Photo Gallery
Photos by Fabrice Schmitt
In order to truely appreciate the amazing Colombian bird diversity (here a Black-billed Mountain-toucan)…
…we’ll travel through the three main Colombian cordilleras…
… some still covered by pristine forest (here the Occidental cordillera at ‘La Eme’)…
We’ll visit the Magdalena and the Cauca valleys…
…and end our trip in the scenic Santa Marta mountains.
We’ll be birding in very diverse habitats, from high elevation paramo where temperature can be quite cold…
…to exuberant Cloud Forest…
…and to dry (and very hot) shrubby habitat in the Guajira Peninsula.
For most of the trip we’ll use a very comfortable bus for our small group…
…but when roads are too bad we’ll use SUVs…
…or even open 4x4 jeeps to reach some isolated locations.
Accommodations can occasionally be simple, like here at the Otun Quimbaya reserve (but we have Cauca Guan in the garden!) …
…but we mostly use comfortable hotels and lodges…
…some even elegant…
…and in many places there are new birds in the garden…
…or even from your room window!
Birding in Colombia is absolutely fantastic, just like this White-capped Tanager.
We’ll be looking for a host of Colombian endemics (here a White-mantled Barbet)…
…many restricted-range species like this Tanager Finch…
…and even some endangered species like Bogota Rail…
…and a few recently described species such the very local Chestnut-capped Piha…
…and even some still undescribed species, like ‘Santa Marta’ Screech-Owl.
There will be many fancy birds, here a Barred Fruiteater,…
…and colorful ones like this male of Andean Cock-of-the-rock…
…but also some that are drab and elusive such as Santa Marta Tapaculo (even if this particular one was unusually cooperative).
We’ll visit more than 10 feeding stations, each attracting many species including tanagers (here a Bay-headed)…
…and amazing numbers of hummingbirds (80 species have been recorded on our tour)…
…like the superb Violet-tailed Sylph…
…the sparkling Velvet-purple Coronet…
…or the elegant Long-tailed Sylph.
We’ll also visit antpittas feeding station, where we could see Chestnut-crowned Antpitta at arms length…
…and even the very shy Santa Marta Antpitta.
We will of course also look for antpittas in ‘the wild’, like this Ochre-breasted Antpitta seen at Las Tangaras.
Obviously, natural diversity in Colombia is not restricted to birds. There are amazing insects (here Opaon varicolor, endemic to the Choco)…
…extraordinary butterflies…
…fascinating reptiles…
…plenty of stunning orchids…
…and even a few mammals like Colombian Red Howler.
In short, and perhaps particularly for the naturalist, Colombia is an extraordinarily beautiful country.