Birding News and Features
Welcome to U.S. Virgin Islands eBird!
The University of the Virgin Islands, St. John Audubon Society, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have partnered to create the U.S. Virgin Islands eBird. We welcome this exciting expansion into the Caribbean. The application allows users to enter bird checklists from anywhere inside the U.S. Virgin Islands and its surrounding waters. Our first foray into the Caribbean, the U.S. Virgin Islands eBird application lays the groundwork for a more comprehensive bird monitoring network across the entire region. For links to Caribbean groups click here.
Some very special birds were sighted as part of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival. About 30 people, novice to expert birders, signed up for the birding "competition" to find the best birds in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They saw a West Indian Whistling Duck! a Tri-color Heron! White-crowned Pigeon! and a Scarlet Tanager! ... plus all the usual beauties were there too. The warblers may be gone north but the birding here is great! Click on the headline to see the whole checklist.
Global Warming & the Caribbean
A new Fact Sheet published by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) provides information on what global warming is, how it will affect us, projected impacts for the Caribbean, and what individuals can do to help reduce global warming. Along with a global warming poster, the fact sheet is an outreach tool to raise awareness about global warming-our theme for this year's Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival and International Migratory Bird Day (celebrated in the fall). The fact sheet will also be useful for other events or outreach opportunities in schools, at talks, in your organization's newsletter, etc.). Please visit the Society's webpages at www.scscb.org for other
resources and ideas for educating about global warming.
See the Fact Sheet here.
The Campaign for Safer Birds and Cats, was initiated to end the unnecessary suffering and death of millions of birds and other wildlife caused by free-roaming domestic cats. Cats Indoors! seeks to educate cat owners, decision makers and the general public that free-roaming cats pose a significant risk to birds and other wildlife, suffer themselves, and pose a threat to human health. Cats Indoors! encourages cat owners to keep their cats indoors and advocates laws, regulations, and policies to protect cats and birds, including the humane removal of free-roaming cats from areas important to wildlife. The campaign promotes grassroots efforts to address the issue at local levels. For details about Cats Indoors! click here.
La Tangara is an electronic newsletter published regularly by Partners in Flight (PIF). It covers a broad spectrum of news, events, and resources relevant to anybody interested in bird studies and conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The newest issue is available here.