Yes, we have been watching you. We want you to come and make a birding trip in Colombia, and that’s why we are interested in knowing what kind of bird watcher you are.
Since we can’t give you a direct diagnosis, here I will tell you what the most common types of birders are, according to recent studies. This will help you identify with one of them.
If you know what kind of bird watcher you are, it will be easier for you, and for us, to plan the birding trip of your dreams in Colombia.
We will give you some of our suggestions on what you could do and where you could go if you come to Colombia to watch birds. To start, I recommend you visit our entry The Complete Colombia Birdwatching Guide: Tourism & Conservation.
Without further ado, here are the most common bird watchers’ types: Hard Core Birders, Enthusiastic Birders, and Casual Birders (Ecotourists). Each segment differs in objectives and means to achieve satisfaction.
Hard Birding
Hard birding corresponds to extremely specialized tours to find difficult bird species targets.
The Hard Core Birders
You are the difficult to influence birdwatcher. If your interest is to identify the greatest number of birds from a given location, and increase your life list, you can consider yourself as a hardcore birder.
In general, hardcore birdwatching is associated with competitions among birders, whether it be on a lifetime/region basis, or during a specified period. Examples of this are the Global Big Day, the Big Year, or to get into the top ten world listers.
If you are a lister, Colombia is a must to visit since we have more than 70 endemic bird species in our country. There is no way to avoid your visit.
References
- Market Anlysis of Bird-Based Tourism by ResponsibleTravel.Org
- World Bird Species Life List by Surfbirds.com
Sara Colmenares holds a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Ecology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s degree in Botany from the same institution. Her doctoral research focused on palm ecology in the Atlantic Forest, supported by the Rufford Foundation conservation grant.
A published researcher in the Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology and a member of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), Sara has presented her work at international conferences across Latin America and beyond. She was awarded the COLCIENCIAS “Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda” fellowship, one of Colombia’s most competitive academic distinctions for young researchers.
Sara founded the Sula nature tourism brand in 2018, applying her scientific expertise to develop birding and wildlife experiences across Colombia’s six natural regions. Her fieldwork took her from the cloud forests of the Andes to the Amazon basin, the Pacific coast, and the plains of the Orinoquía. She combined deep ecological knowledge with firsthand experience to create content that is both scientifically accurate and practically useful for nature travelers.
She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the National University of Colombia, where she also taught plant ecophysiology. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English.