Birding 'The Birders' - The Colombian Amazon
Bird from home! Our storytelling agency has prepared a comprehensive birding checklist to accompany our documentary "The Birders: A feathered adventure in the Colombian Amazon." Identify 30 of the Colombian Amazon’s most spectacular and secretive birds from the comfort of your armchair, sofa, or hammock. No binoculars required!
Our storytelling agency team is working from home, so we’re unable to travel in Colombia for this year’s Global Big Day birding event. In the past, our team members have contributed to Colombia’s winning totals from such diverse regions as the Pacific coast of Nariño, Guaviare in the Amazon, and the surroundings of Bogota. This year we’ll have to bird from home for the Big Day.
But we’ve also come up with a way for people to bird Colombia from home, wherever in the world they live. We have created birding checklists for all five of our Colombia birding documentaries, including the feature-length film 'The Birders.' Just watch the documentaries and see how many species you can tick off the list. It's a fun and interactive way to enjoy birding without being able to travel, and you could even enjoy your own Colombian Big Day this Saturday, May 9th.
So let's bird the wild Amazon jungles of Colombia!
You can download the comprehensive birding checklist here. This list features all of the winged stars of "The Birders: A feathered adventure in the Colombian Amazon" that can be "ticked" as you identify them throughout the film. You can download the Merlin app from our partners at eBird to help you ID any tricky species, or explore eBird lists for clues. This video was shot in the jungles and white-sand forests of Mitú, in the jungle department of Vaupés, so you can use eBird to check up on hotspots in preparation. Who knows, you may even feel inspired to pay a visit to Mitú once we are able to travel again.
Amazon rainforest covers more than 30% of Colombia’s national territory and is home to some of its most biodiverse and bird-rich regions. The Colombian Amazon consists of many departments, including Vaupés, Amazonas, Guainía, Caquetá, Putumayo, and parts of Guaviare, Vichada, and Meta. Many parts of this vast swathe of jungle are rarely visited by outsiders and are most likely home to undiscovered species.
The Amazon is also home to many different Indigenous groups, many of whom are taking their first steps in birding tourism as the country opens up to international travelers. The local star of our Amazonian chapter of ‘The Birders’ is Miguel Portura. Miguel is a member of the Tucano people and has been working as a birding guide in his native Mitú for several years. He has an unbelievable understanding of the bird species of the Amazon and is able to locate rare and elusive species in abundance.
In recent years, and in spite of its isolated location, Mitú has grown in popularity to become one of the most desired birding destinations in all of Colombia. Its combination of distinct jungle habitats, range-restricted species, and adventurous birding make it easily one of the most magical birding hotspots in the most bird-rich country on earth. So let’s go birding in Mitú, Colombia!