A Big Step Toward Establishing Sister Birding Clubs Between the U.S. and Honduras

               A couple months ago, I had a small dream of trying to link my local bird club in Ithaca, NY (the Cayuga Bird Club) with a club or two in Honduras based on the idea that we share an interest in some of the same birds.  From about May through September, those of us in the Ithaca area enjoy a large diversity of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, cardinal-tanagers, and other Neotropical migrants which breed in North America.  The rest of the year, those migrants travel to, and winter in, areas much farther south.  Honduras is the winter destination for many of those migrants, and many others pass through Honduras on their way even further south for the winter.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on just one of dozens of species of

Neotropical migratory birds that link birders in North and

Central America.  Photo Credit: Gary Tyson.

               I already had planned to travel to Honduras to participate in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour in early November when I had that dream.  I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to travel to Honduras even earlier – in mid-October – to meet with bird clubs, and to experience an immersion into the birding culture of Honduras prior to participating in the Conservation Tour.  The dream I imagined was small and simple.  Little did I know what amazing reality was possible!

               This week, we took a huge step in bringing that dream to reality!  On Friday and Saturday, I was in the western Honduras town of Gracias to meet with members of Club Las Tanunas (the Lesser Roadrunners) and a school-based group called Club Hummingbirds.  Members of these clubs invited me to go birding with them, to share meals and drinks, to see a slide presentation about their clubs and what they do, and to experience a club meeting at which we discussed the sister birding club idea.  Now, 24 hours later, I am still amazed at what happened in that meeting. 

I attended an early morning field trip along the beautiful

Rio Grande on the outskirts of Gracias, Honduras with

members of Club Las Tanunas and Club Hummingbirds.

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

Post field trip coffee and breakfast with Club Las Tanunas and Club Hummingbirds.

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

               Members of Las Tanunas and the Hummingbirds (which were voted in as full members of Las Tanunas at that meeting!) expressed a great desire to be a sister birding club with the Cayuga Bird Club as a first step in developing a network of sister birding clubs between North and Central America!

               What might this relationship look like?  I asked the birders here what they thought a sister birding club relationship might entail, what Cayuga Bird Club members might learn from them, and what tangible benefits they would want from a relationship. Among a lot of ideas, these priorities emerged as desired outcomes for Club Las Tanunas:

·        Help promote Honduras as a safe and wonderful place for North Americans to come for birding.  They perceive that most North American birders either don’t think of Honduras as a birding destination or only see travel alerts from the State Department suggesting that Honduras is dangerous.

·        Help provide birding equipment, not for Club members,

Club Las Tanunas members engage school kids in bird and bird

conservation programming.  Photo credit: Club Las Tanunas.

but for Club members to use to engage other community members (e.g., school groups, the general public in the community, and visitors) in bird appreciation.  Some of the other Clubs in the country have almost no equipment of their own (e.g., binoculars or field guides).  Las Tanunas is fortunate to be different in that they do have some personal or Club equipment.  And, they already put on school programs and bird-related workshops.  Additional binoculars and field guides could go a long way in facilitating the great community-based work they are doing in the Gracias area.

·        Help promote the Gracias area as a birding destination.  Despite its proximity to Celaque National Park (the highest peak in the country) and the occurrence of hard-to-find birds (like Honduran Emerald and Ocellated Quail), Gracias is not very near other, more well-known birding locations in Honduras.  None of the major eco-tourism lodges are located here, and externally-led tour groups generally don’t come here. 

·        Establish a sense of connection about what each sister club is doing on a regular basis.  For example, sister clubs could write a short column in the other club’s newsletter about what they’ve been up to in recent weeks.  We could share archived copies of club presentations, facebook posts, bird pictures and videos, and basic descriptions of what we are seeing (or not seeing) in the way of Neotropical migrant birds.

·        Our clubs also could write letters to the Mayors, Chambers of Commerce, or Tourism Bureaus in the city of the sister birding club to let them know that their local birding club is connected to another club along the Hemispheric Flyway of Neotropical migratory birds.  How much do the residents of Ithaca and Tompkins County in NY know about the Cayuga Bird Club, what we do, and why birds and bird conservation is so important to us?  Wouldn’t a letter from a sister bird club in Honduras give our Club some cache in Ithaca?

·        A delegation from the Cayuga Bird Club could travel to Gracias when they hold their own Birding Blitz next year.

Not surprisingly, members of Las Tanunas and the Cayuga Bird Club share a lot of experiences and attitudes about Neotropical migratory birds.  They told me that they get a little bored in the summer when the Neotropical migrants are breeding up in our part of the hemisphere.  Then, when the migrants return in the fall, it is more exciting again to go birding.  Just like we in Ithaca look forward to migration in the spring, birders here look forward to migration in the fall.   

Many of the club members I talked to try to go birding every day.  They were very happy to show me some of their favorite, near-by birding spots.  Late one afternoon, I went on a bird walk along the river in town with four members of Club Las Tanunas.  It was really fun as their English vocabulary mostly pertained to body parts of birds, and my Spanish vocabulary pertains mostly to ordering food in restaurants.  Nonetheless, we spoke the universal language of birders everywhere.  We pointed out birds to each other, identified them, got excited when we spotted five Wood Storks flying over (the only ones I’ve seen so far in Honduras), and we shared in the awe of seeing fascinating feathered creatures that link us in so many ways.

Members of Las Tanunas differ from the Cayuga Bird Club in some notable ways, however.  Most of Las Tanunas are young males.  They admit to being fairly competitive with each other, but not necessarily with birders outside of the club.  Most of these guys are not college educated, are either low-wage workers or are in between jobs.  Some of the other clubs are associated with colleges or larger towns, and members of those clubs typically have college degrees and somewhat higher paying jobs.  What Las Tanunas may lack in terms of material or financial resources, they more than make up for in terms of their camaraderie, birding excitement and expertise, and dedication to helping local community members better understand birds and threats to bird conservation. 

Luis Fajardo of Club Las Tanunas showing me his club t-shirt.

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

One of the things I enjoyed about my late afternoon walk with the four club members was how much their identity as birders was both central to their lives, and, also so well-accepted as normal by their friends in the community.  On our walk, we passed many of their friends – young men, often with longer hair and tattoos – who they greeted heartily with fist-bumps, hand-clasps, and bear hugs.  These non-birders sometimes asked, “are you looking for birds,” but this was almost more of a statement of fact, rather than a question.  Las Tanunas did not hide or camouflage their identity as birders, they just went about their lives as birders and their relatively macho friends (remember this is a macho, male-dominated society) accepted their identities as birders without batting an eyelash.

During our meeting on Saturday morning, one of their members (and adult mentor of Club Hummingbirds), Francisco Rovelo, translated for me.  Club president, Carlos Caballero, started out with a welcome and a statement of appreciation for all that ASHO has done to support the development and sustainability of their club (e.g., help developing their strategic plan, and help writing to other community institutions about the benefits Las Tanunas can bring to Gracias.   Carlos then shared a brief power point presentation about their club, it’s history, and what it strives to do (Cayuga Bird Club members – we should do this for our Club!). 

President of Club Las Tanunas, Carlos Caballero, presenting

information about the club.  Photo credit: Jody Enck.

I then had the opportunity to talk about the Cayuga Bird Club, and about this dream of establishing sister birding clubs between the U.S. and Honduras.  I didn’t need Francisco’s interpretation to sense how important and meaningful my visit was to Las Tanunas.  The importance of having somebody from outside of Honduras come and want to learn about their club and to experience what it means to be a bird club member from their point of view was really evident.  (I subsequently learned that this excitement and deep appreciation was continued among members of Las Tanunas on their Club Facebook page). 

By the end of this meeting, I was overwhelmed with positive emotions.  I felt appreciated and honored as a guest of Las Tanunas.  I also was filled with awe and appreciation for their dedication to birds, bird conservation, and to each other as birders.  We all shared in a deep desire to be part of something much bigger than just ourselves or our own clubs.  We want to be connected to this bigger group of people across the hemisphere, linked by the birds we all love so much.

Participants in our meeting about sister birding clubs included members of Club

Las Tanunas, members of Club Hummingbirds, Frony Miedema (far left) who is
owner of the Guancascos Hotel and Restaurant, ASHO board member William Orellana
(7th from right), and me (6th from right).  Photo credit: Guancascos Hotel and Restaurant.

Sharing this story on this blog or in presentations when I go back home cannot possible get across the rich and meaningful experiences I have had here.  I definitely want to come back to Honduras, and to bring others here to have these same kinds of experiences.  I feel more energized as a birder than I have felt in a very long time!