World Tourism Day: Birds From Around The World

What Is World Tourism Day?

World Tourism Day is a day to celebrate tourism around the world and the economic advantages it can bring to locations. The day is used to recognise tourism as being a crucial element of development too.

The theme of “Rethinking Tourism” for 2022 aims to:

"Inspire the debate around rethinking tourism for development, including through education and jobs, and tourism’s impact on the planet and opportunities to grow more sustainably."

Birdspotting Around The World

In honour of World Tourism day, we thought we would take you on a little tour of the world’s most famous birdspotting locations. If you aren’t lucky enough to be able to travel, sit back with a cup of tea and have a look at some of the beautiful birds from various locations around the world.

Jamaica is a brilliant choice for birdspotting – the small Caribbean island has many endemic bird species that can’t be found elsewhere including the stunning Jamaican Woodpecker, pictured below.

Perhaps the most famous of all countries to spot birds in is Costa Rica. With hundreds of parks and nature reserves, Costa Rica is bird heaven. The birds in Costa Rica are incredibly varied too, with many of them sporting very bright feathers like the famous Resplendent Quetzal, pictured below.

For something a little different, did you know there are numerous countries you can visit to see Penguins in the wild? Different species of Penguin can all be found in Argentina, South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, and even Australia!

Speaking of Australia, the country does have some unique bird life of its own. One of the most recognisable bird calls in Australia is that of the laughing kookaburra. Most people would be able to name the bird when they hear the distinct cackle of this Kingfisher like bird! One of the most unique birds down under is the strange-looking tawny frogmouth…its enormous head and large mouth have left more than one person a little confused over what they are looking at!

Finally. If we had to choose one country that was indeed very special for bird watching it would have to be Papua New Guinea. Not just bird spotting either but the entire place is home to some of the rarest and most unique species on the planet. There are several ‘bird of paradise’ species native to Papua New Guinea, one of which, the Raggaina is their national bird.

National Birds

Did you know that most countries have a national bird? A country may choose their national bird for many reasons from thinking a particular bird represents the country's values, or spirit, to selecting a bird simply because it is iconic and usually associated with that country.

Here are a few national birds from around the world…

The recognisable and gorgeous flamingo is the national bird of the Bahamas. Denmark actually has two national birds and chose the mute swan and skylark to represent their country.

A national bird that many will recognise is the scarlet macaw of Honduras – this colourful parrot is noted for its intelligence and popularity as a pet.

Jamaica has a very cool national bird in the form of the doctor bird, aka the red-billed streamer tail. This lovely hummingbird is a beautiful emerald green colour.

Another bird you may be familiar with is the national bird of Luxembourg, the goldcrest. One of Europe’s smallest birds, the goldcrest is a familiar sight year-round in Britain too. In European folklore, the bird is often referred to as ‘the king of birds’, possibly because of its distinctive gold crown.

Finally, if you had to guess the national bird of India, would you guess correctly that it is the Indian Peacock? The colourful and flamboyant bird is often associated with the country. But did you know that only male peacocks have the stunning green and blue feathers? Females are rather drab in comparison!

Something you may be wondering whilst reading about national birds, is what is our national bird here in England, or do we have one that represents the UK?

Sadly, the answer is no! We don’t have an ‘official’ national bird. Nobody knows why either…it’s very strange to say we are a nation of bird lovers. Birdspotting is a popular pastime in the UK, we have hundreds of nature reserves, and leaving bird feed out in gardens is a daily routine for some people.

It seems we do have an unofficial national bird though…quite a while ago, a chap named David Lindo organised a vote to find out which bird the British public would choose as our national bird. The cheery robin won the vote by a landslide! Which bird would you choose?

Kennedy Wild Bird Food

We hope today's blog post brought a little bit of cheer to your day with birds from around the world and fabulous countries to check out.

If you fancy attracting more birds to your garden in a way that won’t break the bank, take a look at our economy wild bird seed. Don’t forget, you can also join us in birdwatching by adding the birds you manage to attract to our Birdspotter app.