Newly elevated to species rank, the Bahama Nuthatch Sitta insularis is or was a bark- and twig-gleaning insectivore only known in life from the pine forests of Grand Bahama in the Bahamas archipelago. It became increasingly difficult to find in the past 50 years, seemingly in part in response to multiple hurricanes in this century. In spring (June–April) 2018, when it was still known to be extant, we divided the island into seven sections and carried out point count transects with playback and measured habitat variables at 464 locations in pine forest across Grand Bahama. We made only six observations at six locations, all in the region of Lucayan North and each involving a single nuthatch (possibly all the same individual). Fourteen count points were within 500 m of the six locations, and tree size at these sites was greater in height and girth than at sites with no observations and indeed than at other sites within Lucayan North. Count points within 500 m of nuthatch records in 2004–2018 had larger trees and more snags than survey points over 500 m away from previous detections, while count points within 500 m of our 2018 nuthatch records tallied more snags than did those within 500 m of the 2004–2007 records. Declines in habitat quality, habitat extent, nesting substrate, and food availability (driven by logging, attritional island development, and the direct and indirect effects of hurricanes), plus speculated increases in populations of invasive predators/competitors and in major mortality events (hurricanes, increasing in force and frequency with climate change), are suspected to be the ultimate causes of the decline of the nuthatch, with Hurricanes Matthew and Dorian the proximate causes of its evident extinction in 2019.

The Bahama Warbler Setophaga flavescens is restricted to Grand Bahama and Abaco in the Bahamas Islands, where in recent decades its pine forest habitat has been seriously affected by hurricanes. To assess its conservation status and determine its habitat requirements, we conducted point transects with playback and simultaneously took measurements at 464 locations in pine forest across Grand Bahama from April to June 2018. Warbler presence was predicted by taller Thatch Palms Thrinax radiata and some fire disturbance, and its absence by a higher number of needleless pines. A comparison of these habitat predictors between the combined regions where warblers were detected (Lucayan Estates and East End) vs. where they were not (West End and Freeport) also revealed that Bahama Warblers showed a marked preference for taller Thatch Palms (>140 cm) and habitat plots within the middle fire disturbance category. These findings suggest that the species is adapted to a climax pine forest habitat maintained under a standard fire regime. Our research was intended to provide a first baseline study of the warbler’s distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama, but the distribution may have radically changed following Hurricane Dorian’s devastation of the island in 2019, and the species may now only survive on Abaco. Nevertheless, ecological insights from Grand Bahama seem likely to help conservation management on Abaco, but both islands now need to be surveyed.