Santa Marta Area Birding Trip Report
14 April-3 May 2008

All text by Benjamin G. Freeman

INTRODUCTION

Located in northeastern Colombia, the Santa Marta area is a fantastic birding zone with a wide variety of habitats accessible in a geographically small area - a perfect destination for a week of great birding. It is also an area that is safe for the tourist, but it is advisable to ask local advice before visiting some sites or go on a guided trip. I spent nearly three weeks in the area, mostly at the ProAves reserve RNA El Dorado, located at 1950 m.a.s.l. on Santa Marta Mountain (website: www.ecoturs.co, visits must be arranged in advance, transportation available). This reserve is undoubtedly the highlight of a trip to the area - a beautiful location with loads of relatively easy-to-see endemic species. I also give brief accounts of three additional birding sites: Minca, Tayrona National Park, and Los Flamencos (Guajira).

SITES

I spent brief amounts of time (generally one morning) at Minca, Tayrona National Park, and Los Flamencos. At Minca and Los Flamencos I was guiding a photographer; we focused on photography of a few target birds and certainly missed several species that should be seen with more emphasis on birding.

Los Flamencos: This national reserve is designed to protect several lagoons used seasonally by large concentrations of Greater Flamingos. It is accessed through the small town of Camarones, located roughly 2.5 hrs by road east of Santa Marta or 15 minutes by road west of Riohacha. There are also good areas of xerophytic scrub along the road (5 minutes drive) from Camarones to the lagoons/beach area. The concentration of flamingos varies by season; although up to 1,000 are reported to be present seasonally, there were far less in late April. Many locals offer boat tours to get good views of the flamingos and other waterbirds. It is very hot in this area, and birding is best from dawn until 10 am. An excellent site for photography!
Birds: Lagoon area: large numbers of many waders including Roseate Spoonbill and Reddish Egret, 10 Greater Flamingos, 8 Scarlet Ibis, ~25 White Ibis, 10 species of shorebirds including Red Knot & White-rumped Sandpiper, several species of gulls & terns, Black Skimmer, Grey Kingbird, Yellow Oriole.
Xerophytic scrub: We did not spend much time in this habitat, but did see birds including Crested Bobwhite, Buffy Hummingbird, Green-rumped Parrotlet, Russet-throated Puffbird, Black-crested Antshrike, Slender-billed Inezia, the incomparable Vermillion Cardinal, Pileated Finch and Tocuyo Sparrow. Several of these are restricted to the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia and northern Venezuela. Also present in this area are Rufous-vented Chachalaca, Blue-crowned Parakeet, Chestnut Piculet and Orinocon Saltator.






Tayrona National Park: This large national park includes some of Colombia's most spectacular beaches. For the birder a bigger draw is the dry tropical forest, most easily accessed at the main park entrance, roughly 1 hr east of Santa Marta by car. The entrance road and the trail to Arrecifes both pass through good forest. Camping and hammocks are available at Arrecifes, which has a restaurant as well. There are also cabins available.
Birds: Military Macaw (the local population of this spectacular macaw moves seasonally, and can be seen in the Minca area at times), Pale-bellied Hermit, White-chinned Sapphire, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Collared Aracari, White-bellied Antbird, a diversity of flycatchers, Lance-tailed Manakin, Long-billed Gnatwren, Rufous-and-white Wren and many more. This is also an excellent site for boreal migrants in season.

Minca: This small town is located just 45 minutes drive from Santa Marta, along the route to San Lorenzo ridge. Although the climate is less sweltering than the coastal lowlands, it still gets quite hot in the hills above Minca! Luckily there are still some good patches of shade coffee, and some excellent birds to find. There are a couple decent hotels in Minca.
Birds: Chestnut-winged Chachalaca, Zone-tailed Hawk, many hummingbirds including Red-billed & Coppery Emeralds, Blue-crowned Motmot, Keel-billed Toucan, many flycatchers including Venezuelan and Brown-capped Tyrannulets, Golden-fronted Greenlet, Rufous-and-white and Rufous-breasted Wrens, the gaudy Rosy-thrush Tanager, loads of Swallow Tanagers, Rufous-capped Warbler and Golden-winged Sparrow. This is another area that is excellent for boreal migrants in season


RNA El Dorado: The excellent new lodge at this ProAves (Colombian NGO) reserve is located at 1950 m, with splendid panaromic views of the Caribbean, the city of Santa Marta, and the immense lagoon Cienaga Grande. Santa Marta Mountain is the tallest coastal mountain in the world (and indeed, the tallest mountain in Colombia); it is a huge massif, and the central peaks can be seen early in the morning from the upper elevations; another absolutely spectacular view!

The lodge is around two hours by truck from the city of Santa Marta. Above Minca, the progressively worsening road passes through largely deforested land, eventually turning upslope at the "Y" and climbing out of the coffee/agricultural zone into subtropical forest. The reserve stretches from approximately 1000 m to around 2700 m; however, the lower portions of the reserve are difficult to access (and endemics and specialties are largely above 1500 m). Roadside habitat above 1500-2200 m is predominately good-quality subtropical forest; from 2200-2550 m exotic pine plantations dominate, and from 2550-2750 m (until an army base at the top of the ridge, also the end of the road) exists good temperate forest with abundant Chusquea bamboo.

This report focuses on birds observed from 1500 m to 2700 m. While there exist a couple maintained trails, most birds are best searched for along the road. And the birding is often fantastic! Many of the Santa Marta endemics are easy to find and several more can be found with more effort. If that is not enough, a couple near-endemics (shared with the Perijas, which straddle the Colombia/Venezuela border, e.g. Black-fronted Wood-Quail & Streak-capped Spinetail) can be seen, and several subspecies endemic to Santa Marta Mountain are likely to be elevated to species status in the near future!

Without further ado, the birds...

Abundance codes: Common, Fairly Common, Uncommon, Rare
Locations: Lower (below lodge only), Upper (temperate forests).
Endemic and near-endemic species are noted in Bold


Grey Tinamou - frequently heard at dusk
Band-tailed Guan - U
Sickle-winged Guan- FC
Black-fronted Wood-Quail- FC by voice, I observed one group with several fledglings
Turkey Vulture- C
Black Vulture- C, lower
Semicollared Hawk- one Accipiter briefly seen in flight was almost surely this species
Plain-breasted Hawk- FC
White-rumped Hawk- FC, the immature is quite distinctive
Barred Forest-Falcon- FC
Collared Forest-Falcon- U, lower
Bat Falcon- FC, upper
Band-tailed Pigeon- C
White-tipped Dove- C
Lined Quail-Dove- C, active nest
Scarlet-fronted Parakeet- C
Santa Marta Parakeet- FC, upper, active nests
Red-billed Parrot- C, active nests
Scaly-naped Parrot- FC
"Santa Marta" Screech-Owl - This recently discovered, and as yet undescribed, species can be heard (and seen) regularly from the lodge.
Mottled Owl- U
Band-winged Nightjar- FC, active nest
White-collared Swift- FC
Band-rumped Swift- U
Sooty-capped Hermit- U, lower
Green Violet-ear- C
Coppery Emerald- R
Purple-crowned Woodnymph- C, female observed gathering nesting material
Steely-vented Hummingbird- FC, lower
Blossomcrown- U, lodge area and lower
White-vented Plumeteer- U, lower
Mountain Velvetbreast- U
White-tailed Starfrontlet- U, upper
(Black-backed Thornbill - not seen during my stay, but mist-netted in February by ProAves researchers!)
Tyrian Metaltail - C, the Santa Marta race has a dark, bluish, tail
Santa Marta Woodstar- U
White-tipped Quetzal- C, active nest
"Northern" Violaceous Trogon- U, lower
Masked Trogon- FC
Keel-billed Toucan- FC
Emerald "Santa Marta" Toucanet- FC, active nest
Yellow-billed Toucanet- U, lower
Collared Aracari- U, lower
Golden-olive Woodpecker- FC
Crimson-crested Woodpecker- FC
Rusty-headed Spinetail- C
Streak-capped Spinetail- C, active nest
Spotted Barbtail- U
Montane Foliage-gleaner- C
Flammulated Treehunter- R, active nest
"Santa Marta" Foliage-gleaner- likely future split from Ruddy Foliage-gleaner, the Santa Marta subspecies rufipectus is FC, lower, active nest
Gray-throated Leaftosser- U
Plain-brown Woodcreeper- R, lower
Strong-billed Woodcreeper- FC, active nest
Montane Woodcreeper- C
Santa Marta Antpitta- C (all antpittas & tapaculos by voice)
Rufous Antpitta- FC, upper. The Santa Marta subspecies is another likely future split
Scaled Antpitta - FC, lower
Rusty-breasted Antpitta- FC, lower
Santa Marta Tapaculo- FC, lower
Brown-rumped Tapaculo- FC, upper
Yellow-bellied Elaenia- FC, lower
Mountain Elaenia- C
White-throated Tyrannulet- C
Venezuelan Tyrannulet- U
Black-capped Tyrannulet- FC
Olive-striped Flycatcher- FC, active nests
Black-throated Tody-Tyrant- FC
Cinnamon Flycatcher- C, active nests
Cliff Flycatcher- R, an individual photographed 1 May at the lodge is perhaps the first record for Santa Marta Mountain.
Acadian Flycatcher- U, lower
Willow/Alder Flycatcher- U (not calling)
Olive-sided Flycatcher- U
Western/Eastern Wood-Peewee- U (not calling)
Tropical Peewee- U, lower
Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant- U, upper
Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant- U, upper
Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant- FC
Golden-crowned Flycatcher- C, active nest
Dusky-capped Flycatcher- FC
Golden-breasted Fruiteater- C
Masked Tityra- FC, active nest
Brown-capped Vireo- FC
Red-eyed Vireo- FC
Black-chested Jay- FC
Blue-and-white Swallow- C
House Wren- C
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren- C
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush - U, lower
Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush- FC, the resident subspecies is dark gray below
Swainson's Thrush- C
Yellow-legged Thrush- C, active nests
Great Thrush - FC
Black-hooded Thrush- FC, stub-tailed fledglings
White-necked Thrush- R, lower
Pale-breasted Thrush- U, lower
White-lined Tanager- FC, lower
Blue-gray Tanager- FC, lower
Blue-capped Tanager- FC
Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager- FC, active nest
Bay-headed Tanager- FC
Black-capped Tanager- C
Black-headed Tanager- FC, lower
Swallow Tanager- U, lower, active nest
Rusty Flowerpiercer- FC, lower
Black Flowerpiercer- FC, upper
White-sided Flowerpiercer - C
Plushcap- U, upper
Yellow-faced Grassquit- FC, lower
Dull-colored Grassquit- U, lower
Blue-black Grassquit- FC, lower
Rufous-collared Sparrow- C
Slaty Finch- R, upper
Yellow-bellied Seedeater- FC, lower
Paramo Seedeater- FC, upper
Stripe-headed Brush-Finch- FC
Santa Marta Brush-Finch- C, fledgling observed
Scarlet Tanager- R
Golden-bellied Grosbeak- FC
Rose-breasted Grosbeak- R
Buff-throated Saltator- FC, lower
Tennessee Warbler- FC
Blackburnian Warbler- C, a tremendous movement in the last week of April - monospecific flocks of 10-20 birds passing through every 15 minutes or so
Slate-throated Whitestart- C, active nests
Yellow-crowned Whitestart- C, active nest
White-lored Warbler- C
Santa Marta Warbler- FC, upper
Crested Oropendula- C, active nests
Giant Cowbird- R
Lesser Goldfinch- FC, lower
Blue-naped Chlorophonia- C, active nests