Caribbean Bird Conservation Update: Building Momentum for Migratory Birds

Zoo New England has been partnering with BirdsCaribbean for the past two years to protect the migratory birds that travel between New England and the Caribbean each year by helping to create a central bird banding authority and database for the entire Caribbean, and developing a group of skilled and trained local bird surveyors with repeatable survey routes and sites.

In March 2024, BirdsCaribbean hosted a bird banding training workshop in Grenada that brought together eighteen wildlife professionals from nine Caribbean islands. The response was overwhelming—74 applications flooded in from across the region, highlighting the tremendous hunger for this kind of conservation training. Participants spent five intensive days learning banding techniques at two beautiful field sites, and the results speak volumes. Two participants, Daniela Ventura del Puerto from Cuba and Zoya Buckmire from Grenada, successfully earned their North American Banding Council Trainer certifications, becoming crucial leaders who will train the next generation of Caribbean bird conservationists.

The feedback from participants was powerful. One wrote: “After sharing with so many passionate people dedicated to the same goal, I am convinced of the importance of what we do and how much the effort is worth it every day.” Another praised how the workshop focused on “getting these techniques and programs into the hands and hearts of local people”—exactly the kind of community-centered conservation that creates lasting change.

Building on this success, BirdsCaribbean launched an exciting new project in March 2025: tracking Prairie Warblers in Puerto Rico using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. Working with local partners, they deployed tiny transmitter tags on twenty Prairie Warblers at two sites while providing hands-on banding training to approximately 27 local wildlife professionals. The results were remarkable—eighteen of the twenty tagged birds were detected by Motus stations, and two were tracked all the way to their next migration stops, with one making it to Florida.

This work directly connects to Zoo New England’s own conservation efforts right here in Massachusetts. These same Prairie Warblers and other migratory species spend their summers in New England before making the long journey south. By supporting BirdsCaribbean’s tracking and monitoring programs, we’re helping protect birds across their entire annual cycle—from breeding grounds here to stopover sites and wintering grounds in the Caribbean.

The partnership demonstrates what’s possible when communities come together for conservation. Local Caribbean residents are gaining the skills and confidence to lead bird protection efforts in their own countries, creating a network of trained professionals who will safeguard these species for generations to come.