ZiNG Caribbean – May-June 2019

21

LIME

WONDERFUL

WILDLIFE

thousands of birds that make
their way to and fro across the
Americas and the Caribbean
each year.
To raise awareness about
the need for bird conservation,
volunteer coordinators organise
events in the Caribbean in
September and October, peak
migration season. WMBD in
the Caribbean is coordinated
by BirdsCaribbean. The
conservation theme for this
year’s World Migratory Bird Day
is Protect Birds: Be the Solution
to Plastic Pollution.

May - June 2019 | http://www.liat.com ZiNG CARIBBEAN |

WHATYOU

CAN DO TO

BEAT PLASTIC

POLLUTION

Plastic is a worldwide

epidemic – we need to

work together to help

our birds and ourselves!

Use reusable metal bottles

for your drinking water

Travel with your own metal

cutlery and use glass or metal

storage containers Take

cloth shopping bags with you

to the grocery store Try

reusable bamboo or metal

straws Refuse plastic straws

or containers in restaurants

and stores Avoid plastic

packaging in food stores as

much as possible, including

clamshell containers Take

your plastics to the nearest

recycling centre Reuse

plastic items as much as

possible in and around the

home Host a beach or

community clean-up day; get

local companies on board as

sponsors and share your

photos Join a local

environmental or community

group – and get your

neighbours and

friends involved, too!

Which birds are particularly

impacted by plastic pollution?

The 12 migratory bird species

selected for the beautiful WMBD

poster produced by Environment

for the Americas this year have

each been negatively affected by

plastic, even though their feeding

habits and the places where they

live are very different.

They are the Magellanic

Penguin; the Black Skimmer,

which feeds by fl ying low over

the waves; the Lesser Scaup,

a diving duck; the Chilean

Flamingo; theCommonTern;the

Northern Fulmar; the Magnifi cent

Frigatebird (which you may see

soaring around our coastlines); the

splendid Osprey, a fi sh hawk; the

lively Belted Kingfi sher; the stately

Tricolored Heron; the Killdeer, a

shorebird; and the lovely yellow

Prothonotary Warbler.

By the way, the gorgeous

poster artwork is by Arnaldo

Toledo Sotolongo, from Cuba,

who works as a scientifi c

illustrator, photographer and

designer, and who volunteers

on conservation projects in his

freetime.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WMBD AND THE 2019 PLASTICS THEME, VISIT

WWW.BIRDSCARIBBEAN.ORG AND WWW.MIGRATORYBIRDDAY.ORG.

POLLUTION SOLUTIONS

LISA SORENSON MARI GRAMLING

US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Far left: A dead Albatross

chick, its stomach fi lled

with plastic marine debris

Left: The World Migratory

Bird Day poster featuring

wonderful art by Arnaldo

Toledo Sotolongo

Bottom left:

A BirdsCaribbean group

cleans up plastic trash in

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

Below: A fi sherman

rescues a Magnifi cent

Frigatebird in Antigua