The Plight of the Picoplat
No longer is the song of the Picoplat heard in the wild anywhere in Tobago or Trinidad. Fetching high prices for their singing, they have been trapped to ‘local extinction in the wild.’ Birder photographer Faraaz Abdool asks us to appreciate and protect all the birds of Tobago. This week he looks at the wide-ranging family of tanagers; and asks us to take personal responsibility for their well-being. The family of tanagers consists of some species that are extremely familiar to most of us. It is quite a large family, comprising approximately 240 species of mostly brightly coloured birds that are emblematic of the jungles of the New World. Some of the most widespread species of birds belong to this family – although many species do not carry the common name of “tanager.” Confusingly, there are other “tanagers” that do not belong to this family. That however, is the subject of another conversation altogether. Red-legged Honeycreepers on a blooming immortelle. Photo ...