Birding in Bonaire

On a Caribbean island famed for its underwater riches, Betsy Andrews looks skyward

Peanut and Popje are in love. They hooked up at a rehab facility on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire. Popje has lingering issues, but Peanut was discharged. Then Peanut returned, insisting he be let back in. Withdrawn and not eating in Peanut's absence, Popje sprang to life. Now Peanut comes and goes, bringing food for Popje, the weight of her happiness on his shoulders.

I should say on his yellow shoulders, because Peanut and Popje are yellow-shouldered parrots. Echo, the conservation center where they met, protects their threatened species and its habitat, Bonaire's tropical dry forest. Feeding melon to these emerald-and-gold beauties was one delight of my trip to Bonaire. Another was earning bragging rights: According to eBird, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's crowdsourced database, I am among the top birders on Bonaire. Located along the flyway from South America, the island is a stopover for 20,000 shorebirds and a breeding ground for American flamingos; in short, it's a birding wonderland. Even in summer, the birding off-season, I encountered 64 of the 245 species that have ever been recorded here.