Education & Conservation

I have been active in trying to get conservation efforts underway in Mexico. Once birds leave the US borders, they are virtually unprotected and in danger from many factors. In Mexico, a bird is considered a pest (eats crops), a food source, or a beautiful animal to be caged and displayed by weathy people.

My goal is to educate people in Mexico about protecting birds by showing them the direct and indirect benefits that birds and birding can have on their communities. By linking conservation with economic self-interest, I hope to produce a win-win situation for all involved.

At this time, there are very few field guides writtin in Spanish. Therefore, the first phase of this plan is to produce a beginner's birdbook in Spanish with photos of the more common and interesting birds. In this book I would also provide information about this rapidly growing tourist industry and the economic boost that it can supply. Also by describing the growing trend of wealthy travelers coming for birdwatching, I hope to influence the Mexican elite, showing them that their prestige is better represented by doing the same rather than by collecting and caging animals and birds. If we can eliminate the buyers, then the poachers and sellers would have no market and therefore no incentive to continue.

To date, I have written a 12-page project proposal that I sent to the ABA, the former governor and the new governor of Nayarit. So far there has been no response.

At the first Festival of the Birds conference in San Blas, I gave a presentation in which I pointed out that all of the bird books that I had read were in English. I have been very lucky to have those resources and the interaction with English-speaking bird watchers since I can speak that language. Because many local people do not have the luxury of speaking English, we must create bird books in Spanish to help provide them with the resources they need to participate in this growing market.

Research

In the mid-90's, under the direction of biologists Tom Ryan and Dan Kluza from the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, we performed 40 km ocean transects out from San Blas and one day all the way to Isla Isabel (70km). We recorded water temperature, wind direction, type of waves, and bird counts every 200 meters. This included pelagic and coastal birds. This same study was performed one week each year for five years.

Each year when Mr.Steve N.G. Howell leads bird-watching groups to San Blas, I lead them to the estuary El Pozo and on pelagic trips.

With the President of Friends of the Swainson's Hawk and scientists who put microchips in the wings of these hawks, we looked for them in the area of the nearby town of Santiago. We located a good-sized flock that winters in this area. Most of the Swainson's hawks winter in Las Pampas Argentina where they eat a certain type of grasshoper that is also found in Nayarit.