Global Big Day, a fun way to help, learn and raise awareness
Written by: Varinia Sagastume.
This article written in first person, during the pandemic of 2020, is an account of what the Global Big Day is for biologists and bird lovers. In 2021, The Global Big Day is held on October 9th.
This Saturday, May 20, 2020 is a special day for bird lovers, as we celebrate two highly anticipated events: The Global Big Day and World Migratory Bird Day.
For those of you who have never heard of this event, imagine it’s like the Olympics, but for bird watchers. All countries want to break their records! The goal, to count the largest number of birds in 24 hours and register them on the eBird platform.
As birders, eBird is our marker, there we document how many species we identified, the distance we traveled, and the time we spent birdwatching. At the end of the day, each person’s list adds up to give us a marker as a country or even as a Central American region.
The record for Guatemala was in 2018 with 551 species of birds, which is equivalent to 75% of the birds in our country, and 864 lists. The world record is from May 4, 2019, when two thirds of the world’s bird species were counted in a single day: 6,843 registered species thanks to the participation of 33,500 people in 171 countries.
Research data
The rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) is an American sparrow found in a wide range of habitats, often near humans, from the extreme south-east of Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, and in the Caribbean Foto: Varinia Sagastume/Viatori
As a biologist and aviary, this day is not only extremely exciting, but it also provides valuable information that is then used for the conservation and protection of birds around the world. Participating in this event is a fun way to help, learn and raise awareness about the importance of birds in our country.
With the global crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers of the Cornell University Ornithology Laboratory propose us a new goal: the challenge this year will be to exceed 100,000 lists in a single day. The continuous competition in our homes; from the garden, windows and balconies you can be part of this global community of bird watchers.
This despite the fact that in 2020, the limitations in mobilization and social distancing, pose a great difficulty, especially for people who plan months in advance where they are going to go, organizing routes and observation groups. This, however, also gives us the opportunity to see urban birds from another perspective, those species that accompany us on a daily basis and that, many times, we no longer pay attention to them. Now, we want people to pay attention to them, so they know how important they are to the environment.
When going out to observe birds, you have to do it with the safety measures, due to the current pandemic. Photo: Varinia Sagastume/Viatori
Sometimes I go out to observe birds around my house and I must say that there is always something that surprises me; whether it’s the song of a bird you’ve never heard of, trying to figure out what they’re doing and why, and even seeing some species for the first time. Sharpening our senses, paying attention to our everyday surroundings and appreciating our feathered neighbors more will be something that may not be repeated in any other of these events.
Given the circumstances, the most important thing is that this Saturday we remember the motto of the Global Big Day “every bird counts.”