Colombian Endemic Cleanup: Introduction

Back in the fall of 2019 I tossed the idea around of visiting southern Ecuador with a friend for a couple of weeks in February following the conclusion of my Colombia tour with Quest. Laura decided to spend those weeks doing a vet placement at two clinics, one in Riohacha and one in Cartagena. Unfortunately the southern Ecuador trip fell through, but Laura's placements were already confirmed and so I still had the twelve days to do whatever I wanted. Deciding to stay in Colombia, I booked a rental car from the Medellín airport and planned a big loop that would allow me to search for as many birds as possible!

Having birded in Colombia for a cumulative two months prior, I had seen many of the species that Colombia is famous for but there were still some sizeable gaps. For instance, I had only explored a little bit near Medellín, had never been to the Cerulean Warbler and Blue-billed Curassow Reserves, and I had missed a few key endemic species in the Central Andes as well.

Swallow-tailed Nightjar

After some careful consideration, as well as some tweaking while on route, below is what my final itinerary looked like. I covered a lot of ground and stayed in some fantastic areas for only one or two nights. I would have loved to spend more time in these areas, but this trip was a rapid-fire blitz to look for as many "lifers" as possible, so some sacrifices were made. I've mentioned what my key target birds were at each of the locations in the schedule below. Note that these were specific to what I had and had not seen before; there are certain mega species that I didn't bother to seek out since I had observed them before. Endemic birds to Colombia are notated with (E).

February 9: Land in Medellín early afternoon, pick up rental car, drive south to Santa Rosa de Cabal, drive to Indigo-winged Parrot spot in the mountains, sleep in my car
Key Target Species None

February 10: Indigo-winged Parrot search, drive to Manizales, sleep in motel outside Manizales
Key Target Species: Indigo-winged Parrot (E), Mountain Avocetbill

February 11: Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados in AM, drive to Victoria, sleep in motel in Victoria
Key Target Species: Rufous-fronted Parakeet (E), Pale-footed Swallow

February 12: Reserva Natural Bellavista in AM, drive to Blue-billed Curassow Reserve, sleep in motel in Puerto Pinzon
Key Target Species: White-bibbed Manakin, White-mantled Barbet (E), Beautiful Woodpecker (E), Sooty Ant-Tanager (E)

February 13: Blue-billed Curassow Reserve in AM, begin drive to Ocaña area, sleep in roadside motel near Puerto Araujo
Key Target Species: Blue-billed Curassow (E), Beautiful Woodpecker (E), Black-billed Flycatcher

February 14: Finish drive to Ocaña, Recurve-billed Bushbird Reserve in PM, drive to San Alberto area, sleep in roadside motel
Key Target Species: Recurve-billed Bushbird, Klage's Antbird

February 15: Drive to San Vicente de Chuchurí in AM, Cerulean Warbler Reserve in PM, sleep in car near Cerulean Warbler Reserve
Key Target Species: Gorgeted Wood-Quail (E), Niceforo's Wren (E), Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird (E), Magdalena Tapaculo (E), Russet-crowned Crake, Cinnamon Screech-Owl, Double-banded Graytail, Yellow-browed Shrike-Vireo, Black-headed Brushfinch

February 16: Cerulean Warbler Reserve in AM, drive to Puerto Araujo area, sleep in roadside motel
Key Target Species: Gorgeted Wood-Quail (E), Niceforo's Wren (E), Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird (E), Magdalena Tapaculo (E), Russet-crowned Crake, Cinnamon Screech-Owl, Double-banded Graytail, Yellow-browed Shrike-Vireo, Black-headed Brushfinch

February 17: Drive to Chestnut-capped Piha reserve in AM, Chestnut-capped Piha reserve in PM, sleep in car outside the reserve
Key Target Species: Chestnut-capped Piha (E), Blackish Rail, Lanceolated Monklet, Chestnut-crowned Gnateater

February 18: Chestnut-capped Piha reserve in AM, drive towards Urrao, sleep in car outside Caicedo
Key Target Species: Chestnut-capped Piha (E), Blackish Rail, Lanceolated Monklet, Chestnut-crowned Gnateater

February 19: Hike to Dusky Starfrontlet Reserve, explore the reserve, sleep at the reserve
Key Target Species: Dusky Starfrontlet (E), Urrao Antpitta (E), Paramillo Tapaculo (E), Black-throated Flowerpiercer

February 20: Dusky Starfrontlet reserve in AM, drive back to Medellín,  sleep at hotel near the airport
Key Target Species: Dusky Starfrontlet (E), Urrao Antpitta (E), Paramillo Tapaculo (E), Black-throated Flowerpiercer, Antioquia Brushfinch (E)

Blue-billed Curassow

A quick note on driving and traveling independently in Colombia. I have noticed that in the vast majority of birding trip reports I have read for Colombia, people either hire a company to handle their logistics, hire a driver/vehicle, or use public transportation. I opted to rent a car for my twelve days, for a few reasons. First of all was convenience. There were a lot of places way off the beaten path that I planned on visiting and so that cut off the public transportation option. It can be done, but time was of the essence and I did not want to waste any birding days, given how tight my itinerary was anyways. The second reason was cost. Car rentals in Colombia are relatively inexpensive (mine cost around 500$ for the two weeks), while fuel is also inexpensive. This is much cheaper than if you hire a driver/vehicle. Having my own car also gave me the opportunity to sleep in the car on occasion to save money and/or time, which I did four times.

I rented a small car which had standard clearance and of course, no 4WD. Some of the roads that I took the poor car up I had no business doing so, but I managed without damaging the vehicle. Patience and creativity was required in many situations! In particular, the road up to the Cerulean Warbler reserve, the road to the Indigo-winged Parrot spot near Santa Rosa de Cabal, and the road from Highway 25B west through Caicedo to Urrao were particularly tricky with a low clearance car. But it was possible on all occasions. I would imagine that this would not always be the case during the rainy season.

My chariot

Driving in Colombia is not for the faint of heart, but if you have driven before in Latin America you should not have a problem. You definitely need to be quite vigilant when on the roads as passing around blind corners is the norm. The bus drivers in particular are a little crazy - give those buses a wide berth! There are often numerous police checkpoints along the route but all of the officers I chatted with were very friendly and willing to answer any question that I had about the security of upcoming areas. And finally, expect that driving times will be a lot longer than you originally think, or than what Google Maps estimates (especially in the mountains). You will be stuck behind trucks crawling up the single lane mountain highways and if you want to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time, you will need to take some risks when passing!

And finally, cost. Luckily Colombia is a very inexpensive country to travel in at the moment, especially once you get away from tourist centres like parts of Bogotá, Cartagena, etc. I had no problem finding hotel rooms for less than $20 a night. My cheapest cost me around $5! Food is also inexpensive. In most small restaurants you can buy a soup, main plate (chicken/beef/pork with rice and beans and a salad) and a drink for $3-$5. The only thing that isn't cheap is the numerous tolls on the highway, usually costing between $4 and $8 each. I spent almost $150 CAD on tolls alone!

Of course it goes without saying that having a basic level of Spanish is necessary to complete a route like this independently. English was non-existent in every place that I visited. While my Spanish has a LONG ways to go, it is adequate for basic conversations and I managed to get by without too many issues.

Black-throated Flowerpiercer

The next series of posts on this blog will summarize this twelve day blitz around Medellín (and beyond). Stay tuned!