First Record of Caribbean Martin (Prognedotninicensis) for Aruba
ures1, 2). Duringthis observation period, whitebelly patch of theAruba bird appears JeffreyI/. Wells thebird was roosting on the roof of thehotel to us to be most consistentwith Caribbean overlookingthe poolcourtyard and about Martin.Geographic distribution also favors BorealSongbird Initiative 25-35 m aboveus. The hotel is locatedabout Caribbean over Sinaloa Martin in this case. 200 in inland from a coastal beach that is CaribbeanMartin breeds commonly •n all 210Water Street developedw•th hotels for several kin, but at theGreater Antilles except Cuba, throughout the time therewas an areaof undevdoped the LesserAntilles, and on Tohago(A.O.U. Hallowell,Maine 04347 thorn scrub habitat behind the hotel and a 1998);it normallyvacates the breeding range freshwaterwetland, the Buhali wetlands, from Octoberthrough early January, appar- ([email protected])about one km from the hotel. We left the ently migratingto an unknownwintering islandthe following day and have no further location in South America (Frost and Mas- informationon thelength of thebird• stay. siah2001, Murphy and Hayes 2001, Raflaele AllisonM. ChildsWells et al. 1998,Keith 1997, Ridgely and Tudor Oiscussion 1989).A winteringroost of CaribbeanMar- tins discoveredand monitored on Barbados NaturalResources Council of Maine Thereare six speciesof Prognemartin in which males are dark blue above:Cartbbean. in winter 2000-2001 was the first docu- 3 WadeStreet Purple(P subis),Cuban (P mented instance of overwin- cryptoleuca),Sinaloa (P teringin the CaribbeanBasin Augusta,Maine 04330 sinaloae),Gray-breasted (P (Frost and Massiah 2001), chalybea),and Southern(P and small numbers have been ([email protected])modesta). We eliminated recorded wintering there Purpleand SouthernMar- everyyear sincethe initial tinsbecause in bothspecies discovery(M. Frost, pets. Abstract malesare completelydark comm.). Our record consti- Thispaper documents the firstrecord ol below with no white on the tutes the first for Aruba and CaribbeanMartin (Progne dominicensis) for undersides (Hifty 2003, the first record from the win- Aruba and considersthe recordin contextof Turner and Rose 1989); terperiod for Aruba, Bonaire, the species'occurrence elsewhere in the adult male Cuban Martin or Curacao. southern Caribbean islands. likewise shows dark under- Although no previous partsin thefield (the white Figure1. Adultmale Caribbean Mar- recordsexist for this species tinat DiviVillage Resort, Oranjestad, on Aruba (Rodnet et al. Field Encounter bellyfeathers are normally Arubaon 16 January 2002. Note the 2000), Voons(1983) lists 12 On 15January 2002, from 1730 to 1830AST, concealed)and was thus also verynarrow white underparts we had severalbrief observationsof a martin eliminated (Garrido and boundedbyrather broad dark-blue records,including six speci- (Prognespecies) flying over one of thebuff& Kirkconnel12000,Raffaele et plumageofthe sides. The very similar mens,of the speciesfrom the al. 1998). Gray-breasted adultmale Sinaloa Martin typically nearbyislands of Curacaoand ingsof theDivi Village Resort, Oranjestad, showsa broaderarea of white below. Martin,in whichmales have Bonaire. Within these 12 Aruba(formerly Netherlands Antilles). Dur- Photo!lraphbyJeffrey V.Wells. ing thesebrief observations, we noted the a grayish-brownthroat and recordsare at leastthree spec- bird'sdark bluish upperparts, relatively deeply upper chest and gray imen records of Cuban Mar- forkedtail, dark upper chest and dark flanks, flanks, was also easily tin--a taxon Voous (1983) andwhite underparts that extended from the ruled out (Hilty 2003, lists as conspecificwith Caribbean Martin--and it is mid-breastthrough the undertail coverts. Howell and Webb 1995, •fhenext day, we relocatedthe bird at the Iurner and Rose 1989). unclearhow many of thesix samelocation and studiedit morecarefully Sinaloa Martin, the only sightrecords were unequiv- from 1730 to 1745 Afff. At this time, we were Prognespecies other than ocally identified as able to ascertainthat the bird showeda dark Caribbean Martin that Caribbean versus Cuban bluethroat continuous with darkblue upper showsa white belly con- Martin. All of the recordsfor breastand sides and that this blue plumage irastingwith bluishflanks Bonaire and Curacao sum- contrastedsharply with the starklywhite andbreast, typically shows marizedby Voous(1983) lowerbreast, belly, and undertaft coverts. We a broader area of white in are from autumn(Septem- Figure2. Adultmale Caribbean Martin at identifiedthe bird at the time asan adult male the upper belly/lower ber-October)or from May. DiviVillage Resort, Oranjestad, Aruba on FheMay records are of par- Caribbean Martin (P. dominicensis)and breast than Caribbean Mar- 16January 2002. From the side, the bird obtainedseveral photographs of the bird tin (Howell and Webb oftenlooked entirely dark, with just a ticularinterest: throughout usingan OlympusD-460 digitalcamera 1995, Ridgelyand Tudor smallarea of white visible around the feet. thebreeding range of Carib- thoughSwarovski 10x40 EL binoculars (Fig- 1989). The rather narrow PhotographbyJeffrey V.Wells. beanMartin, individualsare
NORTH AMERICAN BIRD saidto returnto thebreeding grounds in Jan- theirwintering areas in severalcases (Cuban edition Princeton University Press, uary or February,with eggsoften laid by and CaribbeanMartins) remain unknown, Princeton,New Jersey April. However,muluple observationsof and the phenologyof their migrationsis Howell, S. N. G., and S.Webb. 1995.A Guide CaribbeanMartins at Trinidadover a period poorly understood. The genusclearly to theBirds of Mexicoand northern Central threeyears by Murphy and Hayes (2001: first deservesfurther study. America.Oxford University Press, Oxford. confirmed records for Trinidad) fell in the Keith, A. R. 1997. The Birdsof St. Lucia. April-Mayperiod, except for onefrom Feb- Acknowledgments BritishOrnithologists' Union Check-list ruary-April.Perhaps the April and May We offerthanks to MartinFrost, who pro- 15. BritishOrnithologists' Union, Tring, recordsrefer to laggardfirst-spring individu- vided extensive comments on early drafts of UnitedKingdom. als, a phenomenonnoted in a numberof this paper.We extendour gratitudealso to Murphy,W. L., andE E. Hayes.2001. First othermigrant bird species,or perhapsthe theIthaca Ageless Jazz Band for theoppor- recordsof CaribbeanMartin (Progne specieshas a more protractedmigration tunity to visit the island, and the Divi dominicensis)for Trinidad, with com- periodthan is currentlyknown. TamarijnResort for itskind hospitality dur- mentson its supposedmigration to South It is puzzlingthat thereare no previous ing onr stay America. El Pitirre 14: 62-63. recordsof migrantCaribbean Martins from Raffaele,H., J. Wiley,O. Garrido,A. Keith, Aruba, Bonaire,or Curagaofor the Janu- Literature cited and J. Raffaele.1998. A Guideto the Birds ary-Marchperiod, a time when one would AmericanOrnithologists' Union [A.O.U]. of the WestIndies. Princeton University presumethe bulk of thepopulation would be 1998.Check-list o] NorthAmerican Birds. Press,Princeton, New Jersey. returningto the breedingareas. Because the Seventhedition. American Ornithologists' Ridgely,R. S.,and G. Tudor.1989. TheBirds specieshas been at leastoccasionally recorded Union,Washington, D.C. ofSouth America. Volume 1. Universityof on Curacaoand Bonairein fall migration ffrench,R. 1991.A Guideto the birdso] Texas Press,Austin, Texas. (Voous1983), the absence of reportsfrom late Trinidadand Tobago. Second edition. Cor- Rodher,C., M. Lentino, and R. Restall.2000. winter/earlyspring is evenmore surprising. nellUniversity Press, Ithaca, New York. Checklistof the Birdsof northernSouth Aswe leftAruba shortly after discovering the Frost, M D., and E. B. Massiah. 2001. America.Yale University Press,New CaribbeanMartin at Oranjestad,we cannot CaribbeanMartins (Profine dominicensis) Haven, Connecticut. determine whether the bird wintered there or overwinterat a roostin Bridgetown,Bar- Turner, A., and C. Rose. 1989. A Handbook wasjust roostingon the buildingsduring a bados. El Pitirre 14:128-129. to the Swallows and Martins of the World. shortmigration stop-over. Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell. 2000. ChristopherHelm, London. The southernProfine species still present FieldGuide to theBirds of Cuba.Cornell Voous,K. H. 1983. Birdsof theNetherlands enigmas:their field identification is difficult, UniversityPress, Ithaca, New York. Antilles. de Walburg Press,Utrecht, theirtaxonomic relationships are unsettled, Hilty,S. L. 2003.Birds of Venezuela.Second Netherlands.•
2006 The MaineABA Convention is timedto coincidewith thebest month to see resident breeding birds, includ- ,or ingnesting alcids and terns. The Pine Tree state is a mustvisit for birders, offering a beautiful rugged rocky coastline,sandy beaches, salt marshes, deciduous woodlands,boreal forests, peatlands, inland waters, andfreshwater marshes. Maine is the most sparsely populatedstate east of the Mississippi, andBangor-- lVlaine'sthird largest city--only has a populationof approximately32,000. Maine is geologically young, havingbeen sculptedby glaciers, most evident ea its breathtakinglybeautiful coastline. Seeing and hearing breedingwarblers inthe nuptial plumages isalways a treatwhile boat trips to view Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, andArctic and Roseate Terns will be a thrillingvenue. A goodopportunity tostudy the differences between thesaltmarsh sparrows will be provided. ABA Sales, ourfavorite vendors, and artists will be there along •th thebirds. Maine's Magical Mystery Tours are waitingtotake you away... See you in June in Maine!
VOLUME 59 (2005) NUMBER 4 671