Birds of Barbados 71-80

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Description: 9.75 inches; upperparts brown; underparts white; two black bands on breast; white forehead; eye ring orange-red; bill black; feet pinkish brown. Habitat: Wet fields; freshwater ponds; mud holes; Statue: winter visitor

American Wigeon (Anas americana)

Local Name: baldplate, Length:17–23"(42–59 cm); Description: medium-sized dabbling ducks, a short bill and a round head, grey-blue bill with a black tip, Underparts white, legs and feet are blue-gray to dark gray, Males: white patch from the forehead to the middle of the crown, an iridescent green band from the eye to the back of the head. Females and nonbreeding males: brownish gray head and a dark smudge around the eye

Habitat: freshwater wetlands, lakes; 

Statue: Almost a yearly migrant from North America.

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Male Am. Wigeons have a white patch from the forehead to the middle of the crown (bald plate), an iridescent green band from the eye to the back of the head

Females and nonbreeding males have a brownish-gray head and a dark smudge around the eyes

Male

Female

 

White underparts

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Birds of Barbados 61-70

November in Review

November in Review

What a month! I must admit that this migration season was strange, but November made me smile. Just look at the numbers!  I was able to post 5 birds, half of the total needed to stay on the course.  I added 6 new species to my year and life count, moving both to 88 species.

What a Month!

I started off November feeling a little down.  The migration season was not going as I had imagined it would go.  I was coming to grips with the fact that I am not going to complete the challenge and I was also feeling a little tired. It was one of the months where I did not get out birding as much, but the days in which I did, were truly fulfilling.  My highlight was a trip to a pond in the north of the island, on the afternoon of November 18. It was after work, and I was in the area so I stopped in. In the 45 minutes I spent, I was able to observe 16 species, but the highlight was a strange looking duck, one I had never seen before.  I was not even able to find it in my Field Guide.  On arriving home I e-mailed the photographs to three of the top birders on the island, Dr. John Webster, Dr. Karl Watson and Mr. Edward Massiah.  It was later confirmed that this strange duck was a new species to the island and maybe even the region.  It was a Common Shelduck “Tadorna tadorna”. Some of the other exciting birds observed during this month were Wilson's Phalarope “Phalaropus tricolor”, Northern Shoveler “Anas clypeata”, Ring-necked Duck “Aythya collaris” and Hodsonian Godwit “Limosa haemastica”.

Hudsonian Godwit

Northern Shoveler

Wilson's Phalarope

Bird of the Month

My bird of the Month, and possibly bird of the year, was the Common Shelduck “Tadorna tadorna” observed and photographed on November 18, in the north of the island.

On to December

This is the final month of the challenge.  We still have some exciting birds to see.  I saw a Wood Sandpiper but the photographs were not the best.  A Grey Heron may also be on the island, and I look forward to seeing that. So December here I come!

Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)

Description: 9 inches; bill black long and thin. Non-breeding: upperparts grey; underparts white; eyestripe. Breeding Male: pale pinkish wash on neck. Breeding Female: upperparts grey and brown; Black eyestripe, which continues down sides of neck. Habitat: shallow ponds; Statue: non-breeding migrant

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

Length: 22-26" (56-67 cm) Description: large goose-like duck, Monotypic (males and females look alike), a reddish-pink bill, pink feet, a white body with chestnut patches and a black belly, and a dark green head and neck. The wing coverts are white, the primary remiges black, and the secondaries green (only showing in flight) and chestnut. Habitat: marshes and estuaries; 

Status: Vagrant, Extremely Rare,  Vagrant; 

Comment:  Common in the Euro-Siberian region of the Palearctic, mainly breeding in temperate and wintering in subtropical regions, also common around the coastline of Great Britain and Ireland. It was first recorded in Barbados in November 2013 in St. Lucy, which was also the first record for the Caribbean,

white and chestnut body, dark green head and neck, and a bright red bill

Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata

 

Ring-necked Duck

Ring-necked Duck  - Aythya collaris