This is the SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN BIRD ALERT (2001-24) for 29 June 2001. Sponsored by the T&T Field Naturalists' Club, our aim is to promote birding and ornithology in the southeastern Caribbean by fostering communication among resident and visiting birders regarding the study of birds in the region. The SCBA and information about the T&TFNC are accessible on the Internet at http://www.wow.net/ttfnc. Reports should be sent to Floyd Hayes by phone at 662-5918 (H) or 645-3232 x2206 (W), or by e-mail at floyd_hayes@hotmail.com. The T&T Rare Bird Committee requests details for species indicated with an asterisk (see SCBA website above and end below).
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos of the Curlew Sandpiper and Whimbrel (Eurasian race) in Barbados, Snail Kite in Trinidad and Little Egret in Tobago have been added to the SCBA website (see address above).
HOTSHOTS IN HOT SPOTS: Although seabirds may be beleaguered by environmental threats in the region, a recent rat eradication programme on the offshore islets of Antigua appears to have had a positive effect on nesting seabirds, which are returning to the islands to breed and should be monitored more closely. A visit to 3 hectare Rabbit Island on 18 June yielded a variety of nesting seabirds including roughly 20 BROWN PELICANS, 40 LAUGHING GULLS, five BROWN NODDIES and 15 SOOTY TERNS. Other noteworthy birds included 11 WEST INDIAN WHISTLING-DUCKS and two WHITE-CROWNED PIGEONS. A visit to 40 hectare Green Island on 26 May produced about 20 nesting RED-BILLED TROPICBIRDS, five MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRDS and ten CARIBBEAN MARTINS. Other seabirds reported breeding recently on other offshore islands include ROSEATE TERNS, LEAST TERNS and possibly BRIDLED TERNS.
In Tobago, a remarkably late adult male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER* (1st for Tobago, 3rd for T&T) was seen and well described by well credentialed observers along the King's Bay Trail on 20 June.
In Barbados, YELLOW WARBLERS have turned up recently in odd places where they had never been recorded previously, presumably in response to the most severe drought conditions in four decades. For the first time in 18 years one was noted in St. John while another was reported from East Point for the first time in about 45 years. Vagrancy during environmental stress may explain the report of a possible YELLOW WARBLER* of the Barbados race at Goldsborough, Tobago, on 19 June. Birders in Tobago should be aware that the Barbados race is disinguished from Nearctic races by a rufous crown in breeding males, extensive black in the wings and tail, and a brighter golden colouration; the rufous crown is reduced in females and non-breeding males.
Other birds noted in Barbados include six BLACK SWIFTS at St. Bernards Village, St. Joseph (a reliable spot for swifts, observed during four consecutive trips), on 23 June, and a very late but wild, freely flying BLUE-WINGED TEAL at Hope, St. Lucy, in mid-June.
In the Caroni Plain of Trinidad, the immature SNAIL KITE* continues to be seen in the Caroni Rice Fields, where it has moved into fields adjacent to the runway; our last report is from 28 June. Other birds seen in the rice fields on 28 June include two WHITE-FACED WHISTLING-DUCKS*, 24 FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCKS, eight WHITE-CHEEKED PINTAILS, a BAT FALCON, a RUDDY TURNSTONE, a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (latest date for T&T), 52 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, 17 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and four LESSER YELLOWLEGS (Greater Yellowlegs outnumber Lesser Yellowlegs in spring and vice versa in autumn). Also noteworthy was a Butorides heron intermediate between STRIATED HERON and GREEN HERON (scored as a five on Payne's hybrid scale of 1-9; see Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 94:81-88, 1974). On 14 June, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER (4th spring record for T&T, latest date) was seen in the rice fields but inadvertently omitted from earlier alert.
In southern Trinidad, five BLUE-AND-WHITE SWALLOWS, the first of the year, showed up Mora Reservoir (near Syne Village along Reyes Trace, just off the SS Erin Road) on 27 June, coinciding with the first day of consistently heavy rainfall for the year. Five PLUMBEOUS KITES were also noted.
Along the west coast of Trinidad, a GREAT BLUE HERON and two RED-CAPPED CARDINALS were seen at South Oropouche Swamp on 26 June. At San Fernando, no gulls or terns were noted at dawn on 26 June, but in the afternoon of 23 June at least 40 LAUGHING GULLS, three COMMON TERNS and three LARGE-BILLED TERNS were noted during a brief visit. A SHORT-TAILED HAWK soared over San Fernando Hill on 23 June. At Pointe-a-Pierre, a STREAK-HEADED WOODCREEPER (heard only), two SAFFRON FINCHES and two adult and two begging juvenile RED-CAPPED CARDINALS were noted on 23 June. The nests of COMMON MOORHEN and STRIATED HERON reported on 2 June have failed. We inadvertently omitted an earlier report of four late BARN SWALLOWS along with 14 LARGE-BILLED TERNS and 20 GREAT EGRETS at La Romaine on 2 June.
In the Northern Range of Trinidad, a CHESTNUT WOODPECKER, five COLLARED TROGONS and two SWALLOW TANAGERS were tallied at Morne Bleu on 24 June. After a slow start to the breeding season presumably due to severe drought conditions, TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRDS at Caribbean Union College, Maracas Valley, are frantically breeding later than normal, with five currently active nests on 11 territories and several others under construction. On 29 June, a remarkable double-shelled eggs was found abandoned in a nest. It was abnormally long, with half the egg tightly encased within half of another egg and may have contained two undeveloped embryos. It represented the fifth clutch of the year for a prolific pair that had already fledged at least six offspring from three different broods. Little wonder something went amiss! On another TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD territory defended by a colour-banded polygynous trio, a fourth unbanded bird of unknown sex joined the trio earlier during the year. Since then one female moved into an adjacent territory recently vacated by the banded monogamous male, where she appears to have defended alone a nest with at least one fledgling, but hasn't been seen in over a week. Meanwhile a new female, banded as a fledgling in a nearby territory on 17 April 1998 but never seen subsequently, recently turned up and is nesting at the same time as a second banded female nearby; the unbanded male, clearly a new arrival though perhaps present for several months, is assisting with both nests and one female was seen feeding young in the other nest.
Elsewhere, the polygamous quartet of two males and two females reported earlier have successfully fledged two young from a nest. Currently a single clutch is being incubated in a new nest and the second female appears ready to lay a clutch in the previous nest in which the two nestlings were just fledged. Are tropical birds kinkier? Tropical Mockingbirds surely are! ORNITHOLOGICAL TIDBIT: In a recently published study, J. S. Hunt, E. Bermingham, and R. E. Ricklefs analysed the "Molecular systematics and biogeography of Antillean thrashers, tremblers, and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae)" (Auk 118:35-55, 2001). The Tremblers formed three strongly differentiated clades: (1) GRAY TREMBLER on St. Lucia, (2) BROWN TREMBLER on St. Vincent and Dominica, and (3) BROWN TREMBLER on Montserrat and Guadeloupe. The closer relationship between BROWN TREMBLERS on Montserrat and Guadeloupe, rather than between Guadeloupe and Dominica, was surprising. The disjunction between Guadeloupe and Dominica requires either long-distance dispersal over St. Lucia, or stepping-stone colonization between the islands with subsequent disappearance on St. Lucia. The possibility of a recent introduction from Dominica to St. Vincent was considered highly unlikely since both populations were genetically distinct. Stay tuned next week for further results.
BIRD BRAINS: Do we believe what you see? We want to! Many of the identifications reported in the SCBA are tentative. The T&T Rare Bird Committee, formed in 1995, requests details for all rare birds observed (see Species Review List at our website). Please submit details to the T&TRBC Secretary: Graham White, Bungalow 16, Waterloo Estate, Waterloo Rd., Carapichaima, Trinidad and Tobago; fax, 868-673-0373; e-mail, g-white@tstt.net.tt.