Americas overview

BirdLife International/Kerem Boyla The Long-tailed Sylph Aglaiocercus kingi is an attractive resident of the Andes region Zoom In

Setting the scene

The American continent stretches from pole to pole and embraces a diversity of ecosystems extending from the highest mountain tops in the Andes to the lowlands of the Amazon. It includes island archipelagos, vast expanses of grasslands, enormous coastal and freshwater wetlands, and forests stretching from ocean to ocean.

Birds occupy every available niche; thus, of the world's 10,000 or so species of birds, around 4,500 are found in the Americas with many discovered each year. While the majority of species are found in the tropics, the enormous diversity of birds in the Americas includes species adapted to the driest deserts, highest sierras and even the cold regimes of Patagonia.

BirdLife International was created to ensure that birds, their habitats and other biodiversity were conserved using the best available information, practices and resources. The Americas Program is implemented by the BirdLife Americas Partnership of 15 conservationist organizations supported by the BirdLife Americas Division and Cambridge Secretariat. The Americas Program is supported by the Americas Division Office located in Quito, Ecuador, with the support of the Brazil and Caribbean programs that facilitate and coordinate BirdLife partnership activities.