Birding 'The Birders' - Colombia's Eastern Plains
Bird from home! Our storytelling agency has prepared a comprehensive birding checklist to accompany our documentary "The Birders: A winged safari through the grasslands of Colombia's Orinoquia." Identify more than 30 of the Colombian Plains region's most spectacular 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 get out and scout exciting new locations in Colombia. What stings even more is that we can't go birding! That got us thinking about how we could enjoy the magic of birding in Colombia without having to travel.
We came up with the idea of "quarantine birding." We have created birding checklists for all five of our Colombia birding documentaries, including the feature-length film 'The Birders.' Simply watch the videos 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.
Let's bird the Colombian Eastern Plains!
You can download the comprehensive birding checklist here. This list features all of the avian stars of "The Birders: A winged safari through the grasslands of Colombia's Orinoquia" 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 at Hato La Aurora in the Colombian department of Casanare, so you can use eBird to find that hotspot for added hints.
The Llanos region of Colombia consists of four departments: Arauca, Casanare, Meta, and parts of Vichada. It is also known as "Orinoquia," as these regions serve as the drainage basin for the Orinoco River. These great plains are shared by Colombia and Venezuela and have their own unique cowboy culture, as well as perhaps the most stunning sunsets in South America.
What they also have in abundance is birdlife: there are more species of birds in the Llanos than in all of North America! Flocks of thousands of ducks, geese, and herons swirl above the flooded grasslands, as rarities like Zigzag Heron and Crestless Curassow skulk in dry forest and riverside vegetation. The top targets for most birders are the Llanos endemic species: White-bearded Flycatcher and Pale-headed Jacamar. See if you can tick them off the list: they're both in the film!
Share your efforts with us on Instagram with the hashtag #TheBirders, or leave a comment below.
YOU CAN ALSO BIRD FROM HOME IN:
'The Birders' -The Northern Colombia Birding Trail
Birding 'The Birders' -The Colombian Amazon
Birding 'The Birders' -The Colombian Andes
Birding 'The Birders' -The Colombian Pacific Coast
Interested in working with our storytelling agency? Get in touch here.
For our latest WhereNext Live video, we present our resident bird expert Chris Bell in conversation with the National Audubon Society and the Colombian Embassy in Washington DC.