Neotropical Migratory Birds
The annual journey of billions of migratory birds in every shape and form has long been a source of fascination around the world. Many have marveled at how a bird, sometimes weighing less than 10 grams, can fly thousands of kilometers crossing oceans and deserts or battling through hurricanes and avoiding a multitude of predators. Neotropical migratory birds are one such group that fly great distances to and from their breeding grounds in North America and their non-breeding grounds in the tropical regions of Central America, the Caribbean and South America. Belize lies within this tropical region and nearly 40% of the 576 species recorded there are migrants. Sadly, the populations of many Neotropical migrants have shown considerable declines in the last 30-40 years. Consequently it is becoming increasingly important to assess the value of Belize’s ecosystems to migrants and therefore how current and proposed protected areas can aid their conservation.
To address this knowledge gap, we have initiated a project that aims to evaluate the importance of the Belizean North-East Biological Corridor for Neotropical migrants. Our main objective is to determine which species use this wilderness area as a stepping stone in their migratory journey and therefore to strengthen the scientific evidence for the consolidation and long term conservation of the corridor. The project blends pure research utilising mist-nets and transects with training of Belizean nationals and education activities in local communities, in order to build further capacity in bird research and raise awareness about the exciting lives of migratory birds.
The North-east Biological Corridor
Stretching from the shores of Corozal Bay in the north to the forests and wetlands of the Freshwater Creek Forest reserve in the south and passing through the 10 km long Shipstern Lagoon is a near continuous corridor of natural habitats. This corridor takes in a wide range of ecosystems including broadleaf forest, open lagoons and mangrove mudflats. This matrix of ecosystems is utilised by a wide range of Neotropical migrants with over 100 species recorded in the area to date. Our ringing/banding site lies within this corridor at the Wildtracks headquarters on the northern shore of the Shipstern lagoon and takes in three major habitat types, forest, mangrove and savanna.
Stepping Stones for Migration
The habitats in north-east Belize and within Central America are not only important for migrants that spend the non-breeding season there but are also crucial to those species that pass through as they journey to and from non-breeding grounds to the south (e.g. in Colombia). These so called ‘passage migrants’ require sites that they can use as stepping stones – places where they can stop and refuel for the next stage of their journey. These stepping stones are known as ‘stopover sites’, and the quality of these sites will determine the energy reserves migrants have available for migration. Consequently, degradation of stopover sites can lead to late arrival on the breeding grounds and subsequent low reproductive success or, at worst, a failure to arrive altogether.
The near pristine habitats of North-east Belize are located on a major migratory flyway to and from eastern North America and are considered to play a vital role in enabling migrants to refuel for the next stage of migration. Determining the habitats and areas where migrants stopover in NE Belize is an important step towards understanding their needs and the pressures they face during migration, and will provide information needed to devise measures to assist in reversing their declining populations.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the Rufford Small Grants Foundation (www.ruffordsmallgrants.org) for funding our work and to Idea Wild (www.ideawild.org) for supplying the equipment for this project. We thank Wildtracks for hosting our research and the Belizean Forest Department for permitting our work. The rings for this project were obtained through the Western Bird Banding Initiative of ProAves, Colombia (www.proaves.org)
