March 26, birdwatching group, Los Pelicanos Pardos (the Brown Pelicans) of Rio Hondo participated in a national bird count competition promoted by Adopta Panama. Little did they know, they would win third place! (A pair of binoculars, two bird books, and a professionally guided tour along Pipeline Trail, as pictured below.)
In December, 2022, the members of Los Pelicanos and the Carpinteros Alineados (the Lineated Woodpeckers of Rio Platanares) received training in bird guiding and technologies, including how to use E-bird. Since then, they have recorded 224 species of birds in E-bird, and have participated in Panama's Big Day (March 26) and Global Big Day (May 13), which was also the International Migratory Bird Count.
Los Pelicanos and Carpinteros Alineados are not the only Wounaan birdwatchers contributing to international bird conservation efforts. The Oropendolas Negras and Tangaras Azules of Puerto Lara started off 2023 with their fifth Christmas Bird Count (CBC), recording the greatest diversity and number of birds since they began their CBC in 2018.
Native Future started the Wounaan Bird Count with the Wounaan National Congress and Wounaan communities with one over-riding objective in mind, "To show the world the conservation Wounaan have practiced for generations." Participation in bird counts is doing just that, and more. Wounaan bird enthusiasts and bird guides are also practicing their bird identification skills (in their native language, Wounaan meu, Spanish and English), and they are preparing to receive birdwatching tourists.
Thank you to our donors, and Otter Fonds for supporting the Wounaan Bird Count!