COLOMBIA: MITU, ANDES AND UNEXPLORED AMAZONIA

Our new Colombia tour is designed to compliment our main Colombia Andean Classic tour by focussing on the Mitu/Amazon area and the southern Colombian Amazonia areas. Both of these areas will offer us a superb set of birds with plenty more endemics and localised specialities. We will spend the first day at some sites around Bogota looking for species such as Bogota Rail, Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Apical Flycatcher, Apolinar’s Wren, Rosy Thrush-Tanager and others. The next day we will take a short flight to Mitú in Vaupés, which is one of the least developed departments in Colombia and is the best place in the Colombian Amazon for birdwatching. We will be based in Mitú where a variety of ecosystems can be found ranging from varzea and white sand forest, to rivers and primary forest. Mitú is THE place to find most of the Colombian Amazon species and where mouth-watering highlights could include the stunning Chestnut-crested and White-plumed Antbirds, Orinoco Piculet, Tawny-tufted Toucanet, Bronzy Jacamar, Purple-breasted & Pompadour Cotinga, Black Bushbird, Undulated Antshrike, Reddish-winged Bare-eye,  Imeri Warbling Antbird,  Azure-naped Jay and  White-bellied Dacnis. There are so many birds to see here and we are sure to have an amazing time, with the ultimate prize of a ground-cuckoo a possibility! We will have 6 nights here and ample time to thoroughly explore this seldom-visited region.

The second half of our tour is based at several locations in southern Colombia beginning in San Agustin and having a thorough exploration of El Encanto Nature reserve for species such as Tolima Blossomcrown, Indigo-capped Humingbird, Ruby Topaz and Dusky-headed Brushfinch amongst others. Moving on to Drymophila Nature reserve we will look for Huila Parakeet, East Andean Antbird, Hooded Antpitta, Magdalena Tapaculo, Yellow-throated Spadebill and Red-bellied Grackle. Moving on there are more great birds such as Black Tinamou, Western Striolated-Puffbird, Black-streaked Puffbird, Short-tailed Antthrush, Blue-fronted Lancebill, Green-backed Hillstar, Chestnut-tipped Toucanet, Chestnut Woodpecker, Russet Antshrike, Gray Antbird, White-crowned Manakin and Ecuadorian Cacique. One of our favourite places is El Escondite Nature Reserve, which is home to Golden-collared Toucanet, Yellow-billed Nunbird, Orange-fronted Plushcrown, Spectacled Prickletail, Orange-eyed Flycatcher and the stunning Plum-throated Cotinga. The following day could be very special with species such as White-chinned Jacamar,  Brown Nunlet, Rufous-headed Woodpecker, Slate-colored, Plumbeous,  White-shouldered and the awesome Hairy-crested Antbird, Ochre-striped Antpitta,  and  Caqueta Seedeater all possible. Our last day in the lowlands as we drive to Cocha LAgoon form Filo de Hambre could give us Gray-chinned Hermit, Maroon-tailed Parakeet, Bronze-green Euphonia, White-rimmed Brushfinch, Yellow-throated and Blue-browed Tanager before we head up into the Andes. A nice change of scenery and higher elevation could well give us  Noble Snipe, Andean Pygmy-Owl, Carunculated Caracara, White-chinned Thistletail, Chestnut-bellied Cotinga, Crowned Chat-Tyrant and Black-chested Mountain-Tanager amongst many others Everywhere we go you will be amazed at the sheer number and variety of birds present and with almost 1900 species, Colombia has the biggest birdlist of any country. This tour will fill in those gaps on your Colombia list and leave you longing to return!