IN THE NEWS - Guyana Birding News Vol 1
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Conservation International Discovers New Bird Species for Guyana
Following on the heels of their successful conservation efforts in Guyana's Kanuku Mountains, in November 2006 Conservation International (CI) completed a Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) in Guyana's Konashen District. The 318 species from 50 families recorded by the group included a new species for Guyana, the Large-headed Flatbill, a bamboo specialist. The RAP found that 40 percent of Guyana's bird species are found at Kohanshen, and that 25 percent of the species are endemic to the Guiana Shield.
The Konashen study area consists of a 600,000-hectare parcel of land nestled within the Amazonia High Biodiversity Wilderness Area that was given to the Wai Wai Amerindian tribe in an absolute grant from the government of Guyana. During the expedition, scientists and representatives from CI, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Wai Wai community also studied ants, dung beetles, large mammals, fishes, reptiles, and amphibians.
Information and data collected will be used to increase the scientific knowledge of the area and in making future protection and conservation decisions. Results will also be used to help the Wai Wai develop a management plan for the Community Owned Conservation Area. During CI's previous RAPs in the Kanuku Mountains in 1993 and 2001, researchers discovered that the area is home to 70 percent of Guyana's known mammal species and more than 50 percent of Guyana's avifauna. CI later declared the Kanuku Mountains to be one of the few remaining pristine Amazonian habitats.
Guyana's Bird Checklist Grows with Discovery in Central Rupununi
Ashley Holland, accomplished river guide, explorer, and Renaissance man of the interior, has also discovered a new species of bird for Guyana. The discovery was made in Summer 2006 in the Central Rupununi region. Based on Ashley's sighting and recording, the Smithsonian Institution's Birds Division was able to positively identify the bird as a new species for Guyana. Smithsonian is now preparing a scientific paper that will provide details of the species name and location. Be sure to watch the News section of www.guyanbirding.com for more details!
Smithsonian Institution Conducts Avifaunal Survey of Upper Rewa River
Ornithologists Chris Milensky and Brian Schmidt from the Smithsonian Institution conducted an avifaunal survey of the upper sections of the Rewa River in August 2006. Their guide for the month-long trip was Ashley Holland, the well-known river guide who specializes in river and camping expeditions into the heart of Guyana's wilderness. The researchers concluded that this area of Guyana has over 300 species of birds. Among the 231 species they encountered were Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Zigzag Heron, Muscovy Duck, Crestless Curassow, Dusky-chested Flycatcher, Boat-billed Tody-Tyrant and Green Aracari. They also discovered large numbers of several species of parrots including Dusky Parrot and Mealy Parrot. Their trip report and checklist can be found on the Checklists and Trip Reports section of www.guyanabirding.com.
Guyana's Outstanding Birding and Natural Heritage gets Media Attention
News of Guyana as an outstanding neotropical birding destination is spreading fast. Guyana was recently the focus of two articles in UK publications: the December 2006 issue of Conde Nast Traveller featured an article on Guyana titled "Strictly for the Birds", and the Guardian Unlimited ran an article on Guyana's Dadanawa Ranch in their November 18 issue called "The Quiet South American." An article named "Cotinga Central" will appear in the next edition of Birdwatch ,while Birds Illustrated and Neotropical Birding, the birding magazine of the Neotropical Bird Club, have items on Guyana planned in the coming months. See the News section of www.guyanabirding.com for more details.
In a bit of filming news, one of Guyana's premiere birding areas, Dadanawa Ranch, recently completed shooting an episode for Discovery Channel's upcoming six-part series entitled "The World's Toughest Tribes." Dadanawa Ranch, which was once the world's largest cattle ranch, is still the biggest in Guyana. It is fitting then that the new Discovery series, which explores modern "tribes" of men who perform some of the world's toughest jobs, focuses on the vaqueros of Dadanawa Ranch. Now visitors who decide to take some time away from searching for Harpy Eagle, Red Siskin, Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, and Jabiru Stork to join the vaqueros in a bit of cattle rustling for an afternoon can say they're honorary members of one of the world's toughest tribes. (Duane de Freitas, General Manager of Dadanawa, is featured in this issue's Getting to Know Our People section.)
Gluck Island: A Fascinating New Birding Site
Guyana already has a host of birding hotspots, from the Rupununi to Georgetown, but with newfound interest in birding spreading fast, new areas are always being explored. One such place with strong potential for development as a birdwatching destination is Gluck Island on the Essequibo River not far from the interior town of Linden. The Guyana Amazon Tropical Birding Society recently completed a four-day rapid assessment program at Gluck Island and gathered some impressive data. The team identified 140 different species of birds, including a healthy population of Blue-headed Parrots and Blue-and-yellow Macaws, as well as Antbirds, Antwrens, Tanagers, and the nocturnal Agami Heron. Other fauna found on the island include Giant River Otters, Long-Nosed Armadillos, Red Howler Monkeys, Black Caimans, and Giant River Turtles. The impressive Victoria amazonica (Giant Amazon Water Lily), Guyana's national flower, was also found to be growing around the island. Discussions are currently underway on how to best develop the island as a sustainable, eco-friendly tourism destination.
International Birders Wowed by Guyana's Outstanding Birding
After much success at the 2006 American Birding Association Annual Convention in Maine and the British Birdwatching Fair in Rutland, England, the GTA-GTIS Birding Tourism Program continues to make Guyana known as an untapped birdwatching destination. To further acquaint the international travel trade and media with Guyana's pristine birding habitat, two birding product familiarization tours (FAM trips) were carried out in November 2006 and a third is planned for February 2007. Tour operators that took part in the November FAM trips included Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, Wings, Tropical Birding, The Travelling Naturalist, Birding Ecotours, Toucan Birding Tours, Eagle Eye Tours, and EcoVentures Nature Tours. Media on the trips included representatives from Birdwatch magazine and Neotropical Birding magazine. Overall, all participants of the FAM trips were impressed with Guyana as a birding destination and every one of them said that their respective companies will begin offering tours to Guyana in 2008, with some looking at bringing smaller groups as early as 2007. For more information on these new tours as well as the array of existing birding experiences available in Guyana, visit the Birding Experiences and How to Book sections of www.guyanabirding.com.
In more news of positive feedback from international birders, Joelle Buffa and Clyde Morris, who won a birding trip for two to Guyana at last year's American Birding Association Annual Convention, recently completed their travels, saying, "Guyana is like no place we have ever been." Joelle and Clyde, who have traveled throughout the world on birdwatching trips, said they "were very impressed with the bird life in Guyana"and loved all of the local guides. Every place we visited had something really special, something unique." They left saying they will spread the good word of Guyana through newspaper and magazine articles, and by bringing a group of their friends back.
Pick of the Flock
To end each edition of In the News, we will be recommending a book, movie, website, or any other item we feel will give our readers a unique insight into Guyana. For our first issue we have chosen Werner Herzog's wonderful film The White Diamond. This acclaimed film, from the equally acclaimed director, was heralded as one of the best nonfiction films of 2005 when it seized Time Magazine's top film spot and the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Non-Fiction Film. The documentary depicts one man's dream of building an experimental airship to soar over the rainforests of Kaieteur National Park. With Kaieteur Falls as a backdrop, the cinematography is stunning, especially when Herzog manages to capture the sunset scene of thousands of White-colored Swifts, or Makonaima Birds, performing an acrobatic display of feeding before disappearing into the mysterious caves behind the falls. If you're lucky, the film's unlikely star, Marc Anthony Yhap, may just end up joining you on your birding tour of Kaieteur Falls.
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