It is not often that I sit to write an article that means so much to me and gives me the greatest of pleasure in doing so. However, I must confess that the news of a Bird Book of Saint Lucia filled me with excitement, jubilation and somewhat proud that now we had something written that would catch the eye of bird lovers everywhere in the world. It is truly a proud moment for all Saint Lucians'.
Saint Lucia after so many years of vacillation and procrastination has now produced a Bird Book called "Birds of Saint Lucia". It has now become one of our national treasures and has already been acclaimed worldwide at major book fairs in London and Holland. In years to come we will see many people coming here just to watch or get a glimpse of the birds that are here or who come here on their travels. This will enhance our Eco-Tourism market tremendously and Saint Lucia will be the better for it.
I pray and hope that one day we will be able to produce a book that depicts not only our Endemic Birds but our Iguanas, Whiptail Lizard, the wonderful Faunas, Woods and Trees that are not only endemic but may become endangered species if we are not prepared to do everything in our power to protect them. This endemic species of plant and animal life in Saint Lucia is important to our eco-system. It is not enough just to talk about the beauty of our plant and animal life but to take action to protect them when necessary, if not they will become extinct as our Saint Lucian Parrot nearly did in the late seventies.
Before continuing to outline what this Bird Book entails let me first thank the Ambassador Tom Chou of Taiwan, the Prime Minister the Hon Stephenson King who had the vision of the importance of a book of that magnitude to Saint Lucia, Mr Simon Liao and the bird man of Saint Lucia Mr. Adam Toussaint who was inspirational in giving vital information in the compiling of this book. Without his collaboration the Bird Book would not have been printed in such record time. Saint Lucia owes these people a great debt of gratitude. The people of Saint Lucia will be eternally grateful to the Ambassador Tom Chou and the Taiwanese Government for their wonderful gift which will be a treasured asset to all Saint Lucians. It is truly a wonderful and magnificent bird book of Saint Lucia.
Now to a brief history of those wonderful and magnificent animals we call Birds. There are six Endemic Birds of Saint Lucia which means that they are only found in Saint Lucia and no where else in the world. Apart from the endemic birds there are eleven endemic subspecies of those birds and 7 Lesser Antillean regional endemics. These are birds that fly across the region and no where else. It is estimated that there are around 176 different birds that come to Saint Lucia during the year. Many are migratory birds that can be seen in certain areas as they come here to get away from the severe winter weather whether it is in Europe, the United States or elsewhere. Many will be seen from the months of October to March or April. Some of those months are our summer period.
The six endemic birds of Saint Lucia are the Amazona Versicolor (the Saint Lucia Parrot) which nearly went out of extinction in the late seventies and early eighties because of individual greed. They were put on the endangered species list and anyone found catching them or selling them faced a severe fine and a jail sentence. It is estimated during that period there were only a hundred left; now they have multiplied ten fold. The difference between the male and female is that the male has iridescent red plumes on his chest compared to that of the female.
The Saint Lucia Warbler is one of the two Saint Lucia's endemic warblers. It has a bluish grey upper part and yellow throat and breast, yellow eyebrow stripe and black crescent below the eye.
The Saint Lucia PeWee - A very common bird that can be found in a wide range of forested areas. It is a small flycatcher with dark olive-brown upperparts and reddish brown under-parts.
The Saint Lucia Black Finch - The Black Finch can easily be mistaken for the lesser Antillean bullfinch. Both male and female have pink legs and they bob their tails vertically.
The Saint Lucia Oriole - This is an uncommon species. The adult is black except for the lower back rump, shoulder and lower belly which are rich orange or orange yellow.
The last is the Saint Lucian Semper's Warbler- which is very similar to the Saint Lucia Warbler. There have been no confirmed reports of the Semper Warbler since 1961.
As an environmentalist I am excited by the book and hope that my enthusiasm will be felt by all Saint Lucians as they have an opportunity to buy the book. It is time we begin to take pride in what nature and God has given us and to share it with the rest of the world. If we can do that then the benefits will be enormous. There is no doubt in my mind that this month will bring many more tourists to Saint Lucia as Bird Watching is growing all over the world. So this book is very timely. Once again our sincere thanks to the Ambassador of Taiwan, his staff - Charles, Allen, Ken, Suzanna and the government of Taiwan for making this book possible. Without their funding and insight this book may not have been possible. We are truly in their debt.
