COLOMBIA

1–19 April 2013

Day 1 Flight from London to Bogotá and transfer to our hotel for a two-night stay.

Day 2 We will begin our trip with a visit to the Chingaza National Park, a large and spectacular park east of Bogotá where we'll be birding at around 3000 meters elevation. This beautiful park serves as a major watershed and water source for the city of Bogotá and, as such, preserves a wonderful cross section of mid and high-elevation humid forest with distinctive Páramo vegetations covered in parts with Espeletia sp. (frailejón), a fuzzy-leaved Asteraceae. Here we'll look for the enigmatic Bearded Helmetcrest. The park provides refuge for the endemic and threatened Flame-winged (Brown-breasted) Parakeet. Other species we may see include Black-chested Buzzard-eagle, Tyrian Metaltail, Amethyst-throated (Longeumares) Sunangel, White-chinned Thistletail, Pearled Treerunner, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Tawny Antpitta, Mattoral Tapaculo (endemic), Ocellated Tapaculo, Black-capped, White-throated and White-banded Tyrannulets, Brown-backed Chat-tyrant, Grey-breasted Wood-wren, Rufous Wren, Superciliaried and Black-capped Hemispingus, Scarlet-bellied and Buff-breasted Mountain-tanagers, Rufous-browed (endemic) and Blue-backed Conebills, Glossy Flowerpiercer, Slaty, Pale-naped, and Stripe-headed Brush-finches, Golden-faced Whitestart (endemic), Black-crested Warbler and Northern Mountain Cacique.

Day 3 Following an early, we spend the first few hours of daylight at La Florida Park in search of Apolinar's Wren, Bogotá Rail and common Andean wetland birds. We'll also be on the lookout for Rufous-browed Conebill and Silver-throated Spinetail. From here we'll transfer to La Florida and return to the airport for a flight to Medellin, then drive to the Arrierito Anioqueño Reserve for a two-night stay.

Day 4 We will spend all day birding Arrierito Anioqueño Reserve. This reserve is home to the recently described and endemic Chestnut-capped Piha and we'll be actively searching for it. Other birds here include Stile's Tapaculo, Red-bellied Grackle (endemic), Multicolored Tanager (endemic), Black-and-gold Tanager, Parker's Antbird (endemic), Black Tinamou, Blue-fronted Parrotlet, Red-faced Spinetail, Striped Woodhaunter, Purplish-mantled and Scarlet-and-white Tanagers, Chestnut-crowned Gnateater, Sooty-headed Wren, Fulvous-breasted Flatbill, Chestnut-breasted Wren and many other species.

Day 5 We will spend a full morning birding along both the Motmot and Bangsia trails looking for anything we may have missed. Following an early lunch, we spend the rest of the day on a seven-hour drive to El Carmen, for a two-night stay.

Day 6 This is a full day birding the new Las Tangaras Reserve, which holds many Choco specialties. We will spend all day walking slowly up a well-maintained trail to the ridge top. This is a relatively short distance (with well placed benches to rest up and wait for passing feeding flocks) and we'll have a picnic lunch at the top. This moss-laden forest is home to some very special birds including Crested Ant-tanager (endemic) Black Solitaire, Cloud Forest Pygmy-owl, Yellow-vented Woodpecker, Fulvous-doted Treerunner, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Uniform Treehunter, Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Choco Tyrannulet, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, White-headed Wren, Black-and-gold (endemic), Gold-ringed, Blue-whiskered and Scarlet-and-white Tanagers and Indigo Flowerpiercer. This is probably one of the two best places in the world to see the recently described Choco Vireo.

Day 7 We will spend all morning at the Las Tangaras reserve enjoying the very birdy roadside with Narino Tapaculo and the "soon-to-be-described" Alto Pisones Tapaculo both possible. After lunch, we'll drive to the picturesque town of Jardin in the heart of Antioquia, the traditional heart of Colombia, for a one-night stay.

Day 8 We'll take Jeeps to a reserve that has been set up for the critically endangered Yellow-eared Parrot. Once occurring all the way down into central Ecuador, this species is now only know from a couple sites in the western and central Andes of Colombia. A new 130-hectare reserve has been acquired to protect some of the prime forest for the parrot but the birds wander widely throughout the area in search of food, making it impossible to buy up the entire habitat. Public awareness programs have been essential to protect this species and ProAves has done a great job with this. Local people are now aware of the parrots and are proud to have them on their land. The wax palm tree, which the Yellow-eared Parrots use for nesting, has nearly been wiped out since their leaves are highly sought-after for use in religious ceremonies. Other birds we may see here include Tawny-breasted Tinamou, Purple-throated Woodstar, Yellow-vented Woodpecker, Spillman's Tapaculo, Handsome Flycatcher, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Citrine Warbler, Ocellated Tapaculo, Sharpe's Wren, Black-billed Mountain-toucan, Tourmaline Sunangel and Tanager Finch. There is also a chance of Munchique Wood-wren here. Leaving in the afternoon, we'll travel to Pereira and the Quimbaya reserve for the night.

Day 9 We will spend the morning birding at La Suiza in pristine forest along a little-travelled track. Our priority here is the endemic Cauca Guan. It was at this site that this previously thought-to-be-extinct cracid was rediscovered in the 1990s. Also to be found are Chestnut Wood-quail (endemic), Greyish Piculet (endemic), Wattled Guan, Bar-crested Antshrike, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Rufous-breasted Flycatcher, Flame-rumped Tanager, Black-winged Saltator, and Chestnut-breasted Wren. Dense brush at the forest edge holds the inconspicuous and very-hard-to-see Moustached Antpitta and the recently described Stiles's Tapaculo. Other species may include Collared Trogon, Slaty Antwren, Marble-faced Bristle-tyrant and Inca Jay. Along the river, we are very likely to find a pair of superb Torrent Ducks alongside rather less impressive Black Phoebes and Torrent Tyrannulets and we might find Multicolored Tanager here too. After a late lunch we'll drive to Manizales for a two-night stay.

Day 10 We have a full day at the Rio Blanco Reserve. Protecting an important watershed for the city of Manizales, the Rio Blanco reserve holds some of the rarest and most threatened species in Colombia including Rusty-faced Parrot and the skulking and hard to see Brown-banded and Bicoloured Antpittas, which are now coming to feeders. Jay-like White-capped Tanagers are here too, one of the oddest members of the family and probably not even a tanager at all. There are good hummingbird feeders here where we may find Tourmaline Sunangel. Speckled Hummingbird, Buff-tailed Coronet and the tiny White-bellied Woodstar. Other species that we hope to see include Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Tyrannine and Black-banded Woodcreepers, Long-tailed Antbird, Dusky Piha, Rufous- crowned Tody-tyrant, Black-capped and White-tailed Tyrannulets, Smoke-coloured Pewee, Pale-edged and Golden-crowned Flycatchers, Citrine and Russet-crowned Warblers, Glossy Flowerpiercer, Capped Conebill (here with a white cap), Grass-green and Flame-rumped Tanagers, Grey-hooded Bush-tanager, Stripe-headed Brush-finch and Black-winged Saltator. We will also seek out bamboo specialists such as Black-eared Hemispingus, Plushcap, Yellow-billed Cacique and Masked Saltator.

Day 11 We will spend the morning at the Los Nevados National Park above 3000m in the high temperate zone where patches of forest give way to the Paramo. Here we may see the endemic and very localised Rufous-fronted Parakeet, which is very hard to find. Flowering bushes attract a number of colourful hummingbirds including Viridian Metaltail, Golden-breasted Puffleg and Shining Sunbeam. On occasion the somewhat nomadic Black-thighed Puffleg can be present in some numbers, but at other times it is largely absent. If we are lucky, we will also come across Rainbow-bearded and Purple-backed Thornbills and Great Sapphirewing. In the forest patches we will look out for Paramo Tapaculo, White-banded Tyrannulet, Buff-breasted Mountain-tanager and Black-backed Bush-tanager, whilst in the more open areas and around a wetland we shall look for Andean Teal, White-tailed Hawk, Black-chested Buzzard-eagle, Andean Tit-spinetail, the localized Stout-billed Cinclodes, the attractive Many-striped Canastero, White-chinned Thistletail, Grass Wren, Pale-naped Brush-finch, and a variety of seedeaters including Plumbeous Sierra-finch, and Paramo and Plain-coloured Seedeaters. Tawny Antpittas are often very tame here. In the late afternoon we'll head for Mariquita and comfortable hotel for a two-night stay.

Day 12 We have a one-and-a-half hour drive to a fragmented, remnant forest near Libano in search of specialities including Crested Ant–tanager (endemic), Olive-headed Brush-finch (endemic), Blossomcrown (endemic), Tolima Dove (endemic), Red-billed Emerald (endemic), Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Andean Emerald. Bronzy Inca, Highland Motmot, Olivaceous Piculet, Mountain Elaenia, Slate-headed Tody-tyrant, Whiskered Wren, Yellow-throated Brush-finch, Black-winged Saltator, Rufous-naped and Scrub Greenlets, Rufous-capped Warbler, Oleaginous Hemispingus, Scrub Tanager, Streak-capped Treehunter, Bar-crested Antshrike (endemic), Immaculate Antbird. Andean Emerald, Bronzy Inca, Squirrel Cuckoo, Moustached Puffbird, Andean (Emerald) Toucanet, Azara's Spinetail, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Bar-crested Antshrike, Golden-winged Manakin, Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Mountain Elaenia, Whiskered Wren, Blackburnian and Canada Warblers and American Redstart (the latter three all common winter migrants from North America). In the afternoon, we'll visit nearby Laguna el Hato, specifically for the endemic Apical Flycatcher and the elusive Velvet-fronted Euphonia, but there are many other species to be found here including Mustached Puffbird, White-bellied and Dull-mantled Antbirds, Spectacled Parrotlet, Pileated Finch and more.

Day 13 We will spend the morning at La Victoria Watershed Reserve. This is our first chance at Sooty Ant-tanager, White-mantled Barbet, Sooty-headed Wren, Beautiful Woodpecker and Antioquia Bristle-tyrant, and Tody Motmot can also be found here. We'll then make a four-hour drive to the El Paujil reserve where, once off the main road and onto the access road to the reserve, we'll look for Northern Screamer and Bare-faced Ibis. We'll also hope for Large-billed Seed-finch, White-throated Crake, the endemic Colombian Chachalaca and Chestnut-fronted Macaw amongst others whilst walking into the reserve for a two-night stay (with en-suite rooms) at the lodge.

Days 14–15 We'll spend two days at El Paujil reserve, which has a well-developed trail system inside, and a lovely stretch of little-travelled road outside. The reserve was created to protect the critically endangered Blue-billed Curassow, a species thought to be nearly extinct until a ProAves expedition located a viable population here in 2003. Other birds we'll look for over the next two days include White-mantled Barbet (endemic), Black Antshrike (endemic), Beautiful (endemic) and Cinnamon Woodpeckers, Dull-mantled Antbird, Black-billed Flycatcher (endemic), Colombian Chachalaca (endemic), Red-lored and Saffron-headed Parrots, Pale-bellied and Stripe-throated Hermits, Northern Violaceous and Western White-tailed Trogons, Barred Puffbird, Black-mandibled and Citron-Throated Toucans, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Black-striped and Cocoa Woodcreeper, Antioquia Bristle-tyrant, Western Slaty-antshrike, Jet Antbird, Bare-crowned and Chestnut-backed Antbirds, Western Striped Manakin, Sooty-headed Tyrannulet, Southern Bentbill, Cinnamon Becard, Black-bellied Wren, Sooty Ant-Tanager (endemic), Plain-colored Tanager and much more.

Day 16 Following early birding at El Paujil reserve, we'll leave around 09:00 for a seven-hour drive (with a lunch stop) to the town of San Vicente and the Reinita Cielo Azul (Cerulean Warbler) Reserve where we'll make quick stop to look for the endemic Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird. Transferring to jeeps, we'll complete the drive into the reserve accommodation with spacious rooms and a large balcony from which the endemic Lemon-rumped Tanager and Indigo-capped Hummingbird are common and the very rare Turquoise Dacnis can be seen. Two nights at the Cerulean Warbler Reserve.

Day 17 Full day at the nearby Reinita Cielo Azul Reserve with picnic lunch. We'll head for the forest at first light and spend all day birding here where there is a well-developed feeding station with hummingbird feeders. Several threatened Colombian endemics occur including Gorgeted Wood-quail, Parker's Antbird, White-mantled Barbet, Turquoise Dacnis-tanager and Black Inca. Mountain Grackles can also be found in temperate forest just above the reserve. Also present are Moustached and Yellow-breasted Brush-finches, Wedge-billed Hummingbird, Collared Trogon, Moustached Puffbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Stripe-breasted Spinetail, Uniform Antshrike, Slaty Antwren, White-bellied Antpitta, two species of undescribed tapaculo, Ornate Flycatcher, Rufous-naped Greenlet and Yellow-throated Spadebill. Other more widespread species include Barred Forest-falcon, Wattled Guan, Band-tailed Pigeon, Lined Quail-dove, Rufous-bellied Nighthawk, White-tailed Nightjar, Chestnut-collared and White-tipped Swifts, Green Hermit, Lazuline Sabrewing, all three violet-ear species, Short-tailed Emerald, Rufous-tailed and Speckled Hummingbirds, Andean Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, Long-tailed Sylph, Golden-tailed Quetzal, Olivaceous Piculet, Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Azara's Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, Montane and Lineated Foliage-gleaners, Streak-capped Treehunter, Strong-billed and Olive-backed Woodcreepers, Uniform Antshrike, Plain Antvireo, Slaty Antwren, Rusty- breasted Antpitta, Green-and-black Fruiteater, Golden-winged Manakin, Olive-striped Flycatcher, Variegated Bristle-tyrant, Rufous-browed and Sooty-headed Tyrannulets and White-throated Spadebill.

Day 18 We will spend the morning walking through coffee plantations, which should be packed with boreal migrants. Here we can also find Large-billed Seed-Finch, Bar-crested Antshrike and more. We will have a quick look for Chestnut bellied Hummingbird, if we have not already seen it, but our main target is the endemic Nicifero's Wren. Finally. we drive to Bucaramanga and take the short flight to Bogota, connecting with the evening flight back to London.

Day 19 Arrival back in the UK at the end of the tour.

General Information Colombia can be hot and humid at this time of year, so we will spend a lot of time birding in the early morning and evening and spend the middle of the day either back at the hotels/lodges or transferring between sites when bird activity is relatively low. There are some health requirements so please consult your doctor. Only a general degree of fitness is required for this holiday, although the heat and humidity can be tiring at times. Security is not a problem and we only travel to areas approved by the British Foreign Office.

Group Size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 6; maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader.