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.
Colombia teems with birds, but until recently fighting between the government and guerilla groups scared visitors away. Now, former war zones are fast becoming bird-watching hotspots. And that could help preserve them.
Few industries have a bleaker outlook right now than tourism. But in Colombia, policymakers and business leaders are already thinking about how the industry can play a central role in the country’s economic recovery – whenever that may be. As the world’s second-most biodiverse country, taking advantage of Colombia’s tourism potential will require addressing lingering questions of sustainability as well as challenges like chronic underinvestment in infrastructure.
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.
The Common Pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis) in theFamily Caprimulgidae breeds in the subtropical and tropical of the New World, and except for northernmost birds it is largely resident all year round.
