Vervet monkeys are native to Africa, but were brought to the Caribbean during the colonial era, where they became established on St. Kitts and Barbados in the 17th century. They are thought to be a relatively recent introduction to St. Martin, probably from released pets that were brought from St. Kitts. The first recorded sighting I’ve read about is from […]

This cattle egret seems to be having some medical issues. Binkie at Sint Maarten Birding actually saw the same egret the other day (https://www.facebook.com/SintMaartenBirding). I don’t know what caused this, but it seems like some sort of infection. Perhaps someone who knows about these things could weigh in. Since they do forage in the water sometimes, I would imagine that […]

The common gallinule normally eats seeds of grasses and some snails, but apparently they will also scavenge other food when available. This gallinule chick is eating a small tilapia. I don’t think it would have been able to catch a live fish, but there were a number of dead ones floating nearby, so it probably scavenged this one from the […]

I borrowed this sphinx moth, known as the tobacco hornworm, for some photos. I think this is the fourth or fifth species of sphinx moth I’ve found in the exact same spot. They are attracted to the lights at night, and then just rest on the wall during the day. If I went there every day, perhaps I’d be able […]

Here are a few photos of a pair of black-necked stilts on the Great Salt Pond.

Learn about St. Martin’s smallest bird in this week’s Bird Watch SXM article in The Daily Herald.

We’ve been starting and finishing most of the wildlife presentations with a series of questions about St. Martin’s wildlife. The idea is to see if there are some things that the kids here need to learn about local wildlife and if they are learning it from the presentation. We will share the results at the end of the week, but […]

When it’s hot in the afternoon, the whimbrel does basically the same thing we would do…go for a dip!

There’s one particular tree on the road in Grand Case that has been heavily decimated by the mottled tortoise beetle. Previously, I had seen two variants of this species, one was yellow and black with no iridescence, one was bright, iridescent green, and now this one, which resembles the yellow and black variant, but has iridescent red/purple on the wing […]

Learn more about the American oystercatcher, one of my favorite local birds, in this week’s Bird Watch SXM column in The Daily Herald’s Weekender section.