Winter Arrivals in Southwest Tobago

Tobago always attracts special visitors. Faraaz Abdool is looking for those flying in from far. He tells us where to expect the birds that are wintering in Southwest Tobago. All photos by Faraaz Abdool

 

The populous southwest end of Tobago is not only a hotspot for human activity, but for various other forms of indigenous fauna. This area of tiny yet magnificent Tobago is home to countless small businesses, guest houses, and several larger hotels. Nightclubs, yoga studios, restaurants, and many more all work together within a tight radius from the international airport, ensuring that travellers can have all their needs met in walking distance.

 

Humans are only the latest arrivals, among many that have been coming for millennia to SW Tobago. Presently, however, this teeters precariously on the edge of becoming another historical record. Amidst all the cries against ecological destruction, that which has occurred in SW Tobago carries more significance than most.

 

As its name implies, the Northern Waterthrush is typically found near to water.

 

Just as SW Tobago caters to human travellers, it has been a welcoming winter home to a myriad of our feathered counterparts. For thousands of years, migratory birds from North America have made the southbound pilgrimage to escape the unforgiving boreal winter. Many of these birds take up residence within the mangrove forests of SW Tobago during the months from August through March. These birds have a fierce loyalty, perhaps an emotional connection – and more likely ancestral knowledge of the assurance of a winter home, complete with an ample food supply.

 

New voices fill the mangroves in seasonal chorus each year. Even casual passersby may notice the metallic clinks of the canary-coloured Yellow Warbler or ground-loving Northern Waterthrush – two of the more common members of the highly migratory family of warblers. These tiny songbirds breed in the conifers and willows of northern Canada and are some of the earliest arrivals on Tobago. These warblers feed on a variety of invertebrates, most notably the larvae of butterflies and moths – the caterpillars we often view as garden pests!

 

Prothonotary Warblers rely heavily on swamps during both their breeding and wintering periods.

The Blackpoll Warbler migrates to various habitats across Tobago each year.

 

Other members of the warbler family are less often encountered and tend to elicit considerable excitement from the birding community. The enigmatic Prothonotary Warbler is named after the bright yellow worn by the prothonotaries belonging to the Roman Catholic church. True to its name, the yellow head and breast of the Prothonotary Warbler are  exceptionally bright. This species relies heavily on swampy habitat throughout its range; consequently, it doesn’t breed as far north as some of the other species but depends on the presence of extensive marshland in the eastern United States to successfully raise the next generation. In fact, this species almost always builds its nest over water. While some other warblers may be found in drier habitats, the Prothonotary Warbler relies primarily on mangrove swamps throughout its winter range.

 

Keen observers may notice another visitor to the mangrove forests of SW Tobago – this one a bit larger than the previously mentioned warblers. As it sits silently for several minutes at a time, it is almost impossible to see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo if its back is turned. Once it makes a movement, however, its long wings and tail carve an angelic arc as it travels from branch to branch. Formerly holding a breeding range throughout the United States, it has disappeared almost entirely from the western half of the continent, undergoing a precipitous decline – its current population in the western US is at best 0.3% of what it was a century ago. In Tobago we are incredibly lucky to see one or two of these amazing birds each year as they run the gauntlet of natural predators along their migration route.

 

The waterways and limited marshy areas of SW Tobago also attract a variety of larger, wetland-dependent species. The aptly named Great Blue Heron can tower over a small child. While it is possible to find this species throughout the year, they are  more likely to be seen during the boreal winter. The similar looking but slightly smaller Grey Heron is rarer, due in no small part to its region of origin: Eurasia! On occasion, Eurasian birds which typically migrate to the African continent may appear in the Caribbean, and the wetlands of SW Tobago are a beacon for these wanderers.

 

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo turns to reveal its pure white throat and namesake yellow bill.

The Ruff is a complicated shorebird with incredible individual variation, breeding in the Arctic tundra of Eurasia and spending the winter months throughout the African continent as well as shorelines of southern Asia, from Saudi Arabia to China.

Bird migration consists of several predefined paths crisscrossing the globe, termed “flyways”. These are akin to our major roads in and out of different communities. There are various reasons why birds end up in an atypical location; on their southbound migration inexperience is the main reason for this. Extreme weather with strong winds may present unexpected challenges to young birds not yet schooled in the arts of avoiding these systems. These are the birds most likely to be blown off course.

 

Migratory birds continue the traditions of generations past. Some warblers have been recorded returning each year to not only the same general area, but the same tree! In addition, the wetlands of Bon Accord and Kilgwyn are nurseries for various species of fish, crabs, and other invertebrates necessary to maintain the integrity of the ecosystem that is in turn essential for the long-term survival of these birds, global citizens in the real sense.

 

The bird’s eye view of SW Tobago today is decidedly different from what their ancestors knew. The bigger picture can be viewed via any satellite map – and it reveals a staggering and sobering truth: almost all of the green spaces at that end of the island have been replaced by roads, buildings, lawns, and various other manmade structures. The wetlands at Bon Accord and Kilgwyn are the only two remaining green spaces in SW Tobago. As residents of a tiny island, we may possess a skewed concept of distance. It is easy to look at a kilometre and think of it as a massive distance when the entire island is only ten kilometres wide. But for a bird migrating several thousand kilometres each year, these green spaces are the difference between life and death.