EPIC’s conservation staff has just completed its 12th year of island-wide bird monitoring. EPIC staff has, for each year since 2001, surveyed every wetland on the entire island during the winter period. Additionally, staff has surveyed every winter seabird colony on the island, including the two known Caribbean Brown Pelican colonies. Finally, songbird monitoring efforts on the northern flanks of Pic Paradis have just been completed and over 130 different songbirds of 22 species were monitored.
The discovery of an over-wintering Tennessee Warbler on Pic Paradis was the highlight for 2012, in that it was the first record for the species on the island and only the second for the entire Lesser Antilles. EPIC Senior Biologist Adam Brown leads the bird monitoring efforts for the organization. Adam said of the recent bird monitoring work, "It’s been very rewarding leading the bird conservation efforts for EPIC over this long period of time. We have been able to document changes in bird populations, track movements of birds between areas, and link significant bird population changes to habitat changes. EPIC’s data set is one of the most long-term in the Caribbean, and has allowed us to take a step back and see the big picture on what is happening to birds on St. Maarten and in the Caribbean as a whole." EPIC will continue its bird conservation work on the island in future years, including continuing population monitoring as well as advocating for the protection of vital bird habitat island-wide.