Bolivia’s Lowland Lodges: Blue-throated Macaws & Beyond

Most people associate Bolivia with thin air, windy mountain roads, and snow-covered peaks, but there’s much more to this species-rich and seldom-birded country. For this this brand-new route, we focus on Bolivia’s lowlands, starting in the far north at the town of Riberalta where endemic Masked Antpittas trill from river-edge vine forests and Chaco Eagles patrol open stretches of cerrado for snakes and armadillos.

Working our way south, we’ll bird the Llanos de los Moxos, an immense mosaic of seasonally flooded marshes, cerrado and gallery forest around the town of Trinidad and Reserva Barba Azul, where islands of palms support the largest colony of the endangered Blue-throated Macaw. Thanks to important conservation initiatives, the macaw numbers are slowly increasing. The Beni Savanna, as it’s also called, is also home to Sharp-tailed, Streamer-tailed, and Cock-tailed tyrants, Black-masked Finch, numerous seedeaters including the scarce Ibera Seedeater, Great-billed Seed-Finch, an as-yet undescribed greenlet, migrant flocks of Buff-breasted Sandpipers, and an abundance of mammals that rivals the Pantanal of Brazil. Think Giant Anteater, Maned Wolf, and Brazilian Tapir!

From our lodge at Reserva Barba Azul we’ll fly directly to the town of Rurrenabaque, cross the Rio Beni, and drive to Sadiri Lodge in the tourism zone of Madidi National Park, one of the most biodiverse reserves on the planet. This comfortable new lodge at 3,000 feet in elevation, sits right at the sweet spot where Amazonia meets the Andes, and during our 4 days here we’ll chip away at its 550-species bird list. Here are a few from that list to whet your appetite: Bolivian Recurvebill, Subtropical Pygmy-Owl, Scaled Fruiteater, Sharpbill, Yungas Tyrannulet, Yellow-crested Tanager, Yellow-shouldered Grosbeak, Hairy-crested Antbird, Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Military Macaw, Butterfly Coquette, and Western Striolated Puffbird.

We’ve designed this birding tour to complement our longstanding Bolivia’s Avian Riches tour, which focuses on Bolivia’s highlands, so if you’ve taken that tour already, we welcome you back to explore more of this rich and extraordinary country.