Your trash is my treasure!

"What are you doing?" -Tobagan on the street
"I am looking for bird nests. I am a student and I study their parasites."-Me
"There are no birds down here, you need to go to the rainforest." -Tobagan

This is typically the conversation that Jordan (my field assistant) and I have with local Tobagans.  We are working on the effects of Philornis nest flies on black-faced grassquits and tropical mockingbirds in Tobago.  These birds nest primarily in the lowlands of Tobago (on the western side of the island).

The conversation above represents the perception that most people have about birds in the lowlands. Because the birds are not extravagant in color, they are "trash" birds (as we call them in the states).  All parks in Tobago have groomed bushes (see picture). Unfortunately, the birds nest in these bushes.

We have already lost at least 20 nests from both species of birds from people disturbing or pulling out the nests. One key piece to studying birds here has been to talk with locals about the importance of their lowland birds. Hopefully they will take this with them....

Tobago > Trinidad

I decided to revive my blog because 1) life has been interesting lately, 2) I hate writing things down in a journal, and 3) I have a terrible memory for details.

About a month ago, I flew down to Trinidad to start field work with birds and their parasites.  My former blogs will explain more what I'm doing, but if you're feeling lazy, here is the short version:

Philornis nest parasites were recently introduced to the Galapagos Islands.
The parasites kill nestling Darwin's finches (endemic and endangered birds). 
We don't know what the parasite does to birds in the native range (e.g. Trinidad and Tobago) so I am trying to figure this out.  
Studying the parasite in its native range may also tell us why it is so bad for birds in the Galapagos.  

...So when I arrived to Trinidad, I stayed at Pax Guest House where I was hosted by Gerard and Oda.  If you're ever traveling to Trinidad, this is the place to stay. The guest house is as charming as its owners.

After Jordan, my field assistant, arrived, we moved to the Manuel Congo area.  When we told people that we were moving down there, we mostly received horrified or distasteful looks.  In my opinion the area was peaceful and safe.  However, our house was not finished. We rarely had water, which meant we bathed from buckets.  The house was under construction so everything was dirty and a mess.  I'm sure that the house will be wonderful when completed, but we were less than impressed while there.

Moving to and working in Trinidad has been a challenge to say the least.  One of the most challenging things that I have had to do in my life is set up this field season.  I have sent hundreds of e-mail asking for logistical support.  Some people were very helpful and some not so helpful.  The bird species that we're here to study hasn't been very conspicuous.  One day, after returning from the field, I decided that we needed to ship off to Tobago to see if we could find the parasite and nesting grassquits (similar to Darwin's finches).  I was in Tobago with my friend Chris in December but I wasn't able to find any parasites then; hence, why we tried our luck in Trinidad, where the fly was first found in the 1950s.  After a couple hours, we found 11 nests from the black-faced grassquit and 3 nests with Philornis pupal cases!  Within a day, we decided to move over the Tobago.

Now you're generally caught up with my life these past few weeks.  I have some specific stories of my time in Trinidad, which include "how to walk your bird" and "running red lights."

-Sarah Knutie