8th Puerto Princesa Underground River International Bird Photography Race
The Puerto Princesa Underground River International Bird Photography Race is the longest-running bird photography race in the world and is considered one of the most prestigious competitions.
Tracing its roots back to 2015, the Puerto Princesa Underground River International Bird Photography Race, held in Puerto Princesa City, has come a long way to where it is now. With 10 years having passed, this prestigious bird race will be in its 8th iteration in 2025. The only years in which the PPUR International Bird Photography Race did not commence were 2020 to 2022, when the COVID-19 Pandemic hampered international travel logistics.
The PPUR Bird Race has since been a significant event for the annual celebration of the Subaraw Biodiversity Festival. The word Subaraw comes from the root words suba, meaning "river," and taraw, meaning "limestone cliff."
For the PPUR Bird Race's 8th Iteration, Birds in Focus, Inc. teamed up with Birdwing Puerto Princesa to form two competitive teams for this year's competition. Djop Tabaranza, Vinz Pascua, and Totic Failana formed Team Birdfinder x Birdwing, while Christian Benavidez, Erickson Tabayag, and Will Cabanillas formed Team Birdwing x Haring Ibon. Team Birds in Focus was also formed by Alain Pascua, Jomar Entes, and Doods Domingo, and was more focused on exploring the Puerto Princesa area than on competing in birding.
The race itself was intense. On the first day of the race, both of our teams had a rocky start, with fewer birds than expected during the first few hours. Forest birding was a bit tricky, but our teams got lucky with Red-headed Flamebacks and Palawan Blue Flycatchers during the first day. Both of our teams saw only around 10 Palawan endemic birds and 45 species on the first day. This was considerably less than last year's attempt, with this year's race starting in the afternoon instead of the morning.
Day 2 was when both teams started to really find their footing in the race and be as smooth as possible in traversing Puerto Princesa. As expected, the morning brought in many more birds, since this is when they are most active. Palawan Hornbills soaring overhead and a close-up of the Great Slaty Woodpeckers were a delightful start for the race. The momentum kept on going until the afternoon, when both teams had a lengthy period of birding for waterbirds at Iwahig. To cap it all off, both teams photographed Palawan's elusive night birds, such as the Large-tailed Nightjar and the endemic Palawan Frogmouth. And to finally end their race, they made a last-minute pursuit to photograph the Mantanani Scops-owl before the 8:00 PM Time Limit.
Team Birdfinder x Birdwing won the 8th PPUR Bird Race, continuing Bird Finder's 3-year winning streak starting in 2023. Team Birdwing x Haring Ibon finished as the first runner-ups of the race. The difference between the two teams' scores is just a single Palawan endemic bird. We suspect that it might be a missed Blue Paradise Flycatcher, which was an incredibly tricky target to photograph. Team Birdwing x Haring Ibon's very own Christian Benavidez was awarded the Birdman of the Year for garnering 760 points during the PPUR Bird Race!
