6 - 11 February 2000

by Ellen Roots

I just returned from a great trip to Bonaire, one of the Lesser Netherlands Antilles islands just north of Venezuela.  Fantastic windsurfing, and I managed to convince my dad to let me go birding for a day.  The island had 75" of rain this year, compared to the normal 22".  The island has arid habitat, a palm tree here and there, but lots of candelabra cactus and mesquite is everywhere.  Weather was about 80F every day.  The island is about 15-20 miles north-south and about 5 east-west, with a little over 14,000 residents.  Winds from Hurricane Lenny hit in November, devastating many reefs and some other parts of the island with a 10-foot tidal wave.  The south end of the island is a salt works plant (they ship out 250,000 tons of salt each year); this has been made into a preserve for the flamingos with restricted access because they are very shy.  Unfortunately, no complete bird guides could be found at the local stores, and those that were typically were written in Dutch.  I borrowed Jerry's book on Friday and tried to remember as many as possible.  Below is a brief on birds, of which many were North American species.

Sunday, Feb. 6

Brown Pelican
MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD (one or two daily)
Osprey (2-3 each day)
Snowy Egret (common)
Reddish Egret, dark phase
GREATER FLAMINGO (common)
Black-necked Stilt
Semipalmated Plover
unidentified small shorebird (3-5", white underneath, dark gray on top, flies close to ground in groups, angular wings)
Royal Tern (common)
BARE-EYED PIGEON
TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD (common)
BANANAQUIT (common)
House Sparrow

Monday, February 7

Great Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Ruddy Turnstone (common)
Rock Dove (common)
EARED DOVE
Common Ground Dove (common)
BONAIREAN PARRAKEET (common)

Tuesday, February 8

Black-necked Stilt
sandpiper sp. (solitary and grey, smooth coloration on neck)
COMMON EMERALD HUMMINGBIRD, male
TROUPIAL

Wednesday, February 9

Eared Dove
GRAY KINGBIRD

Thursday, February 10

falcon sp. (either merlin or kestrel)
Reddish Egret, white phase
Green Heron
Common Emerald Hummingbird
Yellow Warbler (common)
CARIB GRACKLE

Friday, February 11

This day I took a bird tour with Jerry Ligon, the resident naturalist and birder.  It so happens that he is the cousin of Dave and Sandy Ligon at the University of New Mexico, from whom I took several biology courses.  Small world.  Jerry gave me every bit of information on the birds that I could think of to ask, was able to call many birds out, and knew of great hot spots.  I  was the only person who came, so it was a personalized tour, which included a night hunt for a particular nightjar (not part of the normal birding tour).  I highly recommend anyone searching out birds or butterflies on the island to look him up (JCLIGON@bonairelive.com).  He's a dive instructor during the week, and does tours typically on Fridays.  He said that we had his 3rd best day for species diversity since he started leading tours.  He will soon be branching out to providing tours in Venezuela as well.  There are currently 194 species listed for the island, but since he is the only one who is studying birds, he has been able to add several more species and may be updating the "Birds of the Netherlands Antilles" soon (c. 1983).

Least Grebe (1)
Blue-winged Teal (2)
Osprey (3)
Peregrine Falcon (1, chasing a flock of Snowy Egrets)
Crested Caracara (1)
Great Egret (1)
Snowy Egret (10)
Reddish Egret, dark and white phases (3)
Little Blue Heron, adult (1)
Green Heron (3)
Greater Flamingo (5)
Sora (3 at one small pond and 2 at another)
American Coot (1)
AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER (2)
Black-necked Stilt (2)
Semipalmated Plover (2)
Yellowlegs, probably lesser (1)
Bare-eyed Pigeon (2)
RED-NECKED PIGEON (30+)
White-tipped Dove (1)
Bonairean Parakeet (20+)
YELLOW-SHOULDERED PARROT, endangered (3)
MANGROVE CUCKOO (1)
WHITE-TAILED NIGHTJAR (4)
Common Emerald Hummingbird (3)
RUBY-TOPAZ HUMMINGBIRD (1)
CARIBBEAN ELAENIA (1)
Grey Kingbird (20+)
Tropical Mockingbird (20+)
PEARLY-EYED THRASHER (1)
Yellow Warbler (30+)
Bananaquit (30+)
House Sparrow (2)
YELLOW ORIOLE (2)
BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT (10)

Troupials were brought to the island in the 1950s by a Franciscan monk who thought they were so beautiful that he wanted them on the island with him.  They are breeding proliferatively, and are nest predators.  It remains to be seen whether this will heavily impact the endemic species.

Other species:  Lizards

Cnemidophorous sp. -- everywhere.  This subspecies has a dark blue head, red midriff, and turquoise blue tail with white spots all over the body.

Anolis sp.

Iguana -- saw many that were 4+ feet long.

Ellen Roots
Llano Estacado Audubon Society
Lubbock TX
<Ehroots@AOL.COM>