Species Profile: White-breasted Thrasher

The White-breasted Thrasher is the only member of the distinctive genus Ramphocinclus. It occurs in just two tiny areas on the adjacent Caribbean islands of St Lucia and Martinique; but is threatened by a new resort development.

The White-breasted Thrasher has striking white underparts, and is dark brown above with a blackish mask and dark reddish eye. It is currently listed as endangered under IUCN-World Conservation Union criteria, and there are now likely as few as 1,250 in existence. The species’ young are especially vulnerable to predation by introduced snakes and mongooses as they rummage through the leaf litter to find their invertebrate prey. This vulnerability has been exacerbated by land clearance for agriculture and charcoal production, which has reduced the species' already very limited available habitat. The thrashers breed in the rainy season between April and August, each pair building a cup-shaped nest six feet or so above ground in one of the scrubby thin-trunked trees that clothe arid ravine bottoms in dense, often impenetrable stands. The two island populations are currently regarded as separate subspecies. Although the birds on Martinique are partially protected by the Caravelle Nature Reserve, a proposed British-backed hotel development by DCG Properties Ltd., now threatens to obliterate a significant portion of the species' remaining habitat at Praslin Bay on St Lucia.

The development is linked to an island-wide effort to prepare for the influx of visitors expected during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, which is being co-hosted by several Caribbean nations including St Lucia. Expected to cost in the region of ninety million dollars, the resort features a golf course, luxury hotel, and residential development in the core of the thrasher’s tiny global stronghold, yet a web site advertising the property promotes it as nature-friendly. ABC has assisted in funding a Cambridge University researcher, Helen Temple, to work on St Lucia and help develop a conservation plan for the thrasher. An Environmental Assessment for the proposed development is currently underway, and ABC continues to work with BirdLife International and other conservation groups to press the government of St Lucia, the project's backers, and the developers, to protect the key thrasher nesting area from the development. For more information contact: .