Faraaz Abdool makes a case for the indigenous and endangered pawi to be the bird on our highest currency note

Here in Trinidad and Tobago, we are immensely lucky to have some of the most beautiful currency notes in the world. Adorned with artwork and security features, our notes are periodically updated to reflect culturally significant facets of our lives.

One of the most biodiverse places on the planet, ours is one of only two countries in the world to have two officially recognised national birds: the scarlet ibis and the rufous-vented chachalaca or cocrico. Our Coat of Arms is adorned by a trio of hummingbirds from the 18 species found here. Birds are also prominent in our currency, with the front of each note featuring a different bird!

Although we gained independence and our own currency in 1962, it was only after the second revision in 1977 that the first birds were introduced on the bills. At this point, not every note had a bird either. The $5, $20, and $100 bills featured flowers and plants; namely the chaconia, hibiscus, and coffee, respectively. In 1985 there was another revision, and this time all denominations featured birds.

The currency notes now feature scarlet ibis $1; Trinidad motmot $5; cocrico $10; hummingbird $20; masked cardinal $50. The only foreigner the greater bird of paradise is on the $100; and on the five cent coin (the only coin depicting a bird since the one cent – scarlet ibis – is no longer in circulation). This resplendent creature is native to the island of New Guinea and the neighbouring Aru Island chain in the Indian Ocean. The history of its arrival in Little Tobago is told in the sidebar here.

Let’s go back in time to the Victorian Era trend of decorating with colourful feathers – or even the taxidermed corpses of entire birds. This resulted in the industrial scale extermination of entire breeding colonies of birds, black grouse from Scandinavia, pheasants from China, along with crowned pigeons and birds-of-paradise from New Guinea. This practice of decorating clothing with feathers was so ubiquitous that it was even used by the British Army as part of their uniforms until 1889. This was only three years after it was noted that an estimated five million birds were being killed each year for their feathers.

At the turn of the 20th century, however, various conservation organisations were pushing back against the thirst for plumes. By the mid 1900s, the flow of feathers into Europe was in decline. While this decline began due to a scarcity of birds, it was accelerated by the conservation pushback. In 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was enacted that granted full protection to more than 1,000 species of birds in North America, including both live and dead birds, eggs, nests, and most notably, feathers.

Four years after the last of the colony on Little Tobago, in 1985, a depiction of a greater bird-of-paradise was introduced in the currency of TT. Additionally, a subsequent revision to the currency in 2002 saw an introduction of a new security feature on every