Honduras by the numbers -- Part II

          In my last blog post, I covered all birds I encountered on my recent trip to Honduras, from Tinamous through Parrots.  Just a reminder that I was in Honduras to try to establish a network of sister bird clubs between the U.S. and Honduras.  That effort was met with enthusiasm by everyone I met there.  Many thanks to all the birders from those clubs as well as people not affiliated with clubs for showing me the most wonderful hospitality imaginable.  I never would have gotten to as many places in the country nor seen as many birds as I did without the generosity and kindness of many, many people.  Thanks to you all.   

          When we last left out intrepid blogger, he was mentioning all the Parrots, Parakeets, and Macaws he saw in Honduras.  Let's pick up the story with some birds with the word "ant" in their name.

Antshrikes, Antvireos, Antwrens, Antbirds, Antpittas, Ant-Thrushes, and Leaftossers
These are some of the denizens of the Rainforest and similar habitats.  As their name implies, they often are associated with ant

lack-faced Ant-Thrush.  Photo Credit: Animalia-Life.com.

swarms.  Mostly they don't eat the ants, but rather east the insects and other small animals that are trying to escape the huge columns of ants.  23 of these species occur in Honduras, including 5 Antshrikes, 2 Antvireos, 4 Antwrens, 6 Antbirds, 3 Antpittas, 1 Ant-Thrush, and 2

Plain Antvireo.  Photo Credit: Eleanor Briccetti.  

Leaftossers.  As you might guess, none of these are Neotropical migratory birds.  Sadly, I only managed to see 6 of these 23 species, including 3 different species of Antshrikes, Plain Antvireo, Dusky Antbird, the Black-faced Ant-Thrush.  I even got to watch the Antvireo attending an ant swarm -- until I realized the ants were swarming up my pants legs!
          Note to self: when watching a group of birds attending an ant swarm getting closer and closer to you, don't forget to look down at some point.  You may be lucky enough to see the ants swarming around your feet before they start crawling up your legs.

Woodcreepers

Northern Barred Woodcreeper.  Photo Credit: John van Dort and

Maculey Library 37832151. 

14 species occur in Honduras.  These are not related to the Brown Creeper familiar to birders in the U.S.  They are in a completely different family.  Superficially they are shaped like a Brown Creeper on steroids.  And, they do hunt up the boles of trees somewhat like the birds with which we are familiar, but that is about where the comparison ends.  I was lucky enough to see 9 species of Woodcreeper in Honduras.

Plain Xenops, Foliage-Gleaners, Striped Woodhaunter, and Spinetails
More residents of the Rainforest.  In addition to the Xenops and the Woodhaunter, there are 3 species of Foliage-Gleaners and 2 species of Spinetails.  I was fortunate to see Plan Xenops, all 3 Foliage-Gleaners, and Rufous-breasted Spinetail.  The Spinetail was the last new bird our team recorded (about 5 minutes from the end) on the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour. 

Flycatchers and Other Catchers of Flies, including Tyrannulets, Pygmy-Tyrant, Tyrants, Elaenias, Flatbill, Spadebills, Tody-Flycatcher, Pewees, Wood-Pewees, Black Phoebe, Bright-rumped Attila, Rufous Mourner, and Kingbirds

Great-crested Flycatcher.  Photo Credit: Larkwire.com.

This huge group of birds (62 species occur in Honduras) certainly includes some of the Neotropical migratory species we northerners think of as "our birds of summer."  Quite a few Empidonax and Myiarchus Flycatchers fall into this group, along with Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and several Kingbirds with which we are familiar here in the U.S.  I was lucky to see more than one-half of

Bright-rumped Attila.

Photo Credit: Planetbirds.blogspot.com.

these species, tallying 34 flycatcher-like birds while in Honduras.  12 of these were old friends - Neotropical migrants that I have seen many times in the U.S.  While I really enjoyed seeing these old friends,

who can't like seeing new species with spiffy names like, Northern Bentbill, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Bright-rumped Attila, and Paltry Tyrannulet?


Lovely Birds and Dancers: Cotingas, Bellbird, Piha, and Manakins

Lovely Cotinga.  Photo Credit: Pico

Bonito Lodge.

9 total species occur in this group: 2 Cotingas, 1 Bellbird, 1 Piha, 4 Manakins and 1 Piprites (that used to be a Manakin).  Fortunately, I got to see Lovely Cotingas and 2 species of Manakins.  As it turned out, my awesome Honduran guide for the Birding for Conservation Tour, Esdras Lopez, has a dream of doing natural history research on Lovely Cotingas because they are a bit of a mystery.  Let me know if you would like to travel to Honduras to help him out with this endeavor.


Tityras, Northern Schiffornis, Speckled Mourner, and Becards
Another group of tropical birds we never see in North America.  8 species occur in Honduras.  I was fortunate to see 4 of those species.

Peppershrike, Shrike-Vireo, Greenlets,

Rufous-browed Peppershrike.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.

and Vireos
You may only recognize the name Vireo out of this list if you live

in North America.  Indeed, 6 of the 13 species of Vireo that occur in Honduras are Neotropical migrants.  Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Green Shrike-Vireo, and 2 species of Greenlets do not range into North America.  I saw 6 species of Vireo, both Greenlet species, and the Peppershrike in Honduras.  I certainly recognized some of "my birds of summer" among the Vireos I saw.

Jays and Common Raven
In addition to Common Raven, 8 species of Jay occur in Honduras.  Besides Steller's Jay that does not really look like the North American version, and Green Jay and Brown Jay that barely sneak across the Mexican border into south Texas, North Americans would not recognize the beautiful Jays of Honduras.  Fortunately for me, I got to see 5 species.

Swallows and Martins
About a dozen species of Swallows and Martins can be found in Honduras, and about one-half of those are Neotropical migrants.  I got to see 8 species of Swallows and Martins during my time in the country.

Brown Creeper
Note that this bird is not related closely to the Woodcreepers I covered above.  It looks a lot like the Brown Creepers with which we are familiar in North America, but it is a different subspecies.  I did not see one while I was in Honduras.

Wrens, Wood-Wrens, and Gnatwren

Long-billed Gnatwren.  Photo Credit: Flickr.

19 species of Wren, Wood-Wren, and Gnatwren occur in Honduras.  I saw 9 species of Wren, 1 species of Wood-Wren, and the Long-billed Gnatwren.






Gnatcatchers
3 species occur in Honduras, including the Neotropical migrant Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  I saw a clean sweep of all 3 species.

American Dipper
Yes, this bird of fast-moving, mountain streams occurs in Honduras.  No, I did not see it.

Bluebirds, Solitaires, and Thrushes

Wood Thrush.  Photo Credit: EJPhoto.com.

17 species can be found in Honduras, including about 4 Neotropical migrants.  My favorite bird of the north woods, Wood Thrush, is among the migrants that winter in Honduras.  I saw 7 species.  And, yes, seeing Wood Thrushes put a smile on my face on several days.

Mimids, American Pipit, and Cedar Waxwing
Blue-and-White Mockingbird, Tropical Mockingbird, the Neotropical migrant Gray Catbird occur in good numbers along with the rarer, visiting Pipit and Waxwing.  I saw the first three species and missed seeing any Pipits or Waxwings.

Warblers
About 53-55 species of Warblers can be found in Honduras.  Of

Golden-cheeked Warbler.  Photo Credit: John van Dort and

Macauley Library 37959441.

these, 38 are Neotropical migrants.  You might say that Warblers are definitely among "our birds of summer" in North America.  I saw 38 species of Warblers including 33 Neotropical migrant species!  One day I got stunning views of several threatened Golden-cheeked Warblers.

(Real) Tanagers and Shrike-Tanagers

Golden-hooded Tanager.  Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks

Adventure and Birding Tours.

These are not the birds we northerners call Tanagers, like Scarlet Tanager and Summer Tanager (which are really more closely related to Cardinals).  12 species of (real) Tanagers occur in Honduras.  I was lucky enough to see 6 of those.


Honeycreepers, Blue Dacnis, and Cinnamon-bellied Flower-Piercer
3 species of Honeycreeper occur along with these 2 other species.  I only saw Red-legged and Green Honeycreepers.

Seed-Finches, Seedeaters, Grassquits, and Bananaquit
10 of these small, mostly seed-eating birds occur in Honduras.  I saw 5 species.

Saltators and Slate-colored Grosbeak

Buff-throated Saltator.  Photo Credit: Hidephotography.com.

3 species of Saltator occur along with this particular Grosbeak.  I was lucky enough to encounter all 3 species of Saltator, including Buff-throated, Black-headed, and Grayish.


Sparrows, Ground-Sparrows,
Brushfinch, and Chlorospingus
16 species occur in Honduras, and 3 are Neotropical migrants.  I saw 8 species, but none of the migrants.

Cardinal Tanagers and Ant-Tanagers
This group includes Scarlet, Summer, Hepatic, and Western Tanagers that North Americans know as birds of summer.  It also includes 3 other tropical species of Tanagers and 2 species of Ant-Tanagers.  I saw both species of Ant-Tanagers and 4 of the 7 species of Tanagers.

Northern Cardinal, Grosbeaks, and Buntings
8 species occur, 3 of which are Neotropical migrants.  I saw 5 species, including the migratory Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Painted Bunting, and Indigo Bunting.

Blackbirds and Allies

Spot-breasted Oriole.  Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks

Adventure and Birding Tours.

In addition to 2 species of Blackbirds, these include Great-tailed Grackle, Eastern Meadowlark, 2 species of Cowbirds, Dickcissel, and 10 species of Orioles.  I managed to see both species of Blackbirds, the Grackle, the Meadowlark, both species of Cowbirds, and 7 species of Orioles.

Oropendulas
2 species occur in Honduras.  I got to see both of them.

Chlorophonia and Euphonias

Blue-crowned Chlorophonia.  Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks

Adventure and Birding Tours.

7 species of Euphonia occur in addition to Blue-crowned Chlorophonia.  I saw the Chlorophonia and 5 species of Euphonia.






Last but not Least
Red Crossbill, Black-headed Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, and House Sparrow all occur.  I saw them all.  I do want to note, however, that I only saw 2 House Sparrows in 4 and one-half weeks of birding in Honduras.  One was during the Lake Yojoa Birding Blitz early in my trip.  The other was at a gas station where we stopped during the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.  On the day we saw it on the Tour, it was our "bird of the day" because it was so hard to find. 

Birds.  They lead us to do some very crazy things.  They also lead us to make new friends, to stretch our imaginations, and to broaden our dreams.  In Honduras, birds led me to do all these things.

Honduras by the numbers -- Part I

          Readers of this blog will know that I just returned from almost five weeks in Honduras.  One of my main reasons for going was to meet with bird clubs there to explore the idea of developing a network of sister bird clubs between North America and Central America.  That part of my trip was a rousing success as I have reported previously. 

A reunion of sorts took place on 6 November at Pico Bonito

Lodge.  Two of my new friends from bird clubs in Honduras,

Hector Moncada (on left, from San Pedro Sula) and
Francisco Rovelo (on right, from Gracias), were there
participating in an education workshop put on by BirdSlueth

International (from Cornell University) and I was participating

in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.

Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

          The two other successful aspects of my trip were to participate in the Lake Yojoa Birding Blitz in mid October and to also participate in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour during the first half of November.  If making a couple dozen new friends and seeing hundreds of species of birds equals success, then I had the grandest of successful times!

          Upon reading some of my earlier blog posts in late October, one of my new friends from Zamorano University noticed that I wrote a lot more about the people I was meeting and experiences I was having than about the birds I was seeing.  This post is to "correct" that deficiency.  All the bird species in photos below are species that I saw.

          One can find about 765 species of birds in Honduras assuming you have the time and wherewithal to scour every corner of this geographically and ecologically diverse country and have lots on luck on your side.  One of these bird species, a beautiful

little hummingbird called the Honduran Emerald, is found nowhere

Honduras' only endemic bird species: the Honduran Emerald.

Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks Adventure and Birding Tours.

else on Earth except in Honduras.  Another 75 of so species are resident rainforest birds that you can find only in the largely inaccessible eastern reaches of Honduras called Mosquitia -- or farther south in Central America.  Of the 765 bird species one can encounter in Honduras, only about 140 or so (excluding seabirds) are our North American "Birds of Summer" -- Neotropical migratory birds that breed up in North America and winter in, or migrate through, Honduras.

          According to my records, I ended up seeing/hearing 387 species of birds in Honduras -- almost exactly half of the birds that occur in the entire country.  Of these, 174 were Life Birds for me.  (For non-birders, a Life Bird is a species that you have never seen/heard before in your life).  This means that about 45% of the species I encountered in Honduras were completely new to me.  That's a great trip!

          Below is a breakdown of what I encountered.  These numbers are not exact (in terms of the numbers of migrants vs. resident birds, etc.).  I provide approximations just to give you a sense of what I encountered.

Tinamous
4 species occur in Honduras.  

Great Tinamou for those of you who don't know what

a Tinamou is.  Photo Credit: Wikipedia.  

All species are residents (not Neotropical migrants).  I saw/heard 2 of the 4 species, and both were Life Birds for me. 

Ducks and Geese
About 15 species occur in Honduras, and 8 or so of these are migrants that also occur in North America.  I saw 6 species of ducks and 4 were migrants. 

Chachalacas, Curassow, Guans
6 resident species occur.  I only encountered one: Plain Chachalaca.

New World Quails Partridges

The mythical Ocellated Quail.  Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks

Adventure and Birding Tours.

8 resident species occur.  I was lucky enough to see/hear 4 species, all of which were life birds for me.

Grebes
2 resident species occur.  I saw Pied-billed Grebe (yes, these birds migrate south from New York State for the winter, but the subspecies in Honduras is a resident one).

Shearwaters, Storm-Petrels, Tropicbirds, Frigatebirds
About 10-12 of these ocean-living birds have been recorded in Honduras.  The Magnificent Frigatebirds I encountered were a new Life Bird Species for me.  

American Flamingo, Jabiru, Wood Stork 
Of these 3 mostly resident species, I encountered Wood Storks.

Boobies, Cormorants, Anhinga, Pelicans
8 of these species can be found in Honduras.  Although some show some seasonal patterns of occurrence, none are Neotropical migrants.  I saw 3 of these species.

Herons, Egrets, Bitterns, Ibises, Spoonbill
23 species occur in Honduras.  None of the 13 species I saw are Neotropical migrants although some do migrate short distances.

Vultures, Hawks, and Eagles

White-breasted Hawk -- a Central American subspecies

of our more familiar Sharp-shinned Hawk. 

Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

A whopping 39 species occur in Honduras, and about a dozen show seasonal occurrence.  Still, only about 5 are truly Neotropical migrants breeding in North America and wintering in Honduras or farther south.  I saw 21 species, including Cooper's Hawk and Broad-winged Hawk which are Neotropical migrants. 

King Vulture, a truly remarkable bird.  Photo. Credit: Beaks

and Peaks Adventure and Birding Tours.

I also was fortunate to see all 4 species of vulture that occur in Honduras: Black, Turkey, Lesser Yellow-headed, and King.




Rails, Crakes, Gallinules, Coots, Sunbittern, Sungrebe, and Limpkin
About 16 species can be found in Honduras, with American Coot ad Sora (a rail) being migrants.  I saw/heard 10 of those.  I missed out on a "big one," though.  I was in a boat in the mangroves of Cuerro y Salado Wildlife Refuge from which several people spotted a

Two Rufous-necked Wood-Rails in front being photo-bombed

by a Russet-necked Wood-Rail (right in the center of the

photo, heading right).  Photo Credit: Jeff Gordon.

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail photo-bombing 2 Russet-naped Wood-Rails.  I was so fixated on the Russet-naped pair that I only got a quick glimpse of the Rufous-necked species running behind the other 2 birds.  Luckily, our leader, Jeff Gordon, President of the American Birding Association, got a picture!  Although I could not count it on my life list, our team got to count it on the team list.  The photo provided the first documented evidence of this species for the Department of Atlántida in Honduras.  I did see the bird running behind the other two in front, but did not get a good look at it.

Shorebirds: Sandpipers, Plovers, and allies
40 species occur in Honduras, and about 15 of these are migrants that winter in Honduras.  I saw 14 of the 40 species of shorebirds.

Gulls and Terns
26 of these species have been reported in Honduras, and none of those are what you would call Neotropical migrants.  Indeed, with the exception of Laughing Gull, most gull species occur as uncommon visitors.  The tropics are more about Terns than Gulls.
I saw Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, and Sandwich Tern.

Doves and Pigeons
22 species occur in Honduras, with Mourning Dove being the only true migrant.  I was fortunate to see 14 species, but I did not see a Mourning Dove!

Cuckoos, Lesser Roadrunner, and Anis
11 species occur, with 3 or 4 being migrants, including our familiar Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Black-billed Cuckoo.  I saw 6 species, including the Neotropical migrant Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Owls
16 species of owls can be found in Honduras if you are willing to explore the wilds in the dark and have lots of luck on your side.  I was lucky enough to encounter 4 species of owl.

Great Potoo, a really amazing and somewhat strange bird.

Photo credit: Bill Thompson III.

Nightjars and Potoos

8 species of Nightjar and 2 species of Potoo occur.  I saw 2 species of Nightjars and had great looks at multiple Great Potoos.

Swifts

For those of us in the northeastern U.S. where we can encounter only Chimney Swift, the 10 species of Swift in Honduras make it well worthwhile to check out every flock you see.  I was lucky enough to spot half of the species that are possible to see.

Hummingbirds
There are 42 or 43 species of Hummingbirds in Honduras, apparently including Buff-bellied Hummingbird which was

Even in the rain, this Crowned Woodnymph shows off its

spectacular colors.  Photo credit: John van Dort and

Macauley Library 37692311.

photographed for the very first time in Honduras during the 2016 Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.  Of all of these Hummingbirds, 5 or 6 exhibit seasonal occurrence, and one (Ruby-throated Hummingbird) is a true Neotropical migrant.  When I counted up the Hummingbird species I saw, I was astounded to note that I saw 25 species!  And, yes, I did see several Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  Maybe one of those spent the summer in my local patch in New York State.

Black-headed Trogon.  Photo Credit:

Bill Thompson III.

Resplendent Quetzal and Trogons
In addition to the Quetzal, 7 species of Trogon occur.  I was fortunate enough to see a pair of Quetzals and 4 species of Trogon.










Motmots

Turquoise-browed Motmot.  Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

7 species can be found in Honduras.  I enjoyed seeing 3 of those species.  Even with my little point and shoot camera, I was able to get decent pictures of both Lesson's Motmot and Turquoise-browed Motmot.


Kingfishers, Puffbirds, and Jacamars
6 species of Kingfisher, including the migratory Belted Kingfisher, occur in Honduras along with 3 species of Puffbirds and 2 Jacamar species.  I was lucky to see 5 species of Kingfisher, including Belted and the really tiny American Pygmy-Kingfisher.  I missed out on the Puffbirds, but did encounter Rufous-tailed Jacamars.

Toucans, Emerald Toucanet, and Collared Aracari
5 species can be found in Honduras.  These are among the most iconic species of the Rainforest and similar habitats.  I encountered 3 of these species on multiple occasions. 

A pair of Olivaceous Piculets, the smallest woodpeckers in the

hemisphere.  Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks Adventure and

Birding Tours.

Woodpeckers
16 species occur, including the migratory Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  Woodpeckers are among my most favorite bird species because their behavior makes them some of the easiest species to study for long periods of time.  I saw 11 species, including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Olivaceous Piculet.
Falcons
13 species of Falcon can be spotted in Honduras, including the migratory Merlin and Peregrine.  I saw/heard (yes, several Falcon species are easily identifiable by voice) 7 species, including both migrant species.  My favorite to both see and hear probably was Laughing Falcon.  The most amazing Falcon-related experience I had was watching a Bat Falcon pluck and eat a female Three-wattled Bellbird near the Pico Bonito Lodge.  Although not countable on my Life List, the Bellbird was the first of its species recorded from the Department of Atlántida in Honduras.

Parrots, Parakeets, and Macaws

White-fronted Parrots, named for the white on their foreheads.

Photo Credit: Beaks and Peaks Adventure and Birding Tours.

17 species of this noisy and beautiful group of birds occur in Honduras.  I saw 7 species, including Scarlet Macaws from a restored, free-flying population near the Copan ruins in western Honduras.

I will cover the rest of the birds I saw in Honduras in a second post on this subject.

Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour

               I just finished my trip to Honduras.  I’ve really enjoyed meeting with birders from many of the bird clubs in Honduras, and laying the groundwork for establishing a network of sister birding clubs between the U.S. and Honduras.  To wrap up my trip, I have spent the last nine days participating in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.

               This Tour was the first of its kind in the country.  The main purpose of the Tour was to bring attention to Honduras as a safe, bio-diverse, and exciting place for avitourists to visit.  The hope is that more avitourists coming to enjoy the country will translate into more protection for the birds that avitourists want to experience, and especially for the habitats on which those birds depend.   

Participants in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour were welcomed in amazing ways everywhere

we birded on the Tour.  This sign greeted us at te Pico Bonito Lodge on the north coast of Honduras.  

Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

               Five teams of ten birders each competed for nine days to see (and/or hear) as many bird species as possible in designated counting areas.  Each of these teams was led by a dynamic duo composed of an internationally known bird tour leader and a local Honduran bird guide.  Each of the five teams was outfitted with a bus and driver to take us to the counting areas each day, and to transport us to three different geographic areas of the country over the nine days of the Tour.

We chose to call our team "The Ant Swarm" in honor of all the

various bird species that can be found attending ant swarms in the

tropics.  This was the bus for "The Ant Swarm."  Our great driver,

Miguel, made sure we got safely from place to place.

Photo credit: Jody Enck. 

          Our Team was first headquartered at the Pico Bonito Lodge for four days of birding the rainforest and coastal marshes of the north coast.  Then we traveled to the more arid and higher area around the City of Copan (where we stayed at the Hotel Marina Copan) and the Mayan ruins in western Honduras.  Our team wrapped up the Tour by being headquartered for a couple days at Panacam Lodge in Cero Azul Meambar National Park near Lake Yojoa more in the central part of the country. 

               The Tour has been a fun, exhausting, and informative time.  The President of Honduras, Juan Hernandez, has supported this Tour by contributing $20,000 U.S. in prize money to be awarded to in-country conservation projects, facilitating infrastructure improvements for the Tour, ensuring official media coverage, and providing (unnecessary) extra security for participants.  An additional $15,000 U.S.  (approximately) was donated by corporate sponsors.  The funds provided by the President and the sponsors were available to be designated by the competing teams to various conservation programs within the country. 

               I’ll write about our birding experiences in another blog post.  I’ll also write about the in-country conservation programs that received the funds designated by the winning teams.  For now, suffice it to say that the team on which I participated came in third, and was honored to designate $5,000 to a conservation program.  The remainder of this blog post will focus more on some musings about conservation that emerged during my participating in the Tour.

What’s in a name?

               This incredible event was called the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.  The website that attracted me to want to participate, various emails, Facebook posts, and discussions with Tour organizers all made important points about conservation.  Media about the event raised awareness about conservation needs and conservation successes in Honduras.  The Tour raised and distributed more than $35,000 U.S. to three different conservation programs.  Many participants said they would return, and bring their friends with them next time.  This will produce additional conservation benefits. 

There was a lot of media coverage throughout the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.

Here one of our team members, an expat from the U.K. now living in Bolivia,

is interviewed for Honduras TV while other team members look on.   Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

               These all are important points.  By many measures, the Tour was a huge success for Honduras.  Yet, I still am left pondering about the connections between these points (and many other possible ones) and bird conservation in Honduras.  If you connect some of those points, what does the picture look like?

Connecting the dots.

Just like there are many stars in the night sky, there are many points of light associated with this tour.  Turning those various points into a “Bird Conservation” constellation requires connecting the dots.  But, this does not mean connecting the dots in some

Drawing of Johan Bayer's "Southern Birds" showing some

bird constellations in the southern sky, including Toucana

in the center of the drawing. 

haphazard way.  Think about all those stars in the night sky.  Recognizing which stars make up specific constellations requires both an understanding of the stories behind the naming of the constellations, and enough imagination to visualize the appropriate connections between stars.

          Understanding and imagination.  Both are important, and neither occur by magic.  Developing understanding and imagination takes focused engagement and transformative experiences.  Here are some examples of what I mean.

          First, this Tour was set up as a fun competition with a goal of seeing as many species as possible.  Many of us (50 birders mostly from the U.S., U.K., and South Africa) did not know very well very many of the birds of Central America.  Because of this, we spent a lot of birding in more open, disturbed habitats where (1) it was

Birding in a corn field planted in the buffer zone of Cero Azul National Park,

Honduras.  Fields like this held good numbers of a diversity of species that  

we recognized, including migratory warblers, orioles, vireos, and flycatchers. 

But, these kinds of habitats lacked any of the habitat-specific birds which  

rely on protected forest areas for survival.  It was ironic to spend most of our 

time birding in areas associated with habitat loss rather than habitat protection. 

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

easier to see birds and get each of our 10 team members to be able to see and recognize birds, and (2) we saw many of relatively common species that are not habitat specific, including lots of Neotropical migratory birds which we were familiar.  I know I loved seeing "my birds of summer" on their wintering grounds in Honduras. 

          Our approach to Tour, however, meant that we focused more on wracking up numbers of species rather than developing an understanding of the special birds associated with the less-disturbed habitats that are most under threat of being lost.  I wonder what it would have been like to focus on visiting natural habitats and trying to identify as many of those species as possible so we could compare the specific list of species and the diversity of species in those areas with birds in the disturbed habitats.

The core area of Santa Barbara National Park is supposed to be protected from firewood cutting and agricultural

production, but more and more habitat is being lost all the time.  Photo credit: Jody Enck. 

               This point was driven home for me this morning when I birded my local patch in Ithaca, NY for the first time in about five weeks.  I conduct an eBird point count in my local woods, and it's always pretty "slim pickins" in terms of diversity and abundance in winter.  The "pickins" are made even slimmer by the fact that most of our "birds of winter" -- Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Black-eyed Juncos, Downy Woodpeckers, etc. -- can be pulled out of the woods to the smorgasbord of backyard feeders that exist in my general vicinity.  My 30-minute point count this morning revealed two American Crows and one Blue Jay.  The resident "birds of winter" sometimes are found in this patch of "natural habitat", but today they were elsewhere -- probably in very disturbed habitats in local backyards.

               In Honduras, many of the resident birds are not likely to be drawn out of their natural habitat to attend feeding stations.  Obviously, a few exceptions exist.  Some of the bigger, charismatic species like Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, and some of the Motmots certainly will come to feeding stations.  But most of the interior forest birds will be found only in the interior forest.  If you want to encounter them, you have to go to them.  If you want to understand their habitat needs, you have to go where they live.  If you want to imagine what it is like to encounter a mixed-flock of interior forest birds attending an ant swarm, you have to immerse yourself in the interior forest habitats.

          Second, while birding around Honduras, we constantly saw the private homes of everyday Hondurans literally scratching out a living from the landscape.  These hard-working, hospitable people survive on an average of about $300 per month per family.   They live with 3 or more generations of family members in small 3- or

A house on the outskirts of La Ceiba, Honduras.  Can we imagine

the joys and challenges of day-to-day living for most Hondurans? 

Photo credit: Jody Enck. 

4-room homes constructed of cinderblocks and stucco on concrete slabs.  These are the very people who cutting the forest, planting corn, beans, bananas, and other crops on the steep hillsides, and grazing their few cows, goats, or pigs on forest-converted-to-pasture areas. 

          On one hand, we might say it is logical to comprehend why

A Honduran moving some household furniture.  We avitourists walked

right past him with our scopes and binoculars as he and his family

unloaded the cart at the house in the picture above.  We were mere feet

from this man and his family, but our lives were so far apart.

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

these residents use the landscape and change it from primary forest to small-scale agricultural production. But, if this is the primary cause of habitat loss for birds, especially for range- and habitat-restricted species, how does eco-tourism address this?  Even more importantly, how does eco-tourism -- as we experienced it -- help us understand their situation or help us imagine what it is like to eke out an existence in this landscape? 

          We saw these conditions with our very own eyes. We gained information and knowledge about the situation.  We even said hello to a man and some boys unloading a cart of furniture at the back of a small wooden house.  We stood mere feet away from Hondurans living out their lives in their world, but the lives we participants lived were so far apart from the Honduran lives being lived out right in front of us.  How might we have done something different to expand our imagination so that we could actually understand how to make sense out of the information and knowledge we were gaining?

          For the most part, we never really engaged with the people living on the landscape. We rarely talked with them, ate meals with them, or spent the night in their homes.  We never had to cook food we had to grow ourselves or barter for with some little thing we could offer to others in the community.  Instead, we walked on, often right past their homes, often glancing out of the corner of our eyes but not wanting to make eye contact with them or not really wanting to think about the conditions these strong, humble people endure. 

          In an effort to survive in a challenging world, local residents clearly are having a very large impact on habitat for resident and migratory birds in Honduras.  Many of those residents probably know little about the birds in the habitats being lost, and they probably know little about the ecological consequences of their day-to-day actions.  These conditions contribute to a very dark night sky for birds and their conservation.  Increasing awareness of birds, their habitat needs, and the consequences of habitat loss can indeed be akin to having some bright stars in that night sky.  But, these stars certainly have little or no relationship to a bird conservation constellation in that night sky. 

         Bringing people to Honduras to see birds, lots of birds, at least some of which are birds with which the birders may be familiar from back home is a good thing.  Its a star in an otherwise dark night sky.  Making people aware that you can see a diversity of birds in good numbers, and that you can bird safely here in Honduras is a good thing.  It's another bright star in the night sky.  Demonstrating to birders that there is an existing tourism and lodge infrastructure available to them is a good thing.  More bright stars in the night sky.  What, if any, connections do these stars have to the bird conservation constellation?

Which stars in the dark, night sky make up the "bird conservation

constellation"?  Image credit: Theheavensdeclare.net. 

              Understanding and imagination.  How can we birders understand what is needed for bird conservation to be successful in Honduras or in our hometowns?  How can birders expand their imaginations about how birds use their habitats and about how people living close to the land live-out their lives in ways that are more consistent with bird conservation?  Perhaps by more closely engaging with birds in the most imperiled habitats and with local residents -- living a day or a week in their shoes -- would help us better understand the stories behind the naming of the bird conservation constellations, and broaden our imaginations enough to better visualize the appropriate connections between stars in the night sky that reveal the bird conservation constellations.  

Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour

               I just finished my trip to Honduras.  I’ve really enjoyed meeting with birders from many of the bird clubs in Honduras, and laying the groundwork for establishing a network of sister birding clubs between the U.S. and Honduras.  To wrap up my trip, I have spent the last nine days participating in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.

               This Tour was the first of its kind in the country.  The main purpose of the Tour was to bring attention to Honduras as a safe, bio-diverse, and exciting place for avitourists to visit.  The hope is that more avitourists coming to enjoy the country will translate into more protection for the birds that avitourists want to experience, and especially for the habitats on which those birds depend.   

Participants in the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour were welcomed in amazing ways everywhere

we birded on the Tour.  This sign greeted us at te Pico Bonito Lodge on the north coast of Honduras.  

Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

               Five teams of ten birders each competed for nine days to see (and/or hear) as many bird species as possible in designated counting areas.  Each of these teams was led by a dynamic duo composed of an internationally known bird tour leader and a local Honduran bird guide.  Each of the five teams was outfitted with a bus and driver to take us to the counting areas each day, and to transport us to three different geographic areas of the country over the nine days of the Tour.

We chose to call our team "The Ant Swarm" in honor of all the

various bird species that can be found attending ant swarms in the

tropics.  This was the bus for "The Ant Swarm."  Our great driver,

Miguel, made sure we got safely from place to place.

Photo credit: Jody Enck. 

          Our Team was first headquartered at the Pico Bonito Lodge for four days of birding the rainforest and coastal marshes of the north coast.  Then we traveled to the more arid and higher area around the City of Copan (where we stayed at the Hotel Marina Copan) and the Mayan ruins in western Honduras.  Our team wrapped up the Tour by being headquartered for a couple days at Panacam Lodge in Cero Azul Meambar National Park near Lake Yojoa more in the central part of the country. 

               The Tour has been a fun, exhausting, and informative time.  The President of Honduras, Juan Hernandez, has supported this Tour by contributing $20,000 U.S. in prize money to be awarded to in-country conservation projects, facilitating infrastructure improvements for the Tour, ensuring official media coverage, and providing (unnecessary) extra security for participants.  An additional $15,000 U.S.  (approximately) was donated by corporate sponsors.  The funds provided by the President and the sponsors were available to be designated by the competing teams to various conservation programs within the country. 

               I’ll write about our birding experiences in another blog post.  I’ll also write about the in-country conservation programs that received the funds designated by the winning teams.  For now, suffice it to say that the team on which I participated came in third, and was honored to designate $5,000 to a conservation program.  The remainder of this blog post will focus more on some musings about conservation that emerged during my participating in the Tour.

What’s in a name?

               This incredible event was called the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.  The website that attracted me to want to participate, various emails, Facebook posts, and discussions with Tour organizers all made important points about conservation.  Media about the event raised awareness about conservation needs and conservation successes in Honduras.  The Tour raised and distributed more than $35,000 U.S. to three different conservation programs.  Many participants said they would return, and bring their friends with them next time.  This will produce additional conservation benefits. 

There was a lot of media coverage throughout the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour.

Here one of our team members, an expat from the U.K. now living in Bolivia,

is interviewed for Honduras TV while other team members look on.   Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

               These all are important points.  By many measures, the Tour was a huge success for Honduras.  Yet, I still am left pondering about the connections between these points (and many other possible ones) and bird conservation in Honduras.  If you connect some of those points, what does the picture look like?

Connecting the dots.

Just like there are many stars in the night sky, there are many points of light associated with this tour.  Turning those various points into a “Bird Conservation” constellation requires connecting the dots.  But, this does not mean connecting the dots in some

Drawing of Johan Bayer's "Southern Birds" showing some

bird constellations in the southern sky, including Toucana

in the center of the drawing. 

haphazard way.  Think about all those stars in the night sky.  Recognizing which stars make up specific constellations requires both an understanding of the stories behind the naming of the constellations, and enough imagination to visualize the appropriate connections between stars.

          Understanding and imagination.  Both are important, and neither occur by magic.  Developing understanding and imagination takes focused engagement and transformative experiences.  Here are some examples of what I mean.

          First, this Tour was set up as a fun competition with a goal of seeing as many species as possible.  Many of us (50 birders mostly from the U.S., U.K., and South Africa) did not know very well very many of the birds of Central America.  Because of this, we spent a lot of birding in more open, disturbed habitats where (1) it was

Birding in a corn field planted in the buffer zone of Cero Azul National Park,

Honduras.  Fields like this held good numbers of a diversity of species that  

we recognized, including migratory warblers, orioles, vireos, and flycatchers. 

But, these kinds of habitats lacked any of the habitat-specific birds which  

rely on protected forest areas for survival.  It was ironic to spend most of our 

time birding in areas associated with habitat loss rather than habitat protection. 

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

easier to see birds and get each of our 10 team members to be able to see and recognize birds, and (2) we saw many of relatively common species that are not habitat specific, including lots of Neotropical migratory birds which we were familiar.  I know I loved seeing "my birds of summer" on their wintering grounds in Honduras. 

          Our approach to Tour, however, meant that we focused more on wracking up numbers of species rather than developing an understanding of the special birds associated with the less-disturbed habitats that are most under threat of being lost.  I wonder what it would have been like to focus on visiting natural habitats and trying to identify as many of those species as possible so we could compare the specific list of species and the diversity of species in those areas with birds in the disturbed habitats.

The core area of Santa Barbara National Park is supposed to be protected from firewood cutting and agricultural

production, but more and more habitat is being lost all the time.  Photo credit: Jody Enck. 

               This point was driven home for me this morning when I birded my local patch in Ithaca, NY for the first time in about five weeks.  I conduct an eBird point count in my local woods, and it's always pretty "slim pickins" in terms of diversity and abundance in winter.  The "pickins" are made even slimmer by the fact that most of our "birds of winter" -- Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Black-eyed Juncos, Downy Woodpeckers, etc. -- can be pulled out of the woods to the smorgasbord of backyard feeders that exist in my general vicinity.  My 30-minute point count this morning revealed two American Crows and one Blue Jay.  The resident "birds of winter" sometimes are found in this patch of "natural habitat", but today they were elsewhere -- probably in very disturbed habitats in local backyards.

               In Honduras, many of the resident birds are not likely to be drawn out of their natural habitat to attend feeding stations.  Obviously, a few exceptions exist.  Some of the bigger, charismatic species like Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, and some of the Motmots certainly will come to feeding stations.  But most of the interior forest birds will be found only in the interior forest.  If you want to encounter them, you have to go to them.  If you want to understand their habitat needs, you have to go where they live.  If you want to imagine what it is like to encounter a mixed-flock of interior forest birds attending an ant swarm, you have to immerse yourself in the interior forest habitats.

          Second, while birding around Honduras, we constantly saw the private homes of everyday Hondurans literally scratching out a living from the landscape.  These hard-working, hospitable people survive on an average of about $300 per month per family.   They live with 3 or more generations of family members in small 3- or

A house on the outskirts of La Ceiba, Honduras.  Can we imagine

the joys and challenges of day-to-day living for most Hondurans? 

Photo credit: Jody Enck. 

4-room homes constructed of cinderblocks and stucco on concrete slabs.  These are the very people who cutting the forest, planting corn, beans, bananas, and other crops on the steep hillsides, and grazing their few cows, goats, or pigs on forest-converted-to-pasture areas. 

          On one hand, we might say it is logical to comprehend why

A Honduran moving some household furniture.  We avitourists walked

right past him with our scopes and binoculars as he and his family

unloaded the cart at the house in the picture above.  We were mere feet

from this man and his family, but our lives were so far apart.

Photo credit: Jody Enck.

these residents use the landscape and change it from primary forest to small-scale agricultural production. But, if this is the primary cause of habitat loss for birds, especially for range- and habitat-restricted species, how does eco-tourism address this?  Even more importantly, how does eco-tourism -- as we experienced it -- help us understand their situation or help us imagine what it is like to eke out an existence in this landscape? 

          We saw these conditions with our very own eyes. We gained information and knowledge about the situation.  We even said hello to a man and some boys unloading a cart of furniture at the back of a small wooden house.  We stood mere feet away from Hondurans living out their lives in their world, but the lives we participants lived were so far apart from the Honduran lives being lived out right in front of us.  How might we have done something different to expand our imagination so that we could actually understand how to make sense out of the information and knowledge we were gaining?

          For the most part, we never really engaged with the people living on the landscape. We rarely talked with them, ate meals with them, or spent the night in their homes.  We never had to cook food we had to grow ourselves or barter for with some little thing we could offer to others in the community.  Instead, we walked on, often right past their homes, often glancing out of the corner of our eyes but not wanting to make eye contact with them or not really wanting to think about the conditions these strong, humble people endure. 

          In an effort to survive in a challenging world, local residents clearly are having a very large impact on habitat for resident and migratory birds in Honduras.  Many of those residents probably know little about the birds in the habitats being lost, and they probably know little about the ecological consequences of their day-to-day actions.  These conditions contribute to a very dark night sky for birds and their conservation.  Increasing awareness of birds, their habitat needs, and the consequences of habitat loss can indeed be akin to having some bright stars in that night sky.  But, these stars certainly have little or no relationship to a bird conservation constellation in that night sky. 

         Bringing people to Honduras to see birds, lots of birds, at least some of which are birds with which the birders may be familiar from back home is a good thing.  Its a star in an otherwise dark night sky.  Making people aware that you can see a diversity of birds in good numbers, and that you can bird safely here in Honduras is a good thing.  It's another bright star in the night sky.  Demonstrating to birders that there is an existing tourism and lodge infrastructure available to them is a good thing.  More bright stars in the night sky.  What, if any, connections do these stars have to the bird conservation constellation?

Which stars in the dark, night sky make up the "bird conservation

constellation"?  Image credit: Theheavensdeclare.net. 

              Understanding and imagination.  How can we birders understand what is needed for bird conservation to be successful in Honduras or in our hometowns?  How can birders expand their imaginations about how birds use their habitats and about how people living close to the land live-out their lives in ways that are more consistent with bird conservation?  Perhaps by more closely engaging with birds in the most imperiled habitats and with local residents -- living a day or a week in their shoes -- would help us better understand the stories behind the naming of the bird conservation constellations, and broaden our imaginations enough to better visualize the appropriate connections between stars in the night sky that reveal the bird conservation constellations.