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The day before Hurricane Hanna threatened the southern Bahamas on September 1, there was not a bird to be seen in Mathew Town, said Bahamas National Trust President Glenn Bannister, who is also Managing Director of Morton Salt Company at Inagua.
According to Mr Bannister Inagua's birds - Bahama parrots and White Crown pigeons were frequent sights in Mathew Town
feeding on fruits and berries from the trees. They particularly enjoyed the profusion of guineps. But as soon as they sensed a storm they took to their wings and flew off - no one knows where. As man battened down, the birds also sought safe haven.
Yesterday flocks of Bahama Parrots - Inagua is home to 8,000 of the endangered species - were back desperately flying in and out of branches looking for food on the now barren trees. Ike, the full force of which hammered Inagua all day Sunday, had felled most of the trees and stripped every leaf and berry off those left standing.
"In a few months this place is going to look like spring when the buds start to come out on the trees again," said Mr Bannister, but in the meantime the birds will suffer.
"The birds are in trouble for the time being, because there is just no food," he said.
So far no White Crown pigeon has been seen.
Yesterday the Sun Herald, which covers the communities of Biloxi, Gulfport and South Mississippi, reported that "big, funny looking pink birds" were visiting after the hurricane.
It was Mississippians' first sighting of a flamingo. The unusual bird was attracting many curious bird watchers to the seashore. Biologists believe they had flown from their normal habitat ahead of the storms. The first known sighting was in Pacagoula the day Tropical storm Fay didn't hit, the newspaper reported. The second sighting was two days after Gustav. One.spotter said that the flamingos looked like "pink missiles" in the air with their legs stretched straight out behind them.
Mr Bannister did not think these flamingos were from the Bahamas.
Whenever they seek safe haven, he said, they fly south to Bonaire, Venezuela or Cuba. However, Cuba was discounted because it too was host to Hurricane Ike.
So far the only sign of Inagua's flamingos were 30 dead birds. They did not make it out with the rest of the flock. "It looked as though they were trapped in the trees and bushes and were pinned down by Ike's strong winds and couldn't get out," said Mr Bannister.
He said that the warden went into the breeding grounds on Monday and again yesterday, but the only sign of a flamingo were the dead birds.
Mr Bannister was confident that those that beat the storm would be back at mating time. They always come back to the place of their birth to lay their eggs, he said. The mating rituals will start in January and February and they will be hatching-their young by the end of March. During this time, said Mr Bannister, there are usually 10,000 to 12,000 birds.
However, the number of flamingos born next year will depend on the rains during the breeding season. The birds build their circular earthen mounds with their beaks. It depends on the texture of the earth as to whether they can build their nests next year. If the earth is too wet, the mounds will crumble, likewise if it is too dry no mound can be formed. Whether they have nests or not they will lay their eggs, but the eggs will be infertile.
Although the parrots will starve, the flamingos, with a different diet, and survive. These birds hold their bills upside down in the water and minute organisms are filtered out by fine lamellae. In our area the flamingos feed mainly on invertebrates in the sea.
Mr Bannister thinks that many of them have migrated to other islands. About 1977 the counting and tagging of the flamingo had started. Since then the flock has been estimated at 60,000 birds. "They don't all live here," said Mr Bannister, "they populate the other islands, going as far up as Andros."
At the turn of the last century the Bahamas government sent the late Robbie Burnside to Jamaica to bring back birds to repopulate our islands after they were destroyed by a severe hurricane.
We have much to be thankful for after Ike. Particular relief is that there was no loss of human life, although there was much material damage. This can all be rebuilt. However, it would be a terrible tragedy if Inagua were to lose its most valuable natural asset - its birds.
Editorial
The Tribune
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
According to Mr Bannister Inagua's birds - Bahama parrots and White Crown pigeons were frequent sights in Mathew Town
feeding on fruits and berries from the trees. They particularly enjoyed the profusion of guineps. But as soon as they sensed a storm they took to their wings and flew off - no one knows where. As man battened down, the birds also sought safe haven.
Yesterday flocks of Bahama Parrots - Inagua is home to 8,000 of the endangered species - were back desperately flying in and out of branches looking for food on the now barren trees. Ike, the full force of which hammered Inagua all day Sunday, had felled most of the trees and stripped every leaf and berry off those left standing.
"In a few months this place is going to look like spring when the buds start to come out on the trees again," said Mr Bannister, but in the meantime the birds will suffer.
"The birds are in trouble for the time being, because there is just no food," he said.
So far no White Crown pigeon has been seen.
Yesterday the Sun Herald, which covers the communities of Biloxi, Gulfport and South Mississippi, reported that "big, funny looking pink birds" were visiting after the hurricane.
It was Mississippians' first sighting of a flamingo. The unusual bird was attracting many curious bird watchers to the seashore. Biologists believe they had flown from their normal habitat ahead of the storms. The first known sighting was in Pacagoula the day Tropical storm Fay didn't hit, the newspaper reported. The second sighting was two days after Gustav. One.spotter said that the flamingos looked like "pink missiles" in the air with their legs stretched straight out behind them.
Mr Bannister did not think these flamingos were from the Bahamas.
Whenever they seek safe haven, he said, they fly south to Bonaire, Venezuela or Cuba. However, Cuba was discounted because it too was host to Hurricane Ike.
So far the only sign of Inagua's flamingos were 30 dead birds. They did not make it out with the rest of the flock. "It looked as though they were trapped in the trees and bushes and were pinned down by Ike's strong winds and couldn't get out," said Mr Bannister.
He said that the warden went into the breeding grounds on Monday and again yesterday, but the only sign of a flamingo were the dead birds.
Mr Bannister was confident that those that beat the storm would be back at mating time. They always come back to the place of their birth to lay their eggs, he said. The mating rituals will start in January and February and they will be hatching-their young by the end of March. During this time, said Mr Bannister, there are usually 10,000 to 12,000 birds.
However, the number of flamingos born next year will depend on the rains during the breeding season. The birds build their circular earthen mounds with their beaks. It depends on the texture of the earth as to whether they can build their nests next year. If the earth is too wet, the mounds will crumble, likewise if it is too dry no mound can be formed. Whether they have nests or not they will lay their eggs, but the eggs will be infertile.
Although the parrots will starve, the flamingos, with a different diet, and survive. These birds hold their bills upside down in the water and minute organisms are filtered out by fine lamellae. In our area the flamingos feed mainly on invertebrates in the sea.
Mr Bannister thinks that many of them have migrated to other islands. About 1977 the counting and tagging of the flamingo had started. Since then the flock has been estimated at 60,000 birds. "They don't all live here," said Mr Bannister, "they populate the other islands, going as far up as Andros."
At the turn of the last century the Bahamas government sent the late Robbie Burnside to Jamaica to bring back birds to repopulate our islands after they were destroyed by a severe hurricane.
We have much to be thankful for after Ike. Particular relief is that there was no loss of human life, although there was much material damage. This can all be rebuilt. However, it would be a terrible tragedy if Inagua were to lose its most valuable natural asset - its birds.
Editorial
The Tribune
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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