The Barbados Birds and Birding Report - November

Lesser Scaup- one of the species of migratory ducks seen in November

November was a calm month after the busy October we had. We added three new species to our 2023 checklist: Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), and Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) ending the month with a jaw-dropping 123 species seen for the year. Meanwhile, more migratory ducks showed up and we saw four different species by the end of the month: Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors), Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), and Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis). In St. Lucy and Christ Church, we observed some large flocks of Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) with over 100 individual birds each.

November's Rare Bird Sightings

November was a slow month for new rare bird sightings, and December tends to be even slower. But we still have a chance to see some wintering warblers at Turner’s Hall Woods and the Graeme Hall Swamp that could make 2023 end with a bang. Plus, the rains have filled up the ponds and made them more appealing to some birds, so we might get some surprises in December so stay alert. These are the rare birds that we saw in November, some of which stayed from previous months.

St. Lucy

one of the six long-stay Glossy Ibis

• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)(6)*- These birds have continued at this location for over a year.
• Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)*(1) – One bird seen among a flock of  Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)
• Killdeer (Charadrius vociferous) - was seen last on November 5th 
 

St. Andrew 

• Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)(2)- This pair was seen at various locations

  

  Manx Shearwater

• Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) - This bird was found on the beach at Morgan Lewis in poor condition, and appeared to be caused by a fishing line or net.  It died two days later

  

  One of the two Prothonotary Warblers seen at Turner Hall

• Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) - two birds were seen in the Turners Hall Woods during the month. 

St. Philip 

• Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) seen early in the month 
• Red Knot (Calidris canutus) (2)* - This could be the pair from last month that roosted at a private wetland.
• Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)* - last seen on November 19 at a private location.

St. Michael

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)(2) - 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 help.  A new tool to help with your local bird identification is our Facebook Group, The Birds of Barbados. Click here to join