Faraaz Abdool asks us to look out for the birds using Tobago as a rest stop on their annual migrations.
Animal migration has been billed as one of Earth’s most impressive spectacles. This is not the measured expansion of creatures slowly meandering beyond established boundaries; migration knows no borders whatsoever.
As humans, we demarcated a world with strict imaginary lines. Walls and fences and borders separate populations into nations, states, counties, and towns. Falling into this system helps us to forget that we are one planet, a fact that underpins the existence of countless creatures that depend on movement for survival.
[caption id="attachment_1124803" align="alignnone" width="1024"] While some broad-winged hawks are resident on Tobago, others are migratory and their numbers on the island increase significantly during migration season. - Photo courtesy Faraaz Abdool[/caption]
Beyond mere wandering in search of food or habitat, migration is a wholescale rhythmic phenomenon. The dance of the rains over the East African savannas ensures that the thundering hooves of wildebeest and zebra continue to follow the fresh growth of greener grasses, timing their reproductive cycle with the gathering storms.
Annual variations of ocean temperature initiate the seasonal migration of humpback whales. And as our planet traces its wobbly path around the sun, the temperate seasons dictate the mass movement of millions of birds.
[caption id="attachment_1124802" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A resident least grebe, second from left, makes for the perfect mismatch among a group of migratory ducks: male and female lesser scaups, except for the tag-along on the extreme right, a ring-necked ruck. - Photo courtesy Faraaz Abdool[/caption]
For us in the southern Caribbean, the annual influx of birds provides a front-row seat to the saga of migration. Timeless yet time-dependent, birds begin arriving with clockwork precision without a clock. Every year, once the cold fingers of winter begin to creep south, these tiny bodies grow restless, maniacally feeding in order to pack in as many calories as possible. Many of these traverse the Antillean arc toward warmer climes in tropical America and back again with the rhythm of the planet.
The exact timing of a migration is determined by a combination of factors. Generally, food availability or the welfare of their offspring would precede a decision to depart brought on by extreme temperature. Some migratory birds spend the entire northern winter in the tropics; others transit through tropical regions en route to temperate regions in southern South America.
Rest stop Tobago
Migratory birds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and have diverse origins. Some species that may never encounter each other in their breeding grounds may find themselves in close quarters when seeking refuge in the tropics.
Relatively near to the equator, Trinidad and Tobago sometimes hosts migrating birds from both north and south simultaneously, birds from different continents spen
