The environment determines Caribbean hummingbirds' vulnerability

Date:  March 21, 2018

Source:  Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen

Hummingbirds' specialization and vulnerability are often predicted based on their physical traits. Scientists now found that this is not the case for hummingbirds on the Caribbean islands. Instead, the bird's environment is the determining factor. The new study was led by scientists from Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, and published today in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Hummingbird's body size and bill length are often used to predict how specialized and vulnerable the birds are to extinction of the flowers they feed on. However, a new study shows that vulnerability and specialisation of Caribbean hummingbirds are determined by their environment. The study is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Associate Professor Bo Dalsgaard from Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate explains,

"Our study shows that Caribbean hummingbirds living in rainy mountainous landscapes with cooler temperatures are more specialized and vulnerable to extinction of the flowers they drink nectar from, compared to hummingbirds in the lowlands."

Bo Dalsgaard elaborates on the findings, ." .. we believe our results display a general trend that applies to many other animals and plants throughout the world. Thus, protecting nature in mountain regions is very important, if we want to conserve specialized and vulnerable species, which exist in just one or a few places on earth."

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Critically Endangered hawks thrive following translocation

Species translocation - capturing animals in one place and releasing them in another—is a widely used conservation method for establishing or reestablishing populations of threatened species. However, translocation projects often fail when the transplanted animals fail to thrive in their new home. A new study from The Condor: Ornithological Applications demonstrates how close monitoring of the animals being released into a new area is helping wildlife managers gauge the success of their effort to save the Ridgway’s Hawk of Hispaniola.

Ridgway’s Hawk is a critically endangered raptor endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Since 2009, the Peregrine Fund has translocated 104 nestlings from the species’ stronghold in a national park to a protected resort area called Punta Cana 130 kilometers away. They monitored the birds after their release, tracking their survival and breeding success, as well as collecting the same data on 36–110 breeding pairs per year in the original national park population. Survival rates were high in both locations, and more young hawks began breeding on the resort property, probably because more territories were available due to the birds’ low numbers.

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Extinction looms for two rare bird species after devastating hurricanes

October 25, 2017 by Joann Adkins

Conservation biologist Paul Reillo is torn between two worlds in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria—one of swift action and one of waiting.

There is little time to rest. More than 200 animals, many fighting extinction, are relying on him. The FIU scientist is the founder of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF), a partner in FIU's Tropical Conservation Institute (TCI), which offers safe haven, captive breeding programs and field-based conservation to help save endangered species. In a matter of two weeks, two species of birds on the brink of extinction were dealt devastating blows when Hurricanes Irma and Maria crossed the Caribbean, leaving devastation in their wakes. The team at the Tropical Conservation Institute knows it is facing an unprecedented conservation crisis.

Working

Hurricane Irma caused more than $200,000 in damages at RSCF's property in Loxahatchee, Fla. Little could be done to save enclosures and fences from the storm, but Reillo and his team secured the animals, including 40 endangered east African bongo antelopes, 35 primates including endangered golden lion tamarins, nearly 100 parrots representing a variety of threatened and endangered species and 42 critically endangered Florida grasshopper sparrows.

The TCI team is putting in long hours to rebuild what was destroyed at the RSCF facility and to help the animals recover from the stress brought on by the storm. The Florida grasshopper sparrows are the greatest cause for concern. It is the world's most endangered bird with less than 100 remaining in the wild before Irma. The team fears the hurricane has crippled the wild population which resides exclusively in the prairie grasses of Central Florida. They are working with state and federal wildlife officials on strategies to help preserve the small number of birds that remain on the planet.

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Celebrating our endemic birds

Saturday, June 13 2015

The Caribbean is a tourist’s dream - a network of beautiful islands basking in the sun. And while sun, sea and sand are important elements of Caribbean life, the region can also boast of other natural treasures – including 150 species of birds that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club (TTFNC) has been involved in the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) since 2008, making this the seventh year of CEBF activities in Trinidad. 

The festival, now in its 14th year, is led by BirdsCaribbean, the largest organisation devoted to wildlife conservation in the Caribbean. The annual festival included Caribbean-wide activities that began on Earth Day ended on International Biodiversity Day on May 22. Over 20 countries participated. The events celebrated the 150 bird species that are found only in the Caribbean, known as endemics, and attract over 80,000 participants and volunteers each year. 

“Restore Habitats, Restore Birds” was the theme for this year’s Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival. At dozens of events throughout the region, participants of all ages learned how restoring local habitats can benefit the unique birds found only in the Caribbean. Events on many islands included habitat restoration activities, such as clean ups and distribution of native tree seedlings for planting. Events in Trinidad included presentations at TTFNC monthly meetings, school talks, field trips and displays at the Emperor Valley Zoo, the San Antonio Green Market and the Institute of Marine Affairs. 

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No more rats on Dog Island

Bird numbers and other wildlife populations are starting to recover on Dog Island in Anguilla in the Caribbean, following an intensive five-month programme to eradicate black rats and two years of careful monitoring.

Covering 207 hectares, the island is the largest Caribbean island to be successfully cleared of non-native rats to protect the island’s threatened wildlife.

Dog Island is an internationally-recognised Important Bird Area, with over 100,000 pairs of nesting seabirds. It also supports lizards found nowhere else on earth and endangered sea turtles, which nest on the island’s white sandy beaches.

However prior to November 2011 the island was also infested with thousands of invasive, non-native black rats, which caused severe damage by suppressing native flora and preying on eggs, chicks, and other animals.

The eradication took place between November 2011 and March 2012 and was a collaborative initiative among the Anguilla National Trust, the Government of Anguilla (Department of Environment), Fauna & Flora International, the RSPB, and the island’s owner– the Anguilla Development Company.

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Radar Tracking Project to Help Protection of Endangered Caribbean Petrel

Published by surfbirds on May 1, 2013 courtesy of American Bird Conservancy

A month-long, high-tech project to survey one of the Caribbean’s most endangered birds, the Black-capped Petrel, has succeeded in identifying six previously unknown areas of petrel activity in the Dominican Republic: three flight corridors, and three possible nesting locations for the bird. Surveys also were conducted at seven sites in Haiti, a combination of new sites and areas where petrel activity was known previously. 

Numbers of Black-capped Petrels have been in precipitous decline over the last 50 years with only an estimated 1,000 – 2,000 pairs remaining. Although they historically nested on other islands in the Caribbean, they are currently known to nest only on the island of Hispañiola – an Island shared by two sovereign nations, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 

Scientists hope that the surveys, which were carried out by Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), Grupo Jaragua, and Société Audubon Haiti with support from American Bird Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, will result in the identification and better management of critical breeding locations. 

Black-capped Petrels only visit their nesting colonies at night, so scientists involved in the effort used modified marine radar equipment to survey locations in several mountain ranges in the two countries, principally in the southwestern and central portions of the island. Although petrels were detected in all of the 15 survey sites, only two sites registered large numbers of detections. 

Read on: http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/blog/2013/05/01/radar-tracking-project-to-help-protection-of-endangered-caribbean-petrel/

A Second Rare Bird Arrives from Central America

The ovenbird attracts gawkers in Northeast Portland.

John McAfee isn’t the only one hiding out in Portland after a long trip from Central America. Another guest from the tropics—this time of the avian variety—has taken up temporary residence in the Pacific Northwest. The Audubon Society of Portland confirmed the sighting of an ovenbird, a species rarely seen outside Central America and the Caribbean during winter months. 

Longtime-birder Suzanne Hannam, 84, spotted the warbler treading around the backyard of her Laurelhurst home. The sighting was so unusual the Audubon Society initially didn’t believe Hannam. It was later verified after an official identified the spotted, orange-crowned bird. 

And while the little songbird hasn’t attracted the same media attention as McAfee, the other spotted, orange-crowned runaway from Central America, birders have taken notice. Hannam says she’s had about 200 guests over the weekend and into Monday. 

“We got so tired of the doorbell ringing we just posted a big sign out front telling birders to head to the backyard and to please not park in my front yard,” says Hannam. 

No word yet if the bird can confirm rumors of Hezbollah training camps in Belize. You’ll just have to take McAfee’s word for it.

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-29651-a_second_rare_bird_arrives_from_central_america.html

Birds fly out as fall rolls in

More than 300 bird species found in North America during the summer will make their way to Latin America or the Caribbean, some covering distances of nearly 7,000 miles. Parks, backyards and nature refuges across the country will host these winged visitors for the next few weeks as the birds make their way to their fall and winter destinations.

Read on:  http://www.journalstandard.com/lifestyle/home_and_garden/x887146445/Birds-fly-out-as-fall-rolls-in