Paul Greenfield's Love of Showing Birds
My life with birds initiated during my childhood—and much of that early initiation shaped what drives me to this day (many, many decades later). It was some time in 1953, that it dawned on my father, who had no special connection with birds or birdwatching, to pick up a copy of Roger Tory Peterson’s “A Field Guide to the Birds” to give to my older brother, who showed an early interest in… just about everything. I remember sitting with him, from time-to-time, to enjoy all those wonderful illustrations, and on a few occasions I realized that my family was ‘sneaking’ out to participate in some activity that I was not included in, until one day, some three years later (I must have just turned 6 at the time), I was invited to join them; to look for birds! I was already hooked… it was SO exciting.
For a few years going forward I was not really aware that other human beings actually took part in this unique activity, and I truly believed that this was our best kept secret. Our father would drive Steve and me to a variety of outdoor locations and watch us watch birds—how cool was that! Both of us were Boy Scouts at the time (our father was our troop leader) and when we realized that there was a birdwatching merit badge, we both went for it. That process connected us with a great Counselor (another human bird watcher!)—Otto Heck—who among other things was really focused on owls. Wow! We learned so much from him. A few years later while my brother and I were enjoying that year’s spring migration in a local park, we came across a group of ‘old binocular-clad guys’ who seemed surprised and pleased to see two kids doing what they were doing… and we were equally struck by them. A final clincher came when my brother (now a college student) somehow secured an invitation for him, and me, to join Roger Tory Peterson himself for a weekend at his home, to take part in our first Christmas Bird Count! OMG!!
Fast forward six years: My college graduation day; me—an artist—on a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador to visit my now long-time girlfriend (connected mostly through letters we wrote to each other for over three-and-a-half-years). We married six-month later, and a whole new life began in South America. Inadvertently in some ways, birds became a key part of that new beginning. I knew almost nothing about this new avifauna that I was now confronted with; with no books in existence, no information available, no nothing to help me decipher its complexities, but with that same life-long passion to get out and see what I could see. Fast forward again a few years (to not bore you kind readers any more than necessary), and with significant help from my brother and others from abroad and in-country, slowly, I began to familiarize myself with Ecuador’s birdlife—and throughout, I held onto, in a big way, my past… always mindful of just how wonderful birds are (and always have been) to me; how I was turned onto these feathered wonders by my non-birding father, and by my like-minded older brother; how a single book could become so significant to my life at such a young age; and I began to get a nascent inkling of how important birds could be to others! Little did I know during these rather formative years, how significant all this would become. I just focused on learning the birds of this fascinating country for my own pleasure and personal growth.
But it all evolved, multiple situations collided. Quickly. Martha and I moved to Quito with our son Ilán. Somehow, my name, as someone who knew something about this country’s birds, got around—I received knocks at the door, I received letters, phone calls, and I was being asked to take foreign visitors out to find birds… bird tourism was being born, before I even knew that that was a thing, in the almost unknown country of Ecuador! At this point, there were virtually no real local birdwatchers; I was the Lone Ranger, so to speak. One visitor who contacted me was Robert Ridgely, the author of ‘The Birds of Panama’, who was completing his research for his doctoral thesis—and that triggered something big. From that first day together, we began to hash-out the idea of ‘doing’ some sort of field guide of the birds of Ecuador. My brother and I had played with the idea of attempting something along those lines, but this was serious! At the same time, I had the opportunity to co-lead my first actual tour, an adventure trip to Ecuador’s Amazonian region, that included a few actual bird watchers (!!). After that experience, the two official trip leaders, asked if I would like to design birding trips for the company that they were about to launch the following year—Incredible; I could create trips all over the country to guide and at the same time learn more about its birdlife. There would be no field guide; yikes! A few years later, Ridgely and Greenfield began work on Ecuador’s first field guide. 21 years later, the two-volume ‘The Birds of Ecuador’ was finally published by Cornell University Press. Taking part as co-author and illustrator in such a project can only come out of a labor of love—a way of giving all you have learned and all you know to whomever might have the curiosity to check it out. More serendipitous events fell into place during those two decades: I began co-leading, with now Dr. Ridgely, for a new company—the worlds first real birding tour company (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours); the Spanish translation, ‘Aves del Ecuador’ was published in-country. I took part as cofounder of four NGOs (one with Robert Ridgely) dedicated to the protection of birds and their habitats, with one also focused on community-based sustainable development (together with VENT’s Peter English). I led a specialized team in co-authoring the first and groundbreaking ‘National Bird Tourism Strategy’ for the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador, and a few years later it’s update—this effort sparked a local movement among Ecuadorians, creating an ever-growing birding community, and actually improving the lives and livelihoods of local communities and individuals throughout the country.
As it turns out, I have lived the power of birds! I joke about how I believe that birding is a strain of virus… and my goal in life is to infect as many people as I can with the joys of watching birds and protecting the ecosystems and habitats in which they thrive. To me, showing visitors Ecuador’s birds is so much more than adding ‘ticks’ to someone’s life list—it is my way of showing Ecuadorians the value of their biodiversity, showing them how the world values their wildlife; creating concrete models for how they can benefit from this valuable resource that for centuries has been ignored; it is my way of telling visitor’s Ecuador’s story; of showing visiting birders that their time here is more than just a way to see more species, but rather their opportunity to send an important message about the true value of this crazy pastime. Each tour, each bird I see, each opportunity I have to share these incredible species with my fellow birders (no matter how common or rare) becomes a moment of deep, almost meditative, reflection, nostalgia and appreciation… a sense of true inner fulfillment.
How could I not want to spend my life doing this!
Paul Greenfield, VENT Tour Leader