Birds are stunning animals, and are able to bring groups of people together to share the same passion: birdwatching! On May 5^th, I experienced perhaps one of the most exciting and inspiring events of my life. From the organization, advertising and planning of more than 500 teams and more than a thousand of people throughout Peru, to the enthusiasm and big expectations of our team at Los Amigos. This Global Big Day (GBD) triggered a competitive, healthy contest among countries, regions, cities and remote locations throughout the world with the incredible objective of increasing the knowledge and valuing birds of all species and the importance of their and their habitats conservation. Peru gained second place globally with 1490 species registered in 24 hours, while Colombia won first place with 1542 species. A difference of only 52 birds!

On May 5, Los Amigos strategy…

Los Amigos has a diverse array of habitats, making this forest a unique place for birdwatching and for any passionate naturalist who is looking for those rare or endemic birds. Due to this mosaic landscape, our team, which was led by three expert birders (read our last note), aimed to cover the largest variety of habitats throughout the Big Day. We started before dawn, splitting our team in two: one group walking through terra firme forest, bamboo patch, and the airstrip, and the other going through floodplain, secondary forest, and Cocha Lobo oxbow lake. Before the sunrise, a thick morning mist covered the enchanted Amazonian forest allowing us to hear the calls of the Barred-forest falcon, Amazonian motmot, while we were also able to appreciate the gorgeous display of a Blue-crowned manakin male, among others. Close to noon, the heat and sunlight was intense (as usual), and was followed by the silence of Amazonian birds. After a quick lunch, we got back to the trails and this time our two teams switched trails covering the same habitats done in the morning plus river edge forest along the Madre de Dios River. The day before the GBD was very rainy, causing the beaches along the river to disappear the following day. Despite that, we were still able to register shorebirds such as the Great egret, the Ringed Kingfisher, and others.

Within less than 452 ha (Los Amigos Biological Station total area), and after more than 13 hours and 20 km walked, we ended our Big Day with a total of 299 bird species, including some noteworthy birds such as the Black-faced cotinga, Pale-winged trumpeters, Long-crested pygmy tyrant, Blue-headed macaws (to check the complete list, check our eBird hotspot in the following link: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L492606?m=5&yr=cur&changeDate=Set). Proud of our record, we are happy to announce that Los Amigos and its team members (Fernando Angulo and Alex Wiebe) are included among the first 10 Top eBirders in Peru with more than 250 species registered, demonstrating that this place is a real birding paradise. However, more than the numbers and the winners, this past GBD 2018 will be remembered by the passion, cohesion, increasing interest and participation of thousands of Peruvians, including bird guides, biologists, but also citizens not related with this field that got together to support a magnanimous environmental cause. As Fernando Angulo, LABO Advisory Member and team member of Los Amigos GBD, said: “Peruvian birders: we have won ourselves and the objective for this GBD has been surpassed. Peru had registered 160 more species than 2017.”

And we know that we can do more! Keep it up, birders around the world!

Long, daily hikes in the forest always reveal remarkable events in nature, which could be easily overlooked if not for our curiosity for nature and its complexity. The Los Amigos Bird Observatory (LABO) is currently studying the ecology of the 11 sympatric tinamou that cohabit the forest at our Los Amigos birding lodge.

Global Big Day is May 5, and our teams of birders are ready to break records at our lodges in Peru! Besides being birding’s biggest day worldwide, for us, it represents a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the astounding bird diversity found in Peru and at our birding lodges, and the importance of their conservation.

The migration of animals is one of the most studied phenomena by scientists, and one of the most anticipated events by nature lovers. This annual phenomenon, which is affected by many factors such as age, sex, resistance, and survival skills, involves animals leaving habitats in winter and reaching the ideal and warmest places for feeding and reproduction. Birds — with their ability to fly, a highly developed nervous system and a physiology that responds quickly to changes – use the changing seasons to their advantage, some traveling thousands of miles in search of habitats with the greatest amount of resources. The birds that arrive in South America from other regions are called neotropical migrants and studying exactly how and why these species move is one of the biggest challenges for researchers to understand.

Neotropical migrants nest in temperate zones of the continent and during the winter they move towards or within the Amazon, and are called either boreal migrants (coming from the north) or austral (coming from the south). Knowing this crucial detail is key for implementing future conservation efforts, as it tells us which habitats need to be protected for birds to be able to migrate.

Amazon Conservation directly protects nearly 10,000 acres of forest at Wayqecha and Villa Carmen, two of its three birding lodges located on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes. The pristine cloud forest and premontane forest habitats found there are threatened by agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and climate change. There are currently 32 species of migratory birds found at our lodges, with Villa Carmen topping the list with a whopping 26 species, including 11 boreal migrants (such as Barn Swallow, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Sulphur Bellied Flycatcher, and even an Upland Sandpiper, which travels over 6,000 miles every year to reach South America) and 15 austral species. Wayqecha has 6 boreal species, including the Blackburnian Warbler during the months of September to April, who trades the coniferous forests of the northern hemisphere for the cloud forests of South America, traveling over 5,000 miles, and only at night. You can also see the Golden-winged Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush and Broad-winged Hawk.

Extensive trails at each lodge take you deep into the forest, making it possible to observe these friendly “guests.” By conserving these forests, we are protecting bird diversity not only in the Amazon, but across continents.

The Global Big Day (GBD) is getting closer, and besides being the birding’s biggest day worldwide, where thousands of birders get together to celebrate birds for 24 hours straight, it is also a means to improve human’s commitment to conserving these species. For us, it represents a unique opportunity to admire and spread awareness of the importance of maintaining the astounding bird diversity found at Los Amigos. Birding is one of the most exciting experiences for anyone who has a passion for birds, but is particularly challenging throughout the densely foliated and dark forest typical of lowland Amazonia, where bird vocalization is key to identify species. We here at Los Amigos are incredibly excited about our upcoming GBD, and did not want to miss this opportunity to share some of our previous experience of Los Amigos Big Days!

On May 9 of 2015, Peru beat the world record and conquered the precious first place of birds with 1188 species registered, followed by Brazil, and Colombia. This not only reaffirmed Peru’s unique avian diversity but also revealed Peru’s potential for birdwatching as an important ecotourism activity. On that day, Peru as a country was not the only area making history on avian records; Los Amigos itself was positioned in nothing less than the fifth place at the global level, with 308 bird species! In July of that same year, Sean Williams, an avian researcher, did his own Big Day after a friaje, a massive cold front that comes from the Antartic winds and hits the Amazon. After several field seasons spent at Los Amigos, Sean was able not only to become highly familiar with the avifauna by recognizing the songs, and even locations and nests of rare birds. July 23^rd became one Sean’s biggest big days, and after an exhaustive 19 hours and 11 miles of complete immersion into the calls and colorful flying displays across forest strata, Sean registered 345 species! Sean’s Big Day is imprinted in his memory, highlighting his eternal passion for the Amazon and its birds.

Undoubtedly, Los Amigos avifauna is vast, and besides just walking miles and miles during a Big Day, it is important to create a strategic plan to experience it. Last summer, Alex Wiebe, a young ornithologist but incredibly knowledgeable about Neotropical avifauna, came last year to Los Amigos, and did his big day registering 250 bird species throughout the day, covering all the different types of habitats. In doing so, endemics and charismatic birds such as the Rufous-fronted anthrush, Ihering’s antwren, Long-crested pygmy tyrant, Black-faced cotinga, Peruvian recurvebill, Manu parrotlet, Pavonine quetzal, Blue-headed macaws, Rufous-vented ground cuckoo, Spangled and Plum-throated cotinga can be just a few of the names marked on your checklist.

This year, Los Amigos Bird Observatory is ready for the GBD with a team led by birding experts that will be searching for the nearly 600 bird species throughout the mosaic landscape of Los Amigos! The team is comprised of: Fernando Angulo, avian researcher of CORBIDI and LABO Advisory member; Alex Wiebe, Franzen Fellow, and student of Cornell University; and Rolin Flores, an indigenous bird guide from the community of Diamante around Manu National Park with vast birding experience in the Manu region. All the memorable Big Days records at Los Amigos have taken our breath away and demonstrated that the efforts of preserving this mesmerizing forest and its surroundings are visible in the wildlife and avifauna thriving in Los Amigos, our home.

Yasuni National Park, located in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is arguably the most biodiverse area in the world.

It is also the ancestral territory of the Waorani, and their relatives in voluntary isolation.

However, underneath the park are large oil fields, setting up the constant conflict looming over Yasuni. In fact, in a recent referendum, Ecuadorian voters approved limiting the oil extraction area within Yasuni National Park to 300 hectares (740 acres).

Here, we analyze high-resolution satellite imagery to estimate both direct and indirect oil-related deforestation within Yasuní National Park.

For direct impact, we document the deforestation of 169 hectares (418 acres) within the park for oil-related infrastructure.
For indirect impact, we document the deforestation of 248 hectares (613 acres) due to colonization along an oil access road.
The total direct and indirect deforestation due to oil extraction is 417 hectares (1,030 acres).

Thus, one could argue that the oil-related deforestation has already exceeded the 300 hectares (740 acres) approved by the voters.

We illustrate these results in a Story Map.

MAAP #82: Oil-related Deforestation in Yasuni National Park, Ecuadorian Amazon
https://maaproject.org/yasuni_eng/