Southern Colombia: Eastern & Western Slopes of the Andes
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SOUTHERN COLOMBIA: EASTERN & WESTERN SLOPES OF THE ANDES AN EXTRAVAGANZA OF BIRDS NOVEMBER 7-21, 2019 © 2019 The eastern and western slopes of the Colombian Andes at their southern end harbor two of the most biodiverse avifaunas to be found anywhere on the planet. This tour includes almost all of the key “hotspots” for birders visiting this region. This trip also should yield several Colombian endemics such as Indigo- capped Hummingbird, Dusky-headed Brushfinch and Red-bellied Grackle, and an impressive number of near-endemic and range- restricted species. Many of the species in these categories occur primarily in humid or wet montane forest, habitats popularly known as cloud forest. These forests are beautiful, almost magical when mist and fog silently glides up mountain slopes and bathes the forest in a veil of gossamer, but these are not always easy habitats in which to see birds. Nevertheless, the list of possibilities is so great and so tempting that even if a few species elude us, we doubt that anyone will come away disappointed. Because much of this trip is at mid-elevation or higher, most days should be quite comfortable (jacket weather, rather than hot sweaty lowlands) although we will dip down into the lowlands for a day or two on both the eastern and western side of the mountains. Higher elevations also mean that a spectacular array of hummingbirds and tanagers will predominate. We also should see a good selection of flycatchers, wrens and passerellids – a newly erected family that includes bush- tanagers (now called Chlorospingus), brushfinches and others, but fewer “ant-things” (antbirds) and furnariids. We could also see up to three kinds of mountain-toucans, a variety of less well-known woodpeckers and, with a little luck, some really special cotingas. About This Tour: This trip is suitable for birders that are in good physical condition and able to walk on moderately difficult forest trails and uneven terrain. There also will be one short but somewhat difficult trail to reach a high-elevation páramo destination. We recommend that you bring a walking stick for this trip if you have used them in the past. The pace of the trip will be moderate, although occasionally our pace may quicken as we try to balance birding with a few longer drives in order to reach our hotel in time for a little relaxation at the end of the day. Maximum elevation will be about 12,000 feet (on 2 days); elevations on most days will range between 2,000 and 8,000 feet and we will be near sea level the last two days. On a number of days expect morning transfer Southern Colombia, Page 2 times of about an hour or a little more to reach birding destinations; on one or more days the morning commute will be longer. Travel will be in a comfortable but relatively small (like Mercedes Sprinter) bus. Please note that tap water is perfectly safe in Bogotá but in all other sites you should drink only bottled water. Food is generally good, with large meals, and we have had relatively few health issues related to food or water in Colombia. You may wish to use restraint when eating salads in small country restaurants. If you enjoy spicy foods, bring your own special hot sauce. Hotel breakfasts are usually light (typically in pre-dawn hours) but we supplement them where possible and provide snacks for mid-morning breaks. Montane Rain Forest, Western Andes © Photo: S. Hilty November 7, Day 1: Arrival into the Capital City of Bogotá, Colombia. Participants may plan to arrive any time today. Bogotá’s El Dorado Airport code is BOG. Upon arrival you will be met and transferred to our hotel in Bogotá for the night. Upon request, the VENT office will be happy to assist with reservations for early arrivals at the hotel and airport transfers. For those arriving early and wishing some local pre-trip activities – both birding and/or city tours including the Gold Museum, the Botero Museum and several interesting neighborhoods and the Monserrate area—we recommend you contact Diana Balcázar, a licensed and English-speaking Bogotá native who conducts both birding trips and city tours. You should contact her directly for any pre- or post-tour arrangements at [email protected] and for more information about her see www.birdingbogotaandcolombia.com. NIGHT: Hotel Hilton Garden Inn, Bogotá November 8, Day 2: Morning Flight to City of Popayan. Mid-day and afternoon birding in high elevation montane dry to humid forest. Our birding and activities today will depend upon the flight schedule. We anticipate arriving in Popayán well before noon, with time available for mid-day or afternoon birding. Popayan is a pleasant city of about 5,800 feet elevation (1,770 m). The city is situated between the Central and Western Andes and near the head of the Cauca Valley. It is a lovely city known for its colonial architecture and its many white-painted buildings—so many, in fact, that it is often called the “White City.” Unfortunately, part of the city was destroyed in a 1983 earthquake and, to date, some buildings still have not been rebuilt. Birding today will likely include a good introduction to species of the southern highlands, especially in drier, partly deforested areas where forest is patchy and, if time permits, we also may reach the much more humid higher elevations as well. Some possibilities include Band-tailed Pigeon, Tyrian and Viridian metaltail (willliami race), Shining Sunbeam, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, White-throated and White-banded tyrannulets, Great Southern Colombia, Page 3 Thrush, Golden-fronted Redstart, Cinereous Conebill, Rufous-chested Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain- Tanager, Blue-capped Tanager, Black Flowerpiercer, Slaty and Yellow-breasted brushfinch, and Black-backed Grosbeak. NIGHT: Hotel Dann Monasterio, Popayán, dept. of Cauca Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager © Photo: S. Hilty November 9, Day 3: Puracé National Park and Mid-afternoon Drive to the San Agustín Area. We will spend much of the day at relatively high elevation and within Purace National Park. It is one of Colombia’s oldest national parks, and a long list of exciting birds are possible here. The habitat is humid and wet montane forest, much of it stunted or dwarf forest mixed with native Chusquea bamboo nearer treeline. We also will explore the high alpine grassland, here known as páramo, which is notable for its distinctive Espeletia sp. plants (Asteraceae) that dominate the landscape. In these captivating regions a sampling of species includes: Andean Condor, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Carunculated Caracara, Golden-plumed Parakeet, Gray- breasted Mountain-Toucan, Powerful Woodpecker, Golden- breasted Puffleg, Glowing Puffleg, Purple-backed Thornbill, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Shining Sunbeam, Great Sapphirewing, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Tawny Antpitta, Agile Tit-Tyrant, and a wide variety of exciting tanagers such as Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, Masked Mountain-Tanager, Buff-breasted Mountain- Tanager, Golden-crowned Tanager, Black-headed and Superciliaried hemispingus, Pale-naped Brushfinch and Plumbeous Sierra-Finch. By mid-afternoon we will continue our drive eastward and descend into the uppermost reaches of the Magdalena Valley near the town of San Agustín. Glowing Puffleg © Photo: S. Hilty NIGHT: Hotel Terrazas de San Agustín, dept. of Huila Southern Colombia, Page 4 November 10, Day 4: Morning in San Agustín Archaeological Park; Afternoon Drive to City of Mocoa with Birding En Route. We’ll spend the morning in this fascinating archaeological park located at about 5,500-5,600 feet elevation. The park is remarkable for the large stone (megalith) pre-Columbian artifacts. It contains the largest number of ancient stone religious artifacts of any site in Latin America and the largest collection of tomb monuments anywhere in the world. Furthermore, more than a hundred species of birds have been recorded in this small park, including four endemics: Speckled Chachalaca, Yellow- headed Manakin, Indigo-capped Hummingbird and the most restricted of all, the Dusky-headed Brushfinch. Near- endemics include White-backed Fire-eye, Bar-crested Antshrike, and Scrub Tanager. Other species, some more widespread, include Slaty Spinetail, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Olivaceous Piha, (White-booted) Booted Racket-tail, Scarlet-fronted Parakeet, Southern Emerald Toucanet, and Red-faced Spinetail. Departing for Mocoa this afternoon we will explore one or more off-road trails that may be somewhat difficult to walk Andean-cock-of-the-rock © Photo: S. Hilty but provide many new bird opportunities including Swallow-tailed Kite, Plumbeous Pigeon, Lined Antshrike, Wire-crested Thorntail, Gray-chinned Hermit, Black-throated Mango, Yellow-throated (Black-mandibled race) Toucan, Amazonian Umbrellabird (scarce and unpredictable), Ornate Flycatcher, Wing-barred Piprites, White- crowned Manakin, White-breasted Wood-Wren, and Magpie, Blue-necked, Paradise, Turquoise, Golden-eared, and White-lined tanagers. Also possible are Red-bellied Grackle (endemic), Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Crested and Russet-backed oropendola, and Black-faced Dacnis, to mention a few. NIGHT: Hotel Dantayaco, Mocoa, dept. of Putumayo November 11-12, Days 5-6: Birding in Vicinity of Mocoa. We’ll spend two days in the vicinity of Mocoa, a relatively small frontier town that provides a southern gateway to Colombia’s Amazonian region. Located at about 1,900-2,100 feet elevation (600 m), a great many foothill sites can be reached easily from our base in this city. Because of extensive deforestation in the lowlands, the best birding sites are almost all forest-based trails in the foothills that, in places, may be steep, or have uneven footing and can be difficult to hike. That said, the list of birds possible here is amazing and includes some highly-sought species including Coppery-chested Jacamar, Striolated Puffbird (western form), Blue-rumped Manakin and Vermilion Tanager.