Colombia Birding: Antpittas & Hummingbirds of the Central Andes

Fly from Bogota Airport to Pereira Airport, then bird the Kaukita Dry Forest Reserve, a small tropical dry forest on Pereira’s western edge with scrub, grassland and ponds, a good place for the first Colombian endemics and dry-country specialities. Transfer across Pereira to the guest house beside Otún Quimbaya, the base for the afternoon session in the reserve protecting the Otún river basin, Pereira’s drinking-water source. Follow quiet forest roads and shaded trails at a relaxed pace, watching mixed flocks, woodcreepers and tanagers, with changing light for photography.

Begin with birding in the Otún Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary, where Andean cloud forest trails offer Cauca Guan, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow and mixed flocks. Drive north to Cameguadua marsh to work the wetlands for herons, rails, parrotlets and kingfishers, a change of pace from forest birding. Continue to Recinto del Pensamiento, a lodge at 1,950 m with forest-fringed grounds and very humid premontane forest. An afternoon and evening walk here is a relaxed introduction to quiet forest birds before dinner.

Transfer from Manizales to Río Blanco Reserve, exploring forest trails where mixed flocks of woodcreepers, foliage-gleaners, barbtails and treerunners move through the canopy. Visit managed antpitta feeding stations with a local guide for Bicolored, Chestnut-crowned, Slate-crowned and Brown-banded Antpittas, plus mountain tanagers and brushfinches. Afternoon time at hummingbird and fruit feeders brings Long-tailed Sylph, Collared Inca and Tourmaline Sunangel, then bamboo patches above the guest house offer hemispingus, Plushcap and Yellow-billed Cacique. Return for a second night at Recinto del Pensamiento.

Begin with a morning at Hacienda El Bosque, watching for the secretive Equatorial Antpitta at its feeding station alongside Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan and mountain tanagers, then work the hummingbird garden with Sword-billed Hummingbird, Tourmaline Sunangel and Sparkling Violetear. Transfer to Hotel Termales del Ruiz for birding in Los Nevados National Park, searching the páramo for Buffy Helmetcrest, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill and Rufous-fronted Parakeet. Explore elfin forest trails for Tawny Antpitta, visit the lodge’s hummingbird feeders, and unwind in the thermal hot springs.

Travel west from Manizales past Pueblo Rico on a long, scenic drive of just under 100 miles, with birding stops and leg-stretches along the way into the Chocó-Pacific country. Continue by transfer to Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge Reserve near Manizales. After a picnic lunch, explore the upper cloud forest, adapting the route to the day’s activity while searching for elusive species and watching mixed flocks move through the canopy in Tatamá, one of the world’s premier birding destinations.

A pre-dawn 4WD drive climbs the Montezuma Summit Road to an army base and communications centre, where clear conditions reveal Cerro Tatamá and a packed breakfast with coffee precedes birding. In Tatamá National Park, the Montezuma high-elevation cloud forests are searched for Gold-ringed Tanager, Black-and-gold Tanager, tapaculos, flowerpiercers and mountain tanagers, with a packed lunch in the field. Lower-elevation Chocó forests then offer Club-winged Manakin, Beautiful Jay, Chocó Vireo, tanagers, woodcreepers and flycatchers. The day ends at Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge Reserve near Manizales.

Explore the mid-elevation cloud forests along the Montezuma Road in Tatamá National Park, where changing habitats support Chocó and Andean birdlife. Walk at a relaxed pace searching for mixed flocks and regional specialties such as Toucan Barbet, Black-chinned Mountain Tanager and Orange-breasted Fruiteater, with a packed lunch in the field. Return to the Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge Reserve near Manizales for cloud forest scenery and Andean views, with breakfast included to start the day.

Travel through the Cauca Valley toward Cali, breaking up the long drive with lunch, leg-stretches and birding stops. At Laguna de Sonso, Colombia’s largest remaining natural wetland in the Cauca Valley, a local guide leads you along trails and observation points to watch herons, jacanas, kingfishers, ibises, raptors and the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird. Continue to Araucana Lodge, then spend the afternoon and early evening around its gardens, feeders and bird tables, where Southern Lapwing, Andean Motmot, Red-headed Barbet, Acorn Woodpecker and hummingbirds visit.

Drive out early to Queremal on the old Buenaventura road, once considered one of the world’s top birding routes and now largely traffic-free and heavily forested. Spend the day working this birding circuit, starting across open farmland and hilly pasture before gradually descending to lower elevations. The Chocó-Pacific bird list is long, with parrots, hermits, barbets, flycatchers, antbirds, tanagers and the Toucan Barbet, and the road is one of the best Tangara tanager areas around. Return to Araucana Lodge in the late afternoon.

Begin with breakfast before transferring to La Florida at El Bosque de las Aves for dawn birdwatching at the feeders, where hummingbirds, tanagers and flowerpiercers gather at first light, with a chance of the resident Chestnut Wood-Quail. Later, search the La Florida forest for the endemic Multicoloured Tanager and Tangara tanagers, followed by lunch. In the afternoon, look for the elusive Little Tinamou and forest hummingbirds among flowering plants, plus possible woodcreepers, foliage-gleaners and antpittas. Finish with a transfer to Cali Airport for the flight to Bogotá and the connection home.