Venezuela: Hato Pinero
Posted by David Ascanio
David Ascanio
David Ascanio, a Venezuelan birder and naturalist, has spent the last 22 years guiding birding tours throughout his native country, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, n...The Llanos of Venezuela, a vast area representing one-third of Venezuela's territory, are found in the north with an extensive set of mountains running along the Caribbean coast, and the Orinoco River to the south. From a morphological perspective, this region is usually divided into the Eastern Llanos and the Western Llanos. While the first is drained by the rich soils of the Andes, the second is drained by the poor sandy soils of the Guianan shield.
Hato Piñero Ranch is located in the upper western llanos of Venezuela, in an area comprised of many habitats. In the north a visitor can see the rounded hills (locally named Galeras), while in the center of the reserve appear extensive patches of dry forest. The south is a floodable plain, called savanna. Across the river and its tributaries, the Gallery Forest is also an important area of distribution of many bird species, and the Palmales in the south are the only location to find low llanos bird species.
On our 2006 Hato Piñero tour, the water of Caño San Jeronimo was low, allowing astonishing views of Agami Herons, Hoatzins, and, for the second consecutive year, an impressive view of Green-and-rufous Kingfisher. The Laguna Grande trail provided excellent views of Lance-tailed Manakin and White-throated Spadebill, while night outings allowed amazing views of many nocturnal birds, plus impressive sights of a Brazilian tapir and a huge male ocelot.
Today this ranch, as well as many other ranches in the Venezuelan Llanos, is subject to an extensive political debate about the use of the land across this vast region. Regardless of the agricultural practices to be developed by the government in the future, there seems to be a consensus that the ranch and its many untouched habitats should be protected.
We thank Gertrudis and Simón for sharing their skills and company in the field. Otto, Graciela, and the staff were tremendously kind, satisfying our requests, and specially arranging fresh fruits for our outings every day. I hope to see you again on another Neotropical birding experience, to this region with a tremendous ornithological history, and still so much to be learned!