The Tribune

LOCAL Bird watchers, including members of the Grand Bahama Junior Birding Club, took part in the second annual Caribbean Waterbird Census. The census is a region-wide waterbird and wetland monitoring effort sponsored by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds. The goal is to learn more about the distribution, status, and abundance of waterbirds in the Caribbean, so as to improve conservation planning and management of these birds and their delicate habitats. Each year, a region-wide count is organised. Every participant counts at the same time during the middle of winter (when birds are most stationary) to get a "snapshot" of waterbird population numbers and habitat use throughout the Caribbean. The Grand Bahama group was led by Shamie Rolle of Calabash Eco Adventures and Cecilia Bodie of the Bahamas National Trust. They reported sightings of 27 species, including the Blue-wing teal duck, the American Avocet and the Piping Plover. The endangered Piping Plover is a small migratory shore bird that winters in the Grand Bahama. The Bahamas is now rated as the most important destination for Piping Plovers that migrate from the eastern coast of North America. The breeding habitat of this bird is being threatened and the total population of Piping Plovers is estimated at 8,000.