Cayman Cicadas

Each island has its own endemic Cicada species –

Grand Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta cleavesi

Little Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta caymanensis

Cayman Brac Cicada – Diceroprocta ovata

Order: Hemiptera, Family: CICADIDAE

The species are morphologically very similar, differing principally in their colouration, and they are allied to D. biconia from Cuba.

Grand Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta cleavesi

Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Aug. 13, 2005

Cicadas are locally called ‘crickets’ . The male Cicadas’ ‘song’ is a high-pitched buzzing sound. Female Cicadas lay their eggs in the bark of a twig. When the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground. They burrow with their front legs, which are enlarged for tunneling, and they live underground, feeding on roots. When they are ready for their fifth and final molt, they dig their way out to the surface and climb a short distance on to a plant to which they anchors themselves.  The winged adults emerge in July and August, leaving the empty nymph case attached to the plant.

Adult Cicada, just emerged from its nymph exoskeleton.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Aug. 5, 2002.

Cicadas collected during the Cayman Islands by the Oxford University Biological Expedition of 1938

Davis, William T. 1939  Journal of the New York Entomological Society, vol. 47, no. 3, pages 207-213

Cayman Brac Cicada – Diceroprocta ovata

Photo: Wallace Platts, Cayman Brac, May 1, 2011.

Cicadas (of Florida) :

Life Cycle

All cicada nymphs live in underground burrows, where they feed on xylem sap from roots of grasses, forbs, or woody plants. Xylem sap is low in nutrients, which helps account for the minimum duration of nymphal development being several years. All cicadas molt four times underground. When the last nymphal instar is ready to molt, it makes its way to the surface, climbs a short distance up a tree trunk or herb stem, anchors itself with its tarsal claws, molts for the fifth time, and becomes an adult. Its nymphal shell remains as evidence of its transition from a confined life underground to aerial freedom. Adult cicadas are strong fliers and visually alert. Most species spend their lives in trees, where males call, males and females mate, and females lay their eggs by inserting them into the woody tissue of small branches. Some cicadas feed on and lay eggs primarily in grasses and forbs. Adults regularly feed on xylem sap both by day and at night, but are short-lived, seldom living more than a few weeks.

Three empty Grand Cayman Cicada nymph exoskeletons on Wild White Beach Lily leaves (Hymenocallis latifolia) on the beach at Barkers National Park, West Bay, Aug. 7, 2011.

Cicada from Grand Cayman, Staten Island Museum

Type specimen – Diceroprocta cleavesi.

Caribbean Cicada Killer Wasp / Mangrove Giant – Sphecius hogardii

Family: CRABRONIDAE

Caribbean and Florida

Caribbean Cicada Killer Wasp / Mangrove Giant – Sphecius hogardii

Oxford University Cayman Islands Biological Expedition 1938 collected on Aug. 5, 1938 (5.VIII.1938) but was not identified at that time. This specimen is in the National Trust for the Cayman Islands Insectarium, collected in 1985.
Photo: Ann Stafford,  June 26, 2012.

Cicada Killer Wasp – Sphecius hogardii   Photo: Simon Barwick, Grand Cayman, June 15, 2012.

Unraveling a Wasp Mystery

National Trust for the Cayman Islands Newsletter, December, 2012

1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands

1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands – pictures

Improved Key to New World Species of Sphecius

(Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)  C.W. Holliday and Coelho

Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 99(5): 793-798 (2006)

Prof. Chuck Holliday is now retired and has shut down his Cicada Killer Wasp website

10 Facts about Cicada Killer Wasps

Yes, these wasps kill cicadas¹. it works like this:

• 1. The adult female wasp will paralyze the cicada with her venomous sting.
  2. The wasp will carry the cicada to a burrow, where it will place the cicada.
  3. The wasp will lay an egg under the left or right second leg of the cicada.
  4. The egg hatches, and the larvae begins to eat the cicada, while taking care to keep it alive.
  5. Once the larvae has had its fill, it spins a cocoon, in which it will change into an adult wasp.
• Female wasps are able to predetermine the sex of their larvae.¹ They must do this because it takes more females to create new generations of wasps, than it does males.
• Cicada Killer Wasps belong to the family Crabronidae Latreille, 1802; the tribe Bembicini Latreille, 1802 and the genus Sphecius Dahlbom, 1843 ². Crabronidae comes from the Latin word for hornet, Bembicini comes from the Greek word for buzzing insect, and Sphecius is from the Greek word for wasp.
• Not all Sphecius wasps in the world kill cicadas, but all Sphecius in the New World (the Americas) do ³.
• If you haven’t seen a Cicada Killer Wasp, they are large black and pale yellow wasps, and are often found carrying a cicada (see image on this page).
• Cicada Killer Wasps are often confused with European Wasps (Vespa crabro). European Wasps are a more vibrant yellow color, and feature more yellow than back. They also belong to an entirely different family of wasp: Vespidae.
• There are five species of Cicada Killer Wasps in the Americas……

S. hogardii, the Caribbean cicada killer, is found in Florida, and the Caribbean nations.

 

1975 Royal Society – CI Gov. Little Cayman Expedition

Joint Royal Society and Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in 1975, when the island was little known scientifically.

Team of scientists:
D.R. Stoddart (Cambridge): geomorphology, leader
R.R. Askew (Manchester): entomology
A.W. Diamond (Nairobi): orthnithology
M.E.C. Giglioli (George Town): marine studies and liaison
M.V. Hounsome (Manchester) land fauna other than insects
G.W. Potts (Plymouth: marine ecology
G.R. Proctor (Kingston): botany
C. Woodruffe (Cambridge): Mangroves (part-time)

2015 is the 40th. Anniversary of the 1975 Little Cayman Expedition (July and August).

Atoll Research Bulletin
241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman
Edited by D.R. Stoddart and M.E.C. Giglioli
Issued by The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. U.S.A.
March, 1980

241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman

Caribbean Sea

Little Cayman is the smallest of the three Cayman Islands, emergent sections of the Cayman Ridge along the northern margin of the Cayman Trench between the Sierra Maestra of Cuba and the coast of Belize. The Trench itself is 1700 km long, and has maximum depths south of the Cayman Islands of more than 6000 m. Little Cayman lies 230 km from Cabo Cruz, Cuba; the same distance from the nearest point of Jamaica; and 740 km from the mainland of Yucatan. The Caymans themselves are well separated from each other: Little Cayman is 117 km ENE from Grand Cayman, though only 7.5 km from Cayman Brac.

Cayman Islands

Little Cayman’s permanent population consisted of 18 people in 1975.

Little Cayman and Cayman Brac –                       the Sister Islands
(Acorn Publishing Co Ltd 2013)

David R. Stoddart (Cambridge): geomorphology, leader

David R. Stoddart

Little Cayman Atoll Research Bulletin No.241 1980

Atoll Research Bulletin March 1980. No. 241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman.
Edited by D.R. Stoddart and M.E.C. Giglioli
Issued by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

Little Cayman Scientific Survey 1980

Marco E.C. Giglioli (George Town): marine studies and liaison

Marco Giglioli

The Mosquito Research & Control Unit (MRCU) was established in 1965 when Marco Giglioli arrived from London with instructions ‘to establish a laboratory and conduct research with a view to advising the Cayman Government on suitable methods of control.’

Mosquito Research and Control Unit
Mosquito Research and Control Unit

G.W. Potts (Plymouth: marine ecology

Little Cayman Littoral Fishes

George R. Proctor (Kingston): botany

George R. Proctor

Little Cayman Plants Proctor 1980

Michael V. Hounsome (Manchester) land fauna other than birds and insects

THE TERRESTRIAL FAUNA (EXCLUDING BIRDS AND INSECTS) OF LITTLE CAYMAN

Little Cayman Terrestrial Fauna Hounsome

Richard R. Askew (Manchester): entomology

R. R. Askew

Little Cayman Insect fauna

Little Cayman is seldom mentioned in entomological literature. The 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition spent thirteen days on the island and reports on the resulting collection deal with Odonata (Fraser, 1943), water-bugs (Hungerford, 1940), Nemoptera (Banks, 1941), cicadas (Davis, 1939), Carabidae (Darlington, 1947), Cerambycidae (Fisher, 1941, 1948), butterflies (Carpenter and Lewis, 1943) and Sphingidae (Jordan, 1940). During the 1975 expedition, insects of all orders were studied, over a period of about five weeks, and many additions will eventually be made to the island’s species list. At present, however, identification of the insects collected has, with the exception of the butterflies which have been considered separately, proceeded in the majority of cases as far as the family level. Application of the family names for the most part follows Borror and DeLong (1966). In this paper the general characteristics of the insect fauna are described.

Anthony W. Diamond (Nairobi): orthnithology

A. W. Diamond

Little Cayman Birds

Ecology and species turnover of the birds of Little Cayman

1980a Atoll Research bulletin 241: 141- 164

The Red-footed Booby colony on Little Cayman; size, structure and significance

1980b Atoll Research bulletin 241: 165 -170

 

Colin Woodruffe (Cambridge): Mangroves

Colin Woodroffe

BE OF GOOD CHEER MY WEARY READERS, FOR I HAVE ESPIED LAND
By David R. Stoddart
Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.

Be of Good Cheer…..by David Stoddart

Cayman Islands Natural History  and Biogeography

The Rarest Snail in the World

by Pat Shipman

extract:

….That’s how we learned about Cerion nanus, the rarest snail in the world. That’s a big claim for a little snail only about a centimeter long. Cerion is a common genus of air-breathing land snails in the West Indies and the Florida Keys. Different species within the genus either have no common name or are lumped together as “peanut snails” for their general shape. The most common species on Little Cayman, Cerion pannosum, is everywhere: on grasses, bushes and trees, and lying dead on the beach. The second species on Little Cayman, C. nanus, is a most uncommon snail. When we read about C. nanus in Mike Hounsome’s chapter on terrestrial invertebrates in The Cayman Islands, we were hooked. As a young man, Mike had participated in the joint Royal Society and Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in 1975, when the island was little known scientifically.

…Not only did Maynard conclude that Cerion nanus existed in a single, small population, he also found it almost exclusively on one plant species now known as Evolvulus squamosus. Also called the rockyplains dwarf morning glory, the species is patchily distributed on Little Cayman but also lives on many other Caribbean islands and in Florida. Maynard pronounced C. nanus “dwarfed to an extreme degree, from feeding on the pungent leaves of the plant described.” At only about half the length of C. pannosum, C. nanus seemed to compete with the larger, more ubiquitous snail.

Crab Bush – Evolvulus squamosus

Crab Bush – Evolvulus squamosus, Family: CONVOLVULACEAE, Endangered.
A knee-high, brushy shrub with minute leaves and white flowers. Little Cayman and the Bahamas.
It is the sole host of the diminutive land-snail, Cerion nanus, Critically Endangered Little Cayman endemic.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman (introduced from Little Cayman), June 9, 2002.
Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, 2012 p.541, Pl.51.
9. Cerion nanus (Maynard) (Mollusca: CERIONIDAE) on Little Cayman

by M.V. Hounsome and R.R. Askew
http://www.doe.ky/terrestrial/animals/snails/

Butterflies of the Cayman Islands 2008 by R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford

Butterflies of the Cayman Islands R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford

Butterflies of the Cayman Islands book
R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford
published by Apollo Books Nov. 2008, available locally at
National Trust for the Cayman Islands, Dart Family Park, South Church St, Grand Cayman – US$30.00 or CI$24.00,
and local book stores.
http://www.brill.com/butterflies-cayman-islands

This book will enable the identification of each of the 57 species of butterfly that has been recorded from the Cayman Islands. There is a description of every butterfly, stressing its most important characteristics, with photographs of living and mounted specimens. The distribution, history and biology of each species are reviewed and the plants which provide adult butterflies with nectar or feed their caterpillars are tabulated. A general introduction includes a discussion of the affinities and size of the Caymanian butterfly fauna. The three islands share most of their butterfly species but each island has uniquely characteristic elements and five subspecies live only in the Cayman Islands. Knowledge is fundamental to conservation; it is hoped that both the casual butterfly watcher and those more committed to the study of butterflies will discover much of interest in this book and thereby make a contribution to the continuing survival of these beautiful insects.

CaymANNature Butterflies, Moths and their Plants

FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor, 2nd. Edition 2012,
published by Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW, was launched on Oct. 22, 2012.
The book is available for purchase, price CI$30, at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and local bookstores.
The Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac) support 415 native taxa
in a land area little over 100 square miles, 29 of which are uniquely Caymanian.
Accessible and informative, this field guide satisfies the needs of the professional botanist,
while providing the non-expert and eco-tourist with an attractive introduction to the unique endemic flora of the Cayman Islands.
724 pages | 400 color plates, 250 line drawings | 6 x 9 1/5 | © 2012

Grand Cayman Nature Tours

Flora Gallery:

CaymANNature Flora

CaymANNature Flora_2

CaymANNature Herbarium

A Photographic Guide to the BIRDS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS
by Patricia E. Bradley and Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet 2013

Mangrove Skipper – Phocides pigmalion,
R.R. Askew, Little Cayman, Jan. 23, 2008

Mangrove Skipper – Phocides pigmalion batabano, Family: HESPERIIDAE nectaring on Sea Lavender – Argusia gnaphalodes Family: BORAGINACEAE.  This Mangrove Skipper subspecies is known from Andros in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Isle of Pines and Little Cayman. It has not been recorded on Grand Cayman or Cayman Brac. Photo: R.R. Askew, Little Cayman, Jan. 23, 2008. Butterflies of the Cayman Islands book, 2008 , by R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, p.115.

LOOK, DON’T TOUCH!

LOOK, DON’T TOUCH!

BEWARE of these PLANTS

in the Cayman Islands,

on trails, in woodlands, open areas and roadsides.

Maiden Plum – Comocladia dentata,

Bahama Nightshade – Solanum bahamense,

Manchineel – Hippomane mancinella,

Lady Hair – Malpighia cubensis,

Poison Wood, Poison Tree – Metopium toxiferum.

LOOK,DON’T TOUCH!

Shake Hand Tree – Xylosma bahamense,

Shake Hand Tree – Zanthoxylum coriaceum,

Cow Itch – Mucuna pruriens,

Vine Pear Cactus – Selenicereus grandiflorus,

Licorice, John Crow Bead, Rosary Pea, Crab’s Eyes –

Abrus precatorius,

Wire Wiss – Smilax havanensis,

Itching Vine – Tragia volubilis,

Cockspur, Gray Nickel, Nickers (the seeds) – Caesalpinia bonduc

LOOK, don’t touch Sep20-06 text

Birds of the Cayman Islands

A Photographic Guide to the BIRDS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS

by Patricia E. Bradley and Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet, 2013

288 pages

A Photographic Guide to the BIRDS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS
by Patricia E. Bradley and Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet 2013

With a rich avifauna of more than 300 species, the three islands that make up the Cayman Islands – Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac – form an increasingly popular birding destination. Although the islands’ sole endemic species, Cayman Islands Thrush, was extinct by the 1940s, the islands have a healthy crop of regional scarcities, as well as breeding visitors from South America and wintering birds from North America. They are also an important stopping point for migrants as they cross the Caribbean.

Birds of the Cayman Islands book launch:
Carla Reid, Chairman of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, photographer Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet and author Patricia E. Bradley, Pappagallo Ristorante. Photo: Alexandra Guenther-Calhoun

This comprehensive photographic guide provides full coverage of every species on the Cayman Islands list. The images have been carefully selected to show key features, while the concise text is designed to aid field identification; in addition to a detailed species description, there is information on similar species, voice, habitat and behaviour, world range, and status in the Cayman Islands.

Patricia E. Bradley, author of A Photographic Guide to the Birds of the Cayman Islands, Trevor Baxter and Ann Stafford at the book launch on March 7, 2013.

Packed with the superlative photography of Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet,  A Photographic Guide to the Birds of the Cayman Islands, the latest addition to Helm’s Photographic Guides series, is an essential companion for anyone visiting these beautiful islands.

Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet, photographer of new book – A Photographic Guide to the BIRDS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS, and Ann Stafford at the book launch.

Grand Cayman NATURE TOURS

Broadleaf (Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis) and Spanish Elm (Cordia gerascanthus), Family: BORAGINACEAE
PIX – Ann Stafford, Sept. 2005

For more information, pictures and to book a tour, visit

Cayman Nature Tours

CaymANNature Guided Nature Tours

The Cayman Islands were discovered by Columbus over 500 years ago.  Permanent settlement came later. Indigenous plants were used for shelter, food, clothing, healing, everyday utility, boatbuilding, livelihood and export. They are part of the history, culture and identity of the Cayman Islands and what makes them unique. We don’t have large wild animals, but we do have an interesting diversity of wildlife, for which plants provide food and shelter.

Spanish Elm – Cordia gerascanthus, Family: BORAGINACEAE.
Endangered, grows on all three Cayman Islands, Greater Antilles, Mexico, Central America and Columbia.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Mar.19, 2005

Spanish Elm – Cordia gerascanthus, Family: BORAGINACEAE, is an Endangered tree that grows in dry, rocky woodlands on Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. The wood was used for making Catboat mast, gaff and boom and in general construction. The tree has showy white flowers early in the year. They soon turn brown and act as little parachutes to help seed dispersal. Range: Greater Antilles, Mexico, Central America and Columbia.

Julia butterflies – Dryas iulia zoe, Family: HELICONIIDAE, Cayman Islands endemic subspecies.
Photo: Ann Stafford. Jan. 30, 2013.

Native plants and animals are interdependent, and are part of intricate food webs. There’s a fascinating world of little-known plants and the creatures which are dependent on them – birds, bats, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and amphibians, hickatees, crabs and so on.

3 Julias nectaring on Roundleaf Sage/Bitter Sage – Lantana involucrata, Family: VERBENACEAE.

Half day or Full day tours with Ann Stafford

Click here for more information:

Grand Cayman Nature Tours

Half day Private Island Overview

or

Full Day Private Up-Close with more time to explore on foot

Sound Sailing – Stingray City Private Tours

Stingray City Private Charters
Half day or Full day
in Outrage 270 – 27 ft Boston Whaler or Scotch Bonnet 22 ft sail boat – J-22

Stingray City Sandbar Outrage Eco-Tours

Scotch Bonnet J-22 Sailboat Tours

with John Michael Stafford

Stingray City Sandbar Eco-Tours

Visit Sound Sailing on Facebook:

Sound Sailing

For more information visit:

Stingray City Tours

World Wetlands Day Feb. 2, 2013

What is World Wetlands Day?

February 2 each year is World Wetlands Day. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1997, the Ramsar Secretariat has provided materials so that government agencies, non-governmental organizations, conservation organizations, and groups of citizens can help raise public awareness about the importance and value of wetlands.

Midlands Acres

Black-necked Stilts, Midland Acres wetland, Grand Cayman. The pond, surrounded by Red, Black and White Mangroves, green Buttonwood and Bulrush/Cat-tail – Typha domingensis is a habitat for resident as well as migratory and Winter Visitor birds. Photo: Ann Stafford, Jan.30, 2013

Mangrove Buckeye – Junonia evarete, Family: NYMPHALIDAE, nectaring on White Mangrove – Laguncularia racemosa. Photo: Ann Stafford, Aug.10, 2008

Mangrove Buckeye – Junonia evarete, Family: NYMPHALIDAE, its only larval food plant is Black Mangrove – Avicennia germinans, Family: AVICENNIACEAE.

Meagre Bay Pond

Meagre Bay Pond, east of Bodden Town, Grand Cayman, is a protected area designated as an Animal Sanctuary. This large saline lagoon is part of the larger Central Mangrove Wetlands, which have been proposed as a Ramsar site. It is a favorite spot to watch resident and migratory birds, ducks, waders, shorebirds, Osprey and Merlin.

Meagre Bay Pond sign, Bodden Town Guard House Park. This saline lagoon is a favorite spot to watch resident and migratory birds.

Meagre Bay Pond, east of Bodden Town, is a protected area, designated as an Animal Sanctuary. It is part of the larger Central Mangrove Wetlands. Grand Cayman, Nov.6, 2011

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Rare winter visitor to the Cayman Islands

Range: Texas to Argentina

A striking and distinctive-looking duck of the Neotropics, with a red bill and long pink legs.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck, North Sound Estates, Grand Cayman. Photo: Katie Moore Jan.18, 2013

A Black-bellied Whistling Duck – Dendrocygna autumnalis joins West Indian Whistling Ducks, Whistlers – Dendrocygna arborea, the only duck to breed in the Cayman Islands, where it is a protected species, listed as Endangered, range: Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles as far south as Antiqua and Barbuda and Martinique.

West Indian Whistling Ducks and rare winter visitor, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, feeding by the canal at North Sound Estates. Photo: Katie Moore Jan.18, 2013

West Indian Whistling Ducks and rare winter visitor, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, feeding by the canal at North Sound Estates. Photo: Katie Moore Jan.18, 2013

A flock of about 25 Whistlers regularly show up to be fed at North Sound Estates, Grand Cayman. These protected ducks are well-loved in Cayman and people feed them at different locations, so their numbers are increasing.

Photos: Katie Moore, Jan.18, 2013.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck, North Sound Estates, Grand Cayman. Photo: Katie Moore Jan.18, 2013

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birds – Identification, Life History and Sound

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Endangered Whistling Ducks and invasive Green Iguanas

Invasive Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) at Bel Air Park, South Sound Jan.21, 2013

Green Iguanas at Bel Air Park, South Sound, Grand Cayman, Jan.21, 2013

Green Iguanas and West Indian Whistling Ducks

Video:  Grand Cayman, Jan.21, 2013:

Endangered West Indian Whistling Ducks, Whistlers – Dendrocygna arborea and highly INVASIVE herbivorous, arboreal Green Iguanas – Iguana iguana, native to Central America at Bel Air Park, South Sound, Grand Cayman.

The dried fronds of the Coconut palm trees are very slippery.

Whistling Ducks, domestic ducks, moorhens, Cayman’s ubiquitous chickens, Hickatees (Taco River Slider – Trachemys decussata angusta, a fresh water turtle) and Green Iguanas congregate at the pond. Tricolored Herons are on the trees at the far edge of the pond. Other herons and egrets are sometimes seen here too.

Bel Air pond, West Indian Whistling Ducks, Moorhens and Hickatee (by Mangrove roots), South Sound. Photo: Ann Stafford, July 1, 2008

The Green Iguana should not be confused with Grand Cayman’s Endangered endemic Blue Iguana – Cyclura lewisi.

The West Indian Whistling Duck is the only duck to breed in the Cayman Islands and is a protected species, listed as Endangered. People feed them at various locations and they have become well-loved and very tame. Their population is increasing. At South Sound, for example, they will be heard, even if not seen, whistling on the wing, after sunset.

West Indian Whistling ducks – parents and their 10 ducklings, Cayman Crossing, South Sound, July 10, 2011

Whistler on the Roof

West Indian Whistling ducks on the roof, Lakes at South Sound, Grand Cayman. Photo: Ann Stafford, July 30, 2010

West Indian Whistling ducks on the roof, Lakes at South Sound. Photo: Gaby Tyson, Oct.3, 2011.

Conserving wetlands and their birdlife throughout the West Indies.

West Indian Whistling Ducks Conservation Project

Restricted to the northern West Indies, the West Indian Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna arborea) is among the rarest ducks in the Americas.

“The combined effects of habitat loss, overhunting, and predation by introduced rats and mongoose have wiped out the species from some islands and reduced its numbers drastically on others. Breeding populations are now known to exist on only a few islands, including several of the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Antigua-Barbuda.

The West Indian Whistling-Duck (WIWD) and Wetlands Conservation Project seeks to reverse the decline of the globally threatened WIWD and the continuing loss of wetlands throughout the Caribbean. Initiated in 1997, the program provides local teachers and educators with training and educational materials and works to raise public awareness and appreciation for the value of local wetlands.”

Shaving Brush tree in the morning

Shaving Brush tree – Pseudobombax ellipticum, a photo by Ann Stafford on Flickr.

Shaving Brush tree – Pseudobombax ellipticum, Family: MALVACEAE, native to southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.  The showy flowers open at night and drop off the following morning. They attract moths at night and bees and sometimes Parrots in the morning.  It is planted as an ornamental in Cayman. Photo: Ann Stafford, Jan. 20, 2013