THE Jamaica Institute of Environmental Professionals (JIEP) last Wednesday launched the Caribbean Association of Environmental Professionals (CAEP), an offshoot it hopes will help foster better governance of the region’s natural resources.

It is hoped that the new entity will also help to encourage more environmentally friendly development.

Guest speaker H E Michael King, ambassador of Barbados to the United States, said the launch of CAEP was timely because of the recent “significant growth in the Caribbean, which has been and will continue to be dependent on the exploitation of the natural resources”.

“In Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, St Lucia and Trinidad there has been an explosion in the real estate markets, primarily for local housing development, but also to meet the high demands of tourism,” said King during the launch at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

King added that CAEP must now work to develop a “responsible, beneficial” partnership with regional governments and other stakeholders “so that at the end the Caribbean could be a better place to live”.

Interim President Denise Forrest told the Career & Education that CAEP executives will now be working to build membership and that professionals – lawyers, doctors, architects, teachers, developers, etc – interested in a healthy environment are welcome to join.

“Everyone would be working within their field to address environmental issues.” Forrest said. “For instance, a lawyer would help to draft environmental laws.”

The JIEP is an umbrella organisation for environmental professionals working in the environmental field. It was formed in 2002. Membership includes natural scientists, engineers, consultants, social scientists, lawyers, educators and economists, according to an handout on the group.

Jamaica’s Hummingbird

Our Habitat this week continues its look on Jamaica’s endemic birds with an examination of the island’s national bird – the Hummingbird. Have questions, comments? Email williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com

THE Doctor Birds or Streamertails, which collectively include the Red-billed & Black-billed Streamertails, are endemic to Jamaica. The Red-billed’s claim to fame is that it is our national bird.

The Red-billed streamertail is found in western and central areas of Jamaica while, the Black-billed is found only on the eastern section of the island and is less abundant.

Description:

Females have a white belly and are without the streamers. Their outer tail feathers are broad fly tipped white. Males have streamers and green tummies. Body is a bright eradescent emerald green, but is darker on the back.

How the Doctor Bird got its name:

There are many stories surrounding this little bird’s name. Some say that it punctures flowers with its long bill and gives medicine to the plants. Others say that the elongated tail feathers of the male hummingbirds resemble the old-fashion tail coats that doctors were known to wear in the past.

Diet:

The Doctor Bird feeds mostly on flower nectar and supplements its diet with small insects. They feed on things like fruit flies and swarming ants. Because they have a very high metabolic rate, they feed frequently. When you have hurricanes, then they have a problem.

Reproduction:

The males mate with more than one female (males and females do not look alike). The female lays two small eggs and must do all the parental care, as the male offers no assistance. The nest is usually made of plant fibres bound together by cobweb and decorated with lichen, making it difficult to distinguish from the leaves and twigs supporting it. The scalloped and fluted streamers of the bird’s tail in flight make a high-pitched hum. Meanwhile, they nest all year round but mainly from January to June.

Interesting facts:

In general, Hummingbirds are the only birds that truly hover and are capable of both forward and backward flight. Hummingbirds have characteristically small feet and are unable to walk on the ground and will fly rather than walk in order to shift on a perch. Hummingbirds have a high basal metabolic rate; therefore they usually drink their body mass in nectar in less than a day.

Source: Maureen Milbourn of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET); and Birds of Jamaica: A photographic field guide by Audrey Downer and Robert Sutton.