Even the most ambitious twitcher would probably agree…watching a bird in its natural setting is blissful, beautiful, entertaining, and exciting. We found a cool quote from a 2003 Birder’s World Magazine that highlights this point quite nicely….and also promotes birding in Mexico!
The article, called Birder At Large – Crossing Over by Pete Dunne was about the cool birds to be found in Mexico, the lack of birders visiting Mexico, and the main reason is that it is not included in the ABA Area List.
….maybe there isn’t any trick to finding Common Black-Hawks and Thick-billed Kingbirds where they are common, and maybe this diminishes their value by lessoning the challenge. But if I had to choose between the finding and the savoring, I think I’d favor the latter. And if I had to guess how many future birders might regard the North American playing field, I have a hunch that they will conclude, as Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher once did, that the border is no boundary. -Pete Dunne
Mexico is a birder’s paradise and promoting birding there would help conservation, both for resident birds and migratory birds.
Plain Chachalaca
Unfortunately it doesnt work the other way around…I went to the US Embassy a couple of weeks back to get my visa because as a graduation present from myself to me I was going birding to the states summer 08….They asked me the reasons for my trip so I told them birding and tourism….and sadly they denied me the visa…so I guess the bald eagles will have to wait a while longer til I can apply again for the visa….unless I went to Canada.
I am so sorry to hear that you were denied a Visa to go birding here in the United States. We are shocked that this would happen to you. I wish they would have granted you the Visa and I wish there was something we could do to help. We are all part of North America and it is a shame that us birders can’t go freely to explore other habitats.