published in 1780, and presented without accompanying music, in a children’s book of poems and stories Mirth Without Mischief.

It is believed that The Twelve Days of Christmas was intended to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith. However, this theory has been widely contested. The origins of the carol are unknown but perhaps it was written as a memory game.

We are certain, however, that no other Christmas carol features birds quite as prominently as The Twelve Days of Christmas. The lyrics are from old Europe with birds that are not found in the Caribbean. We thought it was time for an upbeat version so we put the spotlight on some magnificent migratory and endemic birds of the Caribbean!

If you follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn), we shared a new bird every day or two for the last several weeks. (#12CaribBirdsOfChristmas) Here, we compile all the bird profiles into one blog in case you are not on social media, missed any, or would like to learn more about these amazing birds.

We really enjoyed curating posts for this series and had the pleasure of reading your lovely comments. Thank you for following along, bird after bird, with us. Let us know which bird was your favorite and why in the comments below .

And do sing along with us on our remix of this classic song! Any singers/ musicians out there—we would love to hear your recorded rendition of the song!!!

Photo credits: West Indian Whistling Duck by Ray Robles, Fernandina’s Flicker by Ken Pinnow, White-breasted Thrasher by Hank Tseng and Adams Toussaint, St Vincent Parrot by Nandani Bridglal , Golden Swallow by Francisco Alba, Jamaican Blackbird by Tom Johnson (ML890623210), Guadeloupe Woodpecker by Frantz Delcroix, Grenada Dove by Greg Homel, Bahama Oriole by Dan Stonko

Twelve Birds of Christmas – BirdsCaribbean Remix

An Oriole in a Pine Tree – Bahama Oriole

🎄On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree.🎶 But wait, that doesn’t seem quite right for the Caribbean 🤔, so let’s turn up the heat ☀️, amp up the vibrancy, migrate south 🌎, and what do we get…. An oriole in a pine tree 🌲 . That is, of course, the Bahama Oriole. This striking bird stands bright at the tree tops boasting shiny black ⚫️ plumage on its head, back and chest, and bright yellow 🟡 plumage on its shoulders, belly, and rump. It can only be found on Andros Island in the Bahamas 🇧🇸 , where it nests in native pine forests. ⁠
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Unfortunately, this bird faces multiple threats, including brood parasitism from the Shiny Cowbird, depredation by free-ranging domestic cats 🐈 , and habitat loss due to logging and residential development 🏘. There’s also the looming threat of increasingly frequent and severe hurricanes that could easily wipe out the Bahama Oriole’s entire small population 📉. ⁠
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However, all hope is not lost! ✨ Our partners at the Bahamas National Trust and University of Maryland, Baltimore Maryland are doing exciting research to learn more about this species 🤓 and educating local communities on Andros about the importance of its pine forests. Click here for more facts ℹ️, to listen to its song 🎵, and free Bahama Oriole themed activities 🧩 for adults and children! ⁠

Two Grenada Doves

🎄The second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Two Turtle Doves 🎶. Those turtle doves are adorable ☺️, but come on down to the southern Caribbean 🌎 and we can do you one better – two Grenada Doves! ⁠
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As their name implies, these shy and elusive birds live only on the island of Grenada 🇬🇩. This somewhat plump dove has brown 🟤 upperparts, buffy cinnamon-colored chest and neck, and grayish forehead, face and crown, with bright pinkish-red 🔴 statement legs and feet. How can you tell you’re looking at the ultra-rare Grenada Dove and not another dove 🧐? Be sure to take a look at its belly where you’ll find a strip of white ⚪️ feathers that extends from its side up around the bend of the wing! ⁠
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The Grenada Dove prefers the coastal dry forests of deciduous thorn-scrub thickets and some emergent trees 🌳. Watch your step 👣 as these doves are typically found on the ground, searching for food; small seeds, fruits 🫐 and insects 🪱. IBut if you aren’t lucky enough to see this dove, keep an ear 👂 out for its characteristic call 🎶 which is a single descending note hooooooo that is repeated every 7-8 seconds. ⁠
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Two Protected Areas have been established for the conservation of the Grenada Dove, but habitat loss remains a major threat. Its coastal habitats are unfortunately prime areas for development by the tourism 🏝 and industry sectors 🏭. We have been working with our partners in Grenada to try and halt 🛑 these unsustainable developments as well as remove mongoose, invasive predators of the Grenada Dove. ⁠Click here to learn more about the Grenada Dove, listen to its song, and access free activities.
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With your support 🙌🏽, we can continue to protect the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove as we work to reverse the trend of habitat loss for this beautiful species. ✨Please consider making a donation.

Three French Peckers – Guadeloupe Woodpecker

🎄On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Three French hens 🎶. To be honest, that’s not a bad gift 🎁 at all, especially if those hens are good layers 🥚. But domestic fowl 🐓 pale in comparison to some of the wild French birds you can find in the Caribbean 😎, including the Trois Toto bwa —un oiseau magnifique found only in Guadeloupe 🇬🇵! In local French Creole the Guadeloupe Woodpecker is called Toto bwa for the tapping noise it makes.

It appears to be an all black bird ⚫️ however its head and upperparts actually have a blue glossy sheen. Their underparts are a sooty black except for a reddish 🔴 hue on the chest and their tail feathers are brownish-black with blue-black legs. Females look like the male, but are smaller 📏. Interestingly, there are size differences within the island—woodpeckers found on the peaks of Basse-Terre are slightly bigger than those of Grande-Terre!

These fine French birds inhabit all different forest types, including swamp forests and mangroves, but they rely on dead coconut palm trees 🌴 for nesting. They are monogamous and pairs remain in their territory throughout the year. Young woodpeckers will take about a month 📆 to fledge and afterwards juveniles spend several months with their parents. They might even hang around until the next breeding season.

Although considered a Least Concern species, this handsome woodpecker is restricted to the island of Guadeloupe and is threatened by hurricanes 🌀, habitat conversion 🏘 and the removal of dead trees which they depend upon for nesting. Continued protection of this species and conservation of its habitats will help ensure that this beautiful species survives for future generations to enjoy! ✨

For more fun facts about this endemic woodpecker click here!

Four Blackbirds – Jamaican Blackbird

🎄The fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Four colly birds 🎶. But you had no idea what those were 💬. Did you say “colly birds” or “calling birds”? Our basic research 💻 suggests both phrases are correct, though “colly” is the Old English word for coal while “calling” refers to birds that “call out” in song, or songbirds. Either way, it’s an odd gift, so today we’re featuring a Jamaican endemic that fits both versions; the Jamaican Blackbird 🇯🇲. ⁠
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High up in Cockpit Country and the Blue and John Crow Mountains ⛰ National Park lives the Jamaican Blackbird. It is Endangered, with the greatest threat to its populations stemming from Bauxite mining, agriculture 🌾 and human developments 🏘. This taxonomically and ecologically distinct bird is all black with a slight blue gloss, short bill, legs and tails. Unlike other blackbirds it is mostly found feeding high in the trees 🌳 in montane forest. It feeds by pecking, like a woodpecker, in bromeliads, lichens and mosses, but will also probe tree bark and cavities for beetles 🪲 and caterpillars 🐛 . This bird is more likely to be heard than seen. Its song is a wheezy whee-whee-oooo; common call is a squeaky wheet. 🎶⁠
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Learn more about this fascinating bird here. This species was also an inspiration for an amazing bird song album by our partner Shika Shika, undertaken to raise funds to protect endangered birds in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean – check out the project and songs here.

✨Together with our on-the-ground partners we work to protect incredibly unique birds like the Jamaican Blackbird that are threatened by habitat loss. Please consider making a contribution and give the gift 🎁 of birds to future generations. ⁠

Five Golden Swallows

🎄The fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…Five gold rings 🎶. But you’re not a materialistic person, nor can you tolerate the environmental impact that comes with the extraction of precious metals 💍, so you looked your lover 💞 in the eye and said “Honey, I’d rather see gold in its natural form – take me birding for Golden Swallows!” ⁠
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The upperparts of male Golden Swallows often appear golden ✨ but are ever-changing as they fly around and catch the sunlight ☀️ at different angles. In a few seconds you might observe a blue-ish 🔵 sheen changing to a golden iridescence that then changes to an olive-green 🟢! Their underparts are white with dusky bronze-green wings and tail. The female on the other hand, is duller, with some gray-brown mottling on the chest. ⁠
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One can spend hours ⏳ watching and being entertained by these amazing birds as they twist 🔀, turn ⤴️ , and dive ⤵️ through the air with incredible grace and precision. They feed on airborne insects like beetles 🪲 and wasps. ⁠
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The Golden Swallow has disappeared from the island of Jamaica 🇯🇲 and is restricted to patches of montane pine forest🌲in Hispaniola. They have possibly disappeared from Jamaica due to lack of food. Insect populations have been steadily decreasing 📉 due to destruction of native habitats as well as the widespread use of chemicals to kill insects ☠️. The good news is that everyone can help by planting native plants 🌱 at home. Native plants attract native insects, and these insects provide lots of food for MANY different bird species 😃. ⁠
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Learn more about the Golden Swallow and access free activities and resources here. Read about our VP 👨🏻‍💼 Justin Procter’s quest to find the Golden Swallow in Jamaica’s Ram Goat Cave.

Six Songbirds Singing – Summer Tanager

🎄The sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Six Geese-a-laying🎶. While we often think of egg-laying as a beautiful, miraculous event (and it is), have you given any thought to the size of those eggs and the mechanics involved🤔? Needless to say, six geese-a-laying won’t be a peaceful scene, but rather a headache of hissing and honking 📣. Let’s reduce holiday stress where we can and consider down-sizing to six songbirds singing 🎶 instead.

‘Songbirds’ are beautiful passerine birds with melodious songs, a great example is the Summer Tanager. This neotropical migrant has strawberry 🍓 coloured plumage and is quite vocal. Its call is described as pi-tuck or pi-ti-tuck or ki-ti-tuck while its song is similar to that of an American Robin with a series of warbling phrases.

The Summer Tanager is one of many songbirds illegally captured 📦 in Cuba for the pet trade. Although it has a beautiful song, this bird is mainly captured for its ornamental beauty. Sadly, many migratory songbirds like the Indigo Bunting and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and resident/ endemic birds like the Cuban Bullfinch and Cuban Grassquit, are targeted by trappers for their singing abilities.

Songbird competitions are very popular in Cuba 🇨🇺, Trinidad 🇹🇹, and Venezuela 🇻🇪 , with betting and cash prizes 💰 for the best singer. These birds are inhumanely trapped using cages with lures, perches covered with glue, and nets. Many die from the process or soon after due to improper care. The surviving birds are readily offered for sale on social media 📲 platforms reaching more potential buyers. The songbird trade is rampant in the Caribbean and is emptying our forests of both song and life 😞.

ℹ️ For more information about the alarming numbers of birds illegally captured in Cuba and our proposed strategies to combat this unsustainable and cruel trade please read our investigative report.

This crisis can end with your support 🙌🏽! Please consider making a contribution here. Your gift will help us in our appeals to local governments to enforce the laws mandated to protect birds, help our partners develop a national media campaign, and create other livelihoods like eco-tourism 🏞.

Seven Parrots Squawking – St. Vincent Parrot

🎄The seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Seven Swans a-Swimming🎶. Swans 🦢 are the universal symbol of grace and beauty🪞. But here in the Caribbean, Christmas is a time for noisy merriment and flocking together 🎊 so we present you with Seven Parrots Squawking! ⁠
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The striking Saint Vincent Parrot 🦜 is the national bird of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 🇻🇨 and is endemic to the island. If you look carefully, it has the yellow 🟡, blue 🔵 and green 🟢 colours of the national flag, making it extra special to Vincentians! ⁠
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There are two colour morphs for this uniquely coloured parrot: yellow-brown (more common) and green. Both have pale heads and bronze-colored underparts, a blue, yellow and orange tail, and green-and-blue flight feathers. ⁠
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The Saint Vincent Parrot can be found in mature rainforest 🏞 along western and eastern slopes of the island’s central mountain range and, occasionally, in nearby cultivated lands. They are loud birds with an impressive vocal repertoire, so listen for their call 🎶 in the early morning ☀️ or late afternoon when they are most active! Males and females look similar and are usually seen flying in pairs but have been observed in flocks foraging on fruits 🥭, seeds, flowers 🌺 and leaves. ⁠
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Its small population of around 850 birds has been slowly increasing however, this vulnerable parrot suffered devastating habitat loss and food scarcity after the La Soufriere volcanic eruptions 🌋 earlier this year. With assistance from BirdsCaribbean donors and other partners, the St Vincent Forestry Dept has been working hard to assess the status of the parrot and restore habitat. You can help to save this iconic bird from extinction. ✨.⁠
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Click here for more facts, to listen to its call, and free Saint Vincent Parrot themed activities 🧩 for adults and children! ⁠

Eight Thrashers Thrashing – White-breasted Thrasher

🎄The eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Eight Maids-a-Milking🎶. In 15th and 16th century England, the phrase “let’s go-a-milking” was a euphemism for “let’s get married.” 💍 We’re going to update this to the 21st century with a spunky yet elegant Caribbean bird and give you Eight Thrashers Thrashing! While you may not want these birds in your house at Christmas time, they certainly are dashing 🎩! ⁠
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The White-breasted Thrasher, with a chocolate brown 🟤 back, striking white chest, and piercing red 🔴 eye, was described by James Bond as “one of the rarest birds in the West Indies.” Not surprisingly, Bond was onto something! Found only in Saint Lucia 🇱🇨 and Martinique 🇲🇶, where it is known as Gòj Blan and Moqueur Gorge Blanche, respectively, there are fewer than 2,000 thrashers left. White-breasted Thrashers also display a unique behavior called cooperative breeding, where they delay independent breeding, and instead help their parents in raising their siblings – how lucky for Mom and Dad 😊!⁠
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The White-breasted Thrasher population is thought to be declining 📉 due to increased predation by non-native invasive species, such as rats 🐀 , domestic cats 🐈 , and mongoose. Our incredible partners in Saint Lucia safely continued their critical work throughout the pandemic and recorded a total of 19 White-breasted Thrasher nests in 2020 🏆⁠
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✨Learn more about this unique and endangered species here.
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For more information on the White-breasted Thrasher Species Recovery Plan and field work by our partners 📑, supported in part by BirdsCaribbean donors , click here.⁠

Nine Flickers Flicking – Fernandina’s Flicker

🎄On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, nine drummers drumming🎶. But of course no drum sticks or snare drums 🥁 showed up, because your true love has style 😎, and appreciates nature’s real drummers – the woodpeckers! So pop some aspirin 💊 and get ready for the ensuing explosive sound of nine Fernandina’s Flickers tearing apart your house’s 🏠 new cedar wood siding.

The island of Cuba 🇨🇺 is home to one of the world’s most threatened flickers – the Fernandina’s Flicker. The male has a buff-cinnamon head with fine black ⚫️ streaking. It has a distinct black malar stripe, sometimes with a red tinge. This mark is absent ❌ in the female. Chin and throat are heavily but finely streaked black. Its bill is black, long, pointed and curved. Its body and tail are largely barred mustard yellow 🟡 and black.

Interestingly you’re likely to see this woodpecker foraging on the ground, in open woodlands and savanna-palm 🌴 habitats, for insects 🕷 , seeds, and worms 🪱 . Pairs nest in both live and old hollowed-out palms and share these breeding trees with other secondary cavity nesting birds such as the American Kestrel, and fellow-endemics the Bare-legged Owl 🦉 and Cuban Parakeet 🦜. During the breeding season, however, the West Indian Woodpecker and Fernandina’s Flicker fight for nesting sites 😠, even though the nesting holes were most likely excavated by the West Indian Woodpecker! The West Indian Woodpecker is very territorial, they will even destroy eggs 🥚 and remove chicks 🐣 of other secondary nesting birds, including those of the Fernandina’s Flicker!

Its population is estimated at no more than 400 pairs with the largest occurring in the Zapata Swamp. It was once common across Cuba but habitat loss due to logging and conversion for agriculture 🌱 have resulted in its patchy distribution. Another major driver is loss of prime nesting sites when dead palms are cut down to illegally collect parrots and parakeets for the pet trade 😞. Learn more about this Cuban endemic here.

Ten Plovers Piping – Piping Plover

🎄On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Ten Pipers Piping🎶. But we’re still in a pandemic 😷 and, where you are, gatherings might be restricted 🚫. Instead we present you with 10 Plovers Piping 😀. ⁠
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Small, chubby, and adorable ☺️, the Piping Plover is a sand-coloured shorebird with white underparts, a black ⚫️ neck band, orange 🟠 legs, and a short stubby beak. Most striking of all, its dark round eyes that give it that “I’m a good cuddler” look. They have a two-part piping whistle 🎵 that drops in pitch, pwee-doo.”
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The Piping Plover breeds in North America but heads south for the winter 🌎. They do not go as far south as other shorebirds, instead they stop off in The Bahamas 🇧🇸 , Turks and Caicos Islands 🇹🇨 and Cuba 🇨🇺 . You are most likely to find them on open sandy beaches, wetlands, and mudflats feeding on small invertebrates. It is also a pretty clever feeder. On the beach 🏝 , after a wave 🌊 rolls up and leaves a glassy film, the Piping Plover will extend one foot slightly forward and vibrate it against water-saturated sand bringing invertebrates in the sand to the surface before pecking 🍽. ⁠
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Developments on beaches 🏙 and lake shores mean Piping Plovers have lost some of their breeding habitats and 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 grow.⁠
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Making sure they have safe places to feed and rest 💤 in the Caribbean during the winter is also important. Click here for some tips on how you can #ShareTheShore with these lovable little shorebirds. ⁠ And learn more about the Piping Plover and access free activities and resources here.

Eleven egrets dancing – Reddish Egret

🎄The eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, eleven ladies dancing 💃🏻. Your true love 💗 may have been trying to pull a fast one, knowing all too well that the men usually dance to get the ladies’ attention in the animal kingdom! In the spirit of gender equality, you both get in on the dancing 💃🏻🕺🏻, showing off snazzy moves inspired by Eleven Egrets Dancing. ⁠
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The Reddish Egret is a relatively large and elegant 🪞 bird known for its entertaining feeding behavior – often described as a ‘drunken dance’ 🍻 – running through shallow water with long strides, staggering sideways, leaping in the air ⬆️, raising one or both wings, and abruptly stabbing at fish 🐠 . Holding its wings over the water while hunting is thought to reduce glare and help the egret more accurately sight 👀 and spear its prey – or maybe it’s to regain its balance, we’re not sure! 🤔 ⁠
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During the 1800s this egret and others were hunted almost to extinction for their beautiful feathers 🪶, used to adorn ladies’ hats and other apparel! Thankfully, two women jump started a conservation movement which put an end to the slaughter. You can learn all about this fascinating history in our webinar: https://bit.ly/Killer-Fashion⁠
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Reddish Egrets come in two morphs: the dark morph, with shaggy reddish head 🔴 and neck and slate gray body (more common in the southern U.S. and Mexico); and the more rare white morph, with entirely white plumage ⚪️ (more common in the Bahamas 🇧🇸 and Greater Antilles). Breeding adults of both morphs have a two-toned bill, pinkish at the base and black at the tip.⁠
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The Reddish Egret is our rarest and least-studied Ardeid (Family of herons, egrets, and bitterns) – the total population is estimated at only 7,000 to 11,000 birds. It is a Species of Conservation Concern. ⁠
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✨ Learn more about the Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) here and show your support for our citizen science programs like the annual CWC, which gathers critical data to conserve the Reddish Egret and many other threatened birds. ⁠

Twelve Whistlers Whistling – West Indian Whistling-Duck

🎄On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, twelve fiddlers fiddling🎶. A kind gesture, but you’d think that after all this time your true love would have recognized your greater appreciation for acapella-style whistling. It’s an acquired taste that only a refined individual like yourself 😎 could truly appreciate. So redirect those fiddlers to the neighbor’s house 🏡 , and head over to a nearby pond to enjoy a musical production 🎭 of Twelve Whistlers Whistling! ⁠
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We thought it fitting to bring our 12 Birds of Christmas to a close with the grace of the West Indian Whistling-Duck 🦆 . You can only hear the hauntingly beautiful calls of this Caribbean bird at twilight 🌅, when the sun begins to dip toward the horizon. West Indian Whistling-Ducks often remain hidden during the day, roosting in mangrove trees 🌳 or other vegetation, and become active at sunset when they feed.⁠
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This gorgeous mostly-brown duck was once common, but populations are now very small 📉 and isolated on each island. Destruction of wetland habitats, illegal hunting, and invasive predators (like mongoose) have all contributed to the decline of this species. ⁠
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The West Indian Whistling-Duck is our flagship species for the conservation of mangroves and wetlands throughout the West Indies! We have a fun curriculum, “Wondrous West Indian Wetlands—Teachers’ Resource Book,” 📖with many hands-on activities 🧩 to learn 🧠 about wetlands and birds, and other resources available on our website. 😉⁠
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You can also visit our webpage for more facts, to listen to its song, and free West Indian Whistling-Duck themed activities for adults and children! 😃⁠

And now our 12 Caribbean Birds of Christmas Advent calendar is complete!

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December 30, 2021

Field Trips, Videos, Shorebird Education, and a Fabulous Costume Party: Activities on World Migratory Bird Day 2021

November 17, 2021

Shorebirds Under Fire

Our new video, “Caribbean Shorebirds Under Fire,” is the fourth in our series on the plight of our shorebirds, which are facing a drastic decline in numbers. This video highlights the need for well-regulated, sustainable hunting on several Caribbean islands where it is a traditional way of life. It can be disturbing, but we are looking for the way forward. We owe it to our beautiful shorebirds. We hope you will watch, share, and help us find solutions. Content Warning: Birds that have been shot.

This video is also available in French and Spanish.

Hunting has a strong tradition in the Caribbean, with shorebird hunting being especially prevalent on the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Barbados.

Map of the west Indies with Guadeloupe, Martinique and Barbados highlighted. These islands are important stopover and wintering sites for hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds, but many are killed by hunters during migration and winter. (map by Aly Ollivierre)

For example, the history of shorebirds harvest on Barbados dates back to the to the mid-seventeenth century, in the early colonial period when Barbados was settled. As shorebirds visit the region on their fall migration and during winter, they use Caribbean wetlands to rest and refuel, take refuge from adverse weather, and as a winter home.

Some hunters – for example in Barbados – provide such habitats, managing small wetlands (“shooting swamps”) to attract shorebirds. The habitat is vitally important for tired and hungry migrant shorebirds but its use comes at a cost to the birds, as many then become the targets of sport hunting. On the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, however, wetlands are more abundant and the opportunities for hunting shorebirds are much broader. Targeted species include Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Whimbrel, and American Golden-Plover. We know that these and other shorebird populations in the Atlantic Flyway and the entire planet have drastically declined in numbers (50-90%) over the past 3 decades.

The Sad Story of Machi and Goshen

Whimbrels using a wetland on Guadeloupe. (Photo by Anthony Levesque)

Machi and Goshen were two Whimbrels fitted with satellite tracking tags by scientists at the Center for Conservation Biology. We learned that these two sturdy birds took detours around the violent tropical storms of 2011 and made their way further south through the eastern Caribbean. Machi, in particular, had taken some extraordinary trips in his lifetime, clocking many thousands of miles since he was first tagged in 2009.

But in 2011 – just ten years ago now – a sad fate awaited them. News broke that Machi had been shot by hunters at a swamp in Guadeloupe. The news of Goshen’s death, in the same area, swiftly followed. They had weathered the storms, only to end their lives at the barrel of a gun.

A Flood of Letters, and a Change in Guadeloupe

A dead Hudsonian Godwit, part of a hunters bag on Guadeloupe. — A Hudsonian Godwit as part of a hunters bag on Guadeloupe. (Photo by Anthony Levesque)

At the time, hunting in Guadeloupe and nearby Martinique had few or no regulations on which species could be shot, how many could be shot, or the number of days hunting was allowed. With the spotlight on the issue of shorebird hunting, BirdsCaribbean (then the SCSCB – Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds) and partners organized a letter writing campaign. Letters went out in the hundreds – to decision makers in the environmental departments of the French Government, as well as to other key institutions and international organizations. Please, make the harvest of shorebirds more sustainable, the letters urged.

After this campaign, some positive progress was made to Guadeloupe’s hunting regulations. In 2012 and 2013 Red Knot and Solitary Sandpipers were removed from the list of shorebirds that could be hunted. Daily bag limits (20 shorebirds per hunter per day) were introduced and regulations set specific days when hunting was not permitted, giving shorebirds some respite.

On Martinique Red Knots were also removed from the hunting list. However, no bag limits or ‘days off’ were set. It was also clear that on both islands, many declining and threatened shorebird species were still being shot by hunters in numbers that might not be sustainable.

We Must Celebrate the Successes!

So…let’s look at the positives.

Each year in Guadeloupe and Martinique hunting regulations are set by decree (separately for each island). In 2021, besides previous restrictions, shooting of Whimbrels on Guadeloupe was not permitted and the hunting of Hudsonian Godwits was set at two per day. On Martinique shorebird hunting was still allowed for 206 days of the year, with no ‘days off’ from hunting. Although some bag limits were set on Martinique, most were deemed by conservationists to be too high to be sustainable.

shooting swamp on Martinique - a large wetland with makeshift wood path leading to a hunting blind. — A Shooting Swamp on Martinique. (Photo by Yves Aubry)

In the fall of 2021, an alliance of nature protection groups* came together to oppose the 2021-22 decrees in both Guadeloupe and Martinique. They requested the suspension of hunting of the Hudsonian Godwit on Guadeloupe—a species of conservation concern and rare on Guadeloupe. On Martinique, they requested the suspension of hunting of 10 shorebirds and four songbirds, all with poor conservation status on the island. Many BirdsCaribbean members and partners sent in emails (over 1,000) opposing the hunting decree.

Ruling on these requests, a judge banned the hunting of five shorebirds on Martinique (Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Short-billed Dowitcher, American Golden Plover, and Black-bellied Plover). Martinique also set a bag limit of 20 Lesser Yellowlegs per day per hunter in 2020/21, the first time a restriction has been put in place for this species! On Guadeloupe the hunting of Hudsonian Godwits was also stopped.

It was not an easy task, but the efforts and passion of non-governmental organizations, their members and supporters deserves a huge pat on the back. This was a “win” for shorebirds!

Some Positive Changes to Hunting in Barbados

Hunting decoys, used to attract shorebirds, at a swamp in Barbados. (Photo by John Webster)

Barbados is a small, low-lying island on the far eastern edge of the Lesser Antilles. Because of its rather far-flung position, many shorebirds land on the island to avoid severe storms. Hunting in the early years when birds were abundant provided an opportunistic harvest of shorebirds for food and sport. Over time, opportunistic harvest transitioned to managing land to make it more attractive to shorebirds.

With few remaining natural wetlands, the shooting swamps developed by hunters on the island provide excellent habitats for shorebirds and many non-target waterbird species, both resident and migrants. They will likely rely on these managed wetlands even more in the future as severe storms and drought increase with climate change.

The good news is that shorebird hunting in Barbados has been in decline since the 1990s. A number of shooting swamps have closed, with only five active today. By the late 2000s harvesting had declined from roughly 20– 30,000 to approximately 10,000 annually. Why is this? Well, this is partly because younger people have lost interest in hunting and the cost of hunting is rising. Also, the Barbados Wildfowlers Association, representing a number of shooting swamp owners, decided to self-regulate. The Association recommended voluntary measures to reduce daily and total harvest using suggested daily and seasonal bag limits.

Refuge from the Storm for Shorebirds on Barbados?

On a small island, land and water are precious commodities. Abandoned swamps get used for other purposes, such as agriculture, reducing wetland habitats for birds. So, to maintain such habitats, shorebird refuges came into being. In 2008, the first shorebird refuge was created: Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge as a haven for shorebirds. The greater awareness and appreciation of the value of these wetlands by some members of the hunting community has also contributed to preserving some non-active shooting swamps for shorebirds. They may not be large, but they are some of the best places to observe a wonderful diversity of shorebirds and waterbirds on the island.

Woodbourne Shorebirds Refuge, Barbados. (Photo by John Webster)

What Can We Do?

Here are two facts that are indisputable: Firstly, shorebirds are declining at an unprecedented rate. Taking the example of the Lesser Yellowlegs, its numbers have fallen by 60-70 percent since the 1970s!

Secondly, we believe that we can make a difference if conservationists and hunters work together to build a well-managed, sustainable hunting program. Historically, hunters have played an important role in conservation; for example, the nonprofit Ducks Unlimited has worked with landowners and federal and state agencies to conserve, restore, and manage millions of hectares of wetland habitats for ducks, other wildlife, and people. The dialogue among all stakeholders must continue. We all know that regulations and monitoring are essential, going forward, or the steady decline in shorebirds, most of which are migratory, will continue with disastrous results. So, enforcement of the laws that already exist, and development of future ones, is vital.

It is all doable!

Barbados Needs More Wetlands – Hunters Could Play a Role

As we have noted, Barbados does not have large natural wetlands. What they do have needs to be protected and maintained. Just as in Canada and the United States today, hunters can, and often do, play a vital role in conserving habitat. Now, will hunting become less popular as a pastime in Barbados? If so, the shooting swamps hunters created could become shorebird refuges. If a network of such wetland refuges, including former shooting swamps, could be gradually developed, how marvelous that would be for the shorebirds, for other wildlife – and for the people of Barbados. They could even be the basis for an expansion of eco-tourism, including birding trails for locals and visitors to enjoy.

Let’s Work Together

On Guadeloupe and Martinique, much work needs to be done to bring a sense of balance to the situation. Working together, conservation groups, the island governments and the hunting community can foster a less confrontational state of affairs. The work must continue, because we are all aware that this year’s ruling does not guarantee the same restrictions will apply to the 2022/23 shorebird hunting regulations.

A mixed flock of shorebirds taking off, including Willets and Short-billed Dowitchers, enjoying a Caribbean wetland. — A mixed flock of shorebirds, including Willets and Short-billed Dowitchers, enjoying a Caribbean wetland. (Photo by Ernesto Reyes)

Our shorebirds are under pressure like never before, and we must stop their precipitous decline. Shorebird hunting can be sustainable, with shorebirds thriving for everyone to enjoy. Please take a look at our latest video on shorebird hunting. We welcome your comments, suggestions and support, as we seek solutions. Please share and “like” our shorebird posts on social media.

We promise we will stay focused on this important issue for our precious shorebirds and will update you on any new developments as we go along.

It’s for the shorebirds of the Caribbean!

We thank Environment and Climate Change Canada, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Atlantic Flyways Shorebird Initiative, US Forest Service International Programs, film maker Esther Figueroa, talented photographers and videographers, and our partners, members, and donors for your generous support to create this video (fourth in a series!) and carry out Caribbean shorebird and waterbird conservation initiatives.

Please support out shorebird conservation work – thank you!

* Organizations asking for changes to hunting rules: AMAZONA, Association pour la Protection des Animaux Sauvages, Association pour l’Étude et la protection des Vertébrés et végétaux des petites Antilles, L’Association Francophone des Soigneurs Animaliers, Le Carouge, and Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux

To learn more about Caribbean shorebirds and our work to conserve them, check out the following articles and links therein:

Discover Caribbean Shorebirds this World Shorebirds Day—New Video!

Caribbean Connections: How Shorebirds Link the Boreal Forests of Canada to the Beaches of the Caribbean

A Year in the Life of a Lesser Yellowlegs

October 15, 2021

A Year in the Life of a Lesser Yellowlegs

Laura McDuffie, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management Program, has been tracking the movements of Lesser Yellowlegs on their migration. Find out more about Laura’s work, the amazing journeys that Lesser Yellowlegs make each year and the threats they face along the way! Scroll down to see Laura’s webinar on the Lesser Yellowlegs with much more information on her research. Also check out our NEW short video on Lesser Yellowlegs and hunting in the Caribbean (below and on our YouTube).

Typically, when people think of shorebirds, they envision gangly, long-billed birds probing for invertebrates along sandy or rocky coastlines. But this is not where you are likely to find our study species, the Lesser Yellowlegs! This medium-sized shorebird breeds in the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada. They can be found in a diversity of wetland habitats during migration and overwintering in the Caribbean and Central and South America. This includes salt, brackish, and freshwater ponds and swamps, mud flats, mangroves, and other water edges. They are particularly fond of freshwater swamps and may also be found in large numbers on flooded agricultural fields (especially rice fields) if available, as in Suriname, Cuba, and Trinidad.

Shorebirds in Trouble

Over the past five decades, shorebirds have declined at an unprecedented rate. Factors causing this decline include habitat destruction and alteration, agrochemical applications, climate change, and for some shorebirds, including the Lesser Yellowlegs, unsustainable harvest at several non-breeding locations. Harvest occurs as sports hunting in the Caribbean, as well as hunting and trapping for sale as food, as a source of income in other parts of the flyway. Lesser Yellowlegs populations have declined by an alarming 63 ̶70% since the 1970s!

Keeping Track of Lesser Yellowlegs

Tagged Lesser Yellowlegs. (Photo By Laura McDuffie)

In May 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management Program began deploying tracking devices (light-level geolocators) on breeding Lesser Yellowlegs in Anchorage, Alaska. Our goal was to determine where the species occurs during the non-breeding season. In 2017, birds returned to the breeding sites. To our dismay, however, they were incredibly difficult to recapture so that we could retrieve the tags and the data. This serious predicament ultimately made us have a “rethink” about our objectives for the Program. As a result, we expanded the range of our study to include collaborations with Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska; Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; Ft. McMurray, Alberta; Churchill, Manitoba; James Bay, Ontario, and Mingan Archipelago, Quebec.

During the summers of 2018-2021, partners at Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Katherine Christie), USFWS (Christopher Harwood), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Jennie Rausch, Christian Friis, and Yves Aubrey), and Trent University (Erica Nol) deployed Lotek wireless GPS pinpoint tags on breeding adults. These tags record data via satellite so recaptures are not required! The GPS tags are accurate to ~10m, which has allowed us to examine the occurrence of Lesser Yellowlegs in countries where shorebirds are harvested. Since 2018, we have successfully deployed 115 GPS tags on Lesser Yellowlegs!

Amazing Journeys Revealed

Each bird we tag and release has their movements tracked, which mean we can identify the different countries they visit and specific sites they use during migration and overwintering. This information can help us to identify the potential bottlenecks and threats that birds experience each year.

Here is just one amazing journey made by “JP” who was tagged in Anchorage, Alaska in 2018. The tag revealed that he travelled at least 10,576 km on his southward migration, taking in Alberta and Manitoba, Canada, and Devils Lake, North Dakota, on his way through North America. JP then spent a whole month on Barbuda! This highlights how important the Caribbean can be as a rest and refueling spot for some shorebirds. Finally, JP made it to Middenstandspolder, in Suriname, where his tag went offline in February 2019.

We don’t know why JP’s tag stopped transmitting. It was not uncommon in our study to have incomplete tracklines. For these birds, the battery of the tag may have failed, or the harness could have fallen off and left the tag lying covered in mud, unable to recharge and transmit. However, we do know that some birds don’t survive the long journey.

Thanks to strong collaborations with biologists working in the Caribbean, we were able to receive some shorebird harvest reports. In fall 2020, we learned that two of our tagged birds “O2A” and “A65” were shot by hunters in Guadeloupe and Martinique, respectively. This shows that hunting isn’t only a “predicted threat” to the birds we studied, but also a real and observed threat.

Migration map of Lesser Yellowlegs “A65” wearing a GPS tracking tag. A65 was harvested in fall 2020 in Martinique, French West Indies.

Dead Lesser Yellowlegs with GPS tag and leg bands. — Lesser Yellowlegs with GPS tag “A65” was harvested in Martinique by a hunter on its southbound migration. We are thankful to hunters for reporting tagged birds to us!

Migration map of Lesser Yellowlegs O2A — Migration map of Lesser Yellowlegs “O2A” wearing a GPS tracking tag. O2A was harvested in fall 2020 in Guadeloupe, French West Indies.

find out more about Lesser Yellowlegs and hunting in the Caribbean in this short video

Globally, Lesser Yellowlegs are in steep decline, with likely only 400,000 individuals remaining. Our research on the species has helped identify several potential threats, but we still need to learn more about the hazards these birds face. So, we must rely on assistance from local biologists, managers, hunters, and the public in the Caribbean and beyond.

The proper management of a species ensures that it will be around for future generations to enjoy and utilize. Awareness and education about the species decline and an understanding of the threats it faces can go a long way! When the general public is aware of an issue, they are more likely to take actions. These might include helping to monitor birds, conserving local wetlands, or ensuring that hunting laws protect vulnerable species. They may even participate in scientific efforts, such as submitting shorebird harvest records to managers. Awareness, information gathering and partnerships are critical components in helping us to protect these unique shorebirds.

Laura McDuffie holding shorebird chicks — Laura McDuffie, in the field, with Lesser Yellowlegs chicks. (Photo by Zak Pohlen)

Laura McDuffie has been studying the breeding and migration ecology of Alaska’s shorebirds and landbirds since 2014. In spring 2021, Laura completed her master’s degree in biological sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Laura’s thesis is entitled “Migration ecology and harvest exposure risk of Lesser Yellowlegs.”

This study would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of our collaborators. Our gratitude goes out to the following people: Brad Andres, Yves Aubry, Erin Bayne, Christophe Buidin, Katherine Christie, Ken Foster, Christian Friis, Autumn-Lynn Harrison, Christopher Harwood, James Johnson, Kevin Kardynal, Benoit Laliberte, Peter Marra, Erica Nol, Jennie Rausch, Yann Rochepault, Sarah Sonsthagen, Audrey Taylor, Lee Tibbitts, Ross Wood, Jay Wright, and all the field technicians that helped with banding. Kristy Rouse, Cassandra Schoofs, and Brent Koenen with Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s 673rd CES/CEIS supported the project from the beginning and were instrumental in the DoD’s recognition of lesser yellowlegs as a Species of Special Concern. Funding sources include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Bird Studies Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Smithsonian Institution; the 673rd CES/CEIS, U.S. Department of the Air Force; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Learn more details about Laura’s fascinating research on lesser yellowlegs’ migration by watching this webinar, recorded for world migratory bird day, OCtober, 2021.

August 28, 2021

Celebrate World Shorebirds Day and Join the Global Shorebird Count: September 1-7, 2021

September is right around the corner and migratory shorebirds are making their way south. Please join us this World Shorebirds Day to learn more about these fascinating birds and what you can do to help protect them. Take part in this year’s Global Shorebird Count and check out our cool resources for honing your ID skills and count techniques. We also have free, fun activities for kids and the whole family – read on!

Global Shorebird Count 2021

This year’s Global Shorebird Count will take place from September 1 to 7, 2021. All across the Caribbean and beyond, intrepid birders will be compiling checklists from island to island and recording them on eBird Caribbean. BirdsCaribbean urges you to participate! Our migratory shorebirds are more vulnerable than ever, threatened by human activities such as destruction of their habitats, pollution, disturbance, and climate change. In some countries they are hunted. Altogether this has led to severe declines in populations of shorebirds around the world.

Where are these fascinating birds to be found? While you will find them on shores and beaches, some shorebirds use habitats further inland, including freshwater and brackish marshes and ponds. Shorebirds are also fond of salt ponds, mud flats, mangrove areas, and tidal flats. Check out the new video we created in honor of this year’s World Shorebirds Day!

Make Your Shorebirds Count—Submit & Share Your Data!

A Piping Plover – the first seen in Jamaica! (Photo by Ann Sutton).

We encourage you to register to participate in the count and be sure share your eBird Caribbean checklist(s) with worldshorebirdsday – the eBird username of World Shorebirds Day. You can find guidelines for sharing checklists here.

eBird Caribbean is a critical tool for tracking and understanding bird migration and population changes – never more so than for our shorebirds. If you do not have an account, it is easy to register – here’s a quick guide to enter eBird data online. There is even a free eBird Essentials course to get you fully oriented. Download the free mobile app for recording your data in the field.

Note that shorebirds are a type of waterbird and any counts you do at wetlands, mangroves, mud flats, coastal areas or beaches at any time of year count as Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) counts. When you do your counts Please choose one of the CWC protocols in the eBird app or when you submit or edit your data online. When you are using the app make sure that you are using the eBird Caribbean Portal. To check or change the portal you are using go into your settings on the app and look for “Portal”. To increase the value of your count to science, be sure to count ALL birds at your site, including seabirds, herons and egrets, land birds, etc.

What if you spot a bird with a band on its leg?

While counting shorebirds you may see birds; especially Piping Plovers, Red Knots, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sanderlings, with colourful bands around their legs. Do your best to record the band colors and any numbers or letters – see guidance in the handy graphic. Binoculars or zoom photography may allow you to clearly see the band colors and the numbers engraved onto the band. Scientists use this information to track bird populations and migrations.

You may report your sightings to BandedBirds.org and the USGS Bird Banding Lab which oversee all banding in the United States.

Handout from the US Fish and Wildlife Service that provides information about Piping Plover banding locations and how to read the flags.

Global Shorebird Count 101

After years of participating in the Global Shorebird Count we have created a list of some best practice tips to help make your count go as smoothly as possible. You may download and share this infographic with your fellow birders.

If you do not already have a favorite place to look at shorebirds, before doing your Global Shorebird Counts, you might need to choose your birding spot. Shorebirds can show up in many different types of wetlands from mangroves, to mudflats, saltponds, marshes, and beaches! If you are unsure where to find shorebirds near you why not take a look for ‘hotspots’ at your local wetlands on eBird. Just click on ‘Explore’ on the eBird Caribbean website, and find ‘Explore Hotspots’. You can open hotspots in a map and then click on a hotspot to see what type of birds have been seen there recently. When you visit your shorebird spot be sure to find a good place to count birds from – you need to have a clear view of the birds, but not be so close you disturb them!

Shorebirds can be challenging to identify, and some species are especially difficult to tell apart. If you have binoculars, a spotting scope or a camera with a good zoom lens don’t forget to take them along. These will help you get a closer look to pick out the ID features, without disturbing the birds. Of course, don’t forget to take you favorite bird ID guide with you when you do your shorebird counts. You might want to print out one of our handy Shorebird ID cards! In fact, you could even do a bit of ‘shorebird studying’ before you go using our useful reference guides and our CWC and Shorebird ID webinars. You can find all these free resources here.

Fun activities to engage kids in exploring wetlands and beaches

These activities were not designed to teach a child how to name and identify shorebirds but rather to give them space to explore and feel connected to their natural environment. Parents and guardians, you will not need to worry about your own knowledge of birds or plants. All you need to do is accompany and participate with your child in these activities.

Beach Scavenger Hunt. This activity is suitable for children ages 4 to 7 years old. They are asked to find plants and animals at the beach.

Beach Bird Bingo. This activity is suitable for children ages 8 to 12 years old. They are asked to find items on the list four in a row, horizontally, vertically or diagonally. They do not need to touch or collect any of the items on the list.

Talk about this with your children before beginning any of the activities. They should not touch or collect items on the lists. When observing birds they should speak softly. They do not need to get close to the birds but if they need to, ask them to do so slowly and quietly. You can check off the items (with a pencil or pen), as they are located. When everyone has had a chance to look for the items listed, come back together to chat about what they were able to find or see. For example, why is the bird’s beak long and straight?

World Shorebirds Day 2021 postcard. This activity is suitable for any age. Print and colour the postcard – sides 1 and 2. Then share it with a friend or family member.

Don’t forget to reward your junior birders with a scoop of their favourite ice cream!

They may also enjoy this Snowy Plover colouring book. You can print the colouring book and carry to the beach, just remember to pack the colouring pencils or crayons.

Get Social for Shorebirds

Celebrating World Wetlands day on Jamaica (Photo by Paula-Anne Porter)

This activity is suitable for anyone 12 years and older. Take photos at your local wetland, beach, mud flat, salt pond, or swamp, and share them on social media; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and tag us @birdscaribbean and use the hashtag #worldshorebirdsday2021. The categories are:

Caribbean Shorebirds: snap a pic of a shorebird you saw at your local beach, mud flat, pond or swamp. Please also use the hashtag: #Caribshorebirds

Share the Shore: show us how you are helping shorebirds. For tips on how you can help shorebirds when you visit the beach, check out this blog. Please also use the hashtag: #sharetheshore

My Local Wetland: share a beautiful landscape or seascape photo of your local wetland or if you’re not camera shy, take a selfie in the habitat. Please also use the hashtag: #mylocalwetland and #HumansofBirdsCaribbean

Use a phone or any other camera that is available, but you must tag @birdscaribbean and use the hashtags provided. We look forward to seeing and sharing your amazing photos and reading your stories.

August 27, 2021

Discover Caribbean Shorebirds this World Shorebirds Day—New Video!

World Shorebirds Day, on Monday, September 6, is just around the bend. In honor of this annual global event, BirdsCaribbean created a new video to celebrate Caribbean shorebirds. From plump plovers to wave-catching Sanderlings to stately Stilt Sandpipers, shorebirds are delightful birds to get to know and love. Enjoy our short video and learn more about how you can help to conserve these treasures of our beaches and wetlands.

It is prime time to learn about and celebrate the diversity of shorebirds in the Caribbean. During late summer and early fall, our resident shorebirds, like the Killdeer and Wilson’s Plover, are joined by long-distance migrants, such as the Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, and many more. These migratory birds have just completed their breeding seasons, hopefully with much success, in the northern U.S. and Canada. Now, many are passing through the Caribbean, stopping to rest and feed as they travel to wintering areas further south. Other bird arrivals may stay with us for the entire winter.

Shorebirds are a diverse group of wading birds that live close to water—you can find them on our beaches, mangroves, marshes, salt ponds, and mudflats. Many can be easily identified by their long legs or unique bills, which are especially adapted to their diet and habitat. For example, the long, thin, probing bill of the Black-necked Stilt is ideal for plucking worms and crabs from sticky mud; while the Ruddy Turnstone, with his short, stubby bill, is adept at flipping over stones and shells to find tasty insects on the beach.

Hover over each image to see the caption; click on each photo to see it larger and to view images as a gallery

Ruddy Turnstone in winter plumage on a beach

A Ruddy Turnstone in winter plumage. This shorebird is easy to identify from its short bright orange legs and stout ‘triangular’ bill. (Photo By Charles Sharp).

The Killdeer is one of our Caribbean residents, and can be found here year-round. (Photo By Lorie Shaull).

The striking Black-necked Stilt has long legs for wading into deep water to find food. (Photo by Dan Pancamo).

Migratory shorebirds make amazing journeys of thousands of kilometres! Beforehand, they need to store enough energy in the form of fat reserves to migrate. These small birds will eat until they are about double their normal weight. You may think that flying at their top weight would slow shorebirds down, but they are the marathon-winners of flight. Incredibly, this group of birds does not do any soaring, they are physically flapping the entire way!

Sadly, shorebird numbers have declined by roughly forty percent over the last 50 years, due to a number of threats. An increase in developments and various types of pollution have resulted in their habitats being degraded or even lost altogether. Human disturbance, hunting, and climate change…All these factors threaten shorebirds. Please join us this World Shorebirds Day to learn more about these fascinating birds and what you can do to help protect them.

Join the Global Shorebird Count, September 1 to 7 – every shorebird counts!

One of the main activities of World Shorebirds Day is the Global Shorebird Count. We encourage bird enthusiasts in the region to go out and count shorebirds from the 1st to 7th September 2021.

Leucistic (white) Willet, with two other Willets — Spot the difference! A leucistic Willet seen in Zapata Swamp, Cuba. (Photo By Ernesto Reyes).

Your counts will help us to understand which species (and how many) are stopping to rest and feed in the Caribbean. This allows us to assess the health of populations and to determine whether they are increasing, decreasing, or stable. The data you collect will also help scientists to coordinate follow-up research and conservation actions, such as protecting important sites – or even taking immediate action to reduce threats to shorebirds and their environments, if necessary.

So, grab your binoculars, hat, waterboots, and field guide and head to your favorite muddy, sandy, or watery birding spot! Yes, it might get messy. You never know what new birds you might see, and there have been some remarkable discoveries over the years. Since the beginning of the Global Shorebird Count and the Caribbean Waterbird Census, new species have been recorded in the Caribbean. For example, in 2016 Ann Sutton spotted the first Piping Plover ever seen in Jamaica on Pedro Pond, and in 2018 a BirdsCaribbean birding tour in Cuba came across a leucistic (white) Willet in the Zapata Swamp. In addition, we have also greatly expanded our knowledge and conservation of the habitats and sites that shorebirds use across the region, thanks to our many citizen science shorebirders.

We hope that you will be able to visit many areas across your island and invite local birders and/or birding groups to get involved. Note that shorebirds are a type of waterbird; any tallies you do, whether it is at wetlands, mangroves, mud flats, coastal areas or beaches, are also considered as Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) counts. To increase the value of your count to science, be sure to count ALL birds at your site, including seabirds, herons and egrets, land birds, and so on.

Complete instructions on how to do a Global Shorebird Count/ Caribbean Waterbird Census count are available here and here; Shorebird ID resources are available here. Before you head out, it might well be helpful to watch our webinars on Waterbird ID and Shorebird ID to bone up on your ID skills!

Be sure to follow your country’s COVID-19 safety guidelines, have fun and definitely tag us, @birdscaribbean, in your photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We look forward to seeing your amazing photos and reading your stories!

Please enjoy and share our video!

Many thanks to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Atlantic Flyways Shorebird Initiative, US Forest Service International Programs, film maker Esther Figueroa, talented photographers and videographers, and our partners, members, and donors for your generous support to create this video (first in a series!) and carry out Caribbean shorebird and waterbird conservation initiatives.

August 24, 2021

Oldest Birding Group in Cuba Wins Prestigious Ralph W. Schreiber Award at the 2021 AOS Awards!

BirdsCaribbean extends heartfelt congratulations to our dedicated partners from the Bird Ecology Group (BEG) in Cuba, led by Dr. Martin Acosta Cruz. The group has received the American Ornithological Society’s (AOS) Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Award. We applaud BEG members: Lourdes M. Mugica Valdés, Alieny González Alfonso, Ianela García Lau, Alejandro Rodriguez Ochoa, Daniela Ventura del Puerto, and Elio A. Fontes Otero; and former BEG members Orlando Torres Fundora, Dennis Denis Ávila, Ariam Jiménez Reyes Antonio, Rodríguez Suarez, and Jose L. Ponce de León García. Hats off to you all, we are so proud!

group photo - Bird Ecology Group, University of Havana, Cuba — Part of the current Bird Ecology Group at the University of Havana, Cuba. Left to right: Elio Fontes, Ianela Garcia, Martín Acosta, Alieny González Alfonso, Lourdes Mugica, Daniela Ventura y Alejandro Rodriguez

Who was Dr. Schreiber?

The annual AOS award, named for Dr. Ralph Schreiber, honors extraordinary conservation-related scientific contributions by an individual or small team. Dr. Schreiber was an ornithologist and curator of birds and mammals at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He is well known for his studies of Pacific seabirds, including the Brown Pelican, and the effects of El Niño on bird and mammal populations. The El Niño phenomenon occurs when the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean becomes unusually warm, especially at the equator and along the coasts of South and Central America, disrupting the availability of fish populations that these birds feed on.

All about the Bird Ecology Group (BEG)

Drs. Martin Acosta and Lourdes Mugica in the field in Cuba.

Since 1978, the BEG has dedicated its research work to Cuban bird ecology. Motivated by their unwavering fascination for birds, its members have worked hard, overcoming many financial and logistic al obstacles. The BEG has combined university teaching with research, capacity building, and environmental education, to contribute significantly to the knowledge and conservation of Cuban birds.

The group’s research has led to the publication of 128 peer-reviewed papers and 18 books. The most recently published book, Ecología de las aves acuáticas en las arroceras de Cuba (Ecology of Waterbirds in the Rice Fields in Cuba), describes research on the birds that are connected with the second most important agricultural crop in the country, and the importance of the rice paddies for their conservation.

The BEG has proposed two new protected areas in two important coastal wetlands: those south of Los Palacios, and the Delta del Agabama. It has supported the proposal for five Cuban Important Bird Areas (IBAs): CU003 Humedal Sur de Pinar del Río; CU006 Ciénaga de Zapata; CU009 Humedal Sur de Sancti Spiritus; CU014 Río Máximo-Cayo Guajaba, and CU020 Delta del Cauto. The group also recommended the inclusion of the West Indian Whistling-Duck and the Masked Duck in the Red Book of Threatened Species of Cuba and the Birdlife Red Data Bird List. BEG members are engaged in the study of waterbird species; the structure of bird communities in coastal ecosystems; the ecology of birds using rice paddies and shrimp farms; and birds using Havana city ecosystems (mangroves, parks, and botanical gardens).

The BEG: Busy with Piping Plovers

Since 2016, the BEG has annually surveyed between 68 to 180 km of coastline to assess the conservation status of wintering Piping Plovers frequenting the Cuban archipelago. In this same year they reported the highest number of individuals for Cuba:104 plovers! Through many hours of dedicated band resighting (finding and reporting band numbers of plovers that have come to Cuba for the winter) they have also helped to identify the breeding origin of wintering Piping Plovers on Cuban coastlines. And while other islands continue to battle with hunting quotas and regulations, the BEG has successfully banned the hunting of two historical game species in Cuba: the endemic and threatened West Indian Whistling-Duck and White-Crowned Pigeon. The group has also carried out years of vital Caribbean Waterbird Census counts at Cuba’s many important wetlands to learn more about numbers and trends of resident and migratory waterbirds and shorebirds.

A group of Piping Plovers foraging in Cayo Paredon Grande, Cuba. (Photo by Martin Acosta)

A banded Piping Plover at Guanabo Beach, Cuba, east of Havana City — A banded Piping Plover sighted by the Bird Ecology Group at Guanabo Beach, Cuba, east of Havana City (photo by Karen-Aguilar)

BEG has received many awards and plaudits!

Both internationally and locally, the BEG has received significant commendations for its efforts to protect Cuban birds and expand our understanding of bird ecology. In the past 42 years the small team has accepted 48 prestigious awards. Internationally, the BEG received the Whitley Award for Birdlife Conservation in 2002 and the Continuation Award; and the Silver Award from BP Conservation Award in 2002. Dr. Martin Acosta Cruz and Lourdes M. Mugica Valdés have received Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2001 and 2017, respectively, from BirdsCaribbean. Ianela García Lau received the Founders Award from BirdsCaribbean for outstanding student research, while she and Alieny González Alfonso received the Educators Award for their leadership in organizing bird festivals and bird education projects in Cuba. Lourdes was honored with an Honorary Fellowship from AOS in 2020.

group photo: The Bird Ecology Group after receiving the National Environment Award from the Cuban government. — The Bird Ecology Group after receiving the National Environment Award from the Cuban government in 2008. From left to right: Antonio Rodriguez, Alieny Gonzalez, Martin Acosta, Lourdes Mugica, José Luis Ponce.

The local scientific community has also recognized their invaluable contributions. Two members have received the Carlos J. Finlay Order (the highest recognition given by the Cuban government for personal outstanding contributions to science). Martin and Lourdes have each received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Havana University President. The BEG remains the only research group to have won the National Environmental Award, given by the Cuban Government. They have also won five Academy Awards from the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

Nurturing the ornithologists and educators of the future

The BEG also places emphasis on training and supporting the future ornithologists of Cuba and beyond. So far, nine PhD theses, 14 Masters theses. and 46 undergraduate theses have been supervised by BEG ornithologists. Three more PhD theses and 2 Master theses are in progress.

In addition to providing quality tertiary education to students, the BEG extends its capacity building to staff from Cuban protected areas and other conservation institutions. Over 127 participants have benefited from these workshops. The group has also provided teacher-training workshops for primary and secondary school teachers – a total of 120 participants, in both urban and rural regions of the island. These workshops have enabled teachers to encourage student enquiry, feed their curiosity, and deepen their understanding of ornithological concepts.

Dr. Lourdes Mugica and the Bird Ecology Group share educational materials on birds with the local community and children, Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival.

The thriving Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival in Cuba

For the past 15 years, the BEG has been the Cuban organizers of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, a month-long festival to celebrate birds only found within the region. BEG members have worked to promote the value of and foster respect for Cuban birds and ecosystems among the public, using a mix of traditional (TV, radio, print) and new media (social media and apps). An astonishing 3,622 activities have taken place in the 15 Cuban provinces, with the participation of about 166,000 people, mainly children.

We are extremely proud to support and work alongside the Bird Ecology Group to study, conserve, and educate about Cuban birds and look forward to continuing our vibrant partnership. We wish the team many more years of success!

Category: Waterbirds

Get Ready for the Caribbean Waterbird Census: Jan 14th – Feb 3rd 2023

Birds Connect Our World – Day 52

Birds Connect Our World – Day 47

James A. Kushlan Research and Conservation Fund to Support Research on Caribbean Waterbirds

Birds Connect Our World – Day 45

Birds Connect Our World – Day 44

Meet Sami the Snowy Plover: a New Graphic Novel for World Shorebirds Day Tells his Survival Stories

Movements of Snowy Plovers in the Offshore Islands of Venezuela—What we have Learned from Banding and Community Monitoring

Birds Connect Our World – Day 43

Birds Connect Our World – Day 42

BirdsCaribbean urges French authorities to protect Brown Pelicans on Guadeloupe

Around the Islands – Your Highlights From the Caribbean Waterbird Census 2022

Join the Conservian Bahamas May 2022 Live-Aboard Schooner Expedition

Wade In! Are you Ready for the 13th Annual Caribbean Waterbird Census 2022?

12 Days of Christmas – BirdsCaribbean Remix

Field Trips, Videos, Shorebird Education, and a Fabulous Costume Party: Activities on World Migratory Bird Day 2021

Shorebirds Under Fire

A Year in the Life of a Lesser Yellowlegs

Celebrate World Shorebirds Day and Join the Global Shorebird Count: September 1-7, 2021

Discover Caribbean Shorebirds this World Shorebirds Day—New Video!

Oldest Birding Group in Cuba Wins Prestigious Ralph W. Schreiber Award at the 2021 AOS Awards!

Why the CWC?

Help is at hand! Become a Waterbird expert!

2023 Piping Plover Alert

Don’t forget to eBird!

Migratory Bird of the Day: Black-crowned Night-Heron

Colour in the Black-crowned Night-Heron

Listen to the calls of the Black-crowned Night-Heron

Puzzles of the Day

Activity of the Day

Migratory Bird of the Day: Ruddy Duck

Colour in the Ruddy Duck

Listen to the calls of the Ruddy Duck

Puzzles of the Day

Activity of the Day

Further details on when and how to apply will be supplied in an announcement in early October.

Migratory Bird of the Day: Willet

Colour in the Willet

Listen to the calls of the Willet

Photos of the Day

Activity of the Day

Migratory Bird of the Day: Sanderling

Colour in the Sanderling

Listen to the calls of the Sanderling

Puzzles of the Day

Activity of the Day

Working under tough conditions…

…and involving local residents through volunteerism

The Snowy Plover, traveling between islands

Exciting news! Two new protected areas on Coche Island may shelter shorebirds

Migratory Bird of the Day: American Oystercatcher

Colour in the American Oystercatcher

Listen to the calls of the American Oystercatcher

Puzzles of the Day

Activity of the Day

Migratory Bird of the Day: Least Sandpiper

Colour in the Least Sandpiper

Listen to the calls of the Least Sandpiper

Puzzle of the Day

Activity of the Day

History of Brown Pelicans on Guadeloupe

Threats to the Caribbean Brown Pelican

Next Steps

En Francais

Histoire des pélicans bruns en Guadeloupe

Menaces sur le pélican brun des Caraïbes

Prochaines étapes

Ducks a plenty – but not for everyone!

Shorebird highlights

CWC in Puerto Rico – Remembering Shirley Droz & ongoing efforts

Heading South

Enjoy more photos from CWc around the caribbean in 2022!

Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Habitat Conservation & Restoration!

May 2022 Expedition Dates & Locations:

Those confusing waterbirds!

Getting it all down on eBird

Twelve Birds of Christmas – BirdsCaribbean Remix

An Oriole in a Pine Tree – Bahama Oriole

Two Grenada Doves

Three French Peckers – Guadeloupe Woodpecker

Four Blackbirds – Jamaican Blackbird

Five Golden Swallows

Six Songbirds Singing – Summer Tanager

Seven Parrots Squawking – St. Vincent Parrot

Eight Thrashers Thrashing – White-breasted Thrasher

Nine Flickers Flicking – Fernandina’s Flicker

Ten Plovers Piping – Piping Plover

Eleven egrets dancing – Reddish Egret

Twelve Whistlers Whistling – West Indian Whistling-Duck

And now our 12 Caribbean Birds of Christmas Advent calendar is complete!

Highlights from this year’s WMBD activities!

Puerto Rico

Dominican Republic

Montserrat

Bonaire

Bird Costume Party Winners!

Enjoy these photos from WMBD celebrations across the Caribbean!

The Sad Story of Machi and Goshen

A Flood of Letters, and a Change in Guadeloupe

We Must Celebrate the Successes!

Some Positive Changes to Hunting in Barbados