Hurricane Impacts on Bridled Quail-doves in St. Eustatius

An immediate concern after hurricanes Irma and Maria fell to the Bridled Quail-dove, a species that forages for fruits and seeds on the forest floor. The Quill is the only habitat on Statia that supports the quail-dove, and we had conducted a population assessment in May 2017 in connection with a rodent control project that is being facilitated through the Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute (CNSI). Our initial results were encouraging, with an estimated 1,030 (standard error [SE] = 275, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 561-1,621) quail-doves across its local habitat of 440 hectares, possibly the highest known density in the region. For this reason, and thanks to the generous persons that supported BirdsCaribbean’s fundraising appeal, we were able to repeat the survey in November to assess the population post-hurricane. 

This news-item was published in BioNews 9-2017.

Reprinted with permission from BirdsCaribbean