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Access Bonaire is reached by air from Curacao or Aruba: (a ten minute flight via The Site Guide ALM from the former, 20-minute from the latter.) Curacao is reached via KLM or American from New York or Miami, East- ern via Puerto Rico and ALM from Miami. Flying time: Curacao-New York about 4« hours. There is a weekly boat from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles Curacao. Proof of citizenship required. Register all cameras, telescopes,binocu- lars, etc., with U.S. customs before depar- Location Fifty miles north of Venezuela at 12 ture. 08' N, 68 17' W., 30 miles east of Curacao. Accommodations The Hotel Bonaire is a typ- Description A semi-aridisland 24 mileslong, ical and excellent resort hotel on a good 5 miles wide; 112 square miles. The north- beach, completewith casino,etc. ,just out- ern half is hilly and ruggedterrain (up to 784 side the capitol, Kralendijk. Medium ft.), the southern half flat and virtually at priced. The Flamingo Beach club, in sea-level. At the extreme northern end is Kralendijk, has a good beach,21 cottages, 5000-acre Washington National Park, a and is more informal. Also in or near ruggedxeric environmentwith organ-pipe Kralendijk are the Hotel Rochaline, and cactus,various opuntia, divi-divi and thorn the Bonaire Bungalows.There are several acacias, rocky bluffs and beachesfacing restaurantsand one nightclub•E Wo Wo. the windward shore. Several sizable salt- Rental cars and beach buggiesavailable. water lakes--Goto in the north, mangrove-bordered Lac Bay in the southeast--provide feeding grounds for water birds. At the extreme southern end of the islandare the evaporative salt ponds of the Antillean International Salt Com- pany, includingthe undisturbedwaters of Pekelmeer, which supports the island's famous flamingocolony. Klein Bonaire, a small island off shore west of Bonaire, is flat and featureless except for two salt ponds. ß , ' ' 'i ?. "- A view of Goto Meer Birdwatching Although the Bonaire list ..., 's/••. ', standsat 126species, the featureattraction of the island is its thriving colony of Ameri- can Flamingos. Recent estimatesplace the populationof the Pekelmeercolony at 6000 birds; in March 1974 there were 1500-1800 downy juveniles in the colony, about two-months old. Flamingos nest in De- cember, the young are hatched in late January or early February, and fledge in early May. Flamingos may be seen and photographedfrom the perimeterhighway along the western shore,and with permis- sion of the salt company (apply at Main Office), from an adjaceutdike. Flamingos are also found in smaller numbers in Goto The green oasis of Dos Pos. Bonaire Meer, which is a sanctuary, and nearby 766 American Birds, August, 1974 Slagbaai. This Pekelmeer colony, one of Brown Pelican, frigatebird, a variety of he- the largest and most accessiblein the West rons including Reddish Egret and several Indies, has prosperedunder protectionby terns. the island government and the salt com- Bonaire has two native parrots: the pany, althoughthere is still somepredation Yellow-winged, of which a small popula- by poachers.One current mystery is where tion still survivesand is conspicuousin tree many adults of this colony spendthe night. cactus in the hilly north, and the Yellow- A local naturalist believesthat the birds fly headed Parakeet, perhaps more abundant 48 miles east to the Aves Islands, but all and more likely near habitations. Both birds (many hundreds in lines and skeins) would be "Blue-listed" in the U.S. seen returning from sea in the morning Two handsome hummers are common were coming from the west in the direction on Bonaire: the brilliant Ruby-Topaz, and of Curacao or northern Venezuela. the Caribbean Emerald, in the expected The dikes of the salt ponds and the garden habitats. shoresof other bodies of water produce in Most verdant and perhapsmost produc- season a variety of shorebirds. Black- tive landbird area is the spring-fedvalley of necked Stilt and Snowy Plover and Col- Dos Pos, on the north central road. A lared Plover are residents; other shorebirds waterhole in Washington Park is also pro- seen in March includedboth Am. Oyster- ductive. catcher, Semipalmated Plover, Black- Other typical speciesmore or lesseasily bellied Plover, turnstone, Spotted Sand- found, include: White-tailed Hawk, piper, both yellowlegs, Short-billedDow- Scaly-naped Pigeon, Bare-eyed Pigeon, itcher, Semipalmated and Western Sand- Eared Dove, White-fronted Dove, Man- pipers, and Sanderling, all still in winter grove Cuckoo, Groove-billed Ani, Cay- plumage. Other prominent waterbirds in- enne Nighthawk, Tropical Kingbird, Gray clude the Brown Booby (roostingand pos- Kingbird, Brown-crested Flycatcher, sibly nesting on the bluffs of Slagbaai, at Smooth Flycatcher, Caribbean Elaenia, the north tip), White-tailed Tropicbirds, Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Dos Pos), Black- American Flamingos in a tidal pool, Bonaire / Photos, R. Arbib. Volume 28, Number 4 767 whiskeredVireo, Bananaquit, Black-faced Grassquit.In migrationseasons a variety of North American landbirds may be ex- pected. Bonaire has been relatively un- worked,and diligent visitors might well be • able to add to the island's list. Intensive search in spring would surely add to its migrant bird list. Handbooks: Bond, James. Birds of the West Indies. Houghton Mifflin, 1971, Voous, K.H., Birds of the Netherlands Antilles, Curacao. 1955. Rooth, Jan. The Flamingos on Bonaire. RIVON, Zeist, Netherlands, 1965. Rating Spring**** Summer* Fall Winter -- Robert Arbib Yellow-wingedParrot LIGHTHOUSE WASHINGTOI NI -- CARIBBEAN SEA :_PLAYA•N'• BRANDA•IS•'• KARPATA RADIO NEDERLAND SPELONK LIGHTHOUSE PLAJ'I --HOTEL DR.JOSE GREGORIO BLANCO N =LITTLE BONAIRE :-- HERNANDEZ SHRINE ANTRIOL BONAIRE TRANS • BLAUWE •WITTE : LIGHTRDUSE 768 AmericanBirds, August, 1974 .
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