Little Tobago (or Bird of Paradise Island) is a small island off the northeastern coast of

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

, and part of the Republic of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. The island supports

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) * ...

. It is an important breeding site for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s such as

red-billed tropicbird The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...

, Audubon's shearwater, brown booby,

brown noddy The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...

sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

and

bridled tern The bridled tern (''Onychoprion anaethetus'') is a seabird of the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus comes from ' meaning "claw" or "nail", and , meaning "saw". The specific ...

s. A few pairs of

white-tailed tropicbird The white-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon lepturus'') is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western P ...

s are also nesting here. Little Tobago is also a good site from which to see birds which breed on neighbouring small islands, including red-footed booby and

magnificent frigatebird The magnificent frigatebird (''Fregata magnificens'') is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of and wingspan of it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters off America, bet ...

. The latter species is frequently seen harassing the tropicbirds, boobies and terns. A few species of reptiles have been recorded on Little Tobago. Among them are lizards such as Green Iguanas, ''

Ameiva atrigularis ''Ameiva atrigularis'', known as giant ameiva and Amazon racerunner, is a species of teiid lizard found on Trinidad and Tobago and in Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bol ...

'', Rainbow whiptails, Antilles leaf-toed geckos, Turnip-tailed geckos, Ocellated geckos (''

Gonatodes ''Gonatodes'' is a genus of New World dwarf geckos of the family Sphaerodactylidae. Description The majority of the species in the genus ''Gonatodes'' are diurnally active, scansorial, and sexually dichromatic, with adult body size ( snout–v ...

ocellatus''), Mole's geckos (''

Sphaerodactylus ''Sphaerodactylus'' is a genus of geckos from the Americas that are distinguished from other Gekkota by their small size, by their round, rather than vertical, eye pupils, and by each digit terminating in a single, round adhesive pad or scale, f ...

molei''), Allen's bachias ('' Bachia heteropa alleni''), and snakes including Boddaert's tropical racers (''

Mastigodryas boddaerti ''Mastigodryas boddaerti'', commonly known as Boddaert's tropical racer, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to tropical South America including Trinidad and Tobago. Distribution ''M. boddaerti'' occurs in Bol ...

'') and Oliver's parrot snakes (''

Leptophis ''Leptophis'' is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as parrot snakes. The species within this genus are widely distributed throughout Mexico, Central and South America. Description Snakes of the genus ''Leptophis'' are slender with a l ...

coeruleodorsus''). Among the more conspicuous of the invertebrate fauna on the island are large terrestrial hermit crabs. The sea between Tobago and Little Tobago is shallow, and glass-bottomed boats enable the attractive corals and brightly coloured tropical fish to be seen on the crossing. It is a popular area for snorkelling and diving, especially on Angel Reef in front of Goat Island.

History

In 1908 the British politician and businessman Sir William Ingram purchased Little Tobago in order to turn it into a

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...

. The next year he introduced the greater bird of paradise (''Paradisaea apoda'') to the island in an attempt to save the species from overhunting for the plume trade in its native

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. The bird's plumage was particularly fashionable in women's hats. Forty-seven juvenile birds were introduced to the island, having been transported on a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

ocean liner. After Ingram's death in 1924 his heirs deeded the island to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago as a wildlife sanctuary. The birds survived on the island until at least 1958 when they were filmed by a '' National Geographic'' crew. There are no reliable records after 1963 when Hurricane Flora hit the island and the population is presumed to be extinct. View of Little Tobago from Blue Waters Inn

View of Little Tobago from Blue Waters Inn

References

* * Boodram, Natalie. 2001. The ecology of plant species on Little Tobago, Tobago, W.I. M.Phil. Thesis, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. {{Islands of Trinidad and Tobago Geography of Tobago Uninhabited islands of Trinidad and Tobago

History

See also

References