Please, please – protect Jamaica’s native wild birds!

There is so much on my mind this week. Some obsessions never really let me go! A couple of videos on social media in the last couple of days have spurred me to write something about one of my preoccupations: birds – Jamaican and Caribbean birds in particular.

“The Wildlife Protection Act states that all native birds are protected.”

This includes all our native parrots, parakeets, owls, small birds of every kind, seabirds and shorebirds, and those that bless us with their presence for a shorter period of the year – our precious migratory birds. Oh yes – and also “John Crows” (Turkey Vultures). In fact, they were the first Jamaican species to be protected, by law, way back in 1687; read more here (and thanks again to biologist Wendy Lee for her assistance with that post from 2020…)

I know Jamaicans have had a rather edgy relationship with wild birds – especially during childhood, when little boys wielding sling shots try to shoot them down. Perhaps nowadays this practice is less common; the little boys are busy with their cell phones and tablets at home. They don’t go outside and “connect” with Nature so much (although sling shots are not the best of connections to make). Young male humans have adopted a sedentary lifestyle, which perhaps gives the birds a little break.

Biologist Damion Whyte posted two videos this week that shocked me to the core. In one, a young man was boasting that he could catch a bird “with his bare hands.” The bird in question was a juvenile Northern Potoo, a nocturnal bird, sitting quietly on a tree branch and resting. It panicked when it suddenly realised it was in danger. The young man grabbed it and probably hurt the bird. I don’t know whether it survived. Under the Act, you are not only not allowed to kill or injure native birds – you are supposed to leave them alone.

A Northern Potoo in Stewart Town Forest. (Photo: Wendy Lee)

To explain a little more about the Northern Potoo, since it is active at night it spends the day with eyes closed, completely motionless and erect, in a kind of meditative trance. Its name is often confused with the local name for an owl (Patoo) but it is a completely different species. The bird only lays one egg.

Well, it’s the age of social media. People will do anything for the “likes.”

The second video was even more horrifying. It appeared to show a man proudly displaying a dead Grey Kingbird on a string. The Grey Kingbird, whose local name is Petchary – my “namesake” and the name of this blog! – is a migratory bird that is with us in the summer months and often breeds here.

The tragedy is that these hunters “gum” the branches in areas frequented by the Petcharies (and likely other birds, too). The birds alight on the branches and are stuck there, struggling and in agony, until they die or are collected by the humans. This is not “game” or sport; it is totally illegal, and the Petchary, which flies from the South American mainland to the Caribbean to breed, is a protected bird. Unfortunately, it seems that some Jamaicans associated with the shooting season (which is on now) are “piggy-backing” on the hunting and consider it a “free for all.” In fact, only four species of doves are allowed to be shot during the season, and in limited numbers.

The elegant Grey Kingbird. (Photo: Wendy Lee)

As I write, in the past few days I have seen the migratory species arriving in our yard: first the American Redstart (who arrived last Wednesday) and then the Prairie Warbler (who made his appearance just today) – making themselves at home in exactly the same spot that we had them last year, a very overgrown “privet” hedge that we call “The Warbler Hotel.” They will stick around until March or April, 2024, then pop back up to Texas or Louisiana to breed.

But I digress. Let me repeat: all native birds are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. End of story. Domesticated birds like chickens are not (well, we do eat quite a lot of those!)

We have a shooting season, which opened this year on August 19 and will end on September 24. It’s a neocolonial throwback to the days when the English upper classes went shooting birds (which they still enjoy back home, with the Royal Family among the most enthusiastic hunters). Just as in England, our privileged ones employ some lower class people to do the hard work of picking up birds, etc., while they have fun with their guns.

The season is quite strictly regulated by the National Environment & Planning Agency (NEPA). The government agency reports it has already cited at least three hunters for disobeying the rules — including shooting outside the prescribed times of day and for shooting near a residential area. Residents of country areas where shooting takes place are jolted out of their sleep early in the morning on weekends, with lead pellets raining down on their roofs. It is certainly not a good idea to have lead raining into your water collection systems, either. Also, happy-go-lucky hunters, who enter their communities in their SUVs and pickup trucks, quite often trespass on others’ property. They feel entitled, it seems. If these gun-toting Jamaicans are disturbing your peace, frightening your children and animals, and tramping through your property, you should call the local police or report them to NEPA. They are breaking the law!

I always like this quote from American ornithologist and naturalist Roger Tory Peterson. It resonates even more, these days; sad to say, our birds are in trouble. Let’s protect them.