Birding in Colombia February 10 – 20, 2013 Updated as of May, 2012 Blue-billed Currasow With Elissa Landre A paradise for birders, Colombia has the highest bird species count of any country in the world, with well over 1800 species. The diverse topography includes three Andean Cordilleras, two inter-Andean valleys, the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, the Pacific and Caribbean Coasts, and the rich Chocó biogeographical region, which all add up to one of the most complicated topographies in South America. Our exciting route includes: Aburra Valley (Valle de Aburra), a lush pre-montane/montane ecosystem, the cloud forests of Alto de Ventana and Rio Blano areas, volcanic peaks, and the Otun River area. Now a very popular destination for birders, Colombia is a beautiful country with friendly people. Travel with the Massachusetts Audubon Society 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773 800-289-9504 Birding in Colombia: Feb.10-20, 2013 with Elissa Landre Updated as of May, 2012 DAY-TO-DAY ITINERARY Day 1: Feb 10 - Medellin Arrive in Medellin International Airport and meet your guides. We will travel by microbus to Medellin and get settled in at Hotel Casa Asturias. Relax and save your appetite for some Colombian cuisine at our reception and orientation dinner at a nearby restaurant at 7pm. Dinner and Overnight at Hotel Casa Asturias. Day 2-3: Feb 11-12 – Refugio Rio Claro We depart early this morning and head towards the Rio Claro reserve. Rio Claro ("Clear River") is a beautiful private nature reserve on the road between Medellin and Bogota (3 hours from Medellin, 5 hours from Bogota). The crystal clear river and surrounding rainforest are home to some fantastic birdlife. We will drive about 2 hours northeast where we’ll arrive to at La Pinuela and look for some Endemics (E), including: Beautiful Woodpecker, White-mantled Barbet, Colombian Chachalaca, Bar-crested Antshike. We might also find Spectacled Parrotlet, Pacific Antwren, and Scrub Tanager. Our breakfast will be at Palacio de los Frijoles restaurant. After which we will continue on to Rio Claro. Refugio Rio Claro is a stunning river-carved marble canyon in Magdalena Valley. For the next day and a half, we will explore the many trails of this reserve. Target birds include: Antioquia Bristle-tyrant (E), Sooty Ant-Tanager (E), White-mantled Barbet (E), Grey- Magdalena Antbird (split from Dull-mantled), Beautiful Woodpecker, Grey-cheeked Nunlet, Brownish Twistwing, Olivaceous Flatbill, Yellow-browed Shrike-Vireo, Scarlet-browed Tanager, Saffron-headed Parrot (NE), Southern Bentbill, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Striped Manakin, Rufous Mourner and Black-faced Antthrush. We’ll finish the evening watching the phenomenal Oilbirds. We will return to Medellin late afternoon on Feb. 12th. Stay at Refugio Rio Claro/Hotel Casa Asturias. Day 4: Feb 13 – Reserva Sabaneta (La Romera) & Alto de Ventanas An early wake-up, delicious breakfast at Hotel Casa Asturias, and we will then have a short drive to Reserva Sabaneta (La Romera). Located within Medellin, this large forest reserve is situated in Aburra Valley (Valle de Aburra), a lush pre-montane/montane ecosystem. The reserve contains over 3000 meters of trails, 150 species of birds, 228 species of vascular plants, 28 species of mammals, 8 species of amphibians and reptiles. Reserva Sabaneta is an excellent location to see a great variety of birds like the Great-tailed Grackle, Red- bellied Grackle(E), Chestnut Wood-Quail (E), Colombian Chachalaca (E), Rufous-tailed Tyrant, Rufous- naped Greenlet, Pale-naped Brush-Finch Scrub, Metallic-green & Saffron-crowned Tanagers, Blue-crowned Motmot, or Blue-diademed Motmot, all of which are threatened. Other birds include; Mountain Velvetbreast, Black-billed Peppershrike, Grass-green Tanager, and many others. We’ll also get a chance to see the rare and almost endemic Yellow-headed Manakin. After lunch we’ll take a 3 hour drive to Alto de Ventanas in Jardin (1900-3000m), considered one of the most beautiful parts of Colombia, better known as Jardin, will be a perfect home-base for the next couple of days. Night at Hacienda Balandu (D). Day 5: Feb 14 – Alto de Ventanas After breakfast, we’ll transfer to 4x4 vehicles and ascend to 2850 meters up these mountains to the Yellow- eared Parrot Reserve where we can observe restricted-range species like the Yellow-eared Parrot (E), Tanager Finch, Munchique Wood Wren (E), Golden-fronted Whitestart, Barred Fruiteater, Citrine Warbler, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Mountain Cacique, etc. We break for lunch (packed) at noon and then continue exploring this mountainous region, before we return to Hacienda Balandu for a delicious dinner. Night at Hacienda Balandu (D). Travel with the Massachusetts Audubon Society 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773 800-289-9504 Birding in Colombia: Feb.10-20, 2013 with Elissa Landre Updated as of May, 2012 Day 6-7: Feb 15-16– Alto de Ventanas/Rio Blanco After a hearty breakfast we’ll explore this unique rural cloud forest birding area. We’ll explore nearby areas around Jardin and see a splendid array of euphonias, tanagers, chlorophonias, humming-birds and the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. We’ll have lunch at noon (packed) and continue our search for endemics and other species. Later in the afternoon, we’ll travel 4 hours south to the town of Manizales. The next day we’ll begin our exploration of Rio Blanco, an undeveloped cloud forest nature reserve, where 362 bird species have been counted, including 3 of Colombia’s 73 endemics. Some examples are the Bi- colored and Brown-banded Antpitta, tapaculos, Rusty-faced Parrot, Rufous-fronted and Golden-plumed Parakeets, Gray-breasted and Black-billed Mountain-Toucans, Masked Saltator and Black-chested Mountain Tanager, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Smoky Bush-Tyrant, Flammulated Treehunter, Golden-rumped Euphonia and Scaly-naped Parrots. The reserve also features some amazing antpitta feeders, which often attract Brown-banded (E), Bicoloured, Chestnut-crowned, Chestnut-naped and Slate-crowned Antpittas!!!! Lunch at Rio Blanco reserve. Stay at Hotel Casa Galvez. Day 8: Feb 17 – Alcazares City Park/Los Nevados After breakfast, we will travel 2.5 hours to Los Nevados National Park. Following a spine of snow-covered volcanic peaks, this national park provides some of the most stunning stretches of the Colombian Andes in this region. Making stops along the road, we’ll look out for the Purple-backed Thornbill, Bearded Helmetcrest, Black-backed Bush-Tanager, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Red-crested Cotinga, Tawny Antpitta and the Andean Condor. Other birds are Grass-green, Buff-brested Tanagers, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Red-crested Cotinga, Tawny Antpitta, Andean Tit-Spinetail, White-chinned Thistletail, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Black-eared Hemispingus and Plushcap, Colombian Screech Owl. Lunch will be at nearby restaurant in Paramo. Stay at Santuario Otun Quimbaya Eco-Lodge. Day 9: Feb 18 – Santuario Otun Quimbaya We will start our day exploring the many trails of Otun river, where we’ll encounter more than 200 species of birds. Otun features a charming lodge, surrounded by subtropical forest, and many of its special birds can be found just a short walk from our rooms. Some of the birds we’ll encounter are Gauca Guans (E), Multicolored Tanager (E), Chestnut Wood-Quail (E), Crested-Ant Tanager (E), Grayish Piculet (E), Stiles’s Tapaculo (E) plus many rare birds like the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Moustached Antpitta, Chestnut-breasted Wren, Wattled Guan, Black-winged Saltator, Torrent Duck, Metallic-green Tanager,Variegated Bristle-Tyrant, Plumbeous- crowned Tyrannulet, Green-fronted Lancebill, Rusty-winged Barbtail, Streak-capped Treehunter and Cerulean Warbler. We’ll break for lunch at the Santuario Otun Quimbaya Lodge, and spend the afternoon looking for missing species. Stay Santuario Otun Quimbaya Eco-Lodge. Day 10: Feb 19 – Santuario Otun Quimbaya After an early morning exploration of Santuario Otun Quimbaya, we’ll return to Medellin via microbus for our farewell dinner at Hotel Casa Astuarias. Travel with the Massachusetts Audubon Society 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773 800-289-9504 Birding in Colombia: Feb.10-20, 2013 with Elissa Landre Updated as of May, 2012 Day 11: Feb 20 – Return to Home Pick-up at Hotel Casa Astuarias in microbus and travel to Medellin International Airport arriving 2-3 hours before departure back home. Those continuing on the 3 day extension will travel to Las Tangaras Lodge to start their extension. Optional Post-trip 3 Day Extensión: Las Tangaras Reserve - Feb 20 – 24, 2013 Las Tangaras is a 3000 ha reserve owned by Fundacion ProAves (Bird conservation NGO). This site can produce some really impressive birding, with 12 endemics and more than 35 semi-endemics, it is, in our opinion one of the very best sites in all of Colombia. It’s a paradise for tanagers and hummingbirds!! Possibilities include two difficult Bangsia species, Gold-ringed (E) and Black & gold Tanagers (E), plus Crested Ant Tanager (E), Purplish-mantled, Glistening-green, Lemon-spectacled, Rufous-throated, Metallic- green, Silver-throated, Flame-faced, Yellow-throated Bush and Flame-rumped Tanagers. Other superb birds seen at the site include Black Solitaire, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Fulvous-dotted Treerunner, Toucan Barbet, Bicoloured Antvireo, Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Black Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-breasted Antthrush, Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant, Yellow-breasted Antwren, White-headed Wren, Yellow-vented Woodpecker, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, Olivaceous Piha, Olive Finch, Uniform Treehunter, Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner, Yellow- collared and Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonias. Hummingbirds include Empress Brilliant, White-tailed Hillstar, Brown Inca, Velvet-purple Coronet, Violet-tailed Sylph, Purple-bibbed Whitetip and Purple-throated Woodstar. Las Tangaras is also home to Nariño, Choco and the newly discovered Alto Pisones Tapaculo!! Stay at Las Tangaras Lodge Overnight for 3 nights Feb 23: Las Tangaras Reserve to Medellín Search for missing species and return to Medellín.