About Us
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CAYAYA BIRDING Staff or Los Cayayos
 Claudia Avendaño, Biologist.Claudia was born in 1974 and grew up in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She studied Chemistry and Biology at San Carlos University in Guatemala and wrote her thesis on the avifauna of Laguna Lachuá National Park in Guatemala’s northern, tropical rainforest. During the two years of her thesis investigation, Claudia acquired an ample knowledge of Guatemalan avifauna and the culture of the Maya Q’eqchi’ indigenous population of the country. Based on these experiences Claudia taught three Q’eqchi’ farmers from the community of Rocjá Pomtilá a method of scientific bird counts, as part of the PROEVAL RAXMU Bird Monitoring Program. Claudia has been dedicated to studying birds since 1996 through numerous short-term studies and excursions in national protected areas around the country. She also is involved in environmental education among farmer's children in several communities. At Los Tarrales she supported a bird festival organized by the Guacamaya Foundation (Holland), and co-organized a bird day within the II Symposium of Loros Mesoamericanos. Claudia has been active as birding guide in Guatemala since 1999. She speaks fluent English and Spanish. |
 Knut Eisermann, Engineer for Nature Conservation. Knut was born in 1973 in Chemnitz, Germany and spent his childhood years there. His interest in nature began at ten years of age when his father took him out to observe the local avifauna, later also bats, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and others. When he was a bit older, Knut joined the Saxon Ornithologist’s Association where he dedicated six years to the research and conservation of the Jackdaw. Knut later attended the University of Applied Sciences, Eberswalde, Germany, where he studied Engineering of Landscape Management and Nature Conservation. He wrote his thesis on the avifauna of a cloud forest site in Guatemala. Knut lives in Guatemala since 1997 and carried out various ornithological studies in different areas of the country. He is primarily interested in bird communities and the implementation and performance of long-term bird monitoring programs. Over his years of field research, Knut has acquired a deep knowledge of bird songs and calls from those of the lowland rainforests up to the high mountain cloud forests of Guatemala. Currently Knut is directing the PROEVAL RAXMU Bird Monitoring Program and he is the country coordinator for the compilation of bird records in Guatemala, published in "North American Birds". He has been active as a birding guide in Guatemala since 1998. Knut speaks fluent English, German, and Spanish. More about his activities you may read at his personal web site Ornithological research and wildlife photography in Guatemala |
Knut's and Claudia's activities on a national level have increased in the last years. With the PROEVAL RAXMU Bird Monitoring Program they produced a recent update on the distribution and status of the birds of Guatemala, published in 2007 by Lynx Edicions (Annotated checklist of the birds of Guatemala).
Both are coordinating the identification of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Guatemala, a project of the Ornithological Society of Guatemala and BirdLife International.
Claudia promoted the foundation of the Ornithological Library of the Ornithological Society of Guatemala, in collaboration with Del Valle University.
Knut and Claudia are editors of PATO-POC, Bulletin of the Ornithological Society of Guatemala.
Claudia and Knut have successfully supported the development of birding sites like Los Tarrales and Chelemhá, including professional advise, teaching local birding guides (e.g. Josué de León Lux at Los Tarrales), and publicity (web sites, printed publications).
It follows a list of recent publications with participation of Knut Eisermann and Claudia Avendaño:
Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño (2007) Lista comentada de las aves de
Guatemala - Annotated checklist of the birds of
Guatemala. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.
Eisermann, K. & K. Omland (2007) Coloration anomaly of a
male Collared Trogon (Trogon collaris). Acta Zoológica Mexicana
(n.s.) 23 (2): 197-200.
Eisermann, K., A. Burge & G. López (2007) Nesting records of Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus) on Atitlán volcano, Guatemala. Bulletin of the IUCN / BIRDLIFE / WPA Cracid Specialist Group 23: 13-24.
Eisermann, K. & D. M. Brooks (2006): Unusual and noteworthy nesting
records for Guatemala. Cotinga 26: 48-51.
Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño (2006): Diversidad de aves en Guatemala,
con una lista bibliográfica. Pp. 525-623 In: E. Cano (Ed.) Biodiversidad
de Guatemala, Vol. 1. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala.
Eisermann, K., N. Herrera & O. Komar (2006): Highland Guan (Penelopina
nigra). Pp. 85-90 In: D. M. Brooks (Ed.) Conserving Cracids:
the most threatened family of birds in the Americas. Miscellaneous Publications
of the Houston Museum of Natural Science 6.
Eisermann, K. (2005): An observation of foliage-bathing by an Orange-breasted
Falcon (Falco deiroleucus) in Tikal, Guatemala. Wilson Bulletin
117: 415-418.
Eisermann, K. & U. Schulz (2005): Birds of a high-altitude cloud forest
in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Revista de Biología Tropical 53: 577-594.
Eisermann, K. (2005): Noteworthy bird observations in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
Bull. British Ornithologist’s Club 125: 3-11.
Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño (2004): American White Pelican Pelecanus
erythrorhynchos in interior Guatemala. Cotinga 22: 98-99.
Eisermann, K. (2004): Status of Great Curassow (Crax rubra) in
Punta de Manabique, Guatemala: habitat, population size and human impact.
Bulletin of the IUCN / BIRDLIFE / WPA Cracid Specialist Group 18: 4-14.
Eisermann, K. (2003): Status and conservation of the Yellow-headed Parrot
Amazona oratrix "guatemalensis" on the Atlantic coast of
Guatemala. Bird Conservation International 13: 359-364.
Eisermann, K. (2003): First records of the White-crowned Pigeon (Columba
leucocephala), the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail (Aramides axillaris),
and the Snowy Cotinga (Carpodectes nitidus) for Guatemala. Ornitología
Neotropical 14: 127-128.
