Colombia Birding Tour: Santa Marta Escape

Our new 11-day Colombia: Santa Marta Escape birding tour offers a unique birding experience in northern Colombia, centered around the endemic-rich Santa Marta Mountains. This tour will likely appeal to those seeking an introduction to birding in Colombia (or the neotropics, for that matter) and to more hardcore and experienced birders hoping to see the range-restricted endemics of this region. The imposing Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range, entirely separated from the Andes and reaching an elevation of over 18,700 feet (5,700 meters)! Given the isolation of these mountains and their proximity to the Caribbean coast (approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers)), endemism is rife here, with no fewer than 19 endemic birds! As a result, this is one of those obligatory destinations for any serious global birder.

The range-restricted “Perija Parakeet,”, regarded as a subspecies of the more widespread Painted Parakeet by some authorities, is one of many exciting targets on this tour (photo Cristian Manrique).

For over a decade, we’ve been leading successful tours to this diverse part of the country as part of our comprehensive Colombia tours. On this itinerary, we aim to spend more time in the region, allowing us to target additional species that are not usually feasible due to time constraints on our comprehensive Colombia tours.

Our tour will start in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. From Bogotá, we will take a domestic flight to Valledupar, the capital of the state of Cesar in northern Colombia. From here, we will explore the Serrania de Perijá, an area created by the Andes before they end in western Venezuela. With new accommodation facilities in the area, it is now possible to bird this reserve and search for several regional endemics, including Perija Tapaculo, Perija Metaltail, Perija Starfrontlet, Perija Thistletail and Perija Brushfinch. We will also look for the scarce “Perija Parakeet” (still considered conspecific with Painted Parakeet by some taxonomic authorities).

The striking Santa Marta Mountain Tanager is endemic to Colombia’s Santa Marta Mountains.  

Later, we will have the chance to spend a couple of days in the deciduous coastal scrub of Guajira, where we will look for several targets, including Vermilion Cardinal, Orinoco Saltator, Buffy Hummingbird, White-whiskered Spinetail, Chestnut Piculet, Scarlet Ibis, Double-striped Thick-knee and the secretive Tocuyo Sparrow.

 The beautiful Vermilion Cardinal is one of the star birds of the Guajira coastal scrub.