Why you should seriously consider a Santa Marta birding tour!

  • By Robin Smith
  • •
  • 27 Sep, 2018
  • •
View from El Dorado - Santa Marta's top birding lodge
As the country with the most recorded bird species in the world (over 1,900!), it is hardly surprising that Colombia has a wealth of incredible birding destinations where, as a visiting birder, you will be encountering new species after new species - lifer after lifer! However, with so many locations to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to head on your Colombia birding tour. That’s where the Wild About Colombia team come in – we’re going to be posting our top birding locations on this blog, so you can make an informed decision as to where to spend your time while birding over here in Colombia. First up, arguably the jewel in the crown of not only Colombia, but the entire 'bird continent' of South America - the endemic paradise that is the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Santa Marta Parakeets are a key target for the region image Jaruen Rodriguez

Santa Marta – birding gold!

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (or simply Santa Marta as most birders know it) is arguably Colombia’s most spectacular and exciting birding destination. A towering snow-capped mountain range rising up as high as 5,700 metres (nearly 19,000 feet) above sea level overlooking sun-drenched beaches and sparkling Caribbean waters far below. Between lies a series of rich and varied habitats, from tropical coastal dry forests and saltwater lagoons, through to lower and mid-elevation cloud forests, all the way up to cool elfin forests, sub-páramo and páramo zones. At each of these different altitude ‘layers’ can be found a differing and mouth-watering suite of birds, with the jewels in the crown of Santa Marta being the 20+ Colombian endemic species – most of which can be seen during a short birding break here!

 

Black-backed Thornbill is another much sought-after Santa Marta endemic image Roger Ardila

Why does Santa Marta harbour so many unique species?

The scenic Santa Marta mountain range is isolated from the northern limit of the Andes, effectively making it an island in the sky. It is this isolation, combined with the rich habitats that cloak the mountains and coastal zones, that has led to an extremely high degree of speciation and endemism. Good news for birders, as some 80 range-restricted and endemic bird species inhabit this relatively small area of northern South America, making it one of the world’s must-visit birding destinations!

The stunning Keel-billed Toucan is regularly encountered near Minca Image: Rob Smith

How long do I need to bird the region?

One of the great things about Santa Marta is that it doesn’t take long to enjoy an action-packed birding break full of endemics and range-restricted species. As such it’s perfect if you have limited time but still want to enjoy a Colombian birding tour that offers scenic beauty as well as the guarantee of delivering a hat-full of new species for your life list!
We stay in the superbly located El Dorado lodge for 3 nights - enjoying birding at varying altitudes targeting the key endemics of the area

What’s the best way to visit?

In addition to the option of a customized private tour, we also offer a short 8-day Santa Marta birding tour (departing on set dates – see below for details), which explores all the key sites. We call it ‘Birding in Paradise’.

We start inBogotá- Colombia’s capital city and its main hub for international visitors – here we can pick up several Colombian endemics in a single morning’s birding includingBogotáRail, Silvery-throated Spinetail and Apolinar’s Wren, before we make the short flight to the north. Here we will start exploring the tropical dry forests and lagoons of Colombia’s Caribbean coast where we go in search of such beauties as Vermillion Cardinal, White-whiskered Spinetail and Chestnut Piculet. Moving into the lush cloud forested slopes near the small village of Minca we’ll target the likes of Golden-winged Sparrow, Rosy-thrush Tanager, Northern Royal Flycatcher, Black-crowned Antshrike and Keel-billed Toucan. However, the highlight of this small group tour (which is limited to 8 guests) is a 3-night stay in the famous El Dorado lodge which is perfectly situated to go in search of Santa Marta’s most sough-after gems including Santa Marta Sabrewing, Santa Marta Parakeet, Santa Marta Antpitta, Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner, Santa Marta Screech-owl and Black-backed Thornbill – to name just a few! Having enjoyed the delights of El Dorado and surrounds, we make our way back down for a final night in Minca, and the chance to search out any species that may have eluded us. The tour ends with a flight back toBogotá, for onward connections, or, should you wish, we can arrange additional birding! After all the endemic rich Magdalena Valley is just a few hours drive away, but we’ll cover that on another post!

 

Important information:

Prices for our Birding in Paradise tour start from $2,395 per person and include all domestic flights, suitable transport (we use 4x4s to access El Dorado lodge), 8 nights accommodation on twin/double share, all meals, daily drinking water/snacks, and an expert bilingual Wild About Colombia guide.

Special note: if we have more than 5 guests (remembering that we limit our group to 8), we will supply a second expert guide.

Next departure for this tour:

01st March 2019

 

Full details of the tour, including dates, prices and a full and detailed itinerary can be found by hitting the following link:

https://www.wildaboutcolombia.com/birding-in-paradise
Black-fronted Wood-quail is another range restricted species that is commonly seen close to the El Dorado lodge - Image: Jaruen Rodriguez

How to reach the Wild About Colombia team

Should you have any questions on this post, or our Colombia birding tours in general, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via:  info@wildaboutcolombia.com

We are in the process of developing an email distribution so that new blog posts can be delivered to your inbox. But, in the meantime, if you enjoyed this post, please do visit (and make sure to like - so you receive blog updates!) our facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/wildaboutcolombia/ as we will inform you of new posts through this social media channel – as well as posting loads of amazing birds and other wildlife from our adventures in Colombia.

Did someone say something about Colombia mammal watching tours!?

If the likes of Spectacled Bear, Mountain Tapir, Cotton-top Tamarin, Ornate Titi and Giant Anteater get you going, please contact us on the above email address! We also arrange mammal watching holidays in search of Colombia’s rare and endemic species!
Cotton-top Tamarin Image: Rob Smith

From all of us, thank you for reading this post, and happy birding and wildlife watching wherever you are in the world!

Best wishes,

The Wild About Colombia team

Your gateway to antpitta heaven! 

By Robin Smith • 14 Sep, 2018
If you love bird watching then you should certainly consider heading to Colombia as there are many world-class birding sites here that offer the kind of experience that one dreams about when flicking through a field guide in anticipation of your next birding tour. So, if I were to tell you about a reserve that offered such avian delights as Masked Saltator, White-capped Tanager, Powerful Woodpecker, Stygian Owl, Golden-plumed Parakeet, Rusty-faced Parrot, Chestnut Wood-quail, Ocellated Tapaculo, Buff-breasted Mountain-tanager and Black-billed Mountain Toucan, you might think sightings of these much-sought-after species would be the highlight of your visit. However, the reserve in question – Rio Blanco – is special, for not only does it present excellent opportunities to see the aforementioned species, it also provides the very real chance for visitors to witness a collection of furtive antpittas!

Welcome to the Wild About Colombia blog

By Robin Smith • 26 Aug, 2018
We wanted to kick off the Wild About Colombia blog with a feature on one of the myriad special species of bird (over 1,900 species have been recorded here – the most of any country in the world!) that can be experienced on a Colombia birding tour. The magnificent Buffy Helmetcrest (a member of the genus oxypogon) is confined to montane habitats within a highly restricted distribution range of páramo (high-altitude tropical moorland), sub-páramo and elfin forests of Colombia’s central Andean range within the Los Nevados National Park. Here, amongst this starkly beautiful mosaic of habitats, Buffy Helmetcrest has a particular reliance and association with Espeletia, or locally ‘frailejones’ – a genus of plants in the subtribe Espeletiinae which the helmetcrests can often be seen clinging to, in order to conserve energy, while extracting nectar and especially picking off micro insects. Other flowering plants are also important to the species throughout the year, but it is the Espeletia which it is most reliant upon. They employ a feeding habit known as ‘trap-lining’ whereby an individual will forage a specific set of flowers on a continual loop – in a way harvesting the limited resources in this rarefied habitat. It is perhaps for this reason that, like many other hummingbird species, helmetcrests are highly territorial and will act aggressively towards others of its own kind that encroach upon its’ feeding grounds. Seeing these beautiful birds is always a special privilege and often proves to be a highlight of a Wild About Colombia birding tour!
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