 |
| Barn Swallow |
The Stats
The most numerous species of birds counted
were the Blue-winged Teals with a count of 127 birds. I missed out on a few key locations which
would have added to this total. Birders who
birded at some of these locations and posted the GBBC turned up over 100 more
Blue-winged Teals, giving a view of over 200 birds on the island.
 |
| Cattle Egrets |
In comparison the number of Cattle
Egrets counted was 122, this was just a small drop in the pan of the true
population on the island. The most of
the Cattle Egrets counted were from a small rookery but, with many rookeries on
the island hosting hundreds of birds, 122 is a very small fraction of the
cattle Egrets here in Barbados.
My Highlight
My
highlight for the weekend would easily be a photo session with some very
friendly Barn Swallows. It came on
Sunday, while birding with two other birders in the parish of Christ Church. It was a rainy morning and we had just spent
more than an hour observing and photographing a family of Grebes and a
Caribbean Coot. As we were leaving we
came upon a small tree with four Barn Swallows sitting on its branches. The light was favorable for photography and we
spent another ten minutes photographing them. It was the closest I have ever been to these
birds and I got some very good photographs, some of which I may enter in the GBBC photo competition.
I
enjoyed being involved with the GBBC for yet another year and even though I did
not register any lifers I added five species to my year tally. (Click to see
year checklist) The data collected and submitted does not give the true extent
of the birds here in Barbados, what it does do, is to assist in fulfilling the
mandate of the GBBC and that is “to get the “big picture” about what is
happening to bird populations” (worldwide). As we look forward to 2016, I am hoping that
enough data will be collected to provide a true snap shot of the birds in
Barbados.
GBBC 2015 Tally
BIRDS
|
Totals
|
|
1
|
Blue-winged Teal - Anas
discors
|
127
|
2
|
Ring-necked Duck - Aythya
collaris*
|
7
|
3
|
Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus
podiceps
|
5
|
4
|
Great Blue Heron - Ardea
herodias
|
1
|
5
|
Great Egret - Ardea alba
|
1
|
6
|
Little Egret - Egretta
garzetta
|
3
|
7
|
Snowy Egret - Egretta
thula
|
5
|
8
|
Little Blue Heron - Egretta
caerulea
|
1
|
9
|
Cattle Egret - Bubulcus
ibis
|
122
|
10
|
Green Heron - Butorides
virescens
|
1
|
11
|
Sora Porzana - Carolina
|
4
|
12
|
Common Gallinule - Gallinula
galeata
|
28
|
13
|
Caribbean Coot - Fulica
caribaea*
|
1
|
14
|
Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis
squatarola
|
16
|
15
|
Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius
semipalmatus
|
10
|
16
|
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis
macularius
|
1
|
17
|
Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa
solitaria
|
2
|
18
|
Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa
melanoleuca
|
2
|
19
|
Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa
flavipes
|
7
|
20
|
Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria
interpres
|
2
|
21
|
Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
|
10
|
22
|
Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris
himantopus
|
1
|
23
|
Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris
pusilla
|
30
|
24
|
Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago
delicata*
|
5
|
25
|
Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas
squamosa
|
9
|
26
|
Eurasian Collared Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
|
2
|
27
|
Zenaida Dove - Zenaida
aurita
|
8
|
28
|
Eared Dove - Zenaida
auriculata
|
8
|
29
|
Common Ground Dove - Columbina passerine
|
3
|
30
|
Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus
|
3
|
31
|
Antillean Crested - Orthorhyncus
cristatus
|
3
|
32
|
Caribbean Elaenia - Elaenia
martinica
|
7
|
33
|
Grey Kingbird - Tyrannus
dominicensis
|
6
|
34
|
Black-whiskered Vireo - Vireo
altiloquus
|
5
|
35
|
Caribbean Martin - Progne
dominicensis*
|
2
|
36
|
Barn Swallow - Hirundo
rustica*
|
30
|
37
|
Yellow Warbler - Setophaga
petechial
|
2
|
38
|
Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis
luteola
|
2
|
39
|
Bananaquit - Coereba
flaveola
|
4
|
40
|
Black-faced Grassquit - Tiaris
bicolor
|
11
|
41
|
Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla
barbadensis
|
18
|
42
|
Carib Grackle - Quiscalus
lugubris
|
29
|
43
|
Shiny Cowbird - Molothrus
bonariensis
|
36
|
44
|
Peregrine Falcon - Falco
peregrinus
|
2
|