Alcatraz Prison had its Birdman. Now the coastal town of Bucerias in Nayarit has its Birdwoman.
Claudia Galindo invites people out to her house, located in the agricultural valley just a few kilometers inland from Bucerias, to observe – and quite possibly interact with – the birds that she nurtures.
Especially the hummingbirds.
You know you’re at the right place when you see chunks of fruit on fence posts at the entrance to her front door and the many hummingbird feeders on the third-floor palapa.
Galindo has a unique human perspective for the reason she is so caring about them.
“I think what I admire and envy the most about birds is their ability to just fly away from hardship and strife and look for new horizons and better opportunity,” she says. “I started feeding hummingbirds in my mom and dad’s house in Mexico City when I was 18 and I’m in my 50s now, so it’s been a lifelong endeavor.”
Galindo fondly remembers her dad making fun, telling her she looked like an “old gringo birdwatcher” when he saw her using the binoculars to get a better view of the birds.
After a while, he was hooked too, telling her “the feeders are almost empty” or “there’s a bully bird that doesn’t let others feed.”
While a teenager, Galindo was a volunteer worker at the Mexico City Zoo for a few years, later becoming a paid employee.
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