Yellow-eared Parrot is just one of more than 70 endemics, many of them rare and endangered, to be found in Colombia. Photo: ProAves
Colombia’s 440,000 square miles are the richest area for birds on the planet. Some 1,870 species have been recorded in an area roughly three times the size of Nevada, among them no fewer than 73 endemics. Though our adventure will provide ample opportunity to observe a large number of common coastal and Amazonian species, this tour concentrates on visiting reserves that protect the last remaining habitats of some of the most range-restricted—and in some cases, the most endangered—birds in the world.
Colombia is in many ways the most “European” of all the South American countries, but we’ll be visiting parts of the country that are still quite wild, making some days of this tour rugged. There are long drives between some of our destinations, and we’ll be taking some of our meals in the field. This is a rigorous trip, but those willing to take on the challenge will find the rewards great.
All the areas visited on this tour are safe, and have been thoroughly scouted in collaboration with scientists from the Colombian NGO ProAves. Our co-leader, Trevor Ellery, is an experienced birding guide who has lived in Colombia since 2008. The group will also be accompanied by a professional driver. The openness and friendliness of the Colombians we’ll meet, combined with the endemic birds we’ll see, make this a can’t-miss tour for any world birder with a sense of adventure and the eagerness to truly experience areas that very few have ever visited.
Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Bogotá. Night in Bogotá.
Day 2: We’ll head out early today for a two-hour drive to Chingaza National Park, where we’ll look for the endemic Brown-breasted Parakeet, near-endemic Mattoral Tapaculo and Rufous-browed Conebill, and a host of high-elevation and temperate forest species including Andean Guan, Andean Pygmy Owl, White-capped Tanager, and Bronze-tailed Thornbill. Night in Bogotá.
Day 3: After an early breakfast, we’ll spend a few hours in La Florida Park, searching for three endemics: Bogotá Rail, Apolinar’s Marsh-Wren, and Silvery-throated Spinetail. Other specialties could include Spot-flanked Gallinule and Subtropical Doradito. We’ll then drive to La Victoria, where we’ll spend the afternoon birding the forest above town hoping to pick up several endemics including Sooty Ant-Tanager, Beautiful Woodpecker, White-mantled Barbet, and Colombian Chachalaca. We’re sure to encounter a host of commoner species at this very birdy site. Manakins are especially well represented, with the possibility of White-bearded, White-bibbed, Striped, and Golden-headed. We’ll also keep an eye out for the endemic White-footed Taramin, a primate that is being intensively studied here. Night in La Victoria.
Day 4: We’ll spend the morning in the forest at La Victoria looking for one more endemic, the enigmatic Antioquia Bristle-Tyrant. Other specialties could include Tody Motmot and Dull-mantled Antbird. We’ll bird until late morning, then drop down into the hot Magdalena Valley, stopping for lunch on the way. We’ll spend the afternoon birding dry forest near Laguna del Hato, where we hope to see the endemic Velvet-fronted Euphonia, Jet and White-bellied Antbirds, Barred Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, and possibly Crested Bobwhite. Night near Laguna del Hato.
Day 5: We’ll drive to the fragmented remnant forest above Libano. Once more we’ll be looking for several endemics. especially Yellow-headed Brush-finch, Tolima Dove, and the gaudy Crested Ant-Tanager. Other specialties may include Bar-crested Antshrike, Highland Motmot, Moustached Puffbird, Black-headed Brush-finch, and possibly Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper. We’ll stay here until late afternoon, then ascend the central cordillera and drop down to the city of Manizales, possibly making one or two birding stops along the road. Night just outside Manizales.
Day 6: Today we’ll visit Rio Blanco for a long but bird-filled day. We’ll arrive early and bird around the lodge, where we’ll look for such species as Black-billed Mountain Toucan, Sickle-winged Guan, Dusky Piha, and Black-collared Jay. About an hour after dawn we’ll be led to a special antpitta feeding station, where we hope to enjoy close up views of the endemic Brown-banded Antpitta and the impressive Chestnut-crowned Antpitta. We’ll spend much of the rest of the day exploring the excellent network of trails. The mixed flocks at this site are often large and varied, and we can hope to connect with several species of hemispingus, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Pearled Treerunner, and many tanagers. This site is also rich in skulkers, and we’ll be looking for several tapaculos, the possibility of another antpitta or two, and the elusive Masked Saltator. We’ll have lunch at the lodge and enjoy the spectacular hummingbird show at the feeders before continuing our birding at the reserve. We’ll have dinner here and then do some owling, our targets including Rufous-banded and White-throated Screech-Owls. Night just outside Manizales.
Day 7: We’ll climb back out of the city to the high elevations of Nevado del Ruiz National Park. This will be our second chance to bird the paramo; we’ll be on a different cordillera this time, and so we’ll hope for a slightly different mix of species. Here we may see the endemic and very local Rufous-fronted Parakeet, and flowering bushes attract a number of colorful hummingbirds, including Viridian Metaltail, Golden-breasted Puffleg, and Shining Sunbeam. The nomadic Black-thighed Puffleg is occasionally present in some numbers (and sometimes absent). We’ll search forest patches for Paramo Tapaculo, White-banded Tyrannulet, Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager, and Black-backed Bush-Tanager. Tawny Antpittas are often very tame here, and we’ll also look for the dazzling Bearded Helmetcrest. After lunch we’ll drive to Pereira and our country cabins at Otun Quimbaya, near La Suiza, where we may have a little time for birding in the lodge’s garden. Night at Quimbaya Otun Ecological Reserve.
Day 8: We’ll have the entire morning to look for birds around Quimbaya Otun, following a beautiful track through pristine forest at 6,500 feet. The endemic Cauca Guan is common here, and we also have a chance of seeing the endemic Chestnut Wood-Quail and the elusive Wattled Guan. We’ll be on the lookout for the endemic Grayish Piculet and Multicolored Tanager, as well as for exciting mixed feeding flocks. Another attraction of this site is Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, and we hope for great views of this large and impressive cotinga. In the afternoon we’ll drive to the pretty colonial town of Jardin. Night in Jardin.
Day 9: We’ll make an early start to visit the Yellow-eared Parrot roosting area at dawn, then spend the rest of the day birding down the road to Jardin, looking for such specialties as Tanager Finch, Golden-headed Tanager, and Chestnut-crested Cotinga. If we haven’t found the parrots in the morning, we can visit the roost again at dusk; otherwise we’ll return to town in the late afternoon, where we may squeeze in a visit to an Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek just ten minutes from our hotel. Night in Jardin.
Day 10: If we weren’t able to visit the cock-of-the-rock lek yesterday, we’ll take advantage of a second chance this morning. We will also bird the remnant forest patches around town, where we should find a host of commoner species and may locate the endemic Red-bellied Grackle. We’ll leave after lunch for the scenic drive to the wet western slope of the Andes in the Choco. Along the way we’ll have another chance for Grayish Piculet at a roadside stop. This area has opened up to birders just in the last few years, and many significant range extensions are still being discovered. Night at Las Tangaras Lodge.
Day 11: We’ll bird our way down a gently sloping, traffic-free road through spectacular cloud forest, searching for large and exciting mixed flocks. We should quickly locate a key endemic, Black-and-gold Tanager, which seems quite common at this site. The flocks are often stuffed full of specialties, and we’ll be looking for Pacific Tufted-cheek, Fulvous-dotted Treerunner, Glistening-green and Purplish-mantled Tanagers, Toucan Barbet, and Chestnut-breasted and Yellow-collared Chlorophonias. We may make occasional sorties into the understorey, where we can hope to find Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Nariño Tapaculo, Olive Finch, Tricolored Brush-Finch, and Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant. On what will be a very full day we’ll also hope to squeeze in a visit to the reserve’s hummingbird feeders for Violet-tailed Sylph, Velvet-Purple Coronet, Tawny-bellied Hermit, or White-tailed Hillstar. Night at Las Tangaras Lodge.
Day 12: On our second morning we’ll hike up to the ridgetop; the trail is fairly gentle over most of its length, with a short but steep final section. Here we’ll be searching for our second endemic Bangsia tanager, the stunning Gold-ringed. We’ll also be trying for some of the more secretive or difficult-to-find forest denizens, including Black Solitaire, Choco Vireo, Beautiful Jay, Bicolored Antvireo, and Alto Pisones Tapaculo, that last a species yet to be formally described; we also have a slim chance of Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl. We’ll have to leave in the late morning for the long drive to the Chestnut-capped Piha reserve, a species not discovered until the 1990. We hope to arrive around dusk.
Days 13-14: The Piha reserve has many special birds, but we’ll have to hike up a narrow trail into the forest to see most of them. We’ll walk slowly, birding all the way up, and carry a packed lunch for a full day. Skulkers here can include the endemic Stiles’s Tapaculo, Chestnut-crowned Gnateater, and Streak-capped Treehunter. We’ll be scanning the canopy for the often unobtrusive Chestnut-capped Piha and keeping an ear out for noisy groups of Red-bellied Grackles. We hope to come across one or two of the large mixed-species flocks that roam through the forest, which can hold Multicolored Tanager, Brown-billed Scythebill, and Rufous-browed Tyrannulet. We’ll return to the lodge in the late afternoon.
Our second day at the Piha reserve will largely be governed by what we saw on our first day. We have time for a second visit to the forest and can also bird along the road. We’ll be keeping an eye out for additional special birds including Moustached Puffbird, White-capped Manakin, and Chestnut Wood-Quail. We’ll also have time to enjoy commoner species at the lodge’s fruit and hummingbird feeders, and in the evening we’ll try for night birds including Lyre-tailed and White-tailed Nightjars and possibly Tropical and Cinnamon Screech-Owls and Mottled and Stygian Owls.
Day 15: After some final early morning birding around the lodge, we’ll drive back to Medellín where those departing today will catch a flight to Bogotá and connections with their international flights home.
Extension to the Caribbean Coast and the Santa Marta Mountains
Day 15: Those going on the Caribbean Coast and Santa Marta extension will fly this faternoon to Barranquilla. Night in Baranquilla.
Day 16: Taking our breakfast in the field, we’ll spend the morning around Salamanca, looking for Chestnut-winged Chachalaca and Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird. Other birds here may include Russet-throated Puffbird, Chestnut Piculet, Panama Flycatcher, and Bicolored Conebill, as well as many herons, shorebirds, and other coastal species. After lunch we’ll begin our ascent to El Dorado in the spectacular Santa Marta Mountains; we’ll be looking for endemics including Santa Marta Tapaculo and Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner. We’ll arrive at dusk at comfortable El Dorado Lodge, where many of the bird-filled garden’s endemics can be seen directly from the balcony. Night at El Dorado Lodge.
Days 17-18: We’ll devote two entire days to different elevations on the San Lorenzo Ridge. On one of the days we’ll take our four-wheel-drive jeeps high up in search of endemics such as Santa Marta Parakeet, the rare Black-backed Thorntail, Santa Marta Woodstar, White-tailed Starfrontlet, Rusty-headed and Streak-capped Spinetails, Santa Marta Antpitta, Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant, Santa Marta and White-lored Warblers, Yellow-crowned Whitestart, Santa Marta Mountain Tanager, Santa Marta Brush Finch, and Santa Marta Seedeater. Other birds possible here include Black-fronted Wood-Quail, Lined Quail-Dove, White-rumped Hawk, White-tipped Quetzal, Golden-breasted Fruiteater, and Gray-throated Warbler. The area also has a still undescribed species of Megascops owl. Nights at El Dorado Lodge.
Day 19: We will leave the lodge early to bird the coffee plantations above Minca. Here we’ll be looking for Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Golden-winged Manakin, Scaled Piculet, and Rufous-breasted and Rufous-and-white Wrens. We should encounter a good variety of commoner species, and we’ll also check a site for the handsome Black-backed Antshrike. As the day heats up, we’ll head east of Santa Marta to Riohacha to bird desert habitats and the Los Flamencos Reserve, where specialties include Green-rumped Parrotlet, Buffy Hummingbird, Black-backed Antshrike, White-whiskered Spinetail, Slender-billed Inezia, Vermilion Cardinal, Orinocan Saltator, Pileated Finch, and Tocuyo Sparrow. In the evening we’ll visit coastal lagoons for a host of shorebirds, gulls, terns, and other waterbirds, often including the odd surprise. We hope to end the day watching Lesser Nighthawks patrolling the desert scrub. Night in Riohacha.
Day 20: We’ll spend the morning at Los Flamencos, searching for any species we may have missed the day before. In the late morning we’ll return to the hotel to shower and change before catching a lunchtime flight from Riohacha to Bogota, where the extension ends.
Updated: 07 January 2011
Prices
- 2012 Tour Price : $6,050*
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $410
- With Coast and Santa Marta Extension : $7,900
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $530
Notes
** The itinerary and dates of this tour were changed in October 2010.
Maximum group size eight with two leaders; the group will also be accompanied by a driver.
Note that single accommodation is available only on those seven nights spent in city hotels; no singles are available at the reserve accommodations used on this tour.
Participants arriving on American Airlines may (as of Dec. 2010) have to spend an extra night in Bogata at the end of the tour. If this condition persists, please contact the WINGS office for assistance.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.
* This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird. Please review the explanation of our Sunbird pricing here.