FINAL REPORT WATERBIRDS IN BELIZE Authors: Bruce W. Miller Ph.D. Carolyn M. Miller M.Sc. 2006 Belize Audubon Society – Wildlife Conservation Society Miller & Miller 1 • INTRODUCTION This assessment is part of the regional Waterbird Conservation for the Americas program supported by BirdLife. With its low human population (280,000 est. 2006), Belize is unique in Central America with comparatively less human pressure on important habitats for wetland bird species. Belize’s location, along the Caribbean sea (Fig. 1), ensures that it is important for many coastal waterbird species. In fact the name Belize is thought by some to come from a Maya word meaning “muddy waters,” perhaps referring to its extensive inland wetland systems, habitat for many waterbird species. Belize has been ahead of the conservation curve since at least 1969, with the establishment of the Belize Audubon Society Figure 1. Belize within the context of (BAS), the country’s first conservation NGO Mesoamerica that initially centered around birds with an early conservation focus on the charismatic Jabiru stork. Since then Belize has developed an international reputation as a “birding hotspot” with the growth of ecotourism, much of it birding related. Therefore, issues relating to birds and their habitats have long been of importance at a national level in terms of generating foreign exchange via tourism, conservation in the face of increased development and recreation in the form of birding. The main objective of this project was to determine the status of all waterbird species and their habitats in Belize, in keeping with the regional waterbird assessment objectives. The aim of this national waterbird assessment is not only to evaluate waterbirds within Belize, but contribute to and promote the Waterbird Conservation for the Americas initiative. The data from this assessment will be combined with other country reports in contributing to the regional waterbird assessment. The designation of the broader context of waterbird species was provided by the BirdLife program coordinator for species, Cristina Morales, based in Asociaciòn Guyra Paraguay. A Regional Symposium on waterbirds was held during the MesoAmerican Congress for Conservation and Biology (22 November 2005, La Ceiba, Honduras) where consensus was reached on items to include in the national reports as well as the waterbird species list. Species categorized as waterbirds for this project consequently did not include the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) or the kingfishers. With that in mind, of the more than 570 bird species reported for Belize, 134 waterbirds were evaluated for this report (Table 1) as follows: Miller & Miller 2 Table 1. Waterbirds reported for Belize, alphabetic order, evaluated for this study Common Name Scientific Name Agami Heron Agamia agami American Avocet Recurvirostra americana American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus American Coot Fulica americana American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos American Wigeon Anas americana Anhinga Anhinga anhinga Audubon's Shearwater Puffinus iherminieri Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii Bare-throated Tiger-heron Tigrisoma mexicanum Black Noddy Anous minutus Black Rail Laterallus jamaicensis Black Skimmer Rynchops niger Black Tern Chlidonias niger Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola Black-bellied Whistling Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis Black-crowned Night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli Black-legged Kitiwake Rissa tridactyla Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris Blue-winged Teal Anas discors Boat-billed Heron Cochlearius cochlearius Bridled Tern Sterna anaethetus Brown Booby Sula leucogaster Brown Noddy Anous stolidus Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis Buff-breasted Sandpiper Tryngites subruficollis Caspian Tern Sterna caspia Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera Clapper Rail Rallus longirostris Collared Plover Charadrius collaris Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Common Tern Sterna hirundo Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus Dunlin Calidris alpina Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri Franklin's Gull Larus pipixcan Fulvous Whistling Duck Dendrocygna bicolor Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus Gray-breasted Crake Laterallus exilis Gray-necked Wood-rail Aramides cajanea Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias Great Egret Ardea alba Great Skua Catharacta skua Miller & Miller 3 Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca Green Heron Butorides virescens Green-winged teal Anas crecca Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica Herring Gull Larus argentatus Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica Jabiru Jabiru mycteria Killdeer Charadrius vociferus Laughing Gull Larus atricilla Least Bittern Ixobrychus exilis exilis Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla Least Tern Sterna antillarum Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes Limpkin Aramus guarauna Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa Masked Booby Sula dactylatra Masked Duck Nomonyx dominicus Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus Northern Jacana Jacana spinosa Northern Pintail Anas acuta Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps Pinnated Bittern Botaurus pinnatus Piping Plover Charadrius melodus Pomerine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus Purple Gallinule Porphyrula martinica Red Knot Calidris canutus Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens colorata Red-footed Booby Sula sula Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris Roseate Spoonbill Ajaia ajaja Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii Royal Tern Sterna maxima Miller & Miller 4 Ruddy Crake Laterallus ruber Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres Rufescent Tiger-heron Tigrisoma lineatum Rufous-necked Wood-rail Aramides axillaris Sanderling Calidris alba Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis Scarlet Ibis Eudocimus ruber Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus Snow Goose Chen caerulescens Snowy Egret Egretta thula Snowy Plover Charadrius alexandrinus Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata Sora Porzana carolina Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis Spotted rail Pardirallus maculatus Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus Sungrebe Heliornis fulica Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor ruficollis Uniform Crake Amaurolimnas concolor Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus White Ibis Eudocimus albus White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus Willet Catoptrophorus semipalmatus Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata Wood Stork Mycteria americana Yellow-breasted Crake Porzana flaviventer Yellow-crowned Night-heron Nyctanassa violaceus • Background Waterbird conservation measures began more than 20 years ago with the advocacy of the country’s largest and oldest NGO, the Belize Audubon Society (BAS). Formerly known as British Honduras, the first waterbird conservation in Belize was focused at Half Moon Caye, which lies 100 km offshore from Belize City. As early as 1928, it was a “Crown Reserve” by virtue of its breeding colony of white phase Red-footed Booby (Fig. 2). This Figure 2. Red-footed Booby, Half Moon Caye, Belize (C.M. Miller photo) Miller & Miller 5 species was added to the protected wildlife list in 1950 (Hartshorn et al., 1984). BAS also initiated the Crown Reserve Bird Sanctuaries on 7 small cayes (1977) that were known as waterbird rookeries for Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Anhinga, Cormorant, Magnificent Frigate, Brown Booby (Man-o-War Caye), and Boat-billed Heron (Hilty, 1982; Hartshorn et al., 1984; Fig. 3). The BAS was in charge of these Crown Reserves at the behest of the Government of Belize (GOB) which lacked a national parks department. Without a budget, BAS used local people as unpaid wardens though these efforts were not altogether successful given remote access of some of the cayes. Hunters and fishermen killed birds from 3 of the cayes Figure 3. Boat-billed Herons, and most were disturbed (Hartshorn et al., 1984). Black Creek, Belize (C.M. Miller photo) The Jabiru Stork came to the attention of the BAS as early as its first bulletin in March 1969 where its protection was promoted by two of the founding members, W. Ford Young and Dora Weyer, who regularly flew doing nest surveys across the country (Waight and Lumb, 1999). They actively documented nest location and successes and solicited sightings from members, and publicized this species during weekly BAS radio broadcasts. In 1977, BAS documented its concern with the large scale hunting of ducks and waterbirds at the Big Falls Rice Station not far from Belize City (Waight and Lumb, 1999). In those days, hunters from Belize City conducted large scale shoots where waterbirds