Three Circles, One Mission: Marking a Christmas Bird Count Milestone in Latin America and the Caribbean

For more than 125 years, the Christmas Bird Count has been a cornerstone of community science. While the tradition runs deep in North America, a vibrant and rapidly growing movement has been taking flight across Latin America and the Caribbean over the past five decades. 

The release of the first-ever modeled population trends for birds in the Latin America and Caribbean region marks a scientific milestone—covering 44 species over the last decade and providing a critical foundation that has been missing from conservation planning. But behind every data point on a map is a story of a community that chose to care, to count, and to protect. 

These trends exist because of people: the compilers who organize counts year after year, the local guides who know every trail and habitat, the families who spend their holidays documenting birds, and the communities that have woven birding into the fabric of their lives. Here are three circles that prove bird conservation is about much more than just counting—it's about building a future where birds and people thrive together. 

San Blas, Mexico: From Visitors to Neighbors 

A Pioneer Circle  

Established in 1973, the San Blas Christmas Bird Count in Nayarit stands as one of Latin America's oldest count circles. In its early years, the count was driven largely by visiting birding tourists from North America, drawn to the region's remarkable avian diversity. For decades, these seasonal visitors brought enthusiasm and expertise, documenting species during the holiday season before returning home. 

But over five decades, something remarkable happened: the count took root in the community itself. 

The transition from a tourist-led event to a community tradition has been gradual but transformative. Local Mexican birders and professional guides—many mentored by earlier generations of visiting birders—now form the backbone of the San Blas Christmas Bird Count. This evolution represents more than a change in who holds the binoculars; it reflects a deepening commitment to the birds and habitats of the region by the people who live there year-round. 

The data tells a complex story. While habitat loss from agricultural expansion—particularly orchards and aquaculture—along with tourism and urban development has led to concerning declines in total bird numbers, the intimate knowledge of local guides has actually resulted in record-breaking species counts in recent years. They know the habitats, the seasonal patterns, and the subtle changes that visiting birders might miss. 

The future of the San Blas Christmas Bird Count depends on the synergy between these two groups: the international birding tourists who continue to visit, bringing fresh perspectives and global connections, and the home-grown birders and guides who provide continuity and deep local expertise. Birding tourism plays a dual role here—it supports the local economy while creating opportunities to mentor young birders and demonstrate the economic value of protecting habitat. As this partnership strengthens, both the Christmas Bird Count and the birds of San Blas benefit from a conservation community that is both locally rooted and internationally connected. 

Río Upano, Ecuador: Pizza, Beer, and a Province Transformed 

The Community Builder  

In 2007, RhoAnn Wallace and Galo Real walked into the Sangay National Park office in Macas with a simple question: "Do you have a bird list for the park?" 

The answer stunned them: "There aren't any birds worth looking at in the park—or in Morona Santiago." 

For these passionate naturalists who had traveled extensively throughout Ecuador, the comment was more than surprising—it was alarming. They had seen firsthand what happens when people underestimate the value of the natural world. Guided by the belief that "it is easy to destroy what you do not know exists," they made a life-changing decision. 

In 2008, they moved their young family from the renowned San Isidro Reserve to Macas, founding Real Nature Travel Company not simply as a tour business, but as a conservation tool. Their goal was to help local communities recognize the incredible biodiversity surrounding them. But there was one problem: there wasn't yet a birding community. 

So they built one. 

In 2009, they organized the first Río Upano Christmas Bird Count. As the afternoon of count day approached, only three people had registered—their own family. Rather than cancel, RhoAnn picked up the phone and called neighbors: "I've ordered pizza and have plenty of beer. Come help us count the birds at our backyard feeders." 

They came. That first count recorded 51 species—not a record-breaking number, but the beginning of something much bigger. 

Over the following years, Real Nature organized birding workshops, introductory bird walks, environmental education programs, and countless opportunities for people across Morona Santiago to discover the extraordinary birds living right outside their homes. The community grew. By 2014, more than 50 participants joined the Río Upano Count, documenting an impressive 310 bird species—one of Ecuador's most diverse Christmas Bird Counts. 

What started as one family's dream quickly spread across the province. Working alongside enthusiastic local birders and conservationists, they helped establish six additional Christmas Bird Count circles, giving Morona Santiago the distinction of having the largest concentration of active count circles in Ecuador. More importantly, each count fostered its own community of community scientists committed to understanding and protecting their local ecosystems. 

The impact extends far beyond birding. The data collected through the Christmas Bird Count and eBird has transformed lives and landscapes. Landowners who once considered logging their forests or selling land for mining discovered that their greatest resource was alive in the forests above. Armed with bird records and biodiversity data, many have chosen conservation over extraction, protecting habitats that otherwise may have been lost forever. 

The Río Upano Christmas Bird Count demonstrates that bird conservation is about building communities, changing perceptions, and giving people a reason to protect the places they call home. 

Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia: Where Tradition Meets Urgency 

The Urban Sentinel 

The Sabana de Bogotá Christmas Bird Count holds the distinction of being Colombia's first—established in the late 1980s by a pioneering group of female biologists who were shaping the field of ornithology in the capital. Their vision extended beyond a single count: the planning process also led to the creation of the Asociación Bogotana de Ornitología (ABO), an organization that continues to champion bird conservation and research throughout the region. 

The circle's location was chosen with foresight. Even in the late 1980s, Bogotá's urban and industrial growth was pushing northward, transforming landscapes that had already been altered by agriculture but still preserved critical wetland areas, small remnants of savanna forest, and forests in the hills to the east of the city. The founders understood that documenting what existed would be essential for understanding what might be lost. 

Over more than 35 years, the count has borne witness to profound changes. The Andean Grebe (Podiceps andinus) had already vanished from the Bogotá Savanna before the count began—a species that disappeared before scientists could gather enough information to prevent its extinction. That loss underscored a critical lesson: without data on population status, conservation action comes too late. 

This urgency drives the Sabana de Bogotá Christmas Bird Count's focus on endemic species that exist nowhere else on Earth. The Bogotá Rail (Rallus semiplumbeus), Apolinar's Wren (Cistothorus apolinari), and Silvery-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis subpudica)—along with numerous endemic subspecies—depend on the wetlands and grasslands that continue to shrink under development pressure. The annual count provides long-term monitoring data essential for tracking these vulnerable populations and advocating for their protection. 

But the Sabana de Bogotá Christmas Bird Count is more than a scientific endeavor—it has become a true tradition that has built both knowledge and community. Over three and a half decades, the count has shaped generations of ornithologists, birdwatchers, and enthusiasts who rely on data to influence territorial planning decisions, educate new generations, and protect biodiversity. Their advocacy, grounded in the evidence collected year after year, has helped preserve wetland areas and green spaces that might otherwise have been lost to development. 

In one of South America's largest and fastest-growing cities, the Sabana de Bogotá Christmas Bird Count stands as proof that urban areas can be both centers of human activity and vital refuges for birds—if communities choose to protect them. The count demonstrates that conservation driven by love for birds, supported by rigorous data, and sustained by dedicated people can make a difference even in the most challenging landscapes. 

Why These Stories Matter for Science 

These circles aren't just local traditions—they are essential nodes in a hemispheric monitoring network with thousands of contributors. The standardized, repeat-measure data they collect—at the same locations, using the same methods, year after year—represents the gold standard for detecting real population change amid natural variation. This kind of data cannot be replicated through casual observations or one-time surveys.