By Carol Ray

Looking for something more inspiring to watch than bingeing old Seinfeld reruns, I came across a 37-minute documentary on Netflix titled “Birders.” This is a Mexican production that is in English and subtitled in Spanish made just last year. The film focused on the migratory path birds take from South Texas to Southern Mexico.

I loved the photography of the varied landscapes of this migration path from Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge down to Las Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve in Veracruz, Mexico, with several stops along the way. I had recently visited Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and was reminded of how beautiful the birds were in this area.

But more than that, the stories of people interviewed along this journey were truly inspiring and gave me hope for the future of conservation in Mexico and South Texas. I also did not realize that the South Texas migration corridor has more birds passing through southbound than anywhere else in North America and that this makes it a very important place!

The film featured beautiful photography of lots of shorebirds, migrating passerines, and raptors. Several interviews with photographers, banders, guides, and enthusiasts, including children, reflected great passion for the birds they loved. In particular, several guides in Mexico talked of how they learned the importance of birds in nature and stopped their previous exploitation of them.

What inspires us the most about birds is their freedom. They know not of borders. The bottom line message of the movie was this: the birds need both countries to survive, without any heavy politicking. I am glad that there are folks on both sides doing positive things to support resident and migrating birds.

Now, if COVID-19 would go away, and I could learn some Spanish and find a way to safely get down to Veracruz Rio de Rapaces to participate in the raptor count, I’d be one happy birder.

Above photo courtesy of Netflix.