Summer 2009 - Colombia! - Part 2 of 3 Home » Forums » Birding » Trip Reports

The bus ride from Santa Marta to Puerto Boyaca went through the
fertile Magdalena Valley, which lies between two ridges of the Andes
mountain chain. There area, at least along the road, is almost
totally deforestated. And from what I have read, it is not just along
the highways. Our guides at the Proaves reserve estimated it takes
two hectacres, or four acres, of cleared forest to support a cow.
Another estimate, used in a Colombian anti-drug advertisement, is that
four square meters (4.8 sq. yards) of rain forest have to be cleared
to produce a gram of cocaine. Bottom line is that our over
consumption of unnecessary excesses, meat and drugs, are destroying
the planet. And later in the trip I saw vast sugar cane fields, which
are burnt seasonally to refertilize the soil. The sugar cane is used
to make ethanol, a bio fuel, which is also in great demand . When
forest is cleared to plant a crop where both the fruit and plant are
later burned, obviously there is a net increase of carbon in the
atmosphere. So don't let anyone fool you about the environmental
benefits of biofuels.

Ok, enough of that. A few hours from Puerto Boyaca is Medellin, the
second largest city in Colombia. Medellin is a great city as cities
go; it is modern, cosmopolitan, and quite safe by South American
standards. Unfortunately there do not seem to be many birding
opportunities in the immediate area. The zoo and Botanic Garden are
places to see common local species such as the Black-billed Thrush,
Palm Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Eared Dove, and a few others.
Guatape, a city with a dam, is two hours away, but perhaps because of
the deforestation in the entire region, only the most common birds
were seen here. A few include the Tropical Kingbird, Rufous-collared
Sparrow, Black Phoebe, Southern Lapwing, Steely-vented Hummingbird,
and (the highlight) Fork-tailed Flycatcher. The city of Jardin is a
little further away, and was recommended to me as a great birding
location. I didn't have time to visit Jarin. Contact me about a
privately owned protected area between the east and west slope of the
Andes that is good for endemic species. Another stop is drug lord Pablo
Escobar's hacienda, which was in the news because of a number of hippos
that were now out of control.

Onward to Manizales, a city in the Coffee Triangle half way to Cali,
the third largest city in Colombia. I was hopeful that I would
finally find hummingbirds at the Rio Blanco Ecological Reserve outside
Manizales. There is a lot more cloud forest (but a lot of
deforestation as well) around Manizales. I spent two nights at the
reserve, and was not disappointed. Interesting species include the
engandgered endemic Brown-baned Antpitta, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta,
Stripe-headed Brush Finch, Masked Trogon, White-capped
Dipper, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Masked Flowerpiercer, and others.
Over three hundred species and over thirty species of hummingbirds
have been sighted in the reserve. The feeders are overrun by the
Buff-tailed Coronet, and an occassional male Long-tailed Sylph and
Collared Inca. You are better off checking the flowers around the
lodge for the Tourmaline Sunangel, Bronzy Inca, Fawn-breasted
Brilliant and White-bellied Woodstar.

There are a number of easier day outings in Manizales, including the
University Botanic Garden, and the very large city park. Another is a
coffee plantation for tourists called "Recinto de Pensamieno", which
has a hummingbird area, but it can only be visited for a short time on
the tour.

The other important stop in Manizales in Parque Nacional Los Nevados,
a park in the Andean 'paramo', which is the high altitide ecosystem
above the treeline. PNN Los Nevados boasts over 100 bird species, and
many of them are found only in this Andean high altitude habitat. I
went on a tourist tour, and stopped at the visitor center while my
group went on to higher altitudes. In a few hours I managed too see a
dozen interesting species, and pick up nice photos of the Plumbeous
Sierra Finch, Tawny Antpitta, Black Flowerpiercer, and Bearded
Helmetcrest. Other sightings include the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant,
Andean Tit-Spinetail, and Bar-winged Cinclodes. Alas the park is hard
to reach and has a high entrance fee (around $35 US I believe).