“It is the way they sing, like a flute, so melodious it is just to die for. The calming effect it has on you. Those colors, they look like little pieces of rainbow floating through the air. And they are diurnal as well.” And that is, according to Pilar Thorne, a member of the biology department at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, what people see in birds. With 100 national parks, protected areas ranging from rainforest to cloud forest, tropical climate, no extreme weather (other than the odd hurricane), many insects, fruits and flowers all year round and a large land mass considering there are only 7.2 million people, the Honduran territory is perfect for birds. Thus, it is understandable that 8 percent of the world’s species of bird inhabit somewhere in Honduras at some point in the year, indeed there is one species unique to Honduras in the entire world.

“More and more people are coming to Honduras to see our birds,” said Thorne, “ever since ‘Birding in Honduras’ was written by a couple of peace corp volunteers.” With much more internal tourism, new compulsory environmental education in Honduran universities and the emergence of the Honduran Emerald (the species that has chosen Honduras as its sole home), Hondurans are also becoming aware of the rare gift they have of some of the most beautiful birds in the world.

The Honduran Emerald is a small dark blue thing with a huge beak. It is renowned for being incredibly protective of its fruit bush, maybe with reason considering it is pretty much only found in Olancho, the wild west of Honduras. Particularly avid birders, who are proud to call themselves ‘life listers’, come on birding exhibitions just to see this one endemic article and tick it off their list. These ‘life listers’ are usually on a mission to see every bird on the continent, which amounts to about 3,000. Thorne laughed when describing people who didn’t even stay a night in the country. They would ring her up, arrange a meeting in the apt place, meet see and go…off to Guatemala to catch a quetzal.

Honduras also boasts the Harpy Eagle. This is the biggest eagle in the world, with a wing span of up to seven meters. “It has feet as big as a hand, and can pick up a monkey and break his back,” Thorne said. These beasts can be found mainly in La Mosquitia, where there is still enough prey to feed on. The more eagles and hawks you have is a sign of how healthy your ecosystem is. So their presence in La Mosquitia is a good testament of the area’s jungle wealth.         

However, like all these stories, there is a gloomy twist. The bird haven is diminishing as the country develops. Even development around the industry of bird tourism is hindering the quality of their habitats. For example, imminent and massive developments around the “supposedly protected areas” of Tela and the Swan Islands reveal a “tendency to modify the laws when there is an economic advantage.” A hotel on the Swan Islands will bring in a little money at the start, but, claims Thorne, it will eventually damage the very reason people want to go there in the first place, leaving an empty hotel. “Of the 700 plus species of bird in Honduras, around 200 are migratory, and most use the Swan Islands. Now Mel Zelaya is pushing to forget that it is a protected area.”

“It is like what happened on the Bay Islands. Roatan’s coral is pretty mush dead because of the chemicals being pumped out into the sea. Utila barley has any trees left, other than on Pumpkin Hill. But at least there is still Guanaja. Guanaja has all these lovely waterfalls, reptiles, lizards only found there in the world. You can just be for hours without seeing a soul. It is fine if they take Roatan and Utila, so long as they leave Guanaja alone.”

The 100 national protected parks are also in need of a little more care, according to Thorne. “Most are only paper parks; they have no government infrastructure like paths or tourist centers.” There are also high levels of illegal hunting, deforestation and burning in these protected areas, according to Thorne. In particular deer, tapers, the great currasow, wild cats and hawks are, apparently, being poached. “There doesn’t appear to be money to put people in the woods. They tried with the army, but people weren’t fond of that. Then it was down to the families…and that just leads to nepotism. There is a saying here in Honduras; hoy por mi, mañana por ti. The families were watching each others’ backs instead of making sure others followed the rules.”

But, in amongst a little pessimism, it remains true that in a whole day of birding it is possible to see anywhere between 50 and 100 species of bird. Around Lake Yojoa alone there are 80 species, and there is one tree in particular where it is possible to find 30 different species of bird over the course of one day.