Nick has spent the last six years working on migratory birds in Europe and Africa, including detailed studies on the migratory behaviour of two small brown warblers. Recently Nick assisted with the formation of the Colombian ringing scheme and acted as a trainer on a number of ringing courses run by ProAves of Colombia. As a result of these activities, Nick’s interest in the Neotropics grew to the point that the allure of brightly coloured warblers became too much and consequently he has migrated to this side of the Atlantic.
Camila Gomez
Camila is a Colombian ornithologist who began her work on the Caribbean island of San Andres studying an endangered vireo that can be found nowhere else on Earth. From the warmth of the Caribbean, Camila returned to the cold of Bogota and spent two years with ProAves spearheading the formation of the Colombian ringing scheme, assisting ProAves’ migratory bird program and organising a range of training courses. The allure of Caribbean warmth and the presence of the Mangrove Vireo (strikingly similar to the San Andres Vireo) now bring Camila to Belize.
Research Techniques
Two main techniques are being deployed in the project, transects and bird ringing. Transects consist of walking along a line of set distance and recording every species seen or heard at a given distance from that line, providing information on species presence and abundance. By walking transects in different habitats during the migration periods, information will be generated on habitat use and the timing of migration. To complement these data, bird ringing will provide data on the energetic status of migrants that cannot be attained through visual surveys. Bird ringing involves fitting birds with uniquely numbered rings that allow individual identification if they are recaptured at a later time or different place. In order to do this birds must first be captured, usually using mist nets, and whilst a bird is in the hand prior to release several data can be taken. In our study, the body mass and fat deposits of each captured bird will be assessed to determine energetic status and how it changes with time in recaptured birds.
