Description
Join us for an evening of guest speakers, the Birder of the Year award, and a keynote address given by Diego Calderón-Franco, with an opening presentation by José Castaño-Hernández at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center.
Tickets are required to attend the Keynote Address and can be purchased during the online registration process. Options to purchase a vegetarian or gluten free meal ticket will be available. View full menu here.
Seating is limited. Ticket sales will close on Sunday, May 5 at Midnight or when seating is full.
Birding with FARC - How Birds Connect People
We all are facing new times, and Colombia, fortunately, is not the exception. After years of internal conflict, we are enjoying a peaceful window of time, when we all Colombians, from all corners and social backgrounds, have the chance of coming closer
together, to be part of the process of building of a new country. We biologists and naturalists are now exploring areas that were forbidden because of the conflict, finding new species and filling gaps in natural history knowledge from our amazingly
rich fauna and flora. More and more species of birds and habitats are now accessible, and with the advent of birdwatching tourism, more and more knowledge is produced. Nothing cooler, more participative, and healing for everyone than exploring these
areas with the people who one day were responsible for labeling them as dangerous non-go sites, and kept me captive for 88 days in the mountains almost 20 years ago.
About Diego Calderón-Franco
Diego Calderón-Franco is a biologist from the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín and has been birding for over 20 years all over Colombia. After studying courtship systems in manakins and the natural history of migratory birds in the Neotropics,
as well as the relationships between Galliformes and Anseriformes during his academic life, today his biology is much simpler and more romantic: it's focused on natural history and on understanding Colombia’s geography through birds, and knowing
deeper about their behaviors, distribution ranges, nesting, among many other aspects.
Back in 2007 Diego founded COLOMBIA Birding, the oldest domestic birdwatching company offering trips to all corners of the country; he also guides on several Latin
American countries. In the field, Diego loves to make videos using a technique called digiscoping, not only capturing birds but orchids in situ, landscapes, and nature in general which he shares at @diegoCOLbirding. Diego has explored remote areas
such as the Serranía de Pirre in the Darién and the Baudó Mountains in the Chocó, the Putumayo lowlands, the Perijá mountains, and the Guianan shield white sand forests around Mitú finding new bird records
for the country and he has also been privileged taking part in the description of a couple of birds new to science.
Diego is featured in THE BIRDERS, a beautiful documentary showcasing birds, culture and music of Colombia, and in NatGeo's BIRDWATCHING
WITH FARC, a documentary about how birds connect people; more recently, Diego co-hosts The Birders Show YouTube series. Diego has been sharing his life experiences with his talk "Birding with FARC - How Birds Connect People" inviting to reconciliation
and building a new Colombia.
Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube
Opening Presentation: What It's Like To Be a Hummingbird…In Colombia.
Hear from José Castaño-Hernández as he opens our 2024 Keynote Address by sharing the diversity of bird species, different ecosystems, and regions with more concentration of restricted and charismatic species for birders coming to Colombia through the hummingbirds.
About José Castaño-Hernández
José Castaño is a biologist from Jardin-Antioquia, in the western Andes of Colombia, where he started his passion for birds and conservation by being part of the project “Study and conservation of the Yellow-eared Parrot” as a field assistant and later, assessing nature reserves and improving conservation tools. Simultaneously he was a co-founder and member of the board of Proaves, a Colombian conservation NGO, between 2.001-2.009.
Certified bird guide in Colombia working independently all over the country for the last 15 years and working as well as consultant in various projects (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Nespresso AAA program, Selva and Alisos Colombia NGO`s and The Birders) involving coffee growers, indigenous communities and promotion for birding tourism in the country.
Details
-
Date
-
-
Start & End Time
-
6:00 pm
-
Duration
-
3 hrs
-
Meeting Location
-
Eccles Wildlife Education Center
-
Guide(s)
-
Diego Calderón-Franco
-
Cost
-
$45
-
Available Spots
-
120
-
Activity Level
-
Accessible
-
Transportation
-
-
Good For
-
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Families with Children