Not consistently. Countries with more bird species tend to show more birdwatching activity, but species richness alone does not determine where the most bird tourists go. A 2025 analysis of 155 countries found positive associations between tourist eBirding activity, total bird richness, small-range species richness, human development and relative societal stability. Its results show correlation in a platform-based proxy—not a census of bird tourists—and country examples such as Colombia demonstrate why a large species list is not the same thing as a large visitor market.
What the evidence actually says
The strongest current cross-country evidence comes from a study published in 2025 that examined eBird records from 2010 through 2022. The researchers modeled 155 countries and asked which national characteristics were associated with “tourist eBirding activity.” They considered four broad predictors: total species richness, relative richness of species with small geographic ranges, the Human Development Index (HDI), and relative societal stability represented through the Global Peace Index.
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All four relationships point in the same general direction for destination planning, but they are not equally strong. More species and more restricted-range species were associated with more activity. Higher human development was also associated with more activity, and countries with greater relative stability tended to attract more activity. The authors’ conclusion is appropriately cautious: “Our results suggest that overall species richness and relative small-range species richness are positive predictors of eBirding tourism activity, as are the Human Development Index and relative societal stability.”
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That sentence describes statistical predictors, not a guaranteed ranking. A country can have exceptional birds yet receive fewer international birdwatchers than a country with a smaller national list if travel logistics, safety, accommodation, guiding, visibility of birds or market awareness differ.
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Why “tourist eBirding activity” is not a tourist census
How an eBirding day is counted
In the study, an eBirding day is one unique date on which one unique observer submitted a checklist. This creates a consistent measure of recorded activity, but it does not count people at airports, nights in lodges or the number of dedicated birding holidays. A visitor who submits several checklists on the same date still contributes one eBirding day under that definition.
What the data can and cannot identify
- The measure captures activity visible in eBird, not every birdwatcher or every trip.
- It cannot establish that a person traveled primarily to watch birds. Someone on a family, business or general wildlife trip may submit a checklist.
- eBird participation varies geographically. The study notes especially strong use by residents of the United States, so countries that are popular with that user community or have active local contributors may be more visible in the dataset.
- Differences in internet access, local birding culture, observer effort and willingness to upload lists can affect country totals.
For those reasons, the careful terms are “tourist eBirding activity” or “birding activity in eBird data.” Calling a ranking the number of bird tourists would imply a level of measurement the study does not provide.
How much does each factor appear to matter?
A University of California, Santa Cruz summary of the 2025 study reports the share of visitation variation attributed to several factors in the model. These percentages are model-attributed contributions, not the percentage of all tourists caused by a single feature and not independent global market shares.
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| Factor | Variation attributed in the reported summary | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Human Development Index | 41.4% | The largest contribution in this summary; development may capture several conditions that make travel and birding easier, but the figure does not isolate one specific service or policy. |
| Total species richness | 22.4% | A broad national species total is a substantial positive signal, not a guarantee of visitor volume. |
| Relative small-range species richness | 15.3% | Species confined to smaller areas can add distinctiveness beyond a raw species count. |
| Relative Global Peace Index | 1.4% | The model summary associates relative stability with activity; the study describes the relevant transformed measure, so this is not a simple “peace causes 1.4% of trips” calculation. |
The ordering matters. In this summary, HDI was a stronger predictor of variation than either richness measure. Development can stand for practical prerequisites such as transport links, accommodation, communications, health services and a functioning tourism sector, although the study did not separately quantify each of those factors. The authors also state that other influences on travel decisions remain unaccounted for.
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Colombia shows why the biggest bird list does not automatically win
Colombia is the clearest illustration of imperfect alignment between biological richness and recorded visitor activity. A 2025 country table attributed to BioDB lists 1,871 bird species for Colombia, the highest total in that table. Peru is listed with 1,861 species and Brazil with 1,816.
Yet in the 2025 study’s tourist eBirding-activity ranking, Colombia was eighth rather than first. Costa Rica was third and Mexico fifth for tourist eBirding activity, despite lower bird-richness rankings in the separate country data. These are not two columns from one unified league table: the richness figures and the activity ranking come from distinct metrics and datasets. They are best used as an illustration that the measures are related but interchangeable only with care.
Colombia’s eBird footprint still expanded dramatically. The University of California, Santa Cruz summary reports 40 times as many eBirding days in Colombia in 2022 as in 2010. That is a striking rise in reported platform activity, not evidence that the country had exactly 40 times as many tourists. It could reflect a combination of more travel, more local participation, increased awareness of eBird and broader submission coverage.
Why restricted-range and endemic birds can outweigh a raw total
Distinctiveness creates a stronger travel motive
A country’s total may include many widespread species that travelers can see elsewhere. Small-range species offer something less substitutable: a chance to see a bird found in a particular mountain chain, island, forest belt or political region. The study’s “relative small-range species richness” is designed to capture that distinctiveness statistically.
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Tourism guidance from CBI makes the practical distinction clear. Large numbers of identifiable species can appeal to tour operators, while endemic species can attract dedicated listers. Iconic birds can serve as recognizable ambassadors, and migratory species can create seasonal reasons to travel. None of those features proves a country receives more tourists, but each can improve the proposition presented to a prospective visitor.
Seasonality changes the meaning of “most birds”
A destination with fewer resident species may still be compelling during a migration window when concentrations are easy to observe. Conversely, a species-rich country may be difficult to sample efficiently if its birds are spread across distant habitats or elevations. A national checklist total therefore says little about how many species a visitor can realistically see during a one-week itinerary.
Development, access and stability turn biodiversity into visits
Birds must be present before anyone can watch them, but presence is only the first condition. A visitor also needs a route to the habitat, reliable lodging, local information and a reasonable expectation of personal safety. The positive HDI relationship in the 2025 model is consistent with that practical reality, while the positive relationship with relative societal stability indicates that perceived risk can suppress demand.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThese factors should not be treated as a checklist of variables proven independently by the study. The researchers did not estimate separate effects for road quality, visa rules, airport capacity, guiding standards, conservation fees, marketing budgets or the price of a tour. Instead, the statistical result says that development and stability help explain differences in the observed activity after accounting for the modeled richness measures.
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- Access: Can a traveler reach several habitats without excessive transfers or uncertain ground transport?
- Information: Are current bird-finding reports, maps and local expertise available in languages visitors can use?
- Infrastructure: Are there lodges, trails, sanitation, communications and emergency services near productive sites?
- Stability: Do official advisories, local conditions and insurance requirements make the trip feel manageable?
- Market visibility: Do tour operators and conservation organizations communicate what is distinctive and when to visit?
Two countries with similar richness can therefore have very different visitor numbers, and a country can grow its bird tourism without discovering a single additional species.
How to compare countries without misleading yourself
When evaluating a destination, keep the biological and tourism measures in separate columns. A useful comparison framework is:
| Question | Measure to examine | What it tells you | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many species are recorded nationally? | Total bird richness | The breadth of the national avifauna | How many are accessible on one trip or how many visitors arrive |
| What can only be seen there or nearby? | Small-range or endemic richness | Distinctive targets that can motivate specialist travel | Whether those species are easy, safe or legal to observe |
| How much visitor-linked activity is visible? | Tourist eBirding activity, 2010–2022 in the cited study | A standardized platform proxy for recorded birding activity | The total number of bird tourists, trip purpose or current 2026 volume |
| How feasible is the trip? | HDI and relative societal stability, plus destination-specific checks | Context associated with higher activity in the model and practical trip conditions | A guarantee of good roads, low prices, visas or a particular safety level |
Use current national checklists and local conditions for a real booking decision. Bird inventories can change as taxonomists split, lump or reclassify species, and the cited activity study ends with observations from 2022. Neither its ranking nor a 2025 species table should be presented as a current 2026 count of tourists.
What this means for bird-tourism planning
For travelers
- Choose a target experience first. Decide whether your priority is a long general list, a handful of endemics, a particular family of birds, migration or a landscape such as cloud forest, wetlands or dry woodland.
- Check range and timing. A restricted-range species may require a particular elevation or season. Confirm that the target is present during your dates rather than relying on the national total.
- Map the itinerary against travel time. Species-rich countries can have very large distances between habitats. Count realistic observation hours, not just sites on a map.
- Verify current access and safety. Conditions change faster than a scientific ranking. Consult current government advice, park notices and experienced local guides.
- Budget for field observation equipment. Binoculars are the basic tool for identifying distant birds; choose a pair that is comfortable to carry and suitable for low-light conditions. No particular make or model is required by the evidence here.
For destinations and operators
A national species total is useful marketing context, but a stronger product explains what a visitor can actually do: which endemic birds are realistic targets, how sites connect, when migration peaks, what guide expertise is available and how conservation fees support habitat. Improving trail information, local guiding and dependable logistics may increase visitation more reliably than simply publicizing a higher checklist number.
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Common mistakes when interpreting country rankings
- Equating a species table with arrivals: richness is a biological measure; arrivals are a tourism measure.
- Calling eBird days people: the study counts unique observer-date checklist activity, not a headcount of tourists.
- Ignoring platform bias: participation patterns, including strong use by US residents, affect what eBird shows.
- Reading model percentages as causes: the reported 41.4%, 22.4%, 15.3% and 1.4% are attributed shares of variation in a model summary, not guaranteed trip shares.
- Assuming the ranking is current: the activity window is 2010–2022, and species lists change with taxonomy and new records.
- Treating Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico as a single contest: their cited richness and activity figures come from different datasets and should not be merged into one precise league table.
Does official tourism data answer the question better?
Not by itself. UN Tourism’s general database collects national tourism statistics under the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 framework and includes domestic and inbound categories. The cited database page does not provide a dedicated bird-tourism measure. General arrivals can tell you how many visitors a country receives overall, but they cannot reliably identify how many traveled primarily to watch birds.
That gap explains the value—and the limits—of platform data. eBird supplies a geographically broad, repeatable activity signal where a bird-tourism census is unavailable. It should complement, not replace, destination surveys, park counts, operator bookings and national tourism research.
Verdict: biodiversity helps, but it does not decide the destination
The answer to the headline question is no—not consistently. More bird species, especially species with small ranges, are associated with more recorded birding activity. Colombia’s 1,871 listed species and eighth-place tourist eBirding ranking show why the relationship is not deterministic. Costa Rica and Mexico’s higher activity positions despite lower richness rankings reinforce the same point.
The practical lesson is to evaluate a country as a system: distinctive birds, realistic access, development, stability, timing, guiding and habitat quality all shape whether richness becomes a trip. The 2025 study makes that relationship measurable, while its eBird proxy and 2010–2022 time window set clear limits on what can be claimed about the world’s actual bird-tourist totals today.
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