Santa Marta Endemics - Colombia

As I mentioned before, the Santa Marta mountains have numerous endemics. Many of these birds are named the "Santa Marta Something-or-other". The ones I missed out on I will highlight in orange.

Santa Marta Antpitta
Santa Marta Antbird
Santa Marta Brush-Finch
Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant
Santa Marta Foliage-Gleaner
Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager
Santa Marta Parakeet
Santa Marta Sabrewing - Mythical beast seen by almost nobody. Sight records are considered suspect.
Santa Marta Screech-Owl
Santa Marta Tapaculo
Santa Marta Warbler
Santa Marta Woodstar
Santa Marta Wren - Not possible at El Dorado. Prefers much higher elevation.

The other endemics include:

Blue-billed Curassow - Very rare here, but easier at another ProAves reserve (I didn't go there)
Black-backed Thornbill (a hummingbird)
Blossomcrown (a hummingbird)
Brown-rumped Tapaculo
Rusty-headed Spinetail
Sierra Nevada Brush-Finch (Santa Marta was already taken)
White-lored Warbler
White-tailed Starfrontlet (a hummingbird)
Yellow-crowned Whitestart


Some of these endemics are easier to find, while others take a lot of work, a lot of luck, or a bit of both. And I haven't even mentioned the near endemics, endemic sub-species, or other excellent birds that are found here.

I managed a few pics of some of the endemics but regret not taking even a record shot of others.

 Santa Marta Antbird

 Black-backed Thornbill

 Santa Marta Brush-Finch (above and below)

 

 This Santa Marta Brush-Finch approached the photographer - not the other way around!

 Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant

 Santa Marta Parakeets

Santa Marta Screech-Owl (as yet a still undescribed species). An easy tick, heard from your bed in the middle of the night. And the guides usually know where they roost. 

 Yellow-crowned Whitestart

 Santa Marta Warbler

White-tailed Starfrontlet

COLOMBIA Birding 2014 - Introduction

I recently got back from 2 months birding/volunteering/vacation in beautiful Colombia. Why Colombia? Two reasons. Firstly, I like to travel and backpack around "exotic" countries where most people haven't visited before. While tourism is booming in Colombia, it's very easy to get off the tourist track and experience the real Colombia and see how average Colombians work and live.

Map borrowed from: http://www.ezilon.com/maps/south-america/columbia-road-maps.html

Secondly, Colombia is a birdwatchers heaven! Over 1900 species have been recorded in Colombia - the most of any country in the world.  Colombia also has scores of endemic species and near endemic species that it shares with only 1 or 2 other countries so there are all kinds of specialities to hunt for. 

My original plan was to blog while I was down there but I found proper internet lacking in most places I was staying at. Thus, I'm going to try and throw up some photos and information about my trip on here. I probably won't include too much text in future blog posts but feel free to message me for more information if you have any questions. 

Positioned at the top of South America, Colombia gets many North American migrants, including thousands of American Flamingos. I think these guys originate from some Caribbean islands. 

 Velvet-purple Coronet at Las Tangaras Reserve. Near endemic (also NW Ecuador) found on the western slope of the Andes. 

Emerald Toucanet (subspecies Lautus) at Santa Marta. Without going into the debate of "What is a species?", there are numerous subspecies in different regions of Colombia. The different subspecies often occur on different mountain ranges, or in different valleys. Many species are undergoing splits and being upgraded to full species status all the time so it pays to try and see the different subspecies while you are in different areas. Using ebird to enter my sightings helps me keep track of some splits, although sometimes it doesn't recognize splits that others recognize.

 Feeders are a great place to snag some photos and study the birds with ease. Blue-naped Chlorophonia and Blue-caped Tanager at the El Dorado Lodge in the mountains above Santa Marta.

Itinerary:

January 2nd-9th - Family Christmas vacation with my mom and two brothers around Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. Opportunistic birding, not too intense. 

January 9th-19th- Birding Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta area (big endemic area), birding Guajira (desert region in the north)

January 20th-February 10th - Volunteering at ProAves Reserve Las Tangaras in the Choco region (very wet pacific slope of western Andes). 

February 11th - February 19th -Volunteering at a ProAves Reserve that conserves the Yellow-eared Parrot at Jardin.

February 20th - 27th - Birding at two other ProAves reserves before flying home.

Santa Marta Parakeet - Endemic and endangered species found only in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Northern Colombia. 

View from the road within Las Tangaras reserve. 

Up above the treeline in the "Paramo", a scrubby, grassy ecosystem where several new bird species have been recently discovered.