This Saturday, May 11, the most important bird watching day in the world returns and Huila joins this citizen science event that brings together bird lovers.
By: Héctor Fabio Muñoz Figueroa – @hefamu1
The Neiva Botanical Garden will be one of the meeting points, this May 11, for lovers of birds and nature during the celebration of Global Big Day 2024. This international event, aimed at bird watching and recording, is the perfect opportunity to explore and appreciate the biodiversity of the region.
This was announced by Sebastián Betancourth of the Ornithological Component of the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Alto Magdalena – CAM, who indicated that from 6:00 am, throughout Huila, the participants will meet in the different ecosystems that the department has and that are home of many species of birds.
In the south of Huila the meeting is in the La Coneca wetland located on the Marengo farm, headquarters of the Southern Territorial of the CAM.
“Global Big Day is a citizen science event that involves the entire community and not specifically in research or academic topics, but rather seeks to contribute data to promote bird conservation“, indicated Jhonny Sebastián Betancourth.
The bird professional announced that this year the objective of the world event is to search for the endemic species of each region and “In the department we have 13 species, which, added to the common birds found in different ecosystems, will comply with the Global Big Day motto that indicates that Every Bird Counts.”said Betancourth.
Nature lovers
The day is open not only to bird experts, but also to the community interested in spending a day in nature and learning more about the importance of bird conservation.
“This year we have a balance of participation of about 402 people who make up organizations, monitoring groups, institutions and public and private companies in 24 municipalities of the department and that is quite positive”said the ornithologist.
Therefore, Betancourth assured that, if last year with around 250 participants from 20 municipalities they managed to record 462 species of the 750 that exist in Huila, this year with more participants, the number of species sighted is expected to increase.
For this, the Huila Ornithological Association, in charge of knowledge, development and dissemination of local and national birdlife, has carried out a series of virtual workshops to give the community tools to participate in this search.
“In April we held five virtual workshops so that people could participate and learn: what bird watching is, what the platforms are, how to identify birds, we even held a discussion”, assured the ornithologist.
Topics such as citizen science, bird watching: basic concepts and tools, eBird and Merlin: Uses and recommendations and Strategies for the conservation of Huila’s birds were part of the workshops held in April.
“We have a group of explorers with more experiences, in addition to Buscatón, which invites participants to look for key species, that is, endemic ones, but also those that we have in the department that are charismatic or rare. The objective is to search while generating environmental education”Sebastián explained.
Recommendations to participate
Finally, the ornithologist of the environmental entity called on the community not to miss the opportunity to be part of this global event and to discover why Huila is biodiverse and is the department that has registered the greatest diversity of birds in recent years. Colombian species.
In addition, he invited attendees to download applications such as “eBird”, to identify the species observed and share photographs and data that contribute to citizen science projects.
He also invited participants to dress in soft, brown, green and blue colors that Saturday, apply sunscreen, wear a hat or umbrella and, if they have them, bring binoculars and cameras to the activity so that in addition to supporting conservation efforts through monitoring local species with your participation in the Global Big Day, enjoy nature.
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