Central America

Migratory birds are an important component of the avifauna of the Central American countries. They make up approximately 25% of the avifauna of Costa Rica and almost 50% of El Salvador’s avifauna, and migratory birds are our natural resource even when they do not complete their life cycle in these latitudes. This percentage is divided between austral migratory and nearctic migratory birds. The second group is larger and is also subdivided in two: transients and wintering residents. The transients are observed only on their way to their final destination, which is South America in the boreal winter, and when heading back to North America in spring. These include shorebirds such as Baird’s Sandpiper and raptors like Swainson’s Hawk or Mississippi Kite, and members of other diverse families, from the tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird to the large American White Pelican.

To increase the general public’s awareness to this component of our fauna, initiatives have been created such as the World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD), celebrated in the second weekend of May. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua have participated in this effort. Another initiative is International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) promoted by the non-profit organization Environment for the Americas (EFTA), based in Colorado, USA. The objective of this initiative is to launch events that help create awareness about conservation of migratory birds through general public outreach. IMBD is celebrated in 570 sites across the American continent and this year Honduras will join the effort by organizing and celebrating IMBD events during this migration season (more information on the Facebook group: Proyecto DIAM- Honduras). The celebrations in Latin America take place on the second weekend of October; however, IMBD is an event that can be celebrated on any date.

The IMBD celebration events include different activities: educational talks, art events, paint, drawing contests and bird watching. The IMBD celebration has a complementary purpose of establishing alliances with institutions (museums, national parks, schools, bird watching clubs) to coordinate events every year. This way it is hoped that the message is spread about the importance of protecting migratory birds.

From the options to celebrate IMBD, birdwatching is perhaps, the most basic but the most effective to engage and create a bond between people and this resource. For this reason we invite all Central American birders to celebrate IMBD on any of their birding days during this migration season 2013-2014 and to share your observations on eBird Central America. However the added challenge that we propose is to use this activity to pass the knowledge we possess about migratory birds within our territories to all people that show an interest in learning about birds. If you wish to celebrate IMBD in a creative way, we invite you to visit EFTA’s website (www.birdday.org) where you may access educational material and ideas of how to register your event.

Help this initiative take flight!