Explorations of an Ecologist: Birding The Chocó Lowlands In San Cipriano (Part 1)

In my last post, I mentioned how Laura and I had to change our plans following a situation that occurred in El Queremal, the town in which we were staying. We had originally hoped to travel to El Danubio in the Chocó lowlands with new friends Maria and Alexis. Our new plan was to drive to San Cipriano, a town found a little further north (also in the lowlands) that contained some of the same species as those found in the forests outside of El Danubio.

January 12, 2022

The four of us loaded into the compact car and drove east into the mountains, northwards for a bit, and then westwards back into the lowlands. To break up the drive (and to get at least some morning birding in), we stopped in at a road that Alexis suggested - a gravel road at around 1800m elevation that led to the town of San Antonio.

Azara's Spinetail - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The birding was steady along the road. Though there were not too many rare finds, and most of the birds we had already seen a few days earlier near Finca Alejandría, it was enjoyable to bird with Maria and Alexis and to explore a new area.

Highlights included a few year-birds - Rusty Flowerpiercer, Golden-rumped Euphonia and Green Jay - a cooperative Andean Solitaire, as well as some Colombian Chachalacas and a handsome Grayish Piculet (the latter two endemic to Colombia).

Andean Solitaire - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Grayish Piculet - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

There were also some neat insects and the occasional anole. All in all, a nice way to break up the drive.

Paramastax rosenbergi - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Praepronophila perperna - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Anolis sp. - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Curtius marginalis - San Antonio, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The town of San Cipriano can not be reached via road, though an old rail line passes through it. The local residents have come up with an ingenious solution to transport people, food, materials and anything else to their town - modified motorcycles which ride the rails. These "brujitas" (little witches) include a wooden platform that serves as a seating area/space for cargo while the front tire of the motorcycle is attached to the wooden platform, and the rear tire is placed on one of the rails, providing the power.

Brujita to San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

San Cipriano has around a thousand residents and all of the houses are concentrated along the one road which composes the town. The town is alongside a tributary of the beautiful Río Danubio, a river which eventually flows into the Pacific near the city of Buenaventura. Lowland secondary forest surrounds the town, while if you get far enough away, primary forest can apparently be found.

San Cipriano has become popular among Colombians in recent years as a weekend destination, mainly because of the refreshing tributary of the Río Danubio which is perfect for swimming and tubing. Weekends can be a bit hectic so it was fortuitous that our plans changed, allowing us to visit mid-week.

River in San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

San Cipriano is also a hotspot for birders since the surrounding forests contain a multitude of species. Some of these Chocó endemics are more difficult elsewhere in Valle del Cauca province, including the Five-coloured Barbet and Choco Poorwill. The eBird hotspot contains 435 species at the time of this writing and probably close to 400 of those are actually legitimate. Other tantalizing species sometimes found here include Berlepsch's Tinamou, Baudo Guan, Pacific Flatbill and Blue-whiskered Tanager. Here in the forested lowlands of western Colombia, almost anything is possible.

We booked a couple of rooms at Hotel David, an economic option run by a lovely family. The rooms were basic but included a fan and the beds were quite comfortable. The ladies running the place made amazing meals as well that were very reasonably priced. While Hotel David is a fair walk from the brujita station, it is closer to the actual forest so is well-located in that regard. Hotel David can be contacted on WhatsApp (+57 3207322768).

Meal at Hotel David (total cost: equivalent of $4 CAD)

We parked our car, paid the relatively steep price to store it for two days, and caught a brujita into town. We walked along the only road eastwards, paid our 5,000 COP entry fee per person, and reached Hotel David. The temperature and humidity here in the lowlands were stifling but we were itching to find some birds! And so we spent the last 3 hours of daylight heading along the road out of town into the forest.

San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

A cooperative pair of Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrants perched right beside the trail. For Laura and I, these were by far the best looks we have ever had of this tiny species.

Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant is one of the smallest passerines in the world, weighing around five grams and with a length of just over six centimetres.

Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The calls of a few antbirds just off the path alerted us to a small ant-swarm. It was attended by Bicolored Antbirds, Plain-brown Woodcreepers, Buff-throated Foliage-gleaners and a Rufous Motmot. Our first Blue-crowned Manakin of the year perched a few meters away, providing incredible views of his crisp plumage.

Plain-brown Woodpecker - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

This was my first time birding the Chocó lowlands proper in Colombia and so I added a number of species to my Colombia list, including Spotted Antbird, Gray-and-gold Tanager, a heard-only Stub-tailed Antbird and Dusky Pigeon. The distinctive song of a White-tailed Trogon caught our ears and provided nice views at eye level.

White-tailed Trogon - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We passed some buildings and entered an area with a few tall cecropia trees, a favourite with tanagers. I watched as a single tanager alighted in one of the trees and felt the rush of excitement as I realized what I was looking at. A Blue-whiskered Tanager! I quickly got the others on it and we watched it for a minute or so as it fed on the cecropias.

Blue-whiskered Tanager - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

My photos do not do it justice and it was a little far for truly satisfying views, but I was excited to finally see this Chocó specialty for the first time after missing it on a previous trip to Ecuador.

Blue-whiskered Tanager - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The afternoon was turning to evening but there were more surprises in store. In a fifteen minute period we stumbled across a quartet of amazing bird species. First, Alexis spotted a tiny hawk perched beside the trail - a species actually called the Tiny Hawk! This is a rare and unobtrusive forest hawk that can be very tricky to find as it often perches motionless in the forest and rarely soars. Laura and I have been lucky with this species, having previously seen individuals in Panama and Guyana, but this sighting was by far our best!

Tiny Hawk - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Tiny Hawks were thought to dine almost exclusively on hummingbirds, though recent research has shown that they will eat a variety of small birds (though hummingbirds make up a large portion of their diet in some areas).

The second great bird was a Five-colored Barbet, one of our big target species for the area. I had been speculatively playing some tape as we walked, hoping to draw in this species which is apparently reasonably common at San Cipriano. It worked; a male perched in a dead snag beside the path!

Five-colored Barbet - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Who doesn't like barbets? Cute, chunky, colourful birds that will sit in view for a long time and that have adorable songs. This one is only found in a small area - the Chocó from west-central Colombia to northwestern Ecuador - adding to its allure. All five colours are visible in this photo (red, orange, yellow, black, white).

Five-colored Barbet - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

And the fun did not stop. We had barely walked away from the still teed-up barbet when a shrill whistle went off beside the path. A Berlepsch's Tinamou - yet another Chocó endemic! Unfortunately, a loud pickup truck rumbled up the path around this time and we never heard the tinamou again, nor did we see it either.

And the final great bird was a singing Chocó Screech-Owl just off the path that enabled us to obtain some great recordings (it, too stayed out of view though!).

Lebiasina sp. - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

With three out of my six targets in the bag (Blue-whiskered Tanager, Five-colored Barbet, Berlepsch's Tinamou), we headed back to town for some celebratory beers. That evening we returned, hoping to encounter another potential lifer.

Rhaebo haematiticus - San Cipriano, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The Chocó Poorwill did not take long to find as one was singing up the hillside not far from town. We would have to wait another night to actually lay eyes on this species.

The rest of the night hike was fun even though we did not find any snakes. A number of tree frogs were calling from the ditches and open concrete wells beside the path (part of an infrastructure project to build a new pipeline).