Last weekend I attended a “Bird Observation and
Identification Workshop” at La Reserva Ecológica Manglares Churute, the Reserve
I work with. We spent all Saturday sitting through charlas given by a local
guide who clearly has an affinity for avian. We went over the anatomy of birds,
their scientific names, and the art of bird-watching. Yes, art of bird-watching. Now, when I think of ‘bird-watching’ I
picture an older couple who look like they just stepped out of their Floridian
condo armed with binoculars, sandals with knee-high socks, a wide-brimmed
visor, and a fanny pack ready to get a quick glimpse of their sought-after bird. Not exactly my idea of a good time
but to each his or her own. That night we went on a dark trek into the Reserve
to get a feel for listening to birds. Unfortunately all we heard were bats
(wannabe birds) as we maneuvered our way through the dark paths with our
flashlights. We made it back to our tents and I attempted to go to bed early
because we had to wake up at 5:00am the next morning.
It took a great effort to get out of my tent before the sun
came up because I was unable to sleep due to the sound of the Panamericana
traffic and obnoxious laughter from a few of the men who decided to drink Pilsner
until 2:00 in the morning. We headed out away from the Panamericana into the
Reserve to do some early morning bird-watching because it is the best time of
the day to do so. The guide took us through the forest stopping every few feet,
perking his ears to the sound of the birds and identifying them simply from hearing
their call. He knew the specific bird instantly and was able to tell me a
majority of their common names in English. We slowly walked behind him as he
held his professional microphone in the air recording the symphony of bird
songs and getting excited. His ebullience was contagious. Despite him being
quite chuchaqui he was happy as a lark to share his enthusiasm of
bird-observation with us.
I do think birds are interesting creatures and their diversity
is mind-boggling but what I find most interesting about bird-watching is the
bird-watching industry. Ecuadorian institutions such as the Ministerio del
Turismo are working toward enticing foreigners from countries such as the U.S.
to visit Ecuador by directing their advertisements toward birding enthusiasts. Ecuador
is working to be the “Centro de Aviturismo Mundial” which would certainly bring
hoards of visitors to not only to partake in the great diversity of avian but
also the myriad of flora and fauna that call this tiny country home. Ecuador’s
tourism initiative is putting the spotlight more on mainland Ecuador rather than
the prized Galapagos Islands. The Coast, Sierra and Amazon regions offer just
as much wildlife to gawk at for a fraction of the cost and tourists will also
be able to enjoy Ecuador’s cultural diversity while trekking through the
country’s many ecological reserves and national parks.
Although ‘birders’ are a niche market for the tourism
industry it is a gold mine. Americans love birds. I never stopped to think
about this statement as being fact until I began working with tourism in
Ecuador. I was told this during an Eco-tourism workshop I attended with fellow
NRC eco-turismo volunteers in August and I was told this again during the
bird-watching workshop at the Reserve I work with. I decided to do a little
investigation using good ol’ trusty Google and I found this to actually be
true. The most recent statistics conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006, birdwatchers contributed
$36 billion to the US economy and one fifth (20%) of all Americans are
identified as birdwatchers. Americans buy birding books, birding equipment,
bird-feeders, and birding tours. We participate in bird-watching competitions,
we gloat our ‘observed birds’ online, and we’ve created special bird-watching
clubs and organizations. We have bleeding heart for birds; what is the
emblematic animal of freedom for our country? Americans will be happy to know
that Ecuador offers 1,559 different species of birds, 50 of which are
endangered and Ecuador will be happy to know that Americans are willing to
spend the money and time to observe them.
So for those of
us you who are working or hope to work with tourism initiatives in your
communities perhaps Aviturismo is
something your community would like to look into.
Expats Birding in EcuadorPhotos and Info of Ecua-birds
