La Tortuga as a migratory bird hotel

Thousands of meters have been traveled on La Tortuga Island to make observations and counts of resident and migratory birds, as part of the avifauna study that La Tortuga Foundation has been carrying out in this Federal Unit since 2008, headed by the specialist Gedio Marín Espinoza. To date, hundreds of individuals have been tagged and new records have been made for the region, particularly highlighting waders, grouped in the order Charadriiformes.

Thousands of meters have been traveled on La Tortuga Island to make observations and counts of resident and migratory birds, as part of the avifauna study that La Tortuga Foundation has been carrying out in this Federal Unit since 2008, headed by the specialist Gedio Marín Espinoza. To date, hundreds of individuals have been tagged and new records have been made for the region, particularly highlighting waders, grouped in the order Charadriiformes.

These birds, also known as plovers, shorebirds, waders, or shorebirds, are characterized by having a long, thin, straight, or curved downward or upward bill. They generally have long legs in relation to the rest of the body and mostly have brown plumage, although some specimens wear more striking plumage during the breeding season. Waders are so-called because they usually perch on shallow sand or silt surfaces. These characteristics make them very easy to recognize.

They are generally solitary but in the breeding and migratory season some form flocks. They are mainly aquatic birds although some have been sighted perched in trees. They mostly inhabit marine coasts and in smaller numbers in mangroves, lakes, lagoons, and grasslands.

The Charadriiformes are very interesting and admirable birds because of the complicated cycle they perform year after year, crossing thousands of kilometers on each migration. The species that breed in North America breed during the short summer season. During this period the birds only have approximately six to eight weeks to carry out all the processes inherent to reproduction, such as choosing a nesting site, courtship, mating, laying, incubation, and breeding.

In autumn, between late July and early August, most of these birds depart from their breeding sites to wintering areas in South America. This process is known as the Fall Migration. In early spring, in early to mid-May, most of these birds head back to North America to their breeding grounds in what is called the Spring Migration.

In their journey from northern hemisphere latitudes to the southern hemisphere and vice versa, these birds can use several routes and often many use the coastal area of Venezuela to make this their residence during the entire boreal winter or just to get food to their areas of permanence in Tierra del Fuego.

Although it may seem unrelated, altering the ecology of an island like La Tortuga could also represent a risk for bird communities in Canada or Argentina, so the continuous study and conservation of its areas are essential for the maintenance of the natural system to which man also belongs.

Press La Tortuga Foundation - Alejandra Villegas

Photography: José Voglar