https://www.birdscaribbean.org/

BirdsCaribbean, Natick, MA (2026)

05/29/2026

This pint-sized Grenadian songster is Endemic Bird of the Day 178! 🦩🦉🦜
https://bit.ly/GrenadaWren

Small but full of personality, the Grenada Wren is a little bird with a big voice 📣. Found only on the island of Grenada 🇬🇩, this wren is often heard before it's seen, filling the air with a bubbly, melodious song. It has a warm brown back🤎, finely streaked with darker markings, a pale eyebrow stripe, and a lightly speckled chest. With its compact size and energetic movements, it’s a delight to spot darting through dense undergrowth, foraging for food.

Grenada Wrens are masters of adaptation, thriving in 📍 forests, scrublands, and even gardens. They primarily feast on insects 🐞 and small invertebrates, using their sharp beaks to pick through leaf litter and bark. During the breeding season, they build dome-shaped nests hidden in vegetation, where the female lays a clutch of tiny eggs. Both parents take part in feeding their chicks, ensuring the next generation of these charismatic birds takes flight.

Despite their adaptability, Grenada Wrens face growing threats😔. Habitat loss 🪓 due to deforestation and development is reducing their available nesting and feeding areas. Climate change also poses risks, as shifting weather patterns could disrupt their food supply and breeding cycles💞. While they are not currently considered endangered, continued habitat destruction could put them at risk in the future.

Helping the Grenada Wren is simple! Protecting natural areas, planting native trees🌱, reducing pesticide use, and keeping cats 🐈️ indoors can all support their survival. Even in urban areas, creating green spaces and maintaining backyard gardens with native plants can provide important refuge.

Whether you're hiking in Grenada’s forests or enjoying a morning coffee in your backyard, keep an ear out for their cheerful calls—it’s a reminder of the island’s unique and irreplaceable wildlife. 💚

Thanks to Kendon James for the text and Arnaldo Toledo for the lovely illustration.⁠
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📸 Yann Muzika ML631393238 and David Hollie ML603349501

05/28/2026

👋🏽Hey! Don’t forget our Sound Recording Challenge is still ON🎶

From 🗓️ now until July 2026, record 50 or more bird sounds in the Caribbean and upload them to eBird ⬆️and you just might win 🏆️a brand new sound recording kit – featuring a Zoom F1 recorder and field-friendly state-of-the-art shotgun microphone!

Yes, you can use your mobile phone📱! But you also must include at least three Caribbean priority species in your uploads.

Caribbean priority species and more details about the sound recording challenge can be found at🦉bit.ly/Sound-Recording-Challenge

Bird recordings are important for understanding species distribution, while serving as the primary data used to train tools like Merlin Sound ID. By expanding regional data, these recordings improve identification accuracy and support long-term conservation efforts across the Caribbean.

❗️Just remember that the best audio comes from happy birds: since they sound much better when they aren't stressed, please be sure not to disturb them while recording!

Happy recording! And please share this challenge with your networks. 😃

Wild Bahamas National Trust for the Cayman Islands Bermuda Audubon Society Grupo Jaragua Société Ecologique D’haiti Caribbean Birding Trail Wild Caribbean Stenapa St Eustatius Ornitologia Sabanilla Bioeco Sociedad Cubana de Zoología Trinidad & Tobago Field Naturalists' Club Gaea Conservation Network Inc The Birds of Barbados Wildlife Jamaica Roots & Shoots Puerto Rico Conservation Opportunity St. Kitts, Nevis, and Statia Birding St. Croix Environmental Association National Environment & Planning Agency Turks & Caicos National Trust Montserrat National Trust Friends of Virgin Islands National Park

05/27/2026

BIG NEWS: Early Bird Registration has been EXTENDED to June 3rd! 🎉

You still have time to secure your spot and snag significant savings for the BirdsCaribbean 25th International Conference in beautiful Trinidad & Tobago, July 23-27, 2026! 🦜🇹🇹🌴

And remember—this conference is not just for scientists and researchers. Birders, nature lovers, photographers, students, conservationists, eco-tourism professionals, and anyone passionate about birds and the Caribbean are warmly welcome. 😃

Join us for an unforgettable week of learning, networking, birding, field trips, Caribbean culture, and conservation action.

Register here 👉🏽: bit.ly/BCTT26Register

This year’s theme, “Birds, People, Prosperity: Harnessing the Caribbean’s Natural Advantage,” challenges the outdated “development vs. environment” narrative. It’s a call to proudly own, protect, and advance the natural assets that power our sustainable future.

Wild Caribbean Wild Bahamas Bahamas National Trust Bahamas Forestry Bermuda Audubon Society Wildlife Jamaica National Environment & Planning Agency Jamaica Environment Trust Grupo Jaragua Grupo Accion Ecologica Virgin Islands Audubon Society SOH CONSERVACION Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales Para la Naturaleza Parc national de la Guadeloupe Environmental Awareness Group Anguilla National Trust Montserrat National Trust Nature Foundation Sint Maarten Les Fruits de Mer Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) SusGren (Grenadines NGO) Saint Lucia National Trust Science SVG Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies

05/26/2026

A Cuban gem is Endemic Bird of the Day 177! 🦩🦉🦜
https://bit.ly/CubanVireo

As one of Cuba's endemic jewels💎, the Cuban Vireo is widely distributed throughout the island and is considered one of the most common species on the island🇨🇺. Its coloration is not very conspicuous, with mainly grayish olive green on the back, and pale yellowish💛 underneath. Males and females look the same. Its eyes are large and dark, and appear to be larger because of the ring of light-colored feathers around the eye. For this reason, in some parts of Cuba it is known as “ojón” which translates to “big-eyed.”👀 Because of the sound it makes when singing🎶, it is also popularly known in Cuba as “juanchiví.”

The species favors wooded areas🌳, but it can also be found in thickets. It inhabits all types of forests, natural, secondary, coffee and pine plantations. Usually flying short distances within the vegetation, where it roosts 💤 and forages mostly lower down in the vegetation (1-3m). Occasionally, it mixes in mixed flocks with other Cuban endemic species such as Yellow- headed and Oriente Warblers. It feeds mainly on insects, arachnids🕷️, fruits and small reptiles.

Like other vireos, the nest is cup-shaped and the breeding season begins in March and ends in August💞. The species usually lays three white eggs with small brown or purplish spots.

It is not globally threatened. To keep this "endemic jewel" shining for years to come, we need to make sure its habitats remain healthy and connected. You can plant native plants 🌱 and berries in your garden to give them a safe place to eat and seek shelter. By spreading the word about the Ojón's funny "Juanchiví" song and supporting local environmental organizations, you also help this big-eyed bird stay a common sight for everyone to enjoy for years to come! 😊

Thanks to Alieny González Alfonso for the text and Arnaldo Toledo for the lovely illustration.⁠
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📸 Roberto Jovel and Aslam Ibrahim Castellón Maure

05/13/2026

The mysterious Western Chat-Tanager is Endemic Bird of the Day 176! 🦩🦉🦜
https://bit.ly/WesternChatTanager

Way up in the misty mountains ⛰️ of Hispaniola lives a bird called the Western Chat-Tanager. Imagine a bird kind of like a Mockingbird, just a bit smaller and more mysterious! 😶‍🌫️This shy little bird is part of the Caribbean endemic bird family, Calyptophilidae, from the Greek word Calyptophilus which means “loves to hide.” And do they take that seriously!

They live in broadleaf forests and dense thickets which no doubt helps them to stay hidden. Even scientists have a tough time finding them in these habitats! 👀 Our tip is to keep your eyesight low. Western Chat-Tanagers usually hang out in pairs, poking through fallen leaves looking for their next meal. They make a “chip-chip” sound while foraging. Their favorite foods are insects🪱, small invertebrates and a little bit of fruit now and then.

How will you know you’re looking at the elusive Western Chat-Tanager and not the Eastern Chat-Tanager?! 🤔 One big clue is that it has 🚫 no white eyering, but it does have a small yellow patch between its eye and beak. The upperparts of the Western Chat-Tanager are dark brown🤎. The breast and throat are white shading into the grey-brown belly and flanks. Its tail is long, rounded, and has a chestnut tint. On the other hand, the Eastern Chat-Tanager has dark brown upperparts and a white eyering but no yellow face patch. Its tail is shorter and more squared off.

During the breeding season💞, May to July, they build a large and unusual cup-shaped nest with an overhanging dome and a front entrance. They use small woody stems, vines, moss, and lichens for the outer part and line the inside with stems and pieces of leaves. Clutch size is 2 pale blue eggs 🪺 with brown spots.

Both parents help feed their chicks. The dad doesn’t bring food very often, but the mom shows up with food every 15 to 20 minutes when she’s not keeping the chicks warm. The mom also cleans 🧹 up after the chicks by carrying away their faecal pellets (p**p). Meanwhile, the dad watches nearby and sings often, usually from a perch within 10 meters of the nest.

The conservation status of the Western Chat-Tanager is considered to be Vulnerable by the IUCN, due to widespread 🪓 clearing of forests particularly in Haiti. The Dominican Republic has several protected areas. One of these places is the Sierra de Bahoruco, a big mountain range where the Western Chat-Tanager can be found. That’s why it’s so important to support environmental groups that work hard to protect these wild places from pollution and deforestation so amazing birds like the Western Chat-Tanager can have a safe home to live and hide.💚

Thanks to Aliya Hosein and Holly Garrod for the text and Arnaldo Toledo for the lovely illustration.

📸 Amiel Hopkins (ML614076998) and Dax Roman

05/11/2026

🦉Birds…watched.
📷️Memories…made.
Checklists…submitted? 🤔

Be sure to submit your eBird checklists from (Saturday, May 9th) and make sure that they are shared with your team!

There are two ways to do this - detailed instructions are here📝: https://bit.ly/checklist-sharing

The deadline to submit your checklists and have them included in our final teams stats is TUESDAY 12TH MAY 2026 at midnight ❗️

We think this was our biggest and best GBD Teams Competition and Fundraiser yet—most observers, species observed, checklists, etc. But we need your data to show this!!! So don’t put off ‘til tomorrow what you can do today - get those awesome checklists entered and shared!

➡️Team Leaders - please encourage your team members to enter and share their checklists by Thursday, midnight. Invite members to your Trip Report and be sure to check your team account and accept any checklists shared with your team.

Thank you to everyone who took time to go out birding on Global Big Day with us! We look forward to sharing all the fun team birding stats, awesome photos, and stories from the day with you. 💚

05/10/2026

The results are in…

You absolutely crushed it!🎉🐦

From backyard birders to forest explorers, we are blown away by the dedication of our teams across the archipelago and beyond. You showed the world exactly why Caribbean birding is in a league of its own.

Big respect to our ✨️Team Leaders ✨️ who stepped up to represent their islands and countries without hesitation and were with us every step of the way—recruiting and helping team members, setting up trip reports, accepting checklists, and fundraising for . A massive thanks to you all

📌Checklists are still being entered into eBird. We’ll be sharing final results with fun summary stats and awards soon! If you haven’t submitted your checklists yet, please do so by 🗓️Tuesday 12th May at midnight to be included in our stats. Don’t keep us in suspense!

Thanks to you, 🎉 We’ve reached our $40K goal—but we’re not stopping.

This year, we received 90+ travel scholarship applications, and the need far exceeds what we’ve raised so far. Every additional dollar helps us support more deserving Caribbean conservationists to attend our conference in Trinidad this July.

We appreciate your enthusiasm and for believing in the work we do. We are grateful to all of our bird advocates – NGOs, governments, law enforcement agencies, researchers, photographers, novice birders, veteran birders, artists, and of course to our members and passionate supporters.

If you didn’t get a chance to donate, it's not too late—and your gift go even further now
👉 bit.ly/BCGBD-26

We couldn’t ask for a better community—exploring new ways to protect birds and their habitats, inspiring others, and building the next generation of bird advocates to come!

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day 💐 to all the incredible mothers (the devoted caregivers, protective sisters, and proud mamas of furbabies included!) in our BirdsCaribbean community! It is your nurturing spirit that helps our region thrive.

Today, we celebrate the 💪🏽 strength, patience, and heart 🩷 you pour into everything you do!

Here’s a Magnificent Mom fact for you🤩: in the world of Magnificent Frigatebirds, the heavy lifting of parenthood falls to the females. A pair will stay together for about three months to start their family after which the male eventually heads off, leaving the female to raise their chick solo for up to a year.

📸: Adult female Magnificent Frigatebird and juvenile in nest. (Brent Reed ML610704334)

05/09/2026

One day of birding, a lifetime of impact. Global Big Day 2026 is in full swing! 🎉🦜

With binoculars in hand and field guides at the ready, across the world are out in parks, forests, wetlands, and beyond. Today we’re united for one powerful cause: bird conservation.

💚 And thanks to you—we’ve almost reached our $40K goal!⁠

We received 90+ scholarship applications from Caribbean conservationists who need support to attend our conference this July. Every additional gift helps ensure more of these dedicated individuals can be there.

By supporting our fundraiser, you’re helping conservationists across the Caribbean monitor birds, restore habitats, protect species, and inspire communities to respect and take care of their natural heritage.

👉Donate today and help us create more scholarships for amazing Caribbean conservationists: bit.ly/BCGBD-26

We’re so grateful for every donation we’ve received so far. Thank You!

And if you’re not able to give right now, you can still help in BIG ways:
Tag a friend
Share this post
Spread the word
Even $5 makes a difference: bit.ly/BCGBD-26

Together, we’re building a stronger future for birds and people across the Caribbean.

05/08/2026

The photos you’re planning on taking for could win you some cool 😎 prizes!

Whether you've got a smartphone 📱 or a professional camera 📸, we want to see your best moments from Global Big Day 2026!

Here are what we want to see:

🏃🏽‍♂️Action shots- adding birds to your eBird checklists, spotting that lifer and celebrating, flipping through field guides, sweaty selfies, muddy boots, high fives etc. You get it, we want the BTS shots.

🦉Birds living their best birdy lives- perched, flying, calling, foraging, defending territories etc.
❗️Please ensure all photos are taken without disturbing the birds or altering their natural behavior.

🌴Gorgeous landscapes- think ‘we live where you vacation’ vibes.
Show us the beauty, but leave it as you found it. Please stick to established trails and avoid trampling sensitive vegetation to get your shot.

Our winner for each category scores a BirdsCaribbean swag bag🏆️.

Email your best BIRD, LANDSCAPE, and PEOPLE photos to 📧[email protected] and [email protected] by Saturday 16th May, 2026

You can also send us links to folders in Google Drive, Google Photos, Dropbox, or any cloud storage app.

📌A few important notes:
File names should include bird/location/person(s), country, and photographer name.
E.g. West-Indian-Woodpecker-male-in-nest-Baracoa-Cuba-Roberto-Jovel

Your photos may be featured in our outreach: website, social media, brochures.

Let’s show the world the beauty, energy, and joy of birding in the Caribbean! 🙌🏽 Submit your photos by 16th May, 2026.

BirdsCaribbean

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