International Migratory Bird Day Celebration in Robins Bay, St. Mary–Bob L and Adrienne W-L.

Adrienne and I are Group 80 Green Initiative volunteers working in rural Robins Bay, St. Mary Parish, Jamaica. We like to think we’re outgoing, fun-loving, anything-goes sorts of people, but the reality is that we’re not big on parties, avoid events that require costumes, and generally act our (advancing) ages. Thus it was more than a little out of character to find us walking down our village road dressed as two oversized migratory birds.

But if there’s one element at the core of the Peace Corps experience, it’s that volunteers are routinely called upon to move beyond their comfort zones. So when Adrienne suggested we put on a program at the local schools about International Migratory Bird Day, and that we do it in costume, I knew it was hopeless to resist.

Started in 1993 by the Smithsonian, International Migratory Bird Day is an event designed to bring attention to the plight of migratory birds in the New World. For years the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds has promoted IMBD throughout the Caribbean. This year SCSCB produced a 48 page coloring book depicting many species of migrants that summer in North America and migrate through, or stay the winter, in Caribbean countries.

Using the coloring books supplied by SCSCB as the centerpiece, we created a program for the Robins Bay Primary School. First though, we made a stop at the Basic School, where the pre-schoolers enjoyed flapping their wings and the principal appreciated receiving a copy of the coloring book.

At the Primary School we spoke to the 80 students about the birds represented by our costumes (American Redstart and Belted Kingfisher, if it’s not obvious!) and the concept of migration. Of course a big part of the message is about conservation (don’t throw stones at birds, keep the environment clean and healthy, etc.). We then distributed the coloring books (VERY popular!) and students had a chance to do artwork while we led small groups outdoors to play the Migration Headache game.

The point of the Migration Headache game is to illustrate the impact of habitat loss. With equal numbers of plastic bottles placed at each end of the play area, we explained to the students that they were migratory birds—ducks, in this case—and they must migrate from their Canadian ponds and lakes, each represented by a bottle, to their winter homes on the ponds, lakes, and mangrove swamps of Jamaica. And, of course, flap their wings as they migrate!

After a round or two, it’s explained that two Canadian lakes have been drained by farmers and one was filled so that a housing development could be built. With 3 bottles removed from the “ Canadian” end of the field, the students must migrate north and try to find a lake. Of course, 3 “ ducks,” now homeless, will be left out and must leave the game. A few more rounds are played, with habitat destruction and rehabilitation occurring at both ends.

How well the children grasped the principles of habitat loss is difficult to fathom, as the plastic bottles are irresistible objects, quite useful for whacking the heads and shoulders of other players. But we hope that at least some of the students “ got it.”

Teachers and students appeared to have a good time, and we had almost as much fun as the kids, but perhaps not quite so much as the community members who watched a giant American Redstart and Belted Kingfisher walk down the road.

Basic School Flight Practice

Presenting at the Primary School

Explaining the Migration Headache Game

Bob Lockett
Adrienne Wolf-Lockett

Peace Corps Jamaica 2009-2011

Advertisement