Audubon seeks to improve public attitude toward wildlife
Belize may be world famous for its wildlife but apparently not all Belizeans are in tune with the programme. That’s the word from the Audubon Society, which is launching a campaign to make Belizeans more aware of the value of the nation’s spectacular animal population–particularly our birds.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
We are not sure how one family’s dog managed to catch one of Belize’s fastest flying birds, but that’s exactly what happened to this Green Kingfisher when it took a detour from the shore line and landed in the Caribbean Shores area of Belize City. Luckily, the bird was not injured and two hours after being rescued by the homeowner, it was handed over to the Belize Audubon Society.
But not all birds survive to fly another day … like this rare bird, the Herring Gull, one of the biggest seagulls that annually migrate to Belize. The bird was reportedly walking along the shore line in Port Loyola when it came under attack by a group of children who stoned it to death.
Dirk Francisco, Publicity Dir., B.A.S.
“They don’t only stone them, but they are throwing fishing line with bait for the birds to grab them and then they just hook the birds just for the fun of it and then leave the birds there injured.”
A concerned citizen alerted B.A.S. about the incident. According to Audubon’s Publicity Director, Dirk Francisco, when they arrived at the location they could not believe what was done to the bird.
Dirk Francisco
“This big bird, extremely injured, the wings were broken, the legs were broken, and it was simply because some kids stoned the birds while it was wading on the coastline of Belize. Wading simply means walking in the flats, the shoreline looking for small clams or little marine insects for feeding. … To see these birds you could just walk the Fort area or just the shoreline of Belize City and you can see these birds flying.”
B.A.S. also made another important discovery when the bird was inspected.
Dirk Francisco
“We went into the area to pick up the bird and try to educate the kids on the importance of birds and we noticed that this bird also was stabbed and it had a band around it. It simply means that some other organization, it was from the U.S., banded the bird to see how far they would migrate when its winter in the U.S. So what we would normally do with the band is take it off the leg of the bird and then send it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is based in Washington.”
The incident has prompted B.A.S. to embark on an intensive educational campaign to raise awareness so the public can learn to appreciate and respect wildlife. .
Dirk Francisco
“Again, with education comes appreciation so the more we educate the people, the more they will appreciate the birds. There aren’t much people hurting birds, I must say, because it’s just some off and on phone calls that we get of injured birds. But there are times when birds would just fall out of the skies because they are tired, because they are flying from a far off place or there are times when a bird would run into a glass wall or something and get injured.”
According to B.A.S., there are just over six hundred different species of birds in Belize.
Dirk Francisco
“Belize is now being looked at by the world as an area that is important for birds. We have some birds that are different from other parts of the world. We would say they are endemic species, not endemic to Belize, but endemic to the Yucatan area. Endemic simply means that they can only be found in this part of the world.”
Francisco says birds not only help to create an ecological balance in Belize, but contribute to the country’s financial development.
Dirk Francisco
“They even bring in foreign exchange for Belize because the North American tourists that come to Belize, most of them have an interest in birding and again it’s an activity where Belizeans could get into, learn birds and making a living out of it.”
“Birds eat some of the insects that we don’t like around, like the mosquitoes, the houseflies. There are different birds that eat different things and there are even birds that eat snakes. So Birds are not only beautiful, but they have a very ecological importance to Belize.”
In most cases, B.A.S. does what it can to rehabilitate injured birds. As for the Green Kingfisher? After receiving a clean bill of health, it was released.
Dirk Francisco
“That little bird is a fast flyer, that’s why I was shocked–well the guy said it was his dog that brought the bird to him, so probably the dog jumped and caught the bird, because the bird surprisingly was not injured. We just looked at it and checked it out and nothing was wrong with it, so we just released the bird.”
“We try to promote appreciation of wildlife in Belize and it’s good that every now and then we do get Belizeans who would ask, “Hey I saw this beautiful yellow bird in my back yard, what is it?” And we try to educate them about it.”
As part of B.A.S. educational campaign on Sunday they are inviting the public on a free bird tour in Belize City. If you are interested in seeing and learning about the different species of birds that call the old capital home, you are asked to be at the offices of Belize Audubon Society on Fort Street at six in the morning.
