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!
What is it with antpittas?
Whether
it is thanks to their skulking and shy habits, varied subtle but beautiful
plumes, their undoubted yet intangible presence or most likely the combined
effect of these factors, antpittas hold a special place in the heart of many visiting
birders to the neotropics and in Colombia Rio Blanco is the antpitta capital! This
pristine cloud forest reserve lies just outside the scenic Andean town of
Manizales in Colombia’s central Andean mountain range. Thanks to a series of
earthworm feeding stations, a single morning’s birding can result in no less
than 5 species of this skulking family, including the endemic Brown-banded, the
near-endemic Bicoloured, the striking Chestnut-crowned, and the diminutive
Slate-crowned.
A typical day...
A
day here often starts with a visit to one of these ‘stations’, before gently
walking up a forested track while taking in myriad species of other birds until
reaching the next antpitta hot spot. Photographic opportunities are excellent throughout
the day, and lunch is taken at the reserve’s small guesthouse, where several
hummingbird feeders attract jaw- droppers such as Long-tailed Sylph, Tourmaline
Sunangel, Andean Emerald and Sparkling Violetear. In the afternoon our
attentions often turn to the higher slopes where a differing suite of birds are
possible and after nightfall, we can try for various nocturnal species such as
White-throated Screech-owl.
How can I visit Rio Blanco? We
visit Rio Blanco on our extensive
Golden Birding Trail tour, which offers our
guests access to an incredible suite of Colombian endemic and near-endemic
species throughout the eastern, central and western Andes, as well as the Magdalena Valley endemics and a host of fabled Chocó specials! Some of
the many highlights of this Colombia birding tour include Bogota Rail, Buffy Helmetcrest, Beautiful
Woodpecker, White-mantled Barbet, a visit to an Oil Bird cave and an incredibly
active Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek, Yellow-eared Parrot, Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer,
Toucan Barbet, Gold-ringed Tanager, Black-chinned Mountain-tanager and over 50
species of Hummingbird. And, of course, a select band of antpittas at Rio Blanco
which often steal the show from some of the most colorful and dazzling birds
on the planet!
We think our 16-day Golden Birding Trail
itinerary is one of
the most comprehensive Colombian birding itineraries possible and is perfect for
any discerning birders first or second time visit to the country – it will be led
by an experienced Wild About Colombia professional bilingual guide and if there are 5 or more guests, a second guide with join the party. However, we limit our groups to 8 guests. If you
would like to learn more, please do get in touch with the Wild About Colombia
team (contact details below), or visit the tour page where you can download the
full itinerary and tour details. Here is the link:
www.wildaboutcolombia.com/the-golden-birding-trail A 16-day tour is too long for me. Do you have a shorter tour?
Not to worry! We also offer an 8-day Colombia birding tour that visits the world famous Santa Marta range with its incredible suite of endemic birds that can be found nowhere else on earth! A few of the key targets includeSanta Marta Sabrewing, Santa Marta Parakeet, Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner, Santa Marta Screech-owl and Black-backed Thornbill!And whilst this tour doesn't visit Rio Blanco, you'll still get the chance to see antpittas, including the endemic Santa Marta Antpitta! Check out the link below:
https://www.wildaboutcolombia.com/birding-in-paradiseI want to do both tours. Is that possible? Absolutely! Because we know you might only visit Colombia once (there are after all some other good places to bird around the world ;) we have specially designed the above two tours so that you can do them back-to-back. Full dates and prices can be found on the respective tour pages on the links above.
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 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 like 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!
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
