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How did Colombia work birdsong into its national anthem?

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The United Nations Biodiversity Conference starts today in Colombia, one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth. It has more bird species than any other country and the second-most butterflies and amphibians. Now these natural wonders can be heard in a new version of Colombia's national anthem. John Otis reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF KALVIN SONG, "HIMNO PATRIO COLOMBIANO")

JOHN OTIS: National anthems are often hard to sing, and rather ponderous. Colombia's is no exception.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HIMNO PATRIO COLOMBIANO")

UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR: (Singing in Spanish).

OTIS: In Spanish, they're singing, oh, unwithering glory. Oh, immortal jubilance. In furrows of pain, goodness now germinates. It goes on like this for 11 stanzas, which is why hardly any Colombians know all the words. But a new version of the song has been released to coincide with the U.N. Biodiversity Conference taking place in the Colombian city of Cali. It's sung mostly by birds.

(SOUNDBITE OF MIGUEL DE NARVAEZ'S "HIMNO NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA INTERPRETADO POR SU BIODIVERSIDAD")

OTIS: The project is the brainchild of SURA, an insurance company that's one of the sponsors of the summit. It commissioned biologists to record sounds in the mountains and jungles, which were then handed over to Bogota music producer Miguel de Narvaez.

MIGUEL DE NARVAEZ: First, we have to respect each note of the national anthem. It was a real challenge, because birds or animals are not pitched to sing in a specific tune or something.

OTIS: His team got some unexpected help from a pygmy owl, known in Colombia as a ferrugineo.

NARVAEZ: It appeared suddenly, and the biologists say, oh, no, a ferrugineo. So they stepped out of the car and recorded it, and he starts, fa, fa, ra-ta. That first note is the owl.

(SOUNDBITE OF MIGUEL DE NARVAEZ'S "HIMNO NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA INTERPRETADO POR SU BIODIVERSIDAD")

OTIS: Dozens of other animals chime in.

NARVAEZ: There are 41 birds, three frogs, one jaguar and whales.

OTIS: The whales were key for the anthems harmony.

NARVAEZ: For example, the whale (imitating whale song) - that sound gives a floor to the melody.

OTIS: The retooled anthem is a way to call attention to an unprecedented crisis in which habitats are vanishing and up to a million species around the planet face extinction. Narvaez says it also appears to be catching on.

NARVAEZ: One person told me, this is the first time I've heard the national anthem so many times, because I love it (laughter). I love this version.

OTIS: For NPR News, I'm John Otis in Bogota, Colombia.

(SOUNDBITE OF MIGUEL DE NARVAEZ'S "HIMNO NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA INTERPRETADO POR SU BIODIVERSIDAD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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