Greetings from Jamaica! I am happy to say that I call this sunny tropical island my home for almost five months. It's the perks of conducting tropical conservation field work, but it still feels like a dream every day (besides the seed ticks, those are things of nightmares). I am excited to share what I have been up to for the past two and a half months!
Using red mangrove prop roots as a bridge to cross the infamous "croc slide" in our Mangrove I plot.
When Dr. Tonra and I arrived in Jamaica in the beginning of January, our goal was to capture as many Swainson's Warblers as we possibly could. These birds are notoriously sneaky. Their drab plumage and ground foraging habits lend to them being almost impossible for birders to spot and one of the most difficult of the North American birds to research. We knew it was going to be a challenge. With the help of Bryant Dossman, a Cornell Lab of O/Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Ph.D. student working on American Redstarts, we scoured the forest for individual Swainson's Warblers using vocalization playback. Once we found some responsive individuals, we target netted each bird with a lot of success, and of course a lot of frustration!
The Swainson's Warblers we have caught are equipped with radio transmitters (as seen in the photo above on the right) and my field tech Cody Lane and I are hand tracking individuals until their departure in April. I will calculate home ranges for each bird and habitat data that we have gathered such as soil moisture, shrub and canopy density, leaf litter composition and arthropod abundance will be used to determine how they utilize their habitat. I am interested in how these birds can track moisture throughout the season and if they will be able to adapt to the climate change induced reduction in rainfall in the Caribbean. Being a species that requires relatively dry forested habitats, we could see this decrease in moisture having some interesting affects throughout the coming decades. Overall not much is known about the winter ecology of this species, and being that they are a species of conservation concern, it is exciting to be gaining more insight into the birds daily behaviors. I am so excited to be able to study such an elusive species, as I am already seeing some interesting within season movements!
Field work in Jamaica can be a challenge and we make sure to take advantage of the beauty of the country on our days off. We believe that it is important to really immerse ourselves in the Jamaican culture, talk to locals about their lives and experience the food, tropical landscapes and of course, the native wildlife.
Field work in Jamaica can be a challenge and we make sure to take advantage of the beauty of the country on our days off. We believe that it is important to really immerse ourselves in the Jamaican culture, talk to locals about their lives and experience the food, tropical landscapes and of course, the native wildlife.
| I have greatly enjoyed my time here and am looking forward to the next couple of months, watching the birds I have been tracking all season slowly trickle back to Southeastern United States to start the next phase in their annual cycle. I am happy to say that my first field season as a Masters student is going wonderfully and revealing interesting aspects of Swainson's Warbler winter ecology! Thank you to the the Tonra Lab and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center for the ongoing support during this adventure! - Alicia | |
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