Projects / COA Carancho
COA Carancho
A group of volunteers who watch birds in Palermo, Buenos Aires. COA stands for Club de Observadores de Aves, a bird-watching club.
How it started
On a holiday I asked Martina Voto: what if we started a COA in Palermo? There was none in the neighborhood. We founded it on 24 May 2011, within the network of COAs of Aves Argentinas. Martina was the first coordinator.
I coordinated it from 2013 to 2015 and left in December 2020. The COA is still active.
The idea was a club that did not stop at watching birds. I once wrote it like this: the bird-watching club that spends the least time bird-watching, because that is an excuse to do many other things.
What we did
- 2015Seasonal censusesA systematic count of the birds of Parque Tres de Febrero, with guided routes and open to any level. In 2015 we completed the first cycle of four seasons: between 65 and 75 species per census, with 25 to over 50 participants. I created them with Diego Carús.
- 2012–2016Native plantingsA native woodland in Parque Olímpico, with the Native Trees Group of Aves Argentinas and Parque Tres de Febrero. By 22 May 2016 there were 100 trees and shrubs planted. Today the square is known as "parque Carancho".
- 2014–2016Raptor releasesWith the rescue program of the Buenos Aires Zoo and Fundación Caburé-í (PCRAR). The release of 10 January 2015 freed ten birds in front of more than 200 people.
- 2013–2016Talks and coursesOpen talks at the Planetarium and at Aves Argentinas, and a short ornithology course.
- 2014–2015Campaigns"Yo no uso pirotecnia" (I don't use fireworks): in 2015 more than 12,000 people shared the material. Also "Más vale volando", against wildlife trafficking.
- 2015RecordsThe 2015 Yearbook (54 pages) documented 206 species for the year, 16 of them new to the Palermo record.
- 2016#caranchofestSix activities in one month (7 to 28 May), for the fifth anniversary.
- 2016Costanera NorteI proposed that the city's birdwatching clubs work at the Costanera Norte Ecological Reserve, and we organized a walk through the reserve for 33 people. That led to the Costanera Norte Group, with Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, Aves Argentinas, the Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN, an environmental NGO) and other birdwatching clubs, which held clean-up days at the reserve.
My part
I came up with the club and coordinated it from 2013 to 2015. With Diego Carús I created the seasonal censuses: we designed the forms and the method, and I set up the routes and the groups according to each participant's experience. I made the flyers for the activities and ran the social media. The caracara logo was my idea, illustrated by Juan Elizalde.
Between 2016 and 2019 I stayed in the meetings and kept doing the graphic design and social media.