Milestone reached for multi-partner White-crowned Pigeon tracking project

Ricardo Miller, NEPA

We are happy to report that ARCI has reached its goal of deploying satellite transmitters on White-crowned Pigeons in the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, and Florida for multi-partner research project entitled “Seasonal movements of White-crowned Pigeons (Patagioenis leucocephala) tracked by satellite telemetry: Identifying trans-national threats, management needs, and conservation opportunities.”

The White-crowned Pigeon is widely distributed throughout the Caribbean, but the species is threatened by habitat loss, poaching, and harvest regulations lacking scientific support. With satellite telemetry, we are informing wildlife managers of seasonal changes in distribution, identifying manageable threats, and documenting the need for concerted conservation planning across national boundaries.

A big “Thank You” to ARCI’s collaborators Dr. Lisa Sorenson, BirdsCaribbean, and Dr. Frank Rivera-Milan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and to our Caribbean partners the National Trust for the Cayman Islands (Paul Watler et al.), Jamaica National Environment and Planning Agency (Ricardo Miller et. al.), Windsor Research Centre (Susan Koenig in Jamaica), and Bahamas National Trust (Denny Moore, Pericles Maillis, David Knowles et al.).