Birding
in the Amazonas and
Los Llanos
Birding in the Amazon of Colombia can be quite interesting. The area is still safe.
For the moment there is only one company offer air transport to Leticia,
making it more expensive. But once there, life is still cheap and you can stay easy
close to good birding areas, making it a good alternative to the expensive
lodges in the neighbouring countries.
Birding in the Amazons depends much on the time of year. I recommend not to go
in the rainy period (February, March) as bird activity is much lower and it is
very hard with the high humidity and the many mosquitos and sand flies.
The amazon area does not have any real endemics, apart from the near-impossible
Chiribiquete Emerald (Chlorostilbon olivaresi) in the Chiribiquete mountains.
Most birds can be seen as well in Peru, Brasil or Ecuador.
For birding in the real Los Llanos, I would simply recommend to go to Venezuela,
which is safer and has a better infrastructure.
Leticia/Tabatinga
(300 m asl)
Leticia is a quiet town, with sufficient accommodation, though it was cheaper
to stay in Tabatinga (in 2000), Leticia's sister city in Brasil.
It is here were you usually will arrive, so why not start here.
Sites around Leticia are described in "Birds of Colombia".
There are small minibuses that pass along the airport and can
bring you to side roads at km 6, 7, 10. Following I found there:
White-vented Euphonia (Euphonia minuta) (km 7),
Rufous-rumped Foliage-gleaner (Philydor erythrocercus)(km 7),
Lettered Aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus)(km 7),
Purple-throated Fruitcrow (Querula purpurata)(km 10),
Grey Antbird (Cercomacra cinerascens)(km 10),
Spot-winged Antbird (Percnostola leucostigma)(km 10),
Ochre-bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagineus)(km 10),
Black-spotted Barbet (Capito niger)(km 10),
Cinereous Antshrike (Thamnomanes caesius)(km 10),
Reddish Hermit (Phaethornis ruber)(km 10),
Black-throated Hermit (Phaethornis atrimentalis)(km 10),
Violaceous Trogon (Trogon violaceus)(km 10),
Ocellated Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus ocellatus)(km 10) and
Brownish Twistwing (Cnipodectes subbrunneus)(km 10).
Also the Incra road in Tabatinga is quite good. Along the road I saw
White-eyed Parakeet (Aratinga leucophthalmus),
Turquoise Tanager (Tangara mexicana),
Fork-tailed Palm-swift (Tachornis squamata),
Yellow-browed Sparrow (Ammodramus aurifrons),
Canary-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus) (very common),
Chestnut-eared Aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis),
White-lored Euphonia (Euphonia chrysopasta),
Black Caracara (Daptrius ater).
Puerto Nariņo
(300 m asl)
You can get there with the daily jet from Leticia.
Ask the schedule in Leticia. In Puerto Nariņo one can stay in the lovely cabaņas
of Fray Hector. The place is getting popular, so reservation is necessary when
you plan on coming in a holiday period.
From here a walk to the nearby village of San Francesca is interesting.
Around the house and on this walk following birds were seen:
Black-tailed Tityra (Tityra cayana),
Tui Parakeet (Brotogeris sanctithomae),
White-bearded Hermit (Phaethornis hispidus),
Rufous-breasted Hermit (Glaucis hirsuta),
Rusty-fronted Tody-flycatcher (Todirostrum latirostre),
Spotted Tody-flycatcher (Todirostrum maculatum),
Yellow-bellied Dacnis (Dacnis flaviventer),
Glittering-throated Emerald (Amazilia fimbriata),
Scarlet-crowned Barbet (Capito aurovirens),
Bare-necked Fruitcrow (Gymnoderus foetidus),
Campo Oriole (Icterus jamacaii),
Dark-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis albigularis),
Plain-breasted Piculet (Picumnus castelnau),
Maroon-tailed Parakeet (Pyrrhura melanura) at saltlick in San
Francesca,
Hooded Tanager (Nemosia pileata),
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus),
Sapphire-rumped Parrotlet (Touit purpurata) and
White-eared Jacamar (Galbalcyrhynchus leucotis).
There are walks which go deeper in the forest. Locals can show you the way.
You can ask if it is possible to use someones canoe. So I found:
Red-&-white Spinetail (Certhiaxis mustelina),
Little Cuckoo (Piaya minuta) and
Lesser Wagtail-tyrant (Stigmatura napensis)!
A trip to Laguna Tarapoto and at the former cabaña of Fray produced:
Plumbeous Antbird (Myrmeciza hyperythra),
Warbling Antbird (Hypocnemis cantator),
Short-tailed Parrot (Graydidascalus brachyurus),
Dusky-headed Parakeet (Aratinga weddellii),
White-chinned Jacamar (Galbula tombacea),
Pale-billed Hornero (Furnarius torridus) and
Long-billed Starthroat (Heliomaster longirostris).
A very interesting walk is from the village to San Martin (3 hr), which is
at the edge of the Amacayacu NP.
In the beginning there are lots of forks, so it is best to ask directions
for the first kilometer.
It is possible to stay overnight in this Indian village.
Birds seen here were:
Short-tailed Swift (Chaetura brachyura),
Thrush-like Wren (Campylorhynchus turdinus),
Screaming Piha (Lipaugus vociferans),
Yellow-browed Antbird (Hypocnemis hypoxantha) and
Dusky-chested Flycatcher (Myiozetetes luteiventris).
Amacayacu NP
(300 m asl)
My experience with this National Park wasn't very positive (as with most other
parks run by the government).
It is quite expensive and you aren't allowed much freedom.
Nevertheless they have a (expensive) canopy tower.
Without this it is very difficult to see species as the
Yellow-browed Tody-flycatcher (Todirostrum chrysocrotaphum),
which is a small flycatcher of the upper layer of the forest.
Other species seen from the tower were
Rufous-bellied Euphonia (Euphonia rufiventris),
Blue-throated Piping-guan (Pipile cumanensis),
Red-throated Caracara (Daptrius americanus),
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao),
Chestnut-fronted Macaw (Ara severa),
Black-spotted Barbet (Capito niger),
Lettered Aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus) and
Cuvier's Toucan (Ramphastos cuvieri).
Around the visitor centre I found:
Fasciated Antshrike (Cymbilaimus lineatus),
Striped Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus obsoletus),
Amazonian Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus ornatus),
Chestnut Woodpecker (Celeus elegans),
Scarlet-crowned Barbet (Capito aurovirens),
Black-fronted Nunbird (Monasa nigrifrons) and
some Night Monkeys (Aotus vociferans).
These animals can be found as well on walks around San Martin.
Benjamin Constant
(300 m asl)
Back in Leticia, I had good birding on the other site of the Amazon in Brasil.
Cross the Amazon to Benjamin Constant and try to arrange transport (or walk) to
a village further along the Rio Javari (sorry forgot the name).
Somewhere halfway this road, there are farmers living who can offer you
accommodation. In the second growth along the road there was:
Yellow-crested Tanager (Tachyphonus rufiventer), a species not
found in Colombia!,
Grey-capped Flycatcher (Myiozetetes granadensis),
Masked Crimson Tanager (Ramphocelus nigrogularis) (common along road)
and Opal-crowned Tanager (Tangara callophrys).
In the good terra firme forest one can see:
Grey-winged Trumpeter (Psophia crepitans),
Broad-billed Motmot (Electron platyrhynchum),
Rufous Motmot (Baryphthengus martii),
White-fronted Nunbird (Monasa morphoeus),
Helmeted Pygmy-tyrant (Lophotriccus galeatus),
Pale-tailed Barbthroat (Threnetes leucurus),
Long-winged Antwren (Myrmotherula longipennis) and
Black-chested Moustached Tamarin (Saguinus mystax).
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