Economy

In the Colombian circuit of bird-watchers –those men and women who are passionate about birdwatching– recognize that John Edward Myers (Minnesota, 1975) is a visionary who managed to put Colombia on the map of world Birding tourism, and a kind of “conscience national” that made us realize the enormous wealth that the country has in terms of birds.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest. They are found at elevation from 300 to 2400 meters (~1,000 – 8,000 feet) above sea level – however, they are most common above 1000 m (~3,000 feet).

It all began when on March 19th when I was birding in the pacific slopes from the western Andes close to Cali with a good friend and an amazing naturalist from Turkey named Emin Yoğurtcuoğlu. We were at the end of an incredibly successful tour through Colombian Choco bioregion close to Cali Colombia, where I live.

Birds thrive in Colombia for many of the same reasons tourists seem to — the climate, the year-round access to fruit and flowers, and the incredible range of landscapes within a small geographic distance. When the Andes mountain range reaches southern Colombia, it splits into 3 branches, slicing the country up into an astounding number of distinct geographic zones — each boasting a richness of unique ecosystems.

It measures 8 to 10 cm and weighs 12 to 13 g. It has a short black bill with a curved top, brown irises and gray-blue orbital skin. The male is black from the forehead to the nape with yellow dots on the crown and white behind. It has a white loreal region, chestnut brown ear coverts sometimes streaked with white, a grayish-brown neck, grayish-brown occiput and olive-stained upper parts. Its coverts have yellowish-green margins, the upper surface of its tail is dark brown and in the central pair of feathers it has striations on the internal margins. Malar region, cheeks, chin and throat whitish with black dots. The rest of its lower parts are whitish at times with very fine greyish striations. The female is distinguished because she has white dots on the head. Young people are more opaque and darker than adults.

The male is mainly green, lighter and more yellowish below, blue eye region, top and underneath flank coverings and rump, violet blue; underneath surface of the blue-green remiges.

“This is a challenging time, and we hope you will persevere through it. Our encouragement, empathy, and support are with you. Let’s use this time to re-emerge and make tourism a better, more sustainable industry than it was before,” said Stowell, when asked what message he’d like to share with businesses and industry members at this time of need.