The Bahama Nuthatch, Thought to Be Lost to Hurricanes, Is Not Extinct—Yet
Researchers sighted a few of the critically endangered birds on a three-month, 430-mile expedition to Grand Bahama's pine forests this spring.
After hundreds of miles and three months of searching through dense forests of Caribbean pine and poisonwood,two separate research teamsdelivered on what seemed like a near-impossible task: They found the missing BahamaNuthatch.
Confined to Grand Bahama, the tiny bird—officially a subspecies of the Brown-headed Nuthatch, though some ornithologists recognize it as a full species—was largely thought to be extinct after Hurricane Matthew ravaged the island in 2016, according to . The Bahama Nuthatch has declinedsince the 1950s from a combination of habitat loss,invasive species, andtourist developments; its population was optimistically estimated at 1,800 individuals in 2004.
Thenit got worse: The population plummeted after a series of hurricanes struck the island, sending salty storm surges inland which killed the pine trees the nuthatches require for nesting. Only 23 individuals were spotted in 2007. The widespread destruction caused byHurricane Matthewand its 120-mile-per-hour gusts, some thought, had to be the last straw. No birds had been sighted since June 2016.
But a few biologists held out hope. This spring, , graduate students based at England's University of East Anglia, set out on a three-month expedition, in partnership withthe Bahamas National Trust and BirdLife International,to find the nuthatch and other bird species endemic to Grand Bahama.They scoured the island, hikingsome430 mileswhile playing bird calls to attract the bird during its breeding season. A separate team of Bahamian students, led by of University of The Bahamas-North, also searched for the bird using different methods, the press release says.
It wasn't easy. Six weeks and 250 miles in, Gardner and Pereira had almost given up hope that they'd ever find the elusive birds.They were exhausted aftersearching464 survey points throughout the vast, undevelopedpine forest and coming up empty. Then,Gardner heard the bird’s unmistakablehigh-pitched call and saw it flying down from the treetops toward him.
“I shouted with joy, I was ecstatic!”Gardner said in the press release.
Gardner and Pereiramade six nuthatch sightings total over the course of three months, but never saw multiple nuthatches together,leading them to believe that there mightonly be one remaining. McKenzie’s team reported five separate sightings,including one where they reported a pair of nuthatches together.
, a conservation biologist at the University of East Anglia who supervised the school's searchteam, said in a press release that she doesn’t believe the BahamaNuthatch can make a comeback;its numbers are too low and the causes of its decline still unclear. However, she’s optimistic that there's still time to help other birds endemic to Grand Bahama's pine forest, she said.
“It is still absolutely crucial that conservation efforts in the native Caribbean pine forest do not lapse, as it is such an important habitat for other endemic birds including the Bahama Swallow, Bahama Warbler, and Bahama Yellowthroat,” Bell said in the press release. She also noted the habitat's importance to neotropical migrants that breed in North America, such as the Kirtland's Warbler.
When Gardner and Pereira spotted the lone nuthatch, the, completely unaware of the elation its presence had caused. Though the future of this Bahama Nuthatch is still bleak, it's somehow comfortingto knowthatat least one bird managed to rideout the storm.