Fifty-Four Species in One Day

Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres)

On February 13, just one day before the start of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I had the privilege of spending the day with two visiting birders as we seek out the birds of Barbados.  And what a day it was! We visited all eleven parishes and saw over fifty species of Birds.  Here are a few of the highlights.

Our first stop was at The Graeme Hall Swamp at 6:45 AM. This important mangrove system is taking an environmental battering, which is changing the ecosystem in the area for the worse. The canals and channels along the border and throughout the mangroves are being strangled by two very destructive water weeds - Water Cabbage (Pistia stratiotes) and the beautiful but suffocating and invasive Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) aka the world's worst waterweed. Both plants were foreign to the swamp’s ecosystem pre-environmental meltdown, but that is sounding like a topic for another post.  We got a glance of one of our target birds for this stop, five Orange-winged Parrots (Amazona amazonica), and our second target a few minutes later, two Northern Waterthrushs (Parkesia noveboracensis), a migratory wood warbler which winters on the island.

Royal Terns (Thalasseus maximus)

From there we traveled along the south coast to Oistins were we saw Royal Terns (Thalasseus maximus), 51 Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) and a few Sanderlings (Calidris alba). Then to Ocean City for Red-billed Tropicbirds (Phaethon aethereus). From there we made a few stops at private locations in St. Philip and saw 169 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis), a Ruff (Calidris pugnax), American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) and a few other shorebirds and herons. 

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

Around 11:30 AM, we started heading towards the Walkers Reserve St. Andrew, via St. John, St. George, and St. Thomas.  We saw a Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) in St. John, and hummingbirds at Farmers St. Thomas.  Walkers Reserve was one of the high points of the day.  We witnessed one of the three American Coots (Fulica americana (White-shielded)) fully diving and staying underwater for 5-10 seconds, a behavior that is uncommon to this species, it took us all by surprise. We were also amazed by the number of Common Gallinules (Gallinula galeata), 87 in total, at that location. Our final stop, in the parish of St. Lucy, sometime around 3:30 PM, gave us the birds of the day, the elusive Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) and the Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus).

All around it was a wonderful day of birding, we saw 54 species in total, a few lifers for them, and a few year birds for me, but the best part was spending the day with two birders, sharing the birds of Barbados with them.

Here is the full checklist

1.   Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)

2.   Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)

3.   Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

4.   Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))

5.   Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa)

6.   Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

7.   Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina)

8.   Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)

9.   Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata)

10. Green-throated Carib (Eulampis holosericeus)

11.  Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus)

12. Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

13. American Coot (White-shielded) (Fulica americana (White-shielded))

14. Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)

15. American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)

16. Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)

17. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)

18. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

19. Ruff (Calidris pugnax)

20. Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)

21. Sanderling (Calidris alba)

22. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

23. Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)

24. Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)

25. Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)

26. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

27. Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)

28. Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)

29. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

30. Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus)

31. Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus)

32. Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)

33. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

34. Great Egret (Ardea alba)

35. Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

36. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

37. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

38. Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

39. Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

40. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

41. Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

42. Orange-winged Parrot (Amazona amazonica)

43. Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica)

44. Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)

45. Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)

46. Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis)

47. Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)

48. Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris)

49. Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)

50. Yellow Warbler (Golden) (Setophaga petechia [petechia Group])

51. Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola)

52. Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)

53. Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)

54. Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor)