It’s that time of year when Caribbean waterbirds get a chance to shine! Between the 14th of January and the 3rd of February, despite the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, binoculars, cameras and scopes were turned in their direction as they pottered about along our coastlines. Yes, it was the 12th annual Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC), an opportunity not only to count but also to learn and to raise awareness of these fascinating birds.
This past year, it has been hard to meet in person and many events have ‘gone virtual.’ In keeping with this, BirdsCaribbean kicked off the 2021 CWC with a series of three online CWC webinars. The first focused on the importance of the Caribbean Waterbird Census, and explained how to participate. Our other two webinars concentrated on how to identify wetland birds, with a whole session dedicated to Shorebirds – a group that can tricky to identify, and are certainly a challenge when starting out! These webinars provided helpful reminders to those who have participated before and were an introduction to those new to the CWC. If you are looking for waterbird survey and ID tips, all three webinars are available to watch on BirdsCaribbean’s Youtube channel. In Puerto Rico, Sergio Colón and José Colón of Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña (SOPI) also presented a webinar on the common waterbird species in Puerto Rico to help people brush-up on their bird ID before doing CWC surveys.
Many of our partners took part in the 2021 CWC across our region. In Venezuela, with support from dedicated volunteers and BirdsCaribbean, Ave Zona carried out CWC surveys across an impressive number of different sites on several offshore islands and cays that are important to shorebirds and waterbirds, including some of the important wetland habitats on Margarita Island. They shared some of the species seen during their surveys on social media, including Laughing Gulls, Comb Duck, Great Blue Heron, Wilson’s Plover, and many other shorebird species. This is an amazing effort by Ave Zona given the logistical difficulties involved in travel in Venezuela.
Birders across our region took part in CWC 2021 (click to enlarge photos)
BirdLife Jamaica celebrated Word Wetlands Day (2nd February) a few days early, with a weekend of wetland-themed activities including Caribbean Waterbird Census surveys in locations in and around Kingston Harbour. Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, Belted Kingfishers, and a Louisiana Waterthrush were amongst the birds recorded. One of the surprises of the weekend, shared on Twitter by radio broadcaster and avid birder Paula-Anne Porter, was the sighting of a Brown Booby in the fishing village of Port Royal near the entrance to the harbour – “a rare sight in these parts” as it largely breeds on outlying cays. Additionally, several banded birds were spotted; one Sanderling, when reported, was recorded as having been banded in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2019.
On Anguilla, Nature Explorers Anguilla wrapped up their CWC by identifying an impressive 53 species on their surveys! Their sightings included the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, with a beautiful photograph of this bird shared on social media (see Gallery at end for this and other photos taken during CWC2021). Nature Explorers also shared an exciting and rare sighting, when a birding group spotted a Piping Plover hanging out with some Snowy Plovers, at Cove Pond Important Bird Area. The two species look similar but the Piping Plover can be picked out by its bright orange legs and short ‘stubby’ bill. Piping Plovers are not often seen on Anguilla, but this might be a favourite location for them, as one was seen in the same spot last year.
Other rare waterbirds seen during this year’s CWC included a Garganey spotted on one of his CWC surveys by Anthony Levesque in Guadeloupe. This is only the second record of this species for the Island!
In Antigua the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) and their ‘ Wadadli Warblers’ Birding Club split into teams and organised several CWC Level 2 counts at three different sites. During their census they managed to count a fantastic total of 42 bird species. The EAG used the need to wear face masks during COVID as an excuse to get creative. They challenged people to join in their bird ‘mask-erade’ by designing bird-themed face masks to celebrate the finale of their CWC. The results were some wonderful, fun, and colourful creations. The winning prize went to Auriel Hunte for her Snowy Egret-inspired Mask. Read more about the EAG’s CWC activities and check out some more of the bird masks in our blog post from Shanna Challenger and Britney Hay.
EAG’s Mask-erade Competition for the 2021 CWC – click to enlarge photos
Over in Grenada, a wonderful flock of 92 Blue-winged Teal was spotted on La Sagesse Pond; and 3KC Birding Adventures recorded some nice footage of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks on Antoine Lake.
Challenges there were, but this year’s CWC yielded some interesting results. Most importantly, many of our partners did get out and about and enjoyed an array of species, while counting furiously!
A huge thank you from BirdsCaribbean to all those who took part in the Caribbean Waterbird Census this year- your survey results help us keep track of what is going on with waterbirds in our region and identify trends and important sites for waterbirds. Big thanks also to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, and our members and donors for supporting our Caribbean Waterbird Census! Don’t forget you can do CWC surveys at your wetland all through the year, find out more about CWC and how to take part here and find fantastic resources to help you here.
More photos from our partners during CWC 2021 – ENJOY!
Enjoy this video of the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks seen on Antoine Lake, Grenada
Some birders posted about their CWC surveys on instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram