February 3, 2022
We returned to Caño Culebra early on February 3. Caño Culebra consists of a wide track through different forest types, all on white sand. Some areas contain excellent quality forest, while others have been cleared relatively recently. Many of the white-sand specialties of the region have been found at Caño Culebra. We had visited this site on our first afternoon in Inírida but I was happy to return for a solid morning of birding.
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| Bronzy Jacamar - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
White-sand scrub birding can be hit or miss, and it is often a matter of quality over quantity. Things were a little slow to start the morning but we eventually found a male Blue Ground-Dove (Laura's first good look at one), followed by a mixed flock that contained Amazonian Antshrikes, a Cinnamon Attila, Bronzy Jacamars, and Cherrie's and White-fringed Antwrens.
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| Blue Ground-Dove - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Cinnamon Attila - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Amazonian Antshrike - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Cherrie's Antwren - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
Laura was feeling a little "birded out" after a busy few days so she and Mario headed back to town. I stayed out for a few more hours, arranging a 11:30 AM pickup time with Mario.
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| Straight-billed Woodcreeper - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
There were not many potential new bird species remaining for me at Caño Culebra after our very successful first afternoon. One relatively common species that I had not yet connected with was the Green-tailed Goldenthroat. They are fairly widely distributed in Amazonia, preferring savannahs and scrub habitats.
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| Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
Eventually, one of the unidentified hummingblurs that had been blasting by alighted on a branch long enough for a positive identification - a Green-tailed Goldenthroat. Once I became accustomed to its call, I realized that quite a few of them were around. Unfortunately, I could not manage any good photos.
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| Green-tailed Goldenthroat - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
Brown Jacamars had eluded us to this point of the trip. It was a species that we had seen only once before, in the Ecuadorian Amazon three years earlier. Of course, not five minutes after Laura and Mario departed, I found a pair of Brown Jacamars.
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| Brown Jacamars - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
Now that I had seen the first, the species became a dime a dozen! I ended up with a total of six on my eBird checklist.
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| Brown Jacamar - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Brown Jacamars - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
The morning was overcast with a threat of rain that did not materialize, other than a few drops. These relatively cool conditions allowed the productive birding hours to extend past 10 AM. Among the highlights were a Black Manakin, two Pompadour Cotingas and a Spangled Cotinga.
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| White-winged Becard - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Brown-throated Parakeet - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
I encountered a massive mixed flock in the late morning that I stayed with for almost an hour. It included many species that I had already seen in these white-sand habitats this morning, as well as a few new ones like Flame-crested Tanager, Gilded Barbet and Citron-bellied Attila.
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| Flame-crested Tanager - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Gilded Barbet - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Flame-crested Tanager - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
On my walk back out I picked up on the call of a Pale-bellied Mourner very close to the trail. You may recall that this is one of the specialty white-sand birds of the area, a species that has a very limited and scattered range in Amazonia. We had seen one on our first afternoon but I was keen for a second look.
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| Pale-bellied Mourner - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
Eye-level views from two metres away; that will do! This
Myiarchus-look-a-like is actually in the montypic genus
Rhytipterna.
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| Pale-bellied Mourner - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Pale-bellied Mourner - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
That afternoon Mario and I headed out on the tuk-tuk to a location east of town, while Laura stayed back at the hotel. Our destination was a site called Flor de Iníirda which happens to be a reliable location for the Yapacana Antbird. There is even a trail here called Sendero del Yapacana Antbird!
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| Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
If the Orinoco Softtail is the most range-restricted species that is sought out in Inírida, the Yapacana Antbird is a close second. It finds habitat in a particular type of stunted, white-sand forest from Inírida eastwards to the Boa Vista region of Brazil. Mario and I wandered around the entrance to the Yapacana Antbird trail in the late afternoon, listening and looking for the antbird. One of the first birds I looked at was my very first Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin.
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| Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
Luckily, we found a male Yapacana Antbird rather easily!
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| Yapacana Antbird - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Yapacana Antbird - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
I was in for another surprise when I saw and heard an unusual thrush that appeared to be a Campina Thrush. This species looks quite similar to the widespread Black-billed Thrush, though it has paler underparts and lives in scrubby white-sand savannah (a habitat known as "campina"). My photos leave a lot to be desired though I had good, albeit brief, binocular views.
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| Campina Thrush - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
As the afternoon turned to evening more birds came out of the woodwork. Here is a selection of several that I photographed: Bronzy Jacamars, a Plain-crested Elaenia and a Black-faced Tanager.
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| Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Bronzy Jacamar - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Bronzy Jacamars - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Bronzy Jacamar - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Bronzy Jacamar - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Plain-crested Elaenia - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Plain-crested Elaenia - Flor de Inírida, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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| Black-faced Tanager - Curva de los Pepes, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
I had one more stop to make before calling it a day. As the sun touched the horizon we pulled into the entrance of the Caño Culebra trail. The fields in this area provide excellent roosting and foraging habitat for Least Nighthawks, a species I had only seen once before and never photographed. While waiting for dusk to fall and the nighthawks to start flying, I walked along the roadside looking for other birds. A nice surprise occurred when a Paraguayan Snipe blasted past and settled in an evaporated wetland near the roadside. Two minutes later and I was looking at it, eye-to-eye.
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| Paraguayan Snipe - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
The nighthawk show did not disappoint. The first one took to the wing at 5:43 PM and within sixty seconds the sky was filled with them, at least fifteen in total.
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| Least Nighthawk - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
The Least Nighthawk is one of the smallest caprimulgids at only 15 to 19 cm in length. This tiny size is very easy to appreciate in the field, but other fieldmarks include the location of the white band in the wing (it is close to the tip in Least Nighthawk) and the white trailing edge to the wings.
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| Least Nighthawk - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
We watched the nighthawks until the sky was nearly dark. It was a fantastic end to another wonderful day in Inírida.
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| Least Nighthawk - Caño Culebra, Inírida, Guainía, Colombia |
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