Black-bellied Whistling Duck June 2014
SEVEN NEW BIRD SPECIES ON ABACO
THE BIRDS OF ABACO was published very nearly 4 years ago. At the time, the checklist of species recorded for Abaco at the back of the book, so meticulously compiled by Tony White and Woody Bracey, was definitive for as long as records have existed (in practical terms, since 1950). The final new species included in the book was a Black-browed albatross amazingly spotted in Abaco waters from the BMMRO research vessel by a keen-eyed intern the previous summer.
Brown Thrasher Nov 2014
Within 3 months of publication, the checklist had been rendered out of date. A totally new species had touched down on Abaco – a small flock of 6 black-bellied whistling ducks. They worked their way up South Abaco from down by Crossing Rocks up to MH Airport via Schooner Bay, Delphi and Bahama Palm Shores. By then, numbers were down to 2. Soon even they disappeared, heading presumably from wherever the flock had intended to go in the first place. Maybe they got tired en route. Maybe their internal Satnav suffered a collective failure. Maybe senior BBWD had had a bright idea for a shortcut…
Masked Booby January 2015
We are not talking here of rarities in global terms, but species that have never been seen before on Abaco. Or, if seen, went unremarked. Or, if remarked, without awareness of the significance! The advent of the current enthusiasm for birding in the Bahamas plus the ease with which a quick photo can be taken – on a phone for example – as evidence of a sighting and to aid a clear ID, may well increase the number of new species sightings in the future.
Pearly-Eyed Thrasher March 2015
There’s the added benefit from the ease with which photos can be taken and distributed – people will no longer have to do any of the following:
- Shoot birds and take them as samples (hello, J.J. Audubon & historical cohorts)
- Pack a sketch pad & crayons to draw birds before they fly away (or from memory)
- Rely on scribbled notes made in low light and a light drizzle
- Listen to, or read, a query about a “sort of brownish medium sized bird with maybe a bit of yellow on the wings, and a black tail I think, but I didn’t get a very good look and oh yes it had sort of beady eyes and sounded a bit like ‘Kalik Kalik Kalik’ “.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper Oct 2016
Over the 4 years, there have been a few birds that, although not ‘first evers’, are second or third ever – and the first ones with supporting photos. These include the fabulous scissor-tailed flycatcher; and the bald eagle that was sighted several times over south Abaco last year. I’ll return to these rarities another time. Let’s see the sixth new bird, from late last year.
Scaly-naped pigeon Nov 2107
To complete the set, so to speak, 2017 ended with another gorgeous duck, the cinnamon teal. You can read more about all these birds using the following links to the relevant posts.
- BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK
- BROWN THRASHER
- MASKED BOOBY
- PEARLY-EYED THRASHER
- BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
- SCALY-NAPED PIGEON
- CINNAMON TEAL
Cinnamon Teal Dec 2017
Credits: Keith Salvesen (1); Manjith Kainickara (2); Duncan Wright (3); Woody Bracey (4); Keith Kemp (5); Dick Daniels / carolinabirds.org / wiki (6, 7)
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
Enjoyed this post a lot, RH — the new birds are very exciting, the recording of them, the challenges with keeping the list updated, and your reminder of how it was done in the old days. Dazzling birds too, really great to see the masked booby, and surprising about the bald eagle, wonderful about the scissor-tailed flycatcher.
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Hi Jet, it’s been exciting as these new birds have started being reported – backed up with photos (not necessarily the best quality, but conclusive of ID). And each time, I get to research them and write it up: a bonus! RH
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It’s a tribute to all the sharp-eyed birders out there who are interested and skilled enough to identify these species new to our list on Abaco.
The most recent was a Black-legged Kittywake found and photographed on the South Abaco Christmas Bird Count by Keith Kemp on 12-20-2017.
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Hi Woody – well, you are one of them, of course. Remiss of me – I ought to add the spotters (where known) as a ‘sharp-eyed’ credit… I didn’t include Keith’s BLK: it did make the original checklist, but as a V4. There’s another post to be written for the vagrants / extreme rarities that made the checklist, and now have been sighted in the last 4 years. See you in March I hope!
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