![LittleCayman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/LittleCayman.JPG)
Booby Pond Nature Reserve is a protected wetland on
Little Cayman
Little Cayman is one of three Islands that make up the Cayman Islands. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 60 miles (96 km) northeast of East End, Grand Cayman and five miles (8 km) west of West End, Cayman Brac. Little C ...
, one of the
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
, a
British Overseas Territory
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
in the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
.
Description
The reserve lies on the south coast of Little Cayman, near the western end of the island. It comprises a 43 ha seasonally flooded
hypersaline lagoon with a fringe of
mangroves and a strip of
dry forest on its northern side. The forest is dominated by ''
Bursera simaruba
''Bursera simaruba'', commonly known as gumbo-limbo, copperwood, chaca, West Indian birch, naked Indian, and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to the Neotropics, from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribbean ...
'', ''
Canella winterana
''Canella'' is a monospecific genus containing the species ''Canella winterana'', a tree native to the Caribbean from the Florida Keys to Barbados. Its bark is used as a spice similar to cinnamon, giving rise to the common names cinnamon bar ...
'', ''
Coccothrinax procterii'', ''
Ficus aurea
''Ficus aurea'', commonly known as the Florida strangler fig (or simply strangler fig), golden fig, or ''higuerón'', is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Me ...
'', ''
Guipera discolour'', ''
Myrcianthus fragrans'' and ''
Plumeria obtusa
''Plumeria obtusa'', the Singapore graveyard flower, is a species of the genus ''Plumeria'' (Apocynaceae). It is native to the West Indies (including the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles), southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Florida. but wide ...
'', while the mangroves are intermixed with ''
Thespesia populnea'' and ''
Cordia sebestena
''Cordia sebestena'' is a shrubby tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, native to the Americas, American tropics. It ranges from southern Florida in the United States and the Bahamas, southwards throughout Central America and the Greater Anti ...
'' var. ''caymanensis''.
[
]
Birds
The site has been identified by BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
as a 136 ha Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) because it supports populations of West Indian whistling duck
The West Indian whistling duck (''Dendrocygna arborea'') is a whistling duck that breeds in the Caribbean. Alternative names are black-billed whistling duck and Cuban whistling duck.
Distribution
The West Indian whistling duck is widely scatter ...
s (with 20 breeding pairs), magnificent frigatebirds (with up to 200 breeding pairs), red-footed boobies
The red-footed booby (''Sula sula'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are f ...
(with up to 20,000 individuals), white-crowned pigeons, Caribbean elaenia
The Caribbean elaenia (''Elaenia martinica'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae found in the West Indies and parts of Central America. Its natural habitats are tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest, subtropical or tropical moi ...
s and vitelline warblers. Much of the site is also recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...
.
References
Little Cayman
Important Bird Areas of the Cayman Islands
Ramsar sites in the Cayman Islands
Saline lakes of North America
Seabird colonies
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