Colombia Feb 03—18, 2009
Posted by Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty is the senior author of A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, and the recently published Birds of Venezuela, both by Princeton University Press. Other credits inclu...Related Trips
Our return to Colombia after a 23-year absence represents an almost complete reversal of fortunes for a country once mired in drug and political violence, and written off as a lost cause by pundits and scholars alike. But what a difference a decade or two can make. Now much of the country is at peace with itself and striving for the normalcy that much of its population has long yearned. Did I see changes in our more than two-decade absence? Of course. Obviously many changes are for the better, otherwise we would not have been able to safely travel to many of the places we visited. There are more people now, more traffic, more trucks, and perhaps more environmental pressures, but I did not see major changes in deforestation. In fact, I believe that, at present, there is more land in some stage of secondary regrowth than occurred in the past. This is not to say that Colombia's environment is doing well. Much of Colombia's Andes were formerly covered in a rich tapestry of forests and today very little of it remains pristine. Untouched areas are now confined to small, remote pockets, steep stream valleys, or steep hillsides. And even these sites remain at risk. Good habitat remains in several national parks, although these are poorly protected. In the past decade the conservation group ProAves has begun purchasing tiny parcels of forest that harbor remnant populations of endemics or rare species. We visited four of these sites—all with overnight lodging of varying quality and all difficult to access, requiring long, tortuous drives on roads that are in extremely poor condition. And how did we find these sites once we reached them?
The sites varied. Some trails have been recently upgraded, but were generally steep, sometimes slippery, often muddy, and certainly more difficult to use than those to which most naturalists and birders are accustomed. And the birds? We had some great days with stunningly good birding. Finding the much-vaunted endemics, however, often took considerable effort and patience, and for some it is almost as much a matter of luck as skill (i.e., the Blue-billed Curassow which we did not see). The Sooty Ant-Tanager and White-mantled Barbet both required considerable effort to locate and see successfully, but were beautiful, exquisitely so in the case of the tanager, and well worth the effort. By all accounts the greatest treasure trove of endemics occurs in the Santa Marta Mountains and here, unlike in the Andes, many are relatively easy to see, often repeatedly so.
Colombia remains, at present, a trip for those adventurous birders and naturalists who are willing to accept some rough spots along their route, read our promotional material carefully, and realize that they are buying a birding trip that is probably more logistically complex and more physically demanding than almost any other VENT trip. This is not a comfort trip, and it is not a trip in which everything is apt to flow smoothly—although given the complexity of logistics, ranging from boats, horses, 4-wheel-drive vehicles (and yes, once even motorcycles to move our luggage), I think the Colombians did a remarkable job. Some bus trips were too long, the itinerary a little too ambitious, but we must remember that Colombia has little history of ecotourism and is far behind neighboring countries in its offering of sites, facilities, bus transport, and general ability to support ecotourism. But it is learning quickly, and so are we, and hopefully we will look back in a few years and say, "You should have seen it back in the good old days."
Reviewing the bird list, I am immensely pleased. Even though we missed several possible endemics, the list is, nevertheless, still rich with endemics, near-endemics, several species once thought to be near extinction, one so new it has yet to be described officially, and many others that are poorly known and would be regarded as highlights on any trip, among them: Northern Screamer, Bogotá Rail, Santa Marta Screech-Owl (as yet undescribed), Black Inca, White-tailed Starfrontlet, Indigo-capped Hummingbird, White-tipped Quetzal, Chestnut Piculet, Bar-crested Antshrike, Parker's Antbird, Silvery-throated Spinetail, Rough-legged Tyrannulet, Apolinar's Marsh-Wren, Gray-throated Warbler, Santa Marta Warbler, Turquoise Dacnis, Yellow-headed Brush-Finch, Golden-winged Sparrow, Vermilion Cardinal, and so on. The bumps in the road may fade from memory, but the birds will burn brightly for years to come.