On May 10, 2025, the world’s birding community joined forces for the annual Global Big Day, a 24‑hour birdwatching journey powered by eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Around 1.8 million participants identified birds using the Merlin app, and around 75,000 eBird users submitted more than 173,000 checklists, collectively spotting around 7,900 bird species in 204 countries—breaking all previous records.
Amazingly, small Panama ranked among the top 10 countries for the number of species recorded, in 7th place! Nestled at the crossroads of the Americas, Panama’s mix of Caribbean coast, Pacific shorelines, tropical forests, and highland cloud forests continues to draw an astonishing diversity of birds.
This milestone was the result of an unprecedented collaborative effort in Panama, uniting the Ministry of Environment, non-governmental organizations, private companies, and local birding guides. Together, they coordinated logistics, outreach, and on-the-ground participation to ensure high-quality bird counts across the country, resulting in 430 new eBird users, a 212% increase in the number of eBirders over 2024. The combined action of these diverse sectors marks a new chapter in Panama’s commitment to conservation, eco-tourism, and birdwatching standards.
As Canopy Family we are proud and happy to have participated in this achievement. Our Canopy Family guides ventured with our visitors to hotspots such as Pipeline Road, Summit Ponds, El Valle de Antón, the Pacific lowlands, Río Indio and Jordanal, Cerro Azul, the Guna Yala comarca, and the Darién lowlands, collectively identifying hundreds of species.
This top-10 ranking underscores not only Panama’s unique tropical biodiversity but also the professionalism and passion of its birding guides and operators. It’s a testament to the dedication of all birding teams, who encourage high-quality data submission and support community participation. For this incredible collective achievement, we would like to congratulate our Canopy Family guides, the Ministry of Environment, Panama Audubon Society, the Euphonias team (a group of Panamanian women birdwatchers), Cornell Lab, Global Birding, Swarovski optics and all the incredible local guides and organizations involved. We are already looking forward to the next Global Big Day!
