SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY

Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club         Southeastern Caribbean Bird Alert         Trinidad and Tobago Rare Bird Committee

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

Immature at Buccoo, Tobago, 3 November 1986 (TTRBC 1996-19). Photos © by Wayne Scott. First record for T&T and the New World. Adolphus James, who apparently found this bird, told Wayne Scott that two birds had been present. The white plumage and pale-tipped dark bill distinguish this Old World species from the Roseate Spoobill (Ajaia ajaja) of the New World. The black-tipped wings are indicative of an immature. It was considered a natural vagrant rather than an escaped bird because: (1) it was a young bird unlikely to have spent any time in captivity; (2) the legs were unbanded; (3) no nearby zoos have kept the species; and (4) Tobago is an unlikely destination for an escaped bird, but a likely landfall for a trans-Atlantic vagrant.