Repeating Islands

The Caribbean Endemic Birds Festival (CEBF) has been celebrated annually across the region since 2002, and the festival usually runs from Earth Day (22nd April) to World Biodiversity Day (22nd May). The Bird Festival is organized to raise public awareness and appreciation of our region’s exceptionally rich and threatened bird life. The Caribbean’s celebrated endemic birds are used as flagship species for conservation throughout the region.

The theme chosen by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds for this year’s festival is “Go Wild… Go Birding”. This is to highlight their focus on reaching out to youths and adults alike in learning about birds, birding and bird conservation, while enjoying the outdoors.

In Dominica, Hon. Matthew Walter, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, officially launched the 2011 CEBF on 21st April, the day before Earth Day, and activities for this year’s Festival will include:-
•    Presentations on local birds and birding field trips with schools and a Pre-School;
•    Radio Quizzes on the island’s four radio stations;
•    a television program;
•    the re-broadcast of a PBS documentary entitled “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” and featuring one of our local hummingbird species
•    live radio discussions on the subject of birds and the Festival on all four major local radio stations;
•    interviews;
•    a public lecture on the theme Go Wild… Go Birding, and this will be presented in partnership with the University of the West Indies Open Campus on 12th May;
•    publishing of a newspaper article;
•    a Caribbean Waterfowls Identification Workshop with the Layou Improvement Committee on 20th May,

•    a boat trip to Pointe des Foux on Dominica’s south coast to view colonies of nesting seabirds and roosting Yellow-crowned Night Herons on 21st May

The Dwivayèz, DABEx and Pyé Cho Hiking Clubs will again Go Birding While Hiking with the Division on 14th May, in the Morne Diablotin National Park. And for the third consecutive year, Dominicans who can imitate the vocalization of birds will show off their talents and skills imitating the calls and sweet songs of selected Dominican birds in the Whistle Like A Bird Contest; this is to be held at the Alliance Française Auditorium on 19th May.

The Forestry, Wildlife and Parks invites the general public to participate in this year’s Caribbean Endemic Birds Festival by testing their knowledge of birds during the 8 radio quizzes (on different days on the radio stations), joining the live radio discussions, and attending the public lecture at UWI.

In Cuba, the residents of El Peral community, at the semi-desert area of Guantanamo municipality will welcome the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, from April 26 to May 20.

Workshops, bird watching, educational games, lectures, and contests are among the activities which are based on the experience of previous events held in Imia’s municipality and Guantanamo city in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Specialists of the Technology Applications Center (CATEDES), the entity promoting the meeting, stressed that about 26 percent of birds in the Caribbean area is endemic, a term used to identify species in wildlife only in a certain place.

It was also pointed out that Cuba, despite its insularity, boasts 7 genera and 28 species of birds of that type, factors taken into account by the institution of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment for its management.

It is also known that the best-known endemic birds in Cuba are: Cuban Tody, Toti, Zapata Rail, the Fermina, the Gallinuela of Santo Tomas, and Cuban Trogon (Tocororo), most of them in extinction danger.

The Festival of Caribbean Endemic Bird is held since 2003 in the region to promote mainly how to care for the ecosystem, where these species live, also as part of activities for the Biodiversity Day, established on May 22.

Plans to mark the festival have been announced in most nations across the Caribbean region.