Colombia Won (Again!) the Title of Best Country in the World for Birdwatching

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May 20, 2022, 10:18 ET

With 1.538 species registered, Colombia is once again the leader during Global Big Day, a world birdwatching challenge. The South American country keeps demonstrating why is the number one destination in bird diversity in the whole earth.

MIAMI, May 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A few days ago, took place the Global Big Day, an event organized by Cornell University's lab of Ornithology, which brought together the scientific and amateur birdwatching communities around the world, during the whole weekend of May 14^th, to record the largest number of bird species they could find and register through the platform eBird. This year, around 48,000 people participated in the event, and managed to record a total of 7,600 bird species.

"Tolima Blossomcrown". Photo credit: Courtesy of Manakin Nature Tours.

For the fifth time in the last few years, Colombia was the country that registered the highest number of species, surpassing countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and India, with a total of 1.538, which represents 20% of the total birds reported in the world. The largest number of species came from birdwatchers from the departments of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Caldas, Meta and Cundinamarca.

"Colombia has unparalleled natural biodiversity and a strong commitment to sustainability and meaningful travel that can be experienced in any of our Six Charming Regions. That's why we celebrate being the #1 country with the largest amount of bird species in the planet", said Flavia Santoro, president of ProColombia, the agency in charge of promoting tourism in Colombia. "We also pride ourselves on being the country with the largest number of butterflies in the world —registering more than 3,600—, which means that 20% of the species of butterflies in the planet live in Colombia".

"Each year, we welcome thousands of American, European, and Asian nature lovers and we are excited to encourage more travelers to visit us and experience a myriad of outdoor activities across our country, also known as the Most Welcoming Place on Earth!", Santoro added.

ProColombia is an advocate of nature tourism and birdwatching is one of the main products within the country's leisure offer; the agency works for the promotion of Colombia's birds' diversity with local and international organizations such as Swarovski Optik.

For more information about birdwatching in Colombia, please go to https://birds.colombia.travel/en

SOURCE ProColombia