Colombia – western and central Andes and Caribbean coast

23 August 2018 – 13 September 2018

Mathias Ritschard, Juanita Olano Marín, Andreas Janosa, Ulrich Weber and José Castaño

Participants: Authors + Andreas Baumgartner, Catherine de Reynier, Chantal Guggenbühl, Martin Spiess

This was the first tour to Colombia by the Swiss birdwatching tour company Liberty Bird. Local logistics were arranged by José Castaño from Andigena Tours. The tour was guided by Mathias Ritschard, Juanita Olano Marín and José Castaño.

Visited Sites

Dapa–Chicoral road

This site in the western Andes can be easily reached from nearby Cali. The road between Dapa and Chicoral at ca. 2000 m a.s.l. has some nice forest habitat and interesting birds. It is worth to visit the Ecolodge La Minga, but since this is private property you should arrange your visit beforehand. They have a nice garden with many flowers for hummingbirds and some feeders.

Facilities & accommodation

The Ecolodge la Minga can provide food an accommodation.

Valle de Anchicayá

This beautiful, forest-covered valley is a great birding area and it would take many days to explore it throughly. The old road to Buenaventura starts at El Queremal in the western Andes at about 1500 m a.s.l. and leads down to the Choco lowlands. Birding can be rewarding anywhere along the road. At ca. 1300 m, it is worth to stop at "El Descanso" which is run by Doña Dora. She serves nice food and has various bird feeders in her garden.

RN Laguna de Sonso

Laguna de Sonso is the largest remaining wetland area in the Cuaca Valley at ca. 900 m a.s.l. and holds a variety of wet habitats and dry scrub areas. Birding can be very rewarding here. The place is close to the town Buga and not far from Cali.

Cerro Montezuma (Tatamá NP)

This site on the Choco slope of the western Andes is one of the greatest birding areas in Colombia and in the world with more than 600 species recorded. It is close to Tatamá National Park. From Montezuma Ecolodge at ca. 1300 m a.s.l. a road leads to a military base and antenna at 2500 m. Birding is great anywhere along the road, which is completely free of traffic. 

Facilities & accommodation

You can stay at the Montezuma Ecolodge which is run by the Tapasco family and provides a number of simple but clean and expedient rooms and very tasty food.

SFF Otún Quimbaya & PRN Ucumari

These two reserves in the central Andes are situated next to each other and have some good habitat (although Otún Quimbaya is partly a plantation of exotic trees) and good birds which can be very hard to see elsewhere. Altitudinal range is between 1800 and 2600 m a.s.l.

Facilities & accommodation

The Visiter Centre at Otún Quimbaya is run by the local organization Yarumo Blanco. It provides a number of nice rooms and has a canteen.

Reserva Ecológica Río Blanco

This is one of the most-visited birding places in Colombia. The reserve belongs to "Aguas de Manizales", the local water company. It is most famous for various species of Antpittas that occur here and can often be seen rather easily at the feeding stations. But apart from that, Río Blanco has a lot more to offer and often interesting species turn up in mixed feeding flocks. Most birding is done at around 2600 m a.s.l.

Facilities & accommodation

Inside the reserve there is a lodge that is run by Aguas de Manizales. It has several rooms and also provides meals.

Paramo del Ruiz area

This is a large area with a number of different habitats. It can be reached from Manizales. We have birded along the Via Al Nevado Del Ruiz between ca. 3600 m a.s.l. up to the entrance of the National Park / Centro de Visitantes Brisas at 4100 m, at the Termales del Ruiz and along the road that leads dwon from the Termales towards Manizales.

Cameguadua Reservoir

The Embalse Cameguadua is a reservoir next to the township Chinchiná at ca. 1300 m a.s.l. It has a nice array of wetland birds and it is certainly woth to spend a couple of hours here if you are nearby. Access is restriced, so you need to arrange your visit beforehand. 

Jardín village

Jardín at 1750 m a.s.l. is a very pretty colonial village in the western Andes. Apart from its nice atmosphere, it has also some great birding to offer. around the village you can find many species of half-open, human-designed landscapes, while towards Alto de Ventanas above the village at almost 2900 m there are still large areas of nice tropical forests. Jardín is also famous for the lek of Andean Cock-of-the-rock right at the edge of the village.

Facilities & accommodation

Since Jardín is a touristic destination, there is a good variety of hotels to choose from. However, there are hardly any lodging options around Alto de Ventanas.

Bolombolo

Bolombolo is a village at the Cauca River not far from Medellin at around 500 m a.s.l.. For birdwatchers, it's main attraction are some patches of semideciduous forests where the recently described Antioquia Wren occurs, among some other interandean specialists of low altitudes.

La Piñuela / El Palacio de los Frijoles

La Piñuela is a an area in the central Andes at ca. 1100 m a.s.l. along the busy road 60 from Medellin towards Bogota. The habitat is semi-natural with some forest fragments and open pastures. This is an excellent place to see a few of the specialities of the Magdalena region, which can be difficult to find elsewhere, particularly White-mantled Barbet and Beautiful Woodpecker. 

Cañon del Río Claro

This is certainly one of the most visited birding sites in Colombia and it is also quite popular among adventure tourists and backpackers. At an altitude of only ca. 400 m a.s.l. you can find remainings of tropical rainforests that have otherwise become very scarce in the interandean lowlands. Inside the reserve you can not only find a pituresque gorge but the pace also has a very long species list, including some of the rare Magdalena specialities. Moreover, the area holds at least 2 Oilbird caves which can be visited.

How to get there

The reserve offers accommodation which can be booked via their website.

Puerto Triunfo – Santiago Berrio area

This is an area of humid pastures near the Magdalena river where you can find a surprising number of species, including the restriced-range Northern Screamer. The site is close from Cañon Del Río Claro and it is worth to spend a few hours here.

Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla)

This urban area at the edge of Barranquilla features dry woodland where some of the specialities of the Caribbean region can be found, including the endemic Chestnut-winged Chachalaca.

Km 4 (Palermo)

This is one of the areas to access the Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta. It holds a mixture of wetland habitats including open water and reedbeds and also open pastures with dry thornscrub.

Vía Parque Isla de Salamanca

The protected area Vía Parque Isla de Salamanca is mostly characterized by mangrove forests and holds a number of specialized species. You have to register with the park authorities at the visitor centre. The infrastructure is quite good here and includes boardwalks, a watchtower and public toilets.

Palomino

Palomino has become popular among foreign travellers and especially backbackers in recent years. This is a convenient place to stay when visiting other birding sites in the area and Palomino itself also can be worth exploring, especially along the Palomino River there is some good habitat left.

SFF Los Flamencos

Los Flamencos is certainly one of the best birding areas in the Colombian Caribbean region. It is mostly characterized by a huge lagoon, where large amounts of waterbirds gather depending on the season and the water level, and dry thorny woodlands where many specialized bird species can be found, including the icon bird of the region, the Vermillion Cardinal.

Taironaka and Río Don Diego

This area is situated at sea level at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and is mostly surrounded by wet tropical forest. It is especially worth to explore the area up to the private reserve Taironaka and to take a boat ride down to the river mouth.

Minca – San Lorenzo

The Mica–San Lorenzo road is currently the easiest accessible area to look for the specialists and endemics of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. In the lower parts there are large plantations of shade coffee, which can rewarding for birding, while in the upper parts the forests are in a more natural state. The highest accessible point above San Lorenzo is at ca. 2600 m a.s.l.. The road is bad and gets worse the higher you get.

Facilities & accommodation

There is a wide array of accommodation options in Minca, which has become a touristic place in recent years. Higher up, there are much less options. For birdwatchers, a stay at the amazing (but not cheap) El Dorado Lodge is highly recommended. 

Species List

Order: systematic | alphabetic | highlights first
Published: 22 January 2019
Last updated: 01 October 2020
Colombia – western and central Andes and Caribbean coast - Orniverse