Project Cha-Cho
On 22 April 2020 I received a message from Jayme Orozco from Las Peñitas community in the Isla Juan Venado Reserve, León, Nicaragua. The message had a photo and a question: “Who do these eggs belong to?” After identifying the nest as a Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) I encouraged Jayme to constantly monitor the nest and we began to follow his progress with a Whatsapp group during the Covid 19 crisis, which was made up of members of the Quetzalli team, a local group passionate about shorebirds and conservation. Close to the nests of each pair there was always a Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis), so we adopted them too.
This story began with a nest of a Cha (Charadrius) and four Cho (Chordeiles), so we decided to call the project “Project Cha-Cho”. The population of Wilson’s Plover is in decline and currently the biogeographic population is estimated at around 8.600 individuals. Shorebirds face many threats that limit their reproductive success and population stability, but we have limited data on Central American populations. This was the first time that a nesting colony had been found, so a collective effort was needed to protect it.
The importance of citizen science during the COVID-19 crisis
Jayme Orozco is our eyes in the field and his work is an example of the value of promoting citizen science and involving local youngsters in research. Isla Juan Venado was incorporated into the Central American Waterbird Census and the Migratory Shorebirds Project (MSP) more than five years ago. Jayme has participated in these counts as one of our volunteers, with his interest in research growing all the time.
Over the following days we began to understand first hand the challenges that a bird breeding on a beach must face in order to survive. Here I invite you to follow the story of these Wilson’s Plovers.
A Survival Story
Photos: Jayme Orozco, Michael Gutiérrez, Salvadora Morales
