![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Toh.jpg\" "\\"Toh\\"")
Eumomota superciliosa (Photo \u00a9 Ivan Gabaldon).<\/p><\/div>\n
It is, of course, a Turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa<\/em>), a truly good looking bird known locally as Toh, considered the poster child for the beautiful avifauna of the\u00a0Yucatan Peninsula. I photographed this one a couple of weeks ago at the Ek-Balam archaeological site, an awe inspiring location I have visited in three occasions, never failing to see two or three members of this beautiful species.<\/p>\n The Toh is without a doubt the perfect choice of a bird to lend its name to the Peninsula’s prime birding event, The Toh Bird Festival<\/strong>, now reaching its XI edition and organized for the third year in a row by Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan.<\/p>\n The Festival’s opening ceremony will take place this coming Friday 23 of November at the Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Yucatan<\/em> in Merida (located on the corner of 57 and 60 streets in Merida’s historical center). Proceedings will begin at 5:00 pm with the conference “Birds as a tool for conservation”, by Dr. Juan Chabl\u00e9. At 6:00 pm the “Colectivo Teatral Ariel M\u00e9ndez” will stage the play “Historias de P\u00e1jaros”. After the performance, rules for the Toh Bird-a-thon will be explained to participants and kits handed out. Then, at 7:00, a friendly ceremony will serve to present awards to winners of the festival’s drawing and photography contests.<\/p>\n It would be false modesty to deny that we’re excited about the awards ceremony: we have been notified that one of our images was deemed worthy of the First Prize in the Professional Photographers category of the contest. I refrain from publishing it here so that I may include it in a later report on how it all went.<\/p>\n Complete information about the Toh Bird Festival<\/strong>\u00a0is available in the\u00a0Festival’s FaceBook page<\/a>. There’s still time to sign up and participate in the Birdathon, a fun competition in which teams of birders work hard through a 24 hour period to spot and identify the greatest number of species. Birders without a team may be included in other teams by showing up Friday night at the opening event and asking to be assigned to one of the teams already in place.<\/p>\n If you’re wondering what taking part in the Bird-a-thon may be like, you can read the full RIDE INTO BIRDLAND<\/strong> report on last year’s festival, starting here<\/a>. The Toh Festival is not only a great experience, but also an excellent opportunity to meet fellow bird aficionados and learn from others.\u00a0Happy birding!<\/p>\n I.G.H.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Take a good look at this gorgeous bird: It is, of course, a Turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa), a truly good looking bird known locally as Toh, considered the poster child for the beautiful avifauna of the\u00a0Yucatan Peninsula. I photographed this … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/TohFestivalPoster.jpg\" "\\"TohFestivalPoster\\"")
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