Costa Rica was the site of the Bird Challenge 2018, and activity that took place between October 4 and October 12 as part of the “Ruta de Aves” (Bird Route) organized by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT).

“Costa Rica stands out in the world being the home of over 900 species of birds in a territory of just 51,100 square kilometers, the country has more species of birds than the United States and Canada together”, explains the Costa Rican Tourism Board.

The Bird Challenge took place in the main bird watching spots in the country, with international expert guests from the United States, Sweden, Canada and Holland.

According to Rafael Soto, coordinator of the program “Ruta de Aves”, the objective of this event, in addition to counting of species and having the input of high level influencers, is the possibility of positioning Costa Rica in the world map as a destination for bird watching tourism during the period of August through November of each fall migration season.

The journey included the Carara National Park, Bahia Ballena National Park, Sarapiquí in the Caribbean where the group visited the bird watching tower in the indigenous reserve Kekoldi, continuing towards Nicoya and finally Coronado.

Bird Challenge consists in groups of observation that are divided in several countries in the world in a synchronized manner. Specialized press takes advantage of the presence of experts and cover the event.

As part of the parallel activities, the data from the counting is entered into the official registry of Cornell University in the United States and the most important bird watching page in the world www.ibird.com.

“We are always among the top ten countries in bird counting and this is a great effort of all bird fans in our country”, commented Rafael Soto.

Birdwatching is one of the main activities being promoted by the Costa Rican tourism board to attack the seasonal nature of tourists visitation. According to ICT, there are more than 50 million birdwatchers in the United States and over 10 million in Europe, which represents a great potential of the main markets.