Natural history of Trinidad and Tobago hummingbirds to the primitive cave-dwelling oilbird (that uses sonar to fly in the dark) to the spectacularly beautiful scarlet ibis. The islands are within a few miles of Venezuela, and the species are therefore typical of tropical South America. However, the variety (although quite exceptional for such a small geographic area) is somewhat impoverished compared to the mainland, as would be expected with small islands. The resident breeding birds are augmented in the northern winter by migrants from North America. Tobago has only about half the number of bird species of Trinidad, but about 22 birds have been reported only
South Coast Rail deserving funding but did not specifically allocate monies to the project. In September 2013, the Army Corps of Engineers released the Final Environmental Impact statement, with few changes from the Draft statement and cost revised slightly downwards to $1.817 billion. In mid-November 2013, MassDOT began replacement of 42,000 ties along 33 miles of the Fall River and New Bedford branches, funded as a freight improvement project that also serves as a prerequisite for South Coast Rail. On November 13, 2013, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Transportation approved a $12 billion spending authorization that includes $2.2 billion for South Coast Rail.