Send a Songbird to the Neotropics Symbolic Songbird Migration Update: February 11, 1999 "Les escribo para decirles que los pajaros llegaron bien a yucatan y que nosotros los estamos cuidando y los pajaros estan contentos." "I'm writing to tell you that the birds arrived well to the Yucatan and we are taking care of them and the birds are happy." Dear Students, Hello from the Yucatan Peninsula! We received your symbolic songbirds safely, and have delivered them to children who live near the Celestun Biosphere Reserve on the Gulf of Mexico. We hope you'll enjoy these pictures of the students receiving your birds, and the greetings the students are sending with this message! They are busy writing letters to return to you in the spring when your songbirds fly north again. We work at "Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan, A.C.", a conservation organization that protects habitat in the Yucatan. You may be familiar with The Nature Conservancy; our organizations are similar and we have worked closely together on many conservation projects. The Yucatan Peninsula is a very important area for the migratory birds, the biologists have been able to identify more than 300 bird species, from which approximately 198 are migratory. A lot of these remain with us all winter at the different environments the the Peninsula offers, and others only rest for some days or weeks and then travel a long way to Central and South America. The coast of Yucatan represents one of the world's best preserved coastal wetland systems, at these sites thousands of migratory birds arrive, especially aquatic species, like white pelicans, egrets, ducks, and seagulls. These habitat offer enough food and a safe place for our winter visitors, so you can see that this is important place. Because they live on the coast, the students at Celestun know many of the wetlands species that come from your part of the world for the winter. For example, White Pelicans and Osprey are very common here, as well as many species of ducks arrive here each fall after their long migration. When we write next time, we'll tell you about some of the conservation work we are doing here. Until then, remember the students at Celestun are taking good care of your birds. Sandra y Efraim Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan, A.C. Messages from the Students in Celestun, Yucatan We hope you'll enjoy these Spanish messages from your Mexican friends. We'll post the English translations in our next update. Until then: Challenge Question # 2 Choose a note from any student below and tell us what it says! (To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions below.) "Nosotros estamos cuidando mucho a los pajaros, no los matamos, al contrario los cuidamos porque los pajaros le dan vida a la naturaleza." "Si no existiera pajaros la vida de nosotros fuera triste, gracias a los pajaros la vida es alegre." Ana Graciela Carrillo Ruiz "Si a los pajaros los matamos nada seria igual porque los pajaros son como la alegria." Susana Carolina Chan Zi "No te preocupes el pajarito llego bien y lo cuidare mucho durante este invierno y no le hare dano." Nelson Ismael Puc Chuil "Quiero decirte que aunque tu carta estaba en ingles me imagino que decia palabras muy bonitas, porque yo se que tu intencion es conservar la naturaleza." Elizabeth (4 grado Escuela Berta Maria Gonzalez) "Me dio gusto recibir tu carta y el pajaro que mandaste para que yo cuide, pero lo que mas me gusto es que ahora tengo un nuevo amigo." Cesar Gongora "Yo vivo en un lugar donde muchos ninos capturan aves y las ponen en jaulas, pero mi maestro los esta ensenando a no hacerlo y nos ensena muchas cosas sobre la naturaleza y como cuidarla." Maria Isabel Couoh How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question: 1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-spring@learner.org 2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 2 3. In the body of the message, answer the question above. The Next Symbolic Songbird Update Will be Posted When More News Arrives! Copyright 1999 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form