Hispaniolan Ornithological Society
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The Hispaniolan Ornithological Society (Spanish: Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola), is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to nature conservation, particularly of birds and their habitats, on the island of Hispaniola (made up of the Dominican Republic and Haiti). The SOH's objectives are to "conserve Hispaniolan birds and their habitats through research, community education, and professional training".
Established in the Dominican Republic in 2001 and incorporated by presidential decree #85504, the SOH was founded by a group of volunteer amateur bird watchers and biologists committed with the conservation of birds and their natural environments.
Education programs include promoting bird watching as well as giving presentations on local birds in public schools, private schools, and in rural communities. It has also been involved in the publishing of several books on birds of the island, the latest one being "The Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti", by Dr. Steven Latta, et al.
The SOH has strong relationships with other important organizations, with which it has partnered in important projects. These partners include the Vermont Institute for Natural Science (VINS), the U.S. National Aviary, The Peregrine Fund, and the Audubon Society of Haiti. Field work done in collaboration with these entities includes studies of the critically endangered Ridgway's Hawk (Buteo ridgwayi), nest cavity restoration for the Hispaniolan Parrot (Amazona ventralis), and wintering ecology of the Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli).
[edit] Interesting Facts
- The SOH is the local administrator of Cornell University's and National Audubon Society's eBird project (www.ebird.org/hispaniola).
- Through some of its members, the SOH has the most complete database of bird and nature images on the island, which are used extensively as visual aides for nature and conservancy public awareness.
- It is the Dominican institution with the most members who are fully trained to perform professional studies of avifauna. The group has several year's experience of having collaborated and assisted in several research and bird monitoring projects, most of them conducted by ornithologists from the U.S..
[edit] Books on Hispaniolan birds
- Aves Comunes de la República Dominicana by Steve Latta y La Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola (Spanish)
- Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti published by Princeton University Press in the USA
- Field Guide to the Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti published by Christopher Helm in the UK
- Aves de la República Dominicana by Annabelle Stockton de Dod, José Osorio, Laura Rathe de Cambiaso (Out of print; Spanish)
- Birds of Hispaniola by Allan R. Keith, James W. Wiley, Steven C. Latta and José A. Ottenwalder BOU Checklist 21
