Bolivia Birding Tour: Blue-throated and Red-fronted Macaws

Arrive in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia’s commercial capital and the gateway to the journey, with an airport transfer to your hotel included. The tour starts this evening in a city where a colonial red-tile centre meets modern glass and concrete, and where Amazonian rainforest, dry Chaco, Andean cloudforest and savanna converge. With more direct international connections than La Paz, including flights from the United States, Brazil and Argentina, Santa Cruz is a calm, practical first stop before the birding begins in earnest the next morning.

Start with included breakfast before morning birding in Cerrado-like savanna near Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where grassy plains, sand dunes, bushy scrub, trees and pools offer chances to search weedy areas for the restricted-range White-bellied Nothura and near-endemic Bolivian Slaty Antshrike. After a local market lunch, take an afternoon flight to Riberalta in northernmost Bolivia, beginning the lowland phase with a two-night stay, then enjoy dinner.

Birding around Riberalta starts with breakfast before a focused search of the Masked Antpitta Woodlands, where short-stature woodland patches offer a chance at this localised endemic. The route then moves to the cerrado east of town, targeting Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant, Ocellated Crake and Black-masked Finch. The surrounding rainforest with Madeira-Tapajos affinities adds tinamous, potoos, parrots, puffbirds, woodcreepers, antbirds, fruitcrows, becards, euphonias and tanagers, with possible Amazonian Umbrellabird and White-banded Tanager. Lunch and dinner are included as listed.

A final morning of birding around Riberalta closes the Amazonian phase of the tour, with time in the humid forest and cerrado before a flight south to Trinidad in Beni province. On arrival, the afternoon begins exploring the Pantanal-like country of the Llanos de los Moxos, a first taste of open, seasonally flooded grassland, palm savanna and gallery woodland. It is a relaxed introduction to a landscape of easy viewing and a very large list, setting up the full wetland day that follows.

After an included breakfast, head into the palm savanna and gallery woodland of central Beni for a focused search for the Critically Endangered Blue-throated Macaw, where Blue-and-yellow, Red-and-green, Golden-collared and Chestnut-fronted Macaws may also appear. Continue birding the marshes, oxbow lakes, open meadows and gallery woodland around Trinidad, looking for Orinoco Goose, Hudson’s Black Tyrant, Plain Softtail and Fawn-breasted Wren, with Capybaras and other mammals possible. Lunch at a local market and dinner round out the day.

After breakfast, birding in the Trinidad Region explores the open habitats of the Beni floodplain, targeting Orinoco Goose, Hudson’s Black Tyrant and possibly Chaco Eagle, alongside riverine woodland species such as Plain Softtail, Fawn-breasted Wren and Velvet-fronted Grackle. The day’s list also includes screamers, Sunbittern, Jabiru, Hoatzin, herons, kingfishers, guans, raptors, antbirds and tyrants, with mammals like Crab-eating Fox, Brown Brocket Deer and Capybaras. A local market lunch and dinner follow before the flight from Trinidad to Santa Cruz de la Sierra closes the Llanos de los Moxos leg.

An early road transfer heads into the Andean foothills for a two-night stay at Refugio Los Volcanes, an ecolodge near Samaipata beside towering red cliffs and Amboró National Park. Most of the day is given to cloudforest birding on arrival, adding a first afternoon in the forested basin beneath the sandstone domes, where mixed flocks and near-endemics offer a calm introduction to the Andes. Breakfast is included, with lunch and dinner available separately.

Wake to a dawn chorus at Refugio Los Volcanes, an eco-lodge amid red cliffs bordering Amboró National Park. Birding trails around the cabins and entrance road offer Gray-throated Leaftosser, Rufescent Screech-Owl, Yungas Manakin, Amazonian Motmot and possible mixed tanager flocks, with a chance of the endemic Bolivian Recurvebill. Walk deeper into Amboró’s forested slopes toward a waterfall, watching for plants, lizards, monkeys and Tapirs. After lunch in a local market and dinner, return to the surrounding forests for night birding, listening for Band-bellied Owl, Rufous Nightjar and Ocellated Poorwill.

After included breakfast, a road transfer from Los Volcanes climbs into higher-elevation forest for Short-tailed Antthrush, then pauses at a crater lake where Masked Duck, Least Grebe and Pied-billed Grebe are usually present. The journey continues through a picturesque Andean farming valley toward Samaipata, birding cultivated and fallow fields, scrub and deciduous woodland where rare Mitred Parakeets move through cornfield country. A generic lunch in a local market and a generic dinner are available before the overnight stay in Samaipata.

Birding begins in a remnant Podocarpus forest, home to the Tucuman Amazon and Red-faced Guan. After an included breakfast and a local market lunch, the route drives from Samaipata into the Rio Mizque floodplain toward Saipina, birding open scrubby hills along the way. The dry valleys and Rio Misque area target Dot-fronted Woodpecker, Giant Antshrike, Olive-crowned Crescentchest, Bolivian Warbling Finch and Huayco Tinamou, with Andean Condors often seen overhead. Overnight is in the Saipina area, with dinner.

After breakfast, visit the Red-fronted Macaw Reserve in the Rio Mizque valley, a tranquil spot where the rare Red-fronted Macaw, a Bolivian endemic, crosses between feeding and roosting areas, alongside the endemic Cliff Parakeet. Following a lunch stop in a local market, transfer to Comarapa for two nights. This provincial town beneath the Siberia massif enjoys a balmy inter-montane climate and offers easy access to some of Bolivia’s finest cloudforests inside Amboro National Park, with arrival possibly allowing initial exploration.

Birding starts among the deep red and orange canyons and cactus-covered hills of Comarapa and Tambo Canyons, home to the endemic Bolivian Earthcreeper, with an evening search for Scissor-tailed Nightjar and Tropical Screech Owl. The route continues to Siberia Cloudforest in Amboro National Park, where epiphyte-laden trees, bamboo and flowering undergrowth contrast with the arid valleys. Search for Rufous-faced Antpitta, Trilling Tapaculo, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, mountain tanagers and, on the descent, Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer and Red-tailed Comet.

After breakfast, travel from Comarapa to Cochabamba on a long drive over the Siberia watershed, descending into dry valleys with birding stops along the way. Search Polylepis gullies for the endemic Black-hooded Sunbeam, Wedge-tailed Hillstar and Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager. Continue toward Cochabamba, pausing for lunch in a local market and dinner en route. The journey blends scenic Andean crossings with focused birding in the dry valleys before arriving in Cochabamba.

Birding along the Quillacolla Road climbs past Cerro Tunari to a high pass, targeting the endemic Cochabamba Mountain Finch, Giant Conebill, Wedge-tailed Hillstar and other high-Andean boulder-field birds. The Chapare Road then descends from puna through elfin, temperate and subtropical forest toward Villa Tunari, seeking specialists such as Hooded Mountain Toucan, Upland Antshrike and Yungas Tody-Tyrant. Breakfast is included, with lunch at a local market and dinner available along the route.

Birding along the Quillacolla Road climbs past Cerro Tunari to a high pass, where the endemic Cochabamba Mountain Finch, Giant Conebill, Wedge-tailed Hillstar and other high-Andean boulder-field birds are targets. The Chapare Road then descends from puna through elfin, temperate and subtropical forest toward Villa Tunari, seeking specialists such as Hooded Mountain Toucan, Upland Antshrike and Yungas Tody-Tyrant. Breakfast is included, with lunch at a local market and dinner available as generic meals.

Bird the Quillacolla Road above the Cochabamba valley, climbing past Cerro Tunari toward a high pass in search of the endemic Cochabamba Mountain Finch, Giant Conebill, Wedge-tailed Hillstar and other high-Andean boulder-field birds. Continue along the Chapare Road, which climbs out of the valley through puna before dropping through elfin, temperate and subtropical forests toward Villa Tunari, where specialists such as Hooded Mountain Toucan, Upland Antshrike and Yungas Tody-Tyrant may be found. Breakfast is included, with lunch at a local market and dinner available nearby.

Start with an early outing near Cochabamba, searching eucalyptus trees for the endemic Bolivian Blackbird and the range-restricted Brown-backed Mockingbird. After breakfast and a local market lunch, the route heads west on a long road transfer from Cochabamba to Inquisivi, crossing puna habitat with stops for Ornate Tinamou, White-winged Cinclodes, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Cordilleran Canastero and Puna Yellow Finch before dinner.

Start with breakfast before birding the Inquisivi dry forest, a key site for the Critically Endangered Bolivian Spinetail and a newly described Green-cheeked Parakeet form, with dry-country and woodland species and another chance for Black-hooded Sunbeam. After a local market lunch, transfer toward La Paz with a few puna stops for canasteros, miners, ground tyrants and yellow finches. Arrive in the high-altitude capital beneath Mount Illimani, then enjoy dinner.

Drive from La Paz to Coroico via the Coroico Road, descending from the high puna pass through cloudforest into verdant subtropical forest. Birding along this spectacular Yungas gradient offers the chance to revisit Yungas specialities, with stops along the route. Breakfast is included, while lunch in a local market and dinner are available at additional cost. The journey combines scenic mountain travel with focused birding through changing habitats on the way to Coroico.

Birding along the Coroico Road takes you through the Yungas gradient, from a high puna pass down into cloudforest and verdant subtropical forest. This route revisits the Yungas specialities, offering a full day of birding across changing habitats. Breakfast is included in the package, with a lunch stop in a local market and dinner to round out the experience.

Bird along the Coroico Road in the middle-elevation Yungas forest, searching for Diademed Tapaculo, Scimitar-winged Piha and other pass specialities, with a second chance to fill gaps in the list. After breakfast, a market lunch and continued birding, drive back through La Paz and on to Sorata at the base of the Illampa mountains, arriving for dinner and the night.

Search the dry valley below the Illampa mountains for the localised Berlepsch’s Canastero, whose large stick nests stand out in taller eucalyptus, with a high-altitude lake adding Giant Coot and Silvery Grebe. Continue to Lake Titicaca, scanning reed edges for Titicaca (Short-winged) Grebe alongside Andean Goose, Crested Duck and Plumbeous Rail. A local market lunch precedes the drive from Sorata and Lake Titicaca to La Paz airport for a late afternoon departure.