Is there a better time to keep an eye on endemics than the month Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival? In this week’s Bird Watch SXM column we take a look at a sweet-singing Caribbean endemic, the Caribbean Elaenia. Also, don’t forget to download the Eye on Endemics ebook.

Once again we were blessed with fantastic support from local and regional media for the Endemic Animal Festival. We had exceptional coverage which helped bring record crowds to the event. Below are some press clippings and links to online coverage of the event. Le Pélican, April 2015 The Daily Herald, April 2015 St. Martin’s Week, …

The Endemic Animal Festival was a huge success this year and we will be sharing more about the event in the coming days as we recover and unpack, but first some wonderful images from Marc Petrelluzzi. Also, a huge thank you to all the volunteers, the event couldn’t have happened without you, and it wouldn’t …

“Restore Habitats, Restore Birds” is the theme for this year’s Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF). At dozens of events throughout the region, participants of all ages will learn how restoring local habitats can benefit the unique birds found only in the Caribbean. Events on many islands will include habitat restoration activities like clean ups and …

Here are Les Fruits de Mer we are excited about the upcoming launch of Club Gaïac, a multifaceted heritage tree project. The project is centered on the Gaïac tree, also known as Lignum Vitae or Tree of Life. It is a magnificent native tree that is endangered because it was overharvested for its wood—the hardest …

At Club Gaïac, we’ve been busy preparing seedlings for our launch at the 2015 Endemic Animal Festival. As we do so, we’re learning a thing or two about getting seedlings started. (You can also take a look at our previous post, Experimenting with the Tree of Life to see how we learned some of these …

Things are looking good for the upcoming Endemic Animal Festival! On Saturday we got together with a few of the volunteers to work out some of the planning and activities and enjoy the beautiful coastal scrub at Seaside Nature Park. Our “preview event” with volunteers is a fun tradition that helps us make sure we’re …

We’re getting ready for the Endemic Animal Festival by releasing a free eBook about some of our regionally-endemic birds: Eye on Endemics. You can download the PDF from the Resources page on our site. Be sure to mark your calendars for the festival itself, which is coming up on Saturday, April 25th! All of the …

The Lignum Vitae, also known as Gaïac, is a beautiful tree native to the Caribbean that is now endangered due to overharvesting, primarily for its extremely hard wood. This slow-growing tree has beautiful blue flowers and intricately-packed branches in its wide crown. It is sometimes described as a small tree, but this may be primarily …

This morning we went on a nature walk to see the birds and other animals that live on the island. We were able to see many species that are endemic to the region or have a regional sub-species, like the Zenaida Dove, Carib Grackle, Black-faced Grassquit and Caribbean Elaenia. It was also just a lot …