A New Avian Species Record for Barbados

Bat Falcon - Falco rufigularis (photographed in Trinidad 2016 )

It started with an email from a fellow birder living in Canada stating these simple words “Did you see the ebird post below”.  It was the post that started a series of events which led to me meeting a wonderful lady and cementing my 135^th bird species for the island, a first for the island and maybe the region, a mega-rarity. 

Photo Grete submitted to ebird

The ebird post which was linked in that email was submitted on March 20^th of birds seen at Sion Hill, St. James. It listed 11 bird species seen, 10 of them were common to the area but one was not.  It read “Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis)’’ and attached was a photo of a bird, clearly a raptor, perched on a River Tamarind tree (Leucaena leucocephala).  The bird showed a black breast and back, with a chestnut coloured under tail and thighs, it also had yellow legs. The head was hidden.  Using the bean produced by the River Tamarind tree as a reference it was clear to see that this was a small raptor.  Our local bird expert, Ed Massiah concurred with the Identification as a Bat Falcon, a small falcon which specializes in taking bats on the wing.

Our small birding group, Ed Massiah, Dr. John Webster and I, met on the evening of March 28^th,

Happy Birders (L) John, Grete & Ed

at Sion Hill around 5pm to look for this mega-rarity.  On seeing the immensity of the search area and with only a tightly cropped image as our guide, we knew that it would be luck and a chance to find this bird, the odds a birder will take any day of the week to find such a rare bird.  After walking and searching for about 45 minutes our odds improved immensely when we met Grete Pasch, the person who reported the sighting.  She took us to the area where she saw the bird most frequently.  This just happened to be where we had parked our vehicles, before undertaking a 20-30 minutes hike.  By the time we got back to our vehicles the sun was already dipping below the horizon.  The sky came alive with colour as the setting sun interacted with the Saharan Dust which blanketed the island, bats were starting to emerge from their roost and not too long after that, at about 6:15pm we saw the Bat Falcon. My first impression was of a small bird, quick and very agile. 

Bat Falcon going after bats - photo by Grete Pasch

Bat Falcons are 9.5-11.5” in length, about the size of a Zenaida Dove, with a black head and upperparts, white chin, throat and upper breast.  It has a chestnut coloured extension to the rear neck, and a half white collar. Lower breast is black, finely streaked with white.  Thighs, belly and undertail are chestnut in colour, yellow legs and a long black tail.  The female, as with many raptors, are larger than the male. It is a resident breeder in Mexico, Central and South America, and Trinidad where I first saw it in 2016. While these birds have a liking for bats their also prey on small birds, such as hummingbirds, and large insects such as dragonflies

It was a fine evening birding; I saw a new bird, a raptor “YEAAAH” and met a new local and beginner birder, Grete Pasch.  I will be trying to get pics of this bird to share with you, look out for them.  Until then, enjoy your birding.

Have You Seen These Birds?

They since to be a major influx of White-crowned Pigeon into the island.  The first record of this bird on the island was at Moncrieffe, St. John on April 9^th, 2014, a single bird. White-crowned Pigeons are between 13-14” in length, dark grey with a contrasting white-crown or head, closely resembling the more common Scaly-nape Pigeon aka Ramier aka Wildleys. Thus far over 10 birds were seen in 4 parishes.  If you see this bird please let me know where you saw it and the amount seen. You can leave a comment in this post or email me at 100birdsbarbados@gmail.com.
 
Here are the sightings to date:

• March 8th 1 bird @ Moncrieffe, St. John
• March 16th 1 bird @ Chancery Lane, Christ Church
• March 19th 6 birds @ The Graeme Hall Swamp, Christ Church
• March 22nd 2 birds @ Westmoreland, St. James
• March 23rd 2 birds @ Searles, Christ Church 
• March 24th 1 bird @ near Christie Village, St. Thomas 
• March 24th 1 bird @ Mount Standfast, St. James

Three Lifers in Three Months

White-crowned Pigeon - Patagioenas leucocephala

In January it was the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), February the American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) and March brings a White-crowned Pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala), three local lifers in three months.  The first record of this latest species on the island was at Moncrieffe, St. John on April 9^th, 2014 and then at Warrens, St. Michael in 2016.  The first recorded sighting this year was on March 8^th at the same location of the first ever record, Moncrieffe, St. John.  Then there was another sighting at Chancery Lane on March 16^th.  My sighting on the 19^th at The Graeme Hall Swamp may have highlighted a movement in this species to the island and time will tell if it becomes established here.

White-crowned Pigeons are between 13-14” in length, dark grey with a contrasting white-crown.  It is listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species   because of hunting, mainly in the US, and loss of habitat, which is the main problem in the Caribbean. 

These birds normally nest in coastal mangroves throughout the Caribbean and are fading due to the effect of natural disasters and encroachment by man for development and agriculture.

It is a resident breeder mainly in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and Antigua.  It breeds in smaller numbers in Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla and a few other Caribbean islands.  It can also be found in the Florida Keys - the southern tip of mainland Florida and also along the Caribbean coast of Central America.

Finding so many birds on the island, especially in the coastal wet areas at Chancery Lane and Graeme Hall has excited local birders to the prospect of them breeding here.  There is no evidence of that thus far but I will keep you updated.

Excited!! Enjoy Your Birding!!