Wednesday, April 20, 2022

James Bond and the Bahama Nuthatch


James Bond, the ornithologist whose name was lifted by spy-turned-novelist Ian Fleming, discovered the Bahama Nuthatch (Sitta insularis).  

The Bahama Nuthatch is the only member of the Nuthatch family found in the West Indies, and was once endemic to the pine forests of Grand Bahama island.  

After massive logging, predation by invasive snakes and raccoons, and two massive hurricanes in 2016 and 2019, the Bahama Nuthatch may now be extinct.

Bond also discovered the last Eskimo Curlew (shown below with Bond and a museum mount) which was shot by a hunter in Barbados in 1963.

The Eskimo curlew may once have been one of the most numerous shorebirds in North America, with as many as 2 million birds per year killed in the late nineteenth century during the period of market hunting. The Eskimo Curlew is now likely extinct.


And did James Bond, ornithologist ever meet Ian Fleming, former spy and famous author?  

Just once, when Bond visited Fleming (unannounced) at the latter’s Goldeneye estate in Jamaica.  In the 1964 picture, below, Fleming appears taller than Bond because he is standing on a step.  In actuality, James Bond was actually a bit taller than Fleming.


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