Dear Ed,
The short answer is that the Turks and Caicos are not in South America.
On eBird, the entire world is broken up into 22 "Major Regions," which include the World itself, the Western and Eastern Hemispheres, plus nineteen other regions. One of those 19 is called the West Indies; the Turks and Caicos are included in that region. I am not sure how well the ABA's geographical listing criteria match up with eBird's, but I think they are close. This listing area is definitely not in South America.
The Turks and Caicos are also included in a bird-listing region that we used to call the AOU Area. That area is bigger than the ABA Area. The ABA Area consisted of, until very recently, the 49 Continental United States, Canada, and the two little islands that still France owns (just off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes)--but excluding Mexico, Greenland, Hawaii, and the Caribbean and West Indian nations. Very recently, I think last year, the ABA decided (contrary to what I would have done!) to add the state of Hawaii to the ABA Area, thus changing a listing criterion that had held more or less consistent for about half a century.
The term "AOU Area" still appears on some listing documents, but it should be noted that the American Ornithologists Union merged with the Cooper Ornithological Society in 2016; the new organization is called the American Ornithological Society, or AOS. As I understand it, the AOU Area (presumably now called the AOS Area), is roughly equal to the ABA Area, plus Greenland, Mexico, Central America (all the way down to the border of Panama and Colombia), plus almost all of the islands in what we'd call the West Indies or Caribbean. 
As I understand it, the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is not considered part of the AOU Area, nor is it in the ABA's "West Indies" listing area. There are other islands that are in the Caribbean Sea, but which belong to South American lands, such as Colombia and French Guiana, for example. Such islands, including Devil's Island, would have to be considered part of South America. In addition, there are still some islands belonging to former European colonial powers, such as Aruba, that are considered to be in South America, for bird listing purposes.
I will admit that I have spent far too much time playing silly online trivia games on Sporcle; my favorite is the one where the player has to label all 197 countries of the world on a map,  in a specified time. One learns a lot playing it. In the game, Trinidad and Tobago is considered a South American nation, not a "North American" one. All of the other twelve independent nations in the West Indies are considered to be in North America in that infernally addictive game! 
In addition, there are lots of other islands in the West Indies that belong to those former European colonial powers, including the British West Indies and Guadeloupe; those are in the West Indies, not South America.
Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch
On Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 08:28:41 PM PST, <edswan2 at comcast.net> wrote:


Are the Caribbean countries considered part of South America for bird listing purposes?  Specifically the Turks and Caicos Islands?

Thanks,

Ed

Ed Swan

Nature writer and guide

www.theswancompany.com

edswan2 at comcast.net

206.949.3545

 

 
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