Where are the seagulls?

[Conchman]

I think it is the lack of bait fish (large schools of small fish) in the area, that explains the lack of sea gulls. However, I have not heard an explanation as to the reason for the lack of bait fish, could have to do with currents, winds, natural habitats, etc.

 

[mountainannie]

WOW.. in SD, here.. at night, on my balcony the birds were louder than anything.. of course, well, I fed them, So they came to nest.

Mostly I had a hummingbird feeder which I had shipped from the States and had three different kinds of himmingbirds..

Had vireos and chats..

Even has a quatros ojos.. which is about 7 inches long, and has a mask sorta like Zorro wearing a Speedo .. he loves corn chips.. and is one of the endemic species.

I have the Princeton Field Guide of Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Really suggest that you start feeding them and see if they will not come up to your patios...

I am really of two minds about feeding them on the balconys because they really did get agressive at the end.

Bur certainly the hummingbirds.. Although they eat a sugar mixture which is far richer than our hummingbirds in the north. And you will have to send for the feeders as they do not seem to have them here. But these hummingbirds are gorgeous and HUGE.

Overview - Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus) - Neotropical Birds

 

[mountainannie]

Overview - Yellow-faced Grassquit (Tiaris olivaceus) - Neotropical Birds

my most common visitor.. the ones who trained their young to fly on the balcony

 

[AlterEgo]

Where I live in NJ, seagulls are the bane of our existence. Think roosters on steroids. I noticed a long time ago that the DR beaches don't have them, and I've wondered why.

 

[jabejuventus]

Tons and tons of pink flamingos in and around Lago Enriquillo....

Some years ago my family and I visited el Lago, saw many egrets and what I thought were pink flamingos, interacted w/the iguanas, waded with the crocs, visited Isla Cabritos (an island within the larger island of Hispaniola) where a guide showed me how to handle the native scorpions, and took some great video that I recently had reformatted. When a previous and recent thread regarding birds in the DR surfaced, I had the lingering and powerful impression of having seen, as you posted, "tons and tons," of pink flamingos in el Lago. At the time I wanted to post a similar insight, but wanted to make sure of my evidence. I checked my video archive, but he images of the birds that I captured all appeared white at a distance. I asked my wife and she couldn't remember. In fact, she was adamant that she hadn't seen any. Thank you for solving that mystery for me. El Lago with its surroundings is one of the great attractions of the DR.

 

[mountainannie]

Aves end?micas de la Hispaniola: Chlorostilbon swainsonii

when their feeder was empty.. or sometimes, I thought, just to thank me. these would come up three inches from my face and just hold in a pattern..

to
thank
me

they like their water very dark.. almost to color of cafe au lait

with azucar crema

and a bit of honey

and a trace of cinnamon

I usually leave the cinnamon stick in the feeder.

Resultado de im?genes de Google para http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/images/hummingbird_feeder.jpg

 

[Celt202]

Frigatebirds are very common along the Malec?n in Santo Domingo. The Frigatebirds ride the thermals and just float around for what seems like hours. It's one of the most enchanting features about this big, dirty, chaotic but charming city.

Pelicans are also plentiful along the shore.

I don't remember if I ever saw a Seagull here. I must take a ride by the dump.

I was in the Boston area last week. They've got gulls, lots of gulls.

I should have brought a few back. I managed to get a tazer through in my checked luggage. TSA* opened the bag after it was checked in but didn't remove anything.

*TSA Thousands Standing Around

Out my back window I look down on a property that had three big Mango trees in the yard. Parrots used to come and take up residence in one of the mango trees. They are noisy, social and very entertaining.

When the elderly woman died the house was sold and was converted into a business. The mango tree the parrots loved was cut down to make room for a parking lot and the parrots haven't come back.

I frequently see hummingbirds.

Sosua and Boca Chica are the common habitat of transplanted 2 legged gulls. An alarming percentage have predominantly liquid diets and make whiny croaking noises. An equally alarming percentage (though certainly not all) have intelligence levels that for some reason make one think of a box of rocks.

To be fair some are so smart that when I talk to them I feel like I should be in that box of rocks.

Scary smart, you know... like Bucky Fuller or Steven Hawking.

I've got to get some hummingbird feeders. Elizabeth of the mountains, you're a mensch.

 

[mountainannie]

those pesky things led to my first ban from dr1

ok now I really want to know!

 

[drstock]

It is remarkable how few birds are seen in the Cabarete area. Mocking birds, pigeons, a hawk or two, some black birds with yellow eyes, and the occasional stork.

You're looking in the wrong part of Cabarete. We back on to the lagoon and one of my guests photographed a Black Crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret and Green Heron. I have the photos if anyone is interested. I'm no expert but I believe the birds I see swimming daily are Coots.

As for Seagulls, you can keep them. Nasty, dirty birds that attack people for no apparent reason in England, where I come from, where too many prefer inland rubbish to the effort of finding fish.

 

[bienamor]

I don't remember if I ever saw a Seagull here. I must take a ride by the dump.

I will save you the trouble, No Seagulls on the Malecon, and none at the dump. I work out by the small airport which out past the dump.

 

[AlterEgo]

Okay, no seagulls.

Why????

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

Birds generally get propagated from one island to another by storms. I don't know whether there are gulls in Cuba, but I would think that some would get blown there over many centuries, and from there down the island chain. Unless there is nothing for a gull to feed on, but here they feed on anything. They hang out around dumpsters here in Miami. But I have never seen a gull in the DR. Perhaps a stray ornithologist might flit by and answer this.

 

[Celt202]

I will save you the trouble, No Seagulls on the Malecon, and none at the dump. I work out by the small airport which out past the dump.

I owe you.

I've been out to that airport. That area still a rural feel to it (except of course for the dump).

 

[Celt202]

Maybe they all went to work for the Mossad. :laugh:

Turkey Hawks Bird as Israeli Mossad Spy Beacon, Ruffles Feathers

 

[hughatthepub]

Best website for wildlife info for the whole region:

Father Sanchez's Web Site of West Indian Natural History

Very comprehensive, well written for laypeople

 

[Major448]

Maybe we just don't recognize them when we see them .....

There is no such thing as a 'sea gull' | MailTribune.com

Flickr: Discussing black gull? in Seagulls

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

So there are several varieties of gulls, and some hang out near the ocean, but gulls are differentiated by size and not by color, as some species change the color of their plumage as they mature. How human of us to assume that brown gulls, gray gulls and white gulls are different species.

Gulls are common around the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and do not seem to fly in from the coast, as was once thought.

Whatever gulls are, there are relatively few of them in the DR. I do not think that it would be am improvement if there were more, but a lot of whatever a gull eats in Miami is also available in any dump in the DR, so there absence is somewhat surprising.

Pigeons, it seems that everyone has pigeons. I have never been to any pigeon-free place. I am thinking that there probably are few in Nunavit, Greenland, Patagonia or perhaps Mongolia, but I have not been there.

 

[Celt202]

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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_kjgxGg71qM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Tamborista]

[video=youtube;iIpfWORQWhU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpfWORQWhU[/video]

 

[DOMINCAN JOE]

:bunny: Would you want this

:speechles