Welcome to Birdquest
COLOMBIA
Birdquest's Colombia birding tour is a classic South American birdwatching trip. Our Colombia tour is the single best itinerary in the country and records more Colombian endemics in three weeks than any other. Right up there with Ecuador and Peru in terms of species diversity, Colombia is far richer than either in endemic birds.
Saturday 2nd March -
Sunday 24th March 2013
(23 days)
Leader:
Eustace Barnes
Group Size Limit: 9
Tour Category: Easy to Moderate
The stunning Gold-ringed Tanager is one of several superb specialities that we will be looking for during the tour (Pete Morris)
To most people Colombia conjures up images of the finest coffee in the world, emeralds, cocaine, and swinging salsa and merengue music, but for birders it offers the richest avifauna on earth!
Colombia has had a complex history. Once encompassing all of adjacent Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador, the early republic soon shrunk in size, but even today we are still left with an immense country with an endless variety of scenery, habitats and bird communities.
Colombia has the enviable distinction of having the greatest number of bird species recorded for any country in the world: over 1870 species have been recorded to date! Upon entering from Ecuador, the mighty Andean Cordillera soon divides into three huge ranges, Colombia’s ornithologically-famous Western, Central and Eastern Andes. In between are the wide Cauca and Magdalena Valleys that eventually reach the Caribbean Coast. Here, one of the planet’s most awesome mountain ranges, the snow-clad Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, rises abruptly out of the ocean. Only rivalled by Peru for the diversity of its avifauna, it is not only the sheer number of species that are impressive about Colombia, but also the extraordinary number of endemics found within its boundaries. Faced with the impossibility of covering all of this vast country in a single three week tour, this tour concentrates on the more readily accessible sites, with mostly easy walking conditions, for the unique endemic species occurring in the Western and Central cordilleras and the isolated Santa Marta Mountains.
We will start out in the scenic mountains around the capital, where such exciting species as Bogota Rail, Silvery-throated Spinetail, Apolinar’s Marsh-Wren, Rufous-browed Conebill and Turquoise Dacnis-Tanager await us.
Our next port of call will be the temperate forests above Ibague in search of the rare Fuertes’s Parrot before we head to Otun Quimbaya. A morning here in the park may well yield Cauca Guan and the elusive Chestnut Wood-Quail, as well as the superb Chestnut-breasted Wren. Continuing on to Manizales, we make an in-depth exploration of areas bordering Los Nevados National Park. These include the excellent Rio Blanco Reserve and the nearby Nevado del Ruiz where, amongst others, we hope to find such specialities as Rusty-faced Parrot, Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, Brown-banded and Bicoloured Antpittas, and Golden-fronted Whitestart, in addition to more widespread but nonetheless elusive species such as Paramo and Ocellated Tapaculos, and White-capped Tanager.
Crossing the Cauca valley to Jardin we will explore a forested ridge in search of Yellow-eared Parrot and Tanager-Finch while nearer town we shall visit a spectacular Cock-of-the-Rock lek.
Our next port of call will be the very wet Pacific slope of the Western Andes, known as the Chocó. Here we can find the stunning Gold-ringed Tanager alongside other colourful Chocó endemics, such as Velvet-purple Coronet, Violet-tailed Sylph and Orange-breasted Fruiteater, and such additional specialities as Munchique Wood-Wren, Black Solitaire and Chestnut-breasted and Yellow-collared Chlorophonias.
Continuing on we will reach the very northern end of the Central Andes where our prime targets will be three species which have been discovered and described relatively recently; Parker’s Antbird, Chestnut-capped Piha and Stiles’s Tapaculo. We should also see the spectacular Black-and-gold Tanager and Red-bellied Grackle in this part of the country.
Crossing the low hilly country of the northern central Cordillera we enter the wide Magdalena Valley where the humid forests hold such specialities as White-mantled Barbet, Antioquia Bristle-Tyrant and Sooty Ant-Tanager.
Returning to Medellin, we make a special effort to see the rare Yellow-headed Manakin before flying to Santa Marta, where we will climb the impressive Sierra Nevada in search of over a dozen endemics whilst simultaneously enjoying some of the world’s most breathtaking scenery!
We then descend to the arid littoral exploring the Guajira Peninsula. Here we will look for some restricted-range species only shared with neighbouring Venezuela, such as Chestnut Piculet, White-whiskered Spinetail and Vermilion Cardinal. On our final day we explore a mosaic of coastal habitats in search of Chestnut-winged Chachalcas and the endangered Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird before returning to Bogota.
Birdquest has operated tours to Colombia since 1998.
(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)
Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels and lodges are of normal Birdquest standard throughout. Transport is by small coach or minibus, and 4x4 vehicles where necessary. The roads are generally good.
Walking: The walking effort is easy to moderate. At Rio Claro we walk along a stream bed to the Oilbird cave repeatedly crossing the shallow waters.
Climate: At this season it should be mostly dry and often sunny. It can be quite hot and humid in the lowlands, whilst at higher elevations it can be quite cool, especially at night. There may be some rain which at times can be heavy and persistent.
Bird Photography: Opportunities are worthwhile.
Tour Price: (provisional): $8440 Bogotá/Barranquilla. Price includes all transportation (including Bogotá-Cali and Medellin-Santa Marta flights), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.
Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $810. There are only a limited number of rooms at San Lorenzo, where we stay two nights. There is no single supplement at this location, but singles are provided free of additional charge if available at the time.
Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).
Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.
Colombia is a brilliant country for antpittas, and we have seen 11 species on our recent tours! Yhis is the endemic Brown-banded Antpitta (Pete Morris)
... and the superb Chestnut-naped Antpitta (Pete Morris)
The superb Yellow-eared Parrot is a critically endangered species that we should see well (Pete Morris)
The Cauca Guan is another of the endangered endemics that we should see (Pete Morris)
The cute little Greyish Piculet is another endemic (Pete Morris)
The fantastic jay-like White-capped Tanager is a likely favourite (Pete Morris)
The tour ends in the magnificent Santa Marta mountains which rise from the sea to over 5000m (Pete Morris)
181 photos
View Gallery Photos From COLOMBIA
The marshes around Bogota are home to specialities including Apolinar's Marsh Wren (Pete Morris)
A fine selection of specialities and endemics occur around Bogota such as Rufous-browed Conebill (Pete Morris)
... and the seldom seen Velvet-fronted Euphonia (Pete Morris)
With a birdlist well in excess of 600 species, we'll also see a huge number of more widespread species such as Plushcap (Pete Morris)
Excellent endemics found in the Cali area include the fine Multicoloured Tanager (Pete Morris)
In the Chocó we can expect to find stunners such as Black Solitaire (Pete Morris)
... Beautiful Jay (Pete Morris)
... and the superb Purplish-mantled Tanager (Pete Morris)
We'll have a brief foray into the lowland around Rio Claro where as well as some localized endemics, we see more widespread goodies such as Barred Puffbird (Pete Morris)
... and the amazing Oilbird (Pete Morris)
At the top end of the Central Andes we should find the stunning endemic Red-bellied Grackle (Pete Morris)
... as well as the more subtle Sooty-headed Wren (Pete Morris)
The dry Guajira peninsula provides quite a contrast with specialities including Vermilion Cardinal (Pete Morris)
... the attractive Chestnut Piculet (Pete Morris)
... and the superb Russet-throated Puffbird (Pete Morris)
The lower slopes of the Santa Marta Mountains are home to goodies such as Golden-winged Sparrow (Pete Morris)
Whilst higher up, some great endemics include the skulking Santa Marta Antpitta (Pete Morris)
... and the attractive Santa Marta Toucanet (Pete Morris)
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