The Andean Migratory Bird Monitoring Program

Canada Warbler. Photo: Ralph Wright

The northern Andes are home to an exceptional abundance and diversity of neotropical migrant birds. More than 100 species funnel through Central America each fall to spend up to eight months of the year wintering in the mountains from Venezuela to northern Peru.

Sadly, the milder climate and rich soils of Andean forests are ideal for agriculture and livestock, and many key areas are being cleared at an alarming rate. Economic pressures have meant that these habitats are severely under-represented in protected areas, and there is now an urgent need to identify priorities and intensify conservation action across the region. For example, the Cerulean, Canada, and Golden-winged Warblers, and Olive-sided Flycatcher, four high-priority ABC WatchList migrants that depend on the Andes, are at immediate risk.

With this urgency in mind, ABC has partnered with Fundación Jocotoco (Ecuador), Fundación ProAves (Colombia), and Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN, Peru), with funding from the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, to launch a region-wide migratory bird monitoring and conservation program.

The three in-country partner groups manage over 70,000 acres in 20 nature reserves, and employ more than 100 field staff across the Northern Andes. The program began with an eight-day field workshop, held in August 2006 at Jocotoco's Buenaventura Reserve in southern Ecuador. During the workshop, 35 reserve guards and staff were trained in bird monitoring and protected area management techniques. This was a tremendous success in both stimulating interest in observing birds and motivating the guards to better protect the nature reserves. All participants received binoculars, compact digital cameras, and field guides, and have since started intensive monitoring activities.

Olive-sided Flycatcher. Photo: Dale & Marian Zimmerman

The very real and serious risks to migrants, together with their appealing "dual nationality," make them excellent flagships for international conservation campaigns. This October, ABC helped extend the annual Migratory Bird Festival from Colombia, where ProAves began this initiative, to Ecuador and Peru. Thousands of posters, stickers, guides, and other materials were distributed, and a series of bird-related activities were organized in communities around key areas and reserves. For example, more than 500 students, all pursuing careers in tourism, education, agronomy, or biology, took part in training by ECOAN in Peru aimed at raising their awareness of conservation issues and migratory birds. In all, over 14,000 people took part in regionwide activities, and ABC hopes to repeat and further expand the festival in 2007.

Migratory birds depend on multiple conservation tactics to ensure their future, but we hope that through an expanded network of strategic protected areas and enhanced training and education, we can make a stand for these long-distance travelers.