This EBA comprises those islands of the Lesser Antilles which stretch in an arc from the Greater Antilles (EBAs 025-029) to the north-eastern part of South America (i.e. it excludes the east-west chain of Lesser Antillean islands which lies off the north coast of Venezuela). Adjacent to the north of the EBA are the Virgin Islands (part of EBA 029), and Trinidad and Tobago lie to the south (Secondary Areas s016 and s017). Politically, the Lesser Antillean EBA includes the UK dependent territories of Anguilla and Montserrat, the French overseas départements of Guadeloupe and Martinique (St Barthelemy and the northern part of St Martin are dependencies of Guadeloupe), the northern Netherlands Antilles (southern part of St Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius), and the independent territories of St Kitts-Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent (including some of the Grenadines), Barbados, and Grenada (including the rest of the Grenadines).

The EBA's main islands are volcanic and mountainous, while the outlying ones are composed mostly of limestone and are of low relief. Volcanoes on four islands (Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Vincent) have erupted during the twentieth century. The more mountainous islands of Guadaloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St Lucia and St Vincent have a rich variety of habitats ranging from rain forest (including lowland and lower montane types), with montane thicket, palm brake and elfin forest along summits, to dry forest and mangroves in the lowlands.

In addition to its restricted-range birds, this EBA is important for many North American migrants and for seabirds, with many of the smaller, uninhabited islands having large and varied seabird breeding populations (see van Halewyn and Norton 1984).

This EBA has a particularly distinct avifauna, including seven endemic genera-Catharopeza, Cichlherminia, Cinclocerthia, Cyanophaia, Leucopeza, Melanospiza Ramphocinclus.

Most restricted-range species occur over a wide altitudinal range and in many habitats including dry and rain forest, and, less frequently, montane thickets and elfin forest of the uplands. A few species show more specific habitat requirements: examples are Leptotila wellsi and Ramphocinclus brachyurus which are confined to the dry forest of the lowlands, Catharopeza bishopi and Leucopeza semperi which occur in montane habitats only.

The pattern of distribution between the EBA's islands varies considerably, with only a small number of restricted-range species occurring widely (i.e. on half or more of the islands); there is, nevertheless, sufficient distributional overlap (more sharing than not) for the islands all to be included within a single EBA - though several islands have their own endemic species and are therefore important centres of endemism in their own right: Montserrat (one endemic species), Guadeloupe (one), Dominica (two), Martinique (one), St Lucia (four), St Vincent (two) and Grenada (one). The numbers of restricted-range species occurring on the islands also vary considerably, the three islands with the most being St Lucia (20), Dominica (18) and Martinique (16).

The islands have suffered large-scale disturbance and destruction of forest ecosystems, mainly as a part of agricultural development. Thus some of the lower-lying limestone islands, such as Antigua and Barbados, have lost most of their natural vegetation, while on the more mountainous islands forest remnants are generally in high and inaccessible areas. Clearance for banana plantations continues on all the mountainous islands, and alteration of habitats for tourist developments (e.g. golf courses) is also a threat.

All the single-island endemics are considered threatened or Near Threatened chiefly as a result of habitat loss, but hunting, trade, brood parasitism and introduced species have all contributed to their decline. The Amazona parrots, in particular, have been the focus of considerable conservation efforts by government and non-government agencies, and consequently their status has improved. Leptotila wellsi remains Critical on Grenada (c.75 birds in 1992), being greatly threatened by chronic and continuing habitat alteration and destruction (plantations, construction developments, agriculture), possibly compounded by predation of fledglings by introduced mongooses. Likewise Ramphocinclus brachyurus has been reduced by habitat destruction and introduced predators to near-extinction in two dry forest areas on the islands of Martinique (15–40 pairs) and St Lucia (c.50 pairs). Leucopeza semperi is very possibly extinct on St Lucia, there being just a handful of records since the 1920s, and it is likely that its disappearance is related to the introduction of the mongoose, with habitat loss inevitably playing a part too. Icterus bonana is present in most habitat types throughout Martinique, but has suffered severe levels of brood-parasitism from the recently established Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis.

The widespread, but threatened (Vulnerable), West Indian Whistling-duck Dendrocygna arborea occurs on St Kitts and Nevis, and on Antigua and Barbuda, where hunting and commercial development of coastal wetlands are threats. The threatened (Endangered) seabird, Black-capped Petrel Pterodroma hasitata, was known in this EBA from Martinique and Guadeloupe, and is still reported from Dominica.

Protected areas of particular note within the EBA are: Guadeloupe National Park (173 km²); Morne Trois Pitons National Park (69 km²) and Syndicate Forest Reserve/Parrot Sanctuary on Dominica; Martinique Regional Nature Park (702 km²); the Parrot Sanctuary (15 km²) on St Lucia; St Vincent Parrot Reserve (44 km²); and the Levera and Grand Etang National Parks on Grenada.

Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Lesser Antilles. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/26 on 24/12/2024.