Half Moon Caye, Belize
Shared accommodations! Most of the world’s seabirds are colonial nesters. Many of the gulls, terns, albatrosses, shearwaters, auks and puffins come together, by species, in great aggregations to breed. Most select isolated islets or remote islands; they must remain safely away from the maraudings of terrestrial mammals, which so often are associated with mainland habitats. For centuries, mankind has also sought these same islands for habitation and retreat, usually at the expense of the seabirds. If the colonial nest sites are not physically destroyed, man’s pesky small mammals are often introduced and become deadly to the birds.
Today we visited a seabird colony…one that has been saved from man’s interference…and came to appreciate the intricacies of shared accommodations between two spectacular seabirds. Belize’s Half Moon Caye has been recognized as a critical habitat for nesting magnificent frigatebirds and red-footed boobies. It is permanently protected as a National Park. And we were the beneficiaries. Perhaps 500 or more pairs of each of these birds gather in a dense, treed section of the caye, many nesting within bill-reach of each other. Both species fashion flimsy nests of sticks high in a ziricote, gumbo limbo or mangrove tree, the frigatebirds often stealing their sticks from the in-coming boobies. Frigatebirds feed in a similar thieving way, kleptoparasitising other seabirds (especially boobies, gulls, terns and pelicans) by chasing them in a dogfight fashion until the victim releases the hard-earned fish that it is carrying. Like the boobies, though, frigatebirds are also adept at obtaining their own food, by snatching a flying fish out of the air or snapping a squid or a schooling fish from just under the surface. Although fully adapted to a marine lifestyle, frigatebirds do not land on the water.
In this idyllic setting there is an uneasy truce between the frigatebirds and boobies. They tolerate each others’ close presence, but only most of the time. Squabbles do break out, and when a long, hooked frigatebird bill entangles with a dart-like booby bill, a precariously perched egg or downy chick can be the victim. The booby chick pictured here is perhaps a safe distance from the nearest frigatebird. But even though it never lacks in wonder, nature can be cruel.
We snorkeled again today, in two diverse sections of this country’s extensive barrier reef system. Surface winds played tricks on us, but the water was warm and we saw enough to know that we want to explore more of the mysterious underwater world.
Shared accommodations! Most of the world’s seabirds are colonial nesters. Many of the gulls, terns, albatrosses, shearwaters, auks and puffins come together, by species, in great aggregations to breed. Most select isolated islets or remote islands; they must remain safely away from the maraudings of terrestrial mammals, which so often are associated with mainland habitats. For centuries, mankind has also sought these same islands for habitation and retreat, usually at the expense of the seabirds. If the colonial nest sites are not physically destroyed, man’s pesky small mammals are often introduced and become deadly to the birds.
Today we visited a seabird colony…one that has been saved from man’s interference…and came to appreciate the intricacies of shared accommodations between two spectacular seabirds. Belize’s Half Moon Caye has been recognized as a critical habitat for nesting magnificent frigatebirds and red-footed boobies. It is permanently protected as a National Park. And we were the beneficiaries. Perhaps 500 or more pairs of each of these birds gather in a dense, treed section of the caye, many nesting within bill-reach of each other. Both species fashion flimsy nests of sticks high in a ziricote, gumbo limbo or mangrove tree, the frigatebirds often stealing their sticks from the in-coming boobies. Frigatebirds feed in a similar thieving way, kleptoparasitising other seabirds (especially boobies, gulls, terns and pelicans) by chasing them in a dogfight fashion until the victim releases the hard-earned fish that it is carrying. Like the boobies, though, frigatebirds are also adept at obtaining their own food, by snatching a flying fish out of the air or snapping a squid or a schooling fish from just under the surface. Although fully adapted to a marine lifestyle, frigatebirds do not land on the water.
In this idyllic setting there is an uneasy truce between the frigatebirds and boobies. They tolerate each others’ close presence, but only most of the time. Squabbles do break out, and when a long, hooked frigatebird bill entangles with a dart-like booby bill, a precariously perched egg or downy chick can be the victim. The booby chick pictured here is perhaps a safe distance from the nearest frigatebird. But even though it never lacks in wonder, nature can be cruel.
We snorkeled again today, in two diverse sections of this country’s extensive barrier reef system. Surface winds played tricks on us, but the water was warm and we saw enough to know that we want to explore more of the mysterious underwater world.
