st.thomas - St. John Tradewinds News

By Jaime Elliott
St. John Tradewinds
Each year as the holidays approach, birders
across St. John get out their binoculars
and clip boards and count their feathered
friends.
It’s that time of year again — the V.I.
Audubon Society is hosting the 31st annual
Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December
20, and the group needs additional counters.
“Our numbers dwindled from 40 bird
counters in years past to about 10 counters
last year,” said Laurel Brannick-Bigrig, V.I.
Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count
coordinator. “We usually host the count between
Christmas and New Year’s, but a lot
of people seem to be away that time of year,
so we moved the date up to before Christmas
this year.”
Bird count participants go out in groups
of two to record each bird they spot in the
sky, and one needn’t be an ornithologist to
take part, Brannick-Bigrig added.
“You don’t really have to know birds because
we can pair you with a really good
birder,” said the Christmas Bird Count coordinator.
“One person has the binoculars
and calls out the birds they see and the other
person has the clipboard and records it.”
Even the V.I. Audubon’s president-elect
counts herself among those less than perfect
when classifying the different avian species.
“Although birds aren’t easy to identify,
it’s a lot of fun taking part in the Christmas
Bird Count,” said Elaine Estern, who
is taking the reigns from Brannick-Bigrig
as president of the group. “I take my grand
kids with me every year. If the weather is
gorgeous, it’s even more fun.”
If enjoying a beautiful Caribbean morning
isn’t enough enticement to join the annual
bird count, participants are also helping
the longest-running bird data collection
on St. John, explained Brannick-Bigrig.
“The information we gather is really important,”
Brannick-Bigrig said. “It’s the longest
term data for birds on St. John. A lot of
other organizations use this data.”
One group which relies on the V.I. Audubon
Society’s information is the U.S. Forest
Service, which is compiling information
St. John Tradewinds News Photo File
Birders might spot a humming bird like the one above during the island’s
annual Christmas Bird Count.
on animal species throughout the Virgin Islands.
In conjunction with the International
Institute of Tropical Forestry, the USFS
is creating a gap analysis for the territory
which requires exactly the type of long-term
data that the bird count offers.
Gap analysis is a scientific means of assessing
to what extent native animal and
plant species are being protected, with a
goal of keeping common species common,
according to the National Biological Information
Infrastructure website.
“Gap analysis works by identifying those
species and plant communities which are
not adequately represented on existing con-
St. John Tradewinds, December 15-21, 2008 7
“the information we
gather is really important.
it’s the longest term data
for birds on st. John. a lot
of other organizations use
this data.
– Laurel Brannick-Bigrig,
bird count coordinator,
V.I. Audubon Society
servation lands,” according to gapanalysis.
nbii.gov. “Common species are those not
threatened with extinction. By identifying
their habitats, gap analysis gives land
managers, planners, scientists, and policy
makers the information they need to make
better-informed decisions when identifying
priority areas for conservation.”
Although the Christmas Bird Count volunteers
aren’t scientists, their information is
relevant because it shows bird population
trends over a long stretch of time, Brannick-
Bigrig added.
Novice birders can brush up on their identifying
skills by joining Brannick-Bigrig at
7:30 a.m. on Sundays for a guided bird walk
around the Francis Bay salt pond.
Anyone interested in joining this year’s
bird count should attend the V.I. Audubon
Society’s holiday meeting at Estern’s Coconut
Coast Studio on Tuesday, December
16, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., where a slide show
of local birds will be shown. For more information
or to sign up for the count, call
Brannick-Bigrig at 776-6201, ext. 257.