Birds of Aruba, Caribe « « A Última Arca de NoéA Última Arca de Noé

Birds of Aruba, Caribe

Between 11 and 21 November 2010 and 7 to 23 de junho and 13 to 27 de novembro 2011, were (Antonio Silveira) on the Caribbean island of Aruba, where we had the opportunity to make some observations of fauna, especially its birds.

Aruba in the Caribbean Sea situated about 24 km offshore Venezuela has 182 km2 and is 31.36 km long by 9.6 km wide. The highest point is Mount Jamanota with 185 m / al (or 617 feet).

Its capital is Oranjestad, a charming town that closely resembles the Netherlands, which is not least being that because Aruba is part of Dutch territory, although the degree of autonomy achieved long ago.

Despite being one of Aruba’s most popular resorts in the world and one of the best diving destination, with its large hotel chain, also has natural areas represented mainly by the National Park and Arikok Bubali Bird Sanctuary.

Interestingly, natural areas and even in altered areas met the Divi-divi (Caesalpinia cori), photo below, whose distribution extends from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and northern South America, but they are very famous and somewhat protected in island.

According to information obtained on the Internet ( www.birdlist.org / www.arubabirds.com), Aruba has 207 species of birds, 70 residents and 164 migrants. The rarest bird of the island is the chicken of water-Fulica caribaea (Caribbean Coot), with only about 100 individuals in the wetlands of the island, which we were lucky to see one.

Arikok National Park created in 2000 is administered by a foundation, has 20 miles of trails and protect natural areas and arid part of the island and its coast, with caves and natural swimming pools (http://www.arubanationalpark.org/). But the Bubali Bird Sanctuary protects one of the main wetlands of the Caribbean, including a site is RAMPS.

But there are other flooded areas, especially in Palm Beach, home to major hotels and easy to be visited, as are adjacent to the coastal road that passes behind the hotels.In our stay in this beautiful island, we made these observations in the flooded areas, areas of hotels and visit in the afternoon of 16/11 Sancturay Bubali Bird, where he delighted in the beauty of the place.

The Bubali Plas, as is known, is a public reserve, formed by a complex of interconnected lakes and wetlands, providing an important refuge for wildlife, especially waterfowl.

There are dozens of species living on the island and many migrants use their lakes and wetlands to rest and feed.On site there is a viewpoint of about 6 feet tall, which allows the observer to be comfortably protected from the sun and with a fantastic view of much of the area.

Following is a list of 55 species of birds observed and identified in our stay in Aruba, with annotations of sites, in alphabetical order:

Legend:

APB - flooding of Palm Beach.

HPB – areas of hotels in Palm Beach

BBS - Bubali Bird Sanctuary

MMK – Malmok region

PNA – Arikok National Park

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SPECIES: CIENTIFIC NAMES AND ENGLISH NAMES (click the photos)

Actitis macularius; Spotted Sandpiper APB

Anas discors; Blue-winged Teal HPB – BBS

Aratinga pertinax; Brown-throated Parakeet HPB – BBS – MMK

Ardea alba; Great Egret APB – BBS – MMK

Ardea herodias; Great Blue Heron BBS – APB

Arenaria interpres; Ruddy Turnstone APB

Bubulcus íbis; Cattle Egret APB BBS

Butorides virescens; Green Heron BBS

Calidris sp; Sandpiper APB

Caracara plancus; Southern Caracara APB – BBS

Chlorostilbon mellisugus; Blue-tailed Emerald (all areas visited)

Coereba flaveola; Bananaquit APB – BBS

Columba corensis; Bare-eyed Pigeon APB – HPB – BBS

Columba squamosa; Scaly-naped Pigeon APB – HPB – BBS

Columbina passerina; Common Ground-Dove HPB

Crotophaga sulcirostris; Groove-billed Ani BBS

Dendrocygna autumnalis; Black-bellied Whistling-Duck APB

Dendroica petechia; Yellow Warbler BBS

Egretta thula; Snowy Egret APB – BBS

Egretta caerulea; Little Blue Heron APB

Egretta rufescens; Reddish Egret APB

Falco columbarius; Merlin BBS

Falco sparverius; American Kestrel APB – HPB – BBS

Fregata magnificens; Magnificent Frigatebird (all shores)

Fulica caribaea; Caribbean Coot BBS

Gallinula galeata; Common Moorhen BBS

Haematopus palliatus; American Oystercatcher MMK – região de Malmok

Himantopus mexicanus; Black-necked Stilt APB – PNA

Hirundo rustica; Barn Swallow (alls areas visited)

Icterus icterus; Troupial APB – HPB – BBS

Larus atricilla; Laughing Gull (cost of Palm Beach)

Mimus gilvus; Tropical Mockingbird APB – HPB – BBS – PNA

Molothrus bonariensis; Shiny Cowbird HPB

Nycticorax nycticorax; Black-crowned Night-Heron BBS

Pandion haliaetus; Osprey - BBS

Passer domesticus; House Sparrow HPB

Pelecanus occidentalis; Brown Pelican BBS – (alls shores)

Phalacrocorax brasilianus; Neotropic Cormorant BBS

Phoenicopterus ruber; Greater Flamengo, MMK

Podilymbus podiceps; Pied-billed Grebe - BBS

Porzana carolina; Sora BBS

Quiscalus lugrubi; Carib Grackle APB – HPB

Setophaga ruticilla; American Redstart MMK

Sterna hirundo; Common Tern (all shores)

Thalasseus maximus; Royal Tern (alls shores)

Tiaris bicolor; Black-faced Grassquit HPB

Tringa flavipes; Lesser Yellowlegs APB

Tringa melanoleuca; Greater Yellowlegs APB

Tringa solitaria; Solitary Sandpiper APB

Tyrannus dominicensis; Grey Kingbird APB (and downtown of Oranjestad)

Tyto alba; Barn Owl HPB

Vanellus chilensis; Southern Lapwing APB

Zenaida auriculata; Eared Dove APB – HPB – BBS

Zonotrichia capensis; Rufous-collared Sparrow HPB

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Besides the birds we have seen some lizards, including the Iguana, common in natural areas of hotels, Aruba Blue lizard(Cnemidophorus arubensis), endemic to the island, but common in almost all places and frogs (Pleurodema brachyops) as the photos below. On 23/11/2011, we heard the night in a temporary pond in the Palm Beach region of the vocalizations of Bufo marinus (GiantToad), recently introduced on the island.

Faced with what we saw and found so far, Aruba is very interesting in terms of ornithological what motivates us to go back to learn more about their birds.

We thank company of Gianine Luiza

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Beaches and wetlands of Palm Beach