Collared Dove Nesting a Welcome Distraction

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) are not my favorite birds.  It is an invasive species, meaning it is not native to the island, much like the Green Monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus).  Invasive species compete with native ones for resources, such as food, nesting, etc. and can adversely affect an ecosystem.  These birds have spread across the island, and the region at an alarming rate and became not just the most dominant dove, but also the most numerous bird species in some areas of the island. 

Hearing my rambling,  I guess you will be surprised to hear about the daily attention I paid to a nesting pair in a cherry tree outside my bedroom window.  I blamed it on being confined to a small lot of land, my house and yard,  for more than a month, because of COVID-19.  

April 5th: female sitting on the nest

I first noticed them renovating an existing nest, no doubt from an earlier nesting. Both birds worked together bringing twigs and methodically positioned them on the nest.  In no time two eggs were in the nest and both birds took turns in the incubation process.  The female spends most of the day on the nest while the male took over in the evening.  One afternoon I observed that the male was slow to take up his shift, she flew from the nest to a tree not too far away, and with a low call, she hastened him to his post.  

April 10: She is not sitting on the nest properly

On the afternoon of April 10th, I noticed that she was not sitting on the nest properly, and there was no exchange of duties. It was only the next day that I realized why, two chicks were now in the nest.  

Parent leaving the nest on 12th

The hatchlings

April 12th: My first sighting of the two hatchlings.  Their had large bills, with sparse, yellowish feathers about the body, the proverbial ugly duckling.

   

April 14th: Not a good image of one of the feeding 

On the 14th I tried to get images of the feeding. Both parents feed the chicks with what is referred to as pigeon milk or crop milk. It is a secretion from the lining of the crop of a parent birds that is regurgitated directly into the chicks mouth.

April 16th: softer plumage 

The nestlings are growing at an alarming rate. On the 16th the sparse, yellowish feathers gave way to a more palish softer plumage.
      

April 17th: An adult by the nest, 
the primary of a nestling 

On the 17th I got a glance of the primary feathers of one of the nestlings. These are important feathers for flight which  means these birds will be leaving the nest soon.

April 19th: perch just outside of the nest  

On the afternoon of the 19th, I was surprised to see the fledglings perched on a branch just outside of the nest. They both looked healthy and alert, even preening momentarily and stretching wings, all good signs.  

April 22nd: the lone bird in the Cherry Tree

Early morning on April 22nd, we were paid a visit by a troop of Green Monkeys. When I came out to check on the fledglings I was horrified to find one of them missing from the Cherry tree.  A Bananaquits (Coereba flaveola) nest, that was being constructed in the tree, was destroyed.  Green Monkeys are notorious egg raiders and are known to prey on the chicks of birds, so I feared the worse. I was happy when my son found it in the nearby Mango tree. 

2nd bird relocating to the mango tree

April 22: The last bird flew the coop

The fledglings can fly and I missed the flight of the first one but got the second bird, just barely.

One of the fledglings in the mango tree

Both birds still hang around in the mango tree and are still being fed by the parents. I will try to share more images as they continue to mature over time. This was a welcome distraction during this month-long curfew but it did not change my feelings for the Eurasian Collared-Doves. It is still one of my least favorite birds.

Stay Safe, practice physical distancing, and continue to enjoy your birding where ever and how ever it may be.

Birding At Home: Backyard Birding

With the shutdown and stay at home order in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the local birders took this time to sit back and enjoy the birds around their homes. In this two-part series two birders, Dr. John Webster and I will talk about our experience  “Birding at Home".  Below is my experience.

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Grey Kingbird 

On days like this, an off day, I would be preparing to head off to one of the birding hot spots across the island, probably the Graeme Hall Swamp, since it is around the time for migratory warblers to arrive. But this is not a normal day, these are not normal times. The island is on a 24-hour curfew, which has now being extended for the remainder of April. This is in an attempt to flatten the curve and manage this very contagious virus, COVID-19. Hence the only birding I am doing is from my house.

Birding at home is divided into two sections, on mornings I bird mainly from my front patio.  It gives me a good view stretching from the horizon over Payne's Bay, St. James, on the west coast, east to the hills at Edge Hill, St. Thomas.  Then with the assistance of my Nikon Monarch binoculars, it gives me a range of between ¼ to ½ mile.  Within that arch, I have a view over a section of the Sandy Lane Golf Course and the hills surrounding the Mangrove Landfill, both birdy areas.  In the afternoon around 3 pm,  I head outdoors and bird mainly around the few fruit trees on the property. Here is a synopsis of the average day.

Morning Birding

Yellow Warbler

On most mornings, I would come out to the patio around 4 AM.  I love this time of the morning, It is quiet, the air feels so moist, so clean, so fresh, so new.  At that time of the morning, only two birds are active, a Grey Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) who normally sits on the powerlines just in front of the house calling loudly with its repetitive rolling call.  The other bird is a domesticated

Red Junglefowl

Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) aka Yard fowl.  This particular bird is not the best example of this beautiful species. He is kinda bald, not naturally, I don't think but with little to no competing cocks in the area, he is the king of the roost. His piercing call intermittently breaks the silence of the morning.  These two birds carry-on long-distance conversations with other birds of there kind across the early morning landscape, with replies coming from near and far. As the darkness slowly gives away to the light, silhouettes of  Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis) leaving their roost not too far away begin to full the air.  Another bird, a Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica) begins its morning chorus from the neighbor's mango tree.  Soon the morning is alive with a symphony of bird calls, from the sweet singing of the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechial), punctuated by the equal sweetness of a passing Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis), the mournfully cooing of the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) to the metallic uttering of the Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris).  The quieter seedeaters, like the Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor) and

Barbados Bullfinch 

Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis) diligently searching among the dry grass for food, goes almost unnoticed. The morning is now fully awake and as the day ages, the symphony slowly subsides and becomes overshadowed by the noises of human living.

I started this residential birding on April 2nd and on most mornings I saw the same birds with few exceptions.  On the 10th, while sitting in the living room, I noticed Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis), on the golf course suddenly took to the sky in alarm. I  got my binoculars to take a closer look and saw an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) in the midst of them. I continued scanning the horizon and added a Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens). Then on the 12th, a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) flew by heading in an easterly direction towards the landfill.

Afternoon Birding

Eurasian Collared-Dove nesting 

The mature trees around the property include a Bajan Cherry (Malpighia emarginata), which seems to be the nesting tree of choice, containing two active nests belonging to a pair of Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) and Bananaquits (Coereba flaveola). Strangely, a  Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris) visits this tree daily and sits in the same position for hours for no perceived reason. Interesting!   There are three Mango trees (Mangifera indica), most of which are blossoming, attracting insects. Grey Kingbirds (Tyrannus dominicensis) spends the day plucking them from between the branches.  Also a Jamoon tree (Syzygium cumini),  this is a hit with Scaly-naped Pigeons (Patagioenas squamosa) when in fruit, sadly it is not at this time. Most of the morning birds remain around the property throughout the day. The exception is the Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica) thus far it was not observed during the day or on afternoons.  Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) nest in the ceiling of a church about a mile away and sometimes pass the house on afternoons heading to roost. Another unexpected bird was a Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis) late one evening on the 19th.

With the extension of the lockdown period until May 4th, birding at home is the only birding I will be doing. That is quite fine by me, as this staying at home and the practicing of social distancing, while not normal, is necessary to protect myself and my loved ones.  #StayAtHome

The birds I saw since April 2nd

Bananaquit

1. Scaly-naped Pigeon 
2. Eurasian Collared-Dove
3. Cattle Egret ibis
4. Shiny Cowbird
5. Carib Grackle
6. Yellow Warbler
7. Bananaquit
8. Barbados Bullfinch
9. Black-faced Grassquit
10. Zenaida Dove
11. Green-throated Carib
12. Rose-ringed Parakeet
13. Grey Kingbird
14. Caribbean Elaenia
15. Common Ground Dove
16. Snowy Egret
17. Magnificent Frigatebird 
18. Osprey
19. Caribbean Martin
20. Peregrine Falcon 
21. Rock Pigeon 

Zenaida Dove

BIRDS CARIBBEAN’S GLOBAL BIG DAY — JOIN US!

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Birds Caribbean is excited to be hosting a fundraiser that focuses on the energy, excitement, and comradery that’s associated with Global Big Day!

Global Big Day is an annual event in which birders, often in teams, travel around an area trying to observe as many bird species as they can in a 24-hr period of time. Global Big Day is happening on May 9th this year!Because of safety concerns with COVID-19, Global Big Day will have a different feel to it this year. Many of us will be birding individually, and from a safe place*. In an effort to keep the event exciting, and give us all an opportunity to celebrate safe birding, BirdsCaribbean has created a fundraiser that brings us all “together” on virtual teams that can engage in friendly competition to (1) raise the most funds, and (2) collectively see the most species of birds on Global Big Day. continue reading

Birding At Home: Dr. John Webster- Birding My Garden

With the shutdown and stay at home order in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the local birders took this time to sit back and enjoy the birds around their homes. In this two-part series two birders, Dr. John Webster and I will talk about our experience  “Staying Home and Bird”.  Below is John's account.

  

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Bananaquit 

In this time of “lockdown” Sonia, (my wife) and I have decided to make the most of the landscape we have created around the acre or so of land that surround our home. Around our deck, I have setup 4 hummingbird feeders which are frequented by at least a dozen Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) in batches of feeding frenzies.

Green-throated Carib

There are at least 4 x Green-throated Caribs (Eulampis holosericeus) that are whizzing around like jet fighters in a raging battle, they are so very territorial, and two Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus) hummingbirds are getting in between the aerial battles to feed at the feeders and various flowers scattered around the landscape. 

Barbados Bullfinch

Barbados Bullfinchs (Loxigilla barbadensis) are back and forth between the. Seed feeder, hung in the tree with the hummingbird feeders, a bowl on the porch with bread crumbs and the hummingbird feeders where they go for a quick drink and sugar rush for energy. The seed feeder is being frequented by a pair of Zenaida Doves (Zenaida aurita), married for life, and a pair of Common ground doves that periodically appear to stock up on some seeds. We also have a few Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis), male and female, that arrive unannounced, to snack on the seeds as well. Between feeding, they serenade us with their beautiful calls as though saying “thank you for feeding us”.

In the surrounding garden we are serenaded by the varied calls of the Rose-ringed Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) as they arrive, sometimes singly or in groups of up to 6 or 7, to see whether any of the Jamaican Ackee fruit has opened so they can get at the edible yellow parts inside, or to see if they can find any green unripe pods of the Pride of Barbados shrub.

Gray Kingbird

Two or more Gray Kingbirds (Tyrannus dominicensis) take up their perches on nearby dry twigs and keep us aware of their presence with their regular shrill calls, swooping down periodically to snap up an insect or bee that might have ventured within their territory. Sometimes we will observe them fly over to the adjacent McArthur Palms that currently have large masses of red fruit, and watch them hover whilst plucking fruit and return to their perch. This is repeated several times and then they perch quietly observing the landscape ....5-10 minutes later they start to regurgitate the seeds having internally removed the soft red flesh of the fruit!

We have a few pairs of Black-faced Grassquits (Melanospiza bicolor) that pop up from time to time usually feeding on the lawn, especially when it hasn’t been cut for a while, like now, apparently feeding on grass seed or other things they pluck out of the lawn.

In the first hours after sunrise, we can hear and observe several Caribbean Elaenias (Elaenia martinica)(the TRUE peewhitler) actively moving around our trees, particularly in the Gliricidia tree adjacent to our deck and especially when it’s flowering, as they go about catching their breakfast of insects. There’s also a shrub that we have, that’s related to the WI cherry family, and which bears tiny fruit like miniature cherries that this species enjoys in addition to the insects. Sometimes we are treated to a visit by one or more Black-whiskered Vireos ( Vireo altiloquus) that simply tuck themselves away between the foliage of the Gliricidia or one of the many other trees, literally hidden from sight, whilst they serenade us with their frequent calls.

Occasionally one or more Eurasian collared doves will fly past but they never seem to be interested in our garden!

We are visited typically in the early hours of the morning and late afternoon by several Scaly-naped Pigeons (Patagioenas squamosa)(Ramiers’ or ‘Willies’ in Bajan parlance)  as they also pluck the fruit of the McArthur palms and the Ylang Ylang trees, the fragrance of whose flowers permeate our landscape as the day comes to an end.

Green Heron

Typically in the late afternoon, we can hear the shriek call of our approaching resident Green Heron (Butorides virescens) ...for years we have had one that roosts in one of our mango trees ...it has apparently learnt that with the adjacent gully it can find roaming mice and young rats which it enjoys. Hence it’s a welcome resident to our property.

Green-throated Carib feed
on the flower of Gliricidia tree

As the day comes to an end and darkness approaches we can hear the frantic feeding of the hummingbirds, primarily the Green-throated Caribs (Eulampis holosericeus) as they feverishly rush backward and forward trying to get in their last feed before nightfall.

Bird species recorded between March 28th to April 10th

1. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
2. Scaly-naped Pigeon
3. Eurasian Collared Dove
4. Common Ground Dove
5. Zenaida Dove
6. Green-throated Carib
7. Antillean Crested Hummingbird
8. Cattle Egret
9. Green Heron
10. Rose-ringed Parakeet
11. Black-whiskered vireo 
12. Caribbean Elaenia
13. Gray Kingbird
14. Shiny Cowbird
15. Carib Grackle
16. Bananaquit
17. Black-faced Grassquit
18. Barbados Bullfinch

All photographs by John Webster

Dr. John Webster is one of the leading Birders and Bird Photographers on the island of Barbados.  He is a member of Birds Caribbean and the principle guide with Barbados Birding & Photography Tours. He can be contacted at barbadosbirds@gmail.com

Rare Birds Update: End of March

The COVID-19 was threatening the island for most of the year, and in the latter half of the month it arrived followed by a string of restrictions. Birding came to a screeching halt as birders put into practice social distancing and staying at home.  But in the weeks before the arrival of this dreaded disease, local and visiting birders submitted over 120 observations, with close to 70 different species, and adding two new species to the islands year count. This brought the total at the end of the month of March to 83 species.  The two species were the seclusive Masked Duck (Nomonyx dominicus) and the rare Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus).

Here is a list of the rare birds seen during March

* continuing Bird (Birds from last month)

St. Lucy

Glossy Ibis

• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)- this bird was with us from the start of the year and going as far back as August 2019

• 

  American Coot (Red Shielded)
• American Coot ((Red Shielded) Fulica Americana)* - Another bird that is enjoying our hospitality
• Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica)* this for sure is not the same bird from last month, the bird was an adult but this one is a juvenile. We may be looking and two PUGA at this location
• Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) - a bird that once successfully bred on the island but now only a lone female remains. She disappears for months on end before reappearing to lay infertile eggs, because of no male, in a private field.

St. Andrew

• American Coot ((White Shielded) Fulica Americana) - 4 birds remain at Walkers Reserve and are still being monitored for signs of nesting.

St. Joseph

Pearly-eyed Thrasher by John Webster

• Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus) – reported by a resident accompanied by images.

St. George

• Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica)* 

St. Philip

Ruffs

• Ruffs (Calidris pugnax)*- the 2 ruffs continued in the east during the month of march.

  

  Pacific Golden-Plover

• Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva)* 
• Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus)* – First reported by John Webster on January 16.

St. Michael

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) this large gull relocated from the north to the fishing complex at Pile Bay.
• Brown Pelican  (Pelecanus occidentalis) – was seen sitting on one of the buoys at Pile Bay.

Feel free to contact me, Julian Moore @ 100birdsbarbados@gmail.com, John Webster @ barbadosbirds@gmail.com, or Ed Massiah @ ebmassiah@hotmail.com to report any rare bird sightings, or if you need assistance identifying a bird, we would be happy to assist.