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The Colombian Andes

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MANU EXPEDITIONS BIRDING TOURS [email protected] www.Birding-In-Peru.com A TRIP REPORT FOR A BIRDING TRIP TO THE COLOMBIAN ANDES April 5th – 23rd 2014 The scope of this trip was to target some of the most endangered Colombia endemics and range restricted species which are fortunately protected in fragmented forest patches thanks to the efforts of ProAves and the Colombian National Parks and watershed reserves Colombia – one of the three most diverse countries for birds on the planet along with Peru & Brazil. North of Ecuador the Andes branches into 3 distinct mountain chains, separated by the Cauca and Magdalena valleys, each with its endemic avifauna. The Santa Marta mountains rise, it seems, straight out of the Carribean and is a spectacular mountain range with a hatful of localized endemics. Mention of Colombia conjures images of Emeralds, Coffee, Vallenato music, Guerillas and Cocaine and indeed like many developing countries Colombia is in flux. We made no excuse for concentrating on endemics in the Colombian Andes, though on the route we took we did not ignore anything that popped up in front of us. This trip report is based on visits to reserves that protect the last remaining forests and habitats of some of the most endangered birds in the world. We experienced the warmth of the Colombia people, varied landscapes, tarditional local food and « surprise » juices!, and experienced driving skills from our driver Guovanni. Local Park guards were helpfull at all reserves. The Agenda April 4th: Arrival in Bogota East slope Central Cordillera. 2625 Meters. Department of Cundinamarca. April 5th: Birding all morning at the Chingaza National Park at 3000 metres above Nuevo Mundo, but dense fog and rain obliged us to drive back earlier than expected. Brief stop at the Guasca gravel pits. Night in Bogota. East slope Central Andes. Department of Cundinamarca. April 6th: Early morning birding trip to Parque La Florida, Distrito Capital, then to the Tabacal Lake. After a nice lunch, we visited the Jardin Encantado with +40 Hummingbirds Feeders. Night in Bogota. April 7th: Flight to Pereira and then drive to Otun Quimbaya reserve where we spent the afternoon. Night in Otun Quimbaya Reserve, 1800 meters, Department of Risaralda. West slope of the Central Cordillera. April 8th: Morning at the Otun Quimbaya NP, near La Suiza, 1900 meters, Department of Risaralda. West slope of the Central Cordillera. In the afternoon - drive Manizales. Department of Risaralda. Night in Manizales. April 9th: Full day birding in the Rio Blanco reserve 2500-2600 meters. West slope Central Andes. Department of Risaralda. Night in Manizales. April 10th: Birding in the morning at the Nevado Del Ruiz NP, Department of Risaralda. 4000 meters, and drive in the afternoon to Mariquita for the night. Department of Tolima. April 11th: Morning birding above El Libano at La Tigrera, Central Cordillera East slope and afternoon birding at Finca El Palmar (El Hato road) in the Magdalena Valley. Night in Mariquita. April 12th: Early Drive and morning birding near La Victoria at the Bellavista Watershed Reserve, Central Cordillera East slope, Department of Caldas and drive to Puerto Boyaca for lunch and some birding nearby. Then afternoon drive to the Rio Claro reserve. April 13th-14th: two full days at the Rio Claro reserve, biridng the trail system there and a nearby Oilbird cave. April 15th: Last morning birding Rio Claro reserve, and afternoon drive to Medellin. Night in Medellin. April 16th: Birding La Romera above Medellin. Flight to Santa Marta. Afternoon birding near Santa Marta. April 17th: Morning birding near Baranquilla and at the Isla Salamanca reserve. Lunch in Santa Marta, and afternoon birding in the surroundings. Night in Santa Marta. April 18th: Impossible to reach Tayrona NP because of National Holidays, and we birded the Las Gaviotas area. Then drive towards Riohacha and birding around Perico in the afternoon. Night in Riohacha. April 19th: To Los Flamencos National Park, spending the morning birding near Pericos and the lagoons at Camarones. Lunch at the pleasant hotel in Minca, with several species of hummingbirds visiting the feeders. Drive to El Dorado lodge 1900 meters. Department of Magdalena. April 20th-21st: Two full days birding the Santa Marta Mountains. 1600-2000 meters, Department of Magdalena. April 22nd: birding the way down to Minca. Night in Minca. April 23rd: Two last hours birding around Minca, and then drive to Santa Marta airport, and fly to Bogota and International conections. Chestnut-crowned Antpitta at the Rio Blanco feeders – Picture Fabrice Schmitt Red-ruffed Fruitcrow at Otun Quimbaya – Picture Rhys Harrison Vermilion Cardinal at Los Flamencos NP – Picture Rhys Harrison Buff-breadsted Mountain-tanager – Picture Rhys Harrison Buffy Helmetcrest at Los Nevados del Ruiz – Picture Fabrice Schmitt Butterfly at El Libano – Picture Fabrice Schmitt More pictures from Rhys Harrison: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rbird53 And from Fabrice Schmitt: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fabrice-schmitt/ THE KEY Species which were heard but not seen are indicated by the symbol * RED = IUCN RED LIST CATEGORY IOC = International Ornithological Congress SACC = South American Classification Committee RNA = Reserva Natural de Aves (Pro-Aves Reserves) E = Colombian Endemic RR = Range Restricted THE BIRDS TINAMIDAE Little Tinamou - Crypturellus soui*: Heard at several locations. ANHIMIDAE Northern Screamer - Chauna chavaria: 1 seen near Puerto Boyaca. The last screamer for most of the group!! ANATIDAE Black-bellied Whistling-duck - Dendrocygna autumnalis: 2 at parquet Florida, and 2 more near Puerto Boyaca. White-cheeked Pintail – Anas bahamensis: 1 found near Baranquilla Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors: Boreal migrant to Colombia seen at the Guasca Gravel Pits, Parque La Florida and near Barranquilla. Andean Teal – Anas andium – seen on our first day at the Guasca Gravel Pits. The SACC says “Hellmayr & Conover (1948a) and many earlier classifications treated andium as a separate species from A. flavirostris- Speckled Teal. Following <find first author to lump>, many authors, from Meyer de Schauensee (1970) to Dickinson (2003), have treated andium as a subspecies of A. flavirostris. Anas andium was considered a separate species from Anas flavirostris by Ridgely et al. (2001), and this was followed by Hilty (2003). SACC proposal passed to recognize andium as separate species” Andean Duck – Oxyura ferruginea: 25+ at Parque La Florida and 2 on the pond at Los Nevados. Most of the birds seen around Bogotá were boreal migrants (males with white face), and the ones seen at Los Nevados belong to the “AndeanDuck” group. The SACC says “Andean populations have often (e.g., Hellmayr & Conover 1948a, Siegfried 1976, Sibley & Ahlquist 1990, AOU 1998, Ridgely et al. 2001, Jaramillo 2003) been treated as a separate species, O. ferruginea ("Andean Duck" or "Andean Ruddy-Duck"). However, see Adams and Slavid (1984), Fjeldså (1986), and McCracken & Sorenson (2005) for rationale for treating them as conspecific, as done previously (e.g., Blake 1977, Johnsgard 1979), and then followed by Fjeldså & Krabbe (1990) and Carboneras (1992f). Siegfried (1976) and Livezey (1995) considered ferruginea to be more closely related to O. vittata than to O. jamaicensis, but McCracken & Sorenson (2005) showed that this is incorrect” Cited as “Andean Duck “by the IOC. Torrent Duck – Merganetta armata: a nice pair seen at Otun Quimbaya CRACIDAE RR Chestnut-winged Chachalaca – Ortalis garrula: 20+ seen near Santa Marta Rufous-vented Chachalaca – Ortalis ruficauda: 5 at Los Flamencos NP E Colombian Chachalaca - Ortalis columbiana: a few sightings E Cauca Guan – Penelope perspicax: Around 6 seen at the Otun Quimbaya Reserve where it was re-discovered. Penelope was the daughter of Icarius and wife of Ulysses King of Ithaca. Perspicax means “Sharp-sighted” in Latin. ENDANGERED Wattled Guan – Aburria aburria: A hard to see Guan seen at Otun Quimbaya where a few more were heard only. Sickle-winged Guan – Chamaepetes goudotti: Good looks above Bogota and in the Santa Marta mountains. ODONTOPHORIDAE Crested Bobwhite - Colinus cristatus: two seen briefly at Los Flamencos Black-fronted Wood-quail - Odontophorus atrifrons: coming daily at the El Dorado feeders Chestnut Wood-quail – Odontophorus hyperythrus*: at Otun Quimbaya PODICIPEDIDAE Pied-billed Grebe – Podilymbus podiceps: 2 at La Florida PHOENICOPTERIDAE American Flamingo – Phoenicopterus ruber: 4 at the well named Los Flamencos reserve!! FREGATIDAE Magnificent Frigatebird – Fregata magnificens: a few on Caribbean coast. PHALACROCORACIDAE Neotropic Cormorant – Phalacrocorax brasilianus: seen here and there ANHINGIDAE Anhinga - Anhinga anhinga: 1 seen near Puerto Boyaca ARDEIDAE Capped Heron - Pilherodius pileatus: 1 seen along El Hato road, and even just glimpsed by Fabrice during our drive near Santa Marta Great Blue Heron – Ardea Herodias: 1 seen near Barranquilla together with the following species Cocoi Heron - Ardea cocoa: 5+ near Barranquilla Great Egret - Ardea albus: We saw small numbers at several wetland sites. Now usually placed in the genus Ardea. Reddish Egret – Egretta rufescens: 1 at Los Flamencos NP Tricolored Heron – Egretta tricolor: 25+ near Barranquilla Little Blue Heron – Egretta caerulea: regular sightings, especially along the Carribean coast Snowy Egret - Egretta thula: fairly common Striated Heron - Butorides striatus: Small numbers seen at several wetland areas. Green Heron – Butorides virescens: 2 seen near
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  • Colombia: from the Choco to Amazonia

    Colombia: from the Choco to Amazonia

    This gorgeous Cinnamon Screech Owl narrowly missed being our bird-of-the-trip! (Pete Morris) COLOMBIA: FROM THE CHOCO TO AMAZONIA 9/12/15 JANUARY – 5/11 FEBRUARY 2016 LEADER: PETE MORRIS Well, this was the first time that we had run our revised Colombia With a Difference tour – now aptly-named Colombia: From the Choco to Amazonia. Complete with all the trimmings, which included pre-tour visits to San Andres and Providencia, the Sooty-capped Puffbird Extension, and the post tour Mitu Extension, we managed to amass in excess of 850 species. Travelling to the Caribbean, the Pacific Coast, the High Andes and the Amazon all in one trip really was quite an experience, and the variety and diversity of species recorded, at times, almost overwhelming! Picking out just a few highlights from such a long list is difficult, but here’s just an 1 BirdQuest Tour Report:Colombia: From the Choco to Amazonia www.birdquest-tours.com The exquisite Golden-bellied Starfrontlet, one of a number of stunning hummers and our bird-of-the-trip! (Pete Morris) appetizer! The islands of San Andres and Providencia both easily gave up their endemic vireos – two Birdquest Lifers! The Sooty-capped Puffbirds were all we hoped for and a male Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird a bonus! A sneaky trip to Sumapaz National Park yielded several Green-bearded Helmetcrests and Bronze-tailed Thorn- bill. On the main tour we saw a huge number of goodies. Blue-throated, Dusky and Golden-bellied Starfrontlets (all stunners!); the rare Humboldt’s Sapphire was a Birdquest lifer; nightbirds included Black-and-white Owl and White-throated, Cinnamon and Choco Screech Owls; and a random selection of other favourites included Gorgeted Wood Quail, the much appreciated Brown Wood Rail, Beautiful Woodpecker, Chestnut-bellied Hum- mingbird, Black Inca, the brilliant Rusty-faced Parrot, Citron-throated Toucan, Recurve-billed Bushbird, Urrao Antpitta, Niceforo’s and Antioquia Wrens, the amazing Baudo Oropendola, Crested and Sooty Ant Tanagers and the rare Mountain Grackle.
  • First Report of the Nest and Young of the Variegated Antpitta (Grailaria

    First Report of the Nest and Young of the Variegated Antpitta (Grailaria

    SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 499 SICK, H. 1985. Ornitologia Brasiliense, 2 ~01s. Editora Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil. SKUTCH, A. F. 1954. Life histories of Central American birds. Pacific Coast Avifauna 3 1: l-448. EDWIN 0. WILLIS, Dept. Zoologia, Univ. Estadual Paulista, 13.500 Rio Clara, Sao’ Paulo, Brazil. Received13 Aug. 1986, acceptedI I Feb. 1987. Wilson Bull., 99(3), 1987, pp. 499-500 First report of the nest and young of the Variegated Antpitta (Grallaria varia).-While conducting a study on microhabitat use by birds, I found a nest with two young of the Variegated Antpitta (Grulluria varia) 80 km north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil (225’ S,’ 595O’ W).’ I am unable to find any previously published description of the nest and young of this species. The nest was in upland forest about 25 m from an extensive area of 10-15- month-old second-growth, which had resulted from the clearing of the forest for cattle ranching. After the trees were cut, however, the area was abandoned. After the cutting, human activity had dropped to a minimum, except for an infrequently used trail that passed within 1 m of the nest. The nest was discovered 19 June 1984 by my field assistant, Jairo Miranda Lopes, on an upright <2-m rotting stump 40-50 cm in diameter. The nest, which was about 1.5 m above the ground, was a shallow cup 20 cm in diameter, lined with a thick mat of very small brown twigs and rootlets, and well concealed by a palm frond. The nest contained two young (eyes open, covered in black down, and spotted with brown juvenal feathers).