Green Pages
It’s a Bird . . .
Birding takes flight in the Turks & Caicos Islands
By B. Naqqi Manco, DECR
As a child, I was not exactly popular, and by the definition of many of my classmates, downright eccentric. Rather than spending my allowance on new fashionable shoes, designer jeans or collectable cards, I spent it at the feed store. I would arrive home happily with several paper bundles of different grains — cracked corn, sunflower, thistle seed, millet. I would go out into the back garden and scatter them all over the ground and then go inside to watch through the back window. Bird watching was a big part of my growing up, but my cohorts at school thought it was a strange and boring thing to do and a pretty silly use of money.
A lot has changed since then, and whether bird watching is a silly use of money or not, it certainly is a significant use of money. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that in 2006, bird watching (now commonly called “birding”) activities accounted for over $30 billion in spending on the hobby, and that at least 20% of Americans spend at least some time watching birds recreationally. According to other studies, a significant proportion of these hobbyists have a higher-than-average household income and also travel more frequently than average.

Yellow Warbler

Tri-colored Heron
The instance of birdwatchers being guided here, the increased awareness of conservation of wetlands, and the designation of several Important Bird Areas in Turks & Caicos Islands, as well as the presence of some globally threatened species (such as the West Indian whistling duck) prompted the SCSCB to hold a training workshop in TCI with the Department of Environment & Coastal Resources from April 28 to May 4, 2011. Dr. Lisa Sorenson of SCSCB and Michele Kading of the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre in Manitoba, Canada led the workshop which focused on wetlands and birds in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Workshop participants
The second day included a practical demonstration of the proper use of binoculars and other field equipment and field trips to good birding sites in Providenciales and Grand Turk. Participants received the wonderful experience of the flyover and landing of several groups of flamingos on the Provo Golf Course ponds, among other special bird appearances. Some participants also went on a kayak trip to Mangrove Cay near Leeward Marina in Providenciales, and also to an all-day birding visit to Middle and North Caicos on May 4, where special highlights included a flock of over 1,000 flamingos on North Caicos, a pair of West Indian whistling ducks and their babies, and the author’s first sighting of a black-crowned night heron in TCI.

Birding field trip to Middle Caicos
But the birdwatchers are already here. Just this week, a birdwatcher contacted DECR for advice on certain areas to see specific birds, and DECR was able to supply that advice. I met this birder rather accidentally while on fieldwork, and took a few moments to point out a good place to see the endemic Greater Antillean bullfinch, and two pairs showed up. Not only did I help a very excited birdwatcher add a rare sighting to her life list, but I also received validation that the bizarre little child spending his allowance on birdseed (me!) was just a person ahead of his time.
Birdwatchers in TCI should make use of the following texts to help them identify birds:
Bull & Farrand. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (Eastern Region). Knopf, 1998. Photographic guide, good for seabirds and migratory birds.
Ground, Richard. The Birds of the Turks & Caicos Islands. Turks & Caicos National Trust, 2001.
Photographic guide, good for resident birds and migrants.
Raffaele et al. Birds of the West Indies. Princeton, 2003. (There is also an earlier edition.)
Definitive work for bird identification in the Caribbean region.
Robbins, Bruun, & Zim. A Guide to Field Identification: Birds of North America. Golden, 1983.
Colour illustrations, good for seabirds and migrants.
White, Anthony. A Birder’s Guide to the Bahama Islands (Including Turks and Caicos). American Birding Association, 1998.
Site and tour information for birding (and necessary services) mostly in the Bahamas and some in TCI.
For more information on birding in the Turks and Caicos Islands, contact the DECR or the TCI Environmental Club (on Facebook) or visit http://ebird.org/content/caribbean.
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Award-winning Master Photographer Christine Morden, owner of Paradise Photography (myparadisephoto.com), took this photo through the window of a historic building on Salt Cay. She used this unique perspective to provide a creative twist on a beach landscape.
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