Rosa Malagon on Leading Hikes in Florida

BirdNote^®
Rosa Malagon on Leading Hikes in Florida
Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote.

Rosa Malagon grew up believing that birds hold spiritual significance, thanks to teachings from her Mexican heritage that her mother would share. For example —

Rosa Malagon: If we were to hear an owl at night…

[Barn Owl call]

Rosa Malagon: …that meant that someone was going to be passing away. Or if we saw a hummingbird…

[Ruby-throated Hummingbird hum]

Rosa Malagon: …that was someone who had passed — a family member or ancestor — visiting us and kind of saying hello.

Now working for the Hispanic Access Foundation, Rosa helps connect Latino-led nonprofits with funding from the U.S. Forest Service. She also leads monthly hikes in central Florida, sharing her love for birds and the outdoors with her community.

Rosa Malagon: Most of the people that have joined one of my hikes, their first hike was with me. So I think that's another just amazing feeling to give to someone, to open up this whole other world that is literally in our backyard and that they had never explored.

And Rosa gets to share her learning journey with the group. Like when she saw her first Roseate Spoonbill in the Orlando Wetlands.

Rosa Malagon: It's a pink bird and it's a beautiful bird. So I was really happy that we were able to like just have that moment, and the group was able to have that moment.

[Roseate Spoonbill calls]

This week is Latino Conservation Week. Learn more on our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Ariana Remmel.

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
 

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Barn Owl ML50147 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller, Ruby-throated Hummingbird ML105602 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller, and Roseate Spoonbill ML88055551 recorded by Paul Marvin.
 

BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote September 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel

ID# MalagonR-2024-09-17        MalagonR-01