Central America

During Easter Week 2017, eight teenagers participated in the first eBird camp organized by Zamorano University in Honduras. Ranging in age from 13 to 17 years, the campers have been birding for anywhere from two years to just a few days.  The objective of the camp was to encourage young birders to learn best practices when reporting birds to eBird, to improve their bird identification skills, and to increase the local capacity for providing birding tourism services in the medium and long-term future. The campers observed more than 200 species of birds during the four days of the camp, held on the university campus and in adjoining natural areas managed by Zamorano University.

Participants of the 2017 Zamorano eBird Camp. Photo by Oliver Komar.

The camp graduates all now have eBird accounts, and learned about how to report their bird observations using eBird mobile, and to share their bird lists with birding companions. They also learned tips for documenting birds with photographs. And of course, they learned about bird migration, habitat specialization, and the diversity of ecosystems in the Yeguare River watershed where Zamorano is situated. “It was an excellent experience, I acquired a lot of new knowledge about the birds and, more than anything, I had a lot of fun doing what I like,” said Daniel Torres, a high school senior from Gracias, Lempira.

Funding for the camp, including eight full scholarships, was provided by The Lodge and Spa at Pico Bonito, with fees collected during the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour 2016. The camp is part of Zamorano’s Bird Education in Honduras program that was awarded one of the tour’s conservation prizes. Thus birders visiting Honduras provided funding to support local young birders, who in turn will help assure their country is always rich in birds, bird distribution information (through eBird), and tourism services for birders.

Camp facilitators Oliver Komar and Mayron Mejía are vice president and president, respectively, of the Honduras Ornithological Association, and both are eBird reviewers for Honduras. Komar is also a professor of biodiversity at Zamorano University.  For more information, contact Oliver at okomar@zamorano.edu.