Press Release
Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS)

CONTACTS:
Karen Keane, Director, Development and Communications kkeane@vinsweb.org
802-359-5001 ext 237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Quechee, VT
December 12, 2006
VINS Conservation Biologists, Christopher Rimmer and Kent McFarland, Co-author the First Comprehensive Field Guide Devoted to Hispaniola's Birds.

Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) Conservation Biologists Christopher Rimmer and Kent McFarland have contributed their extensive knowledge of Hispaniolan birds to a new, state-of-the-art field guide, Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The book, published by Princeton University Press, is available in three languages and expected in U.S. bookstores in December and around the world by January 2007.

This is the first comprehensive and fully illustrated guide to cover the birds of this biologically rich island. The book incorporates much of VINS' own data, collected by Rimmer and McFarland since 1994, on the biology of Hispaniolan migrant and resident species. This authoritative guide presents detailed information on the more than 300 species of birds found on the island. Stunning new paintings of all 31 endemic species by noted Canadian artist Barry Kent MacKay are complemented by existing color plates from the 1998 Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Species accounts include in-depth descriptions of field marks, preferred habitats, distribution, and nesting biology. The authors also detail the ecology, behavior, and taxonomic status of each species, and include their local names used in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Rimmer and McFarland collaborated with five coauthors and numerous local bird experts in the Dominican Republic and Haiti to develop this exhaustive account of Hispaniola's birds. Several of the species highlighted in the book have been studied by Rimmer and McFarland on both their Hispaniolan wintering grounds and their Vermont breeding range. One species in particular, the Bicknell's Thrush, is among North America's most rare and threatened songbirds, with 90% of its global winter population concentrated on Hispaniola. The authors' pioneering research has focused attention on threats to our natural world, documenting, for example, pervasive levels of mercury in Bicknell's Thrushes at both ends of the species' migratory range.

Available in English, Spanish, and French editions, the book is intended above all else to be a conservation tool for Hispaniolan biodiversity. By creating Spanish and French editions, the authors hope to promote widespread local appreciation of and respect for birds across the island. With ongoing and severe threats from loss of forests and other natural habitats, the future of Hispaniola's birdlife will depend on careful stewardship. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti provides a crucial building block to achieve lasting conservation on a Caribbean island with very direct ties to North America, through its shared migratory birds.


Founded in 1972, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) is a non-profit 501(c) 3, member-supported organization headquartered in Quechee, Vermont. VINS' mission is to protect our natural heritage through education and research designed to engage individuals and communities in the active care of the environment.