Colombia’s Caribbean Coast

Russet-throated Puffbird by Luis Urueña

Caribbean Coast & Santa Marta Mountains

October 29-November 6, 2023

Golden-winged Sparrow by Luis Urueña

Your place on this Venture is reserved when your completed registration form and deposit of $400/person has been received. Deposit may be made through our website or by contacting the Ventures office. We accept credit cards for an additional fee (2.9% for MC, Visa, Discover; 3.9% for AmEx), but you may also pay by bank transfer, cash, check, or money order (payable to ‘VENTURES BIRDING’) sent to PO Box 1095, Skyland, NC 28776. This Venture is limited to 10 participants.
Cost of the Colombia’s Caribbean Coast Venture: $4,595 per person based on double occupancy. Single room supplement - $350 Price Includes; All ground transportation, internal flights from/to Bogota, meals, entrance fees, information packet & bird checklist, guide (one local & one Ventures) service throughout. Not included: international airfare to Bogota, taxes, alcoholic beverages, gratuities, laundry, and other items of a personal nature.

Search for Santa Marta endemics and other avian jewels of Colombia’s birdy Caribbean Coast on this 9-day Venture.

With nearly 2,000 bird species recorded within its boundaries, Colombia is home to more birds than any other country in the world. Due to its location in northern South America as well as its complex geography, the country contains several key zones of endemism, each with its own unique selection of avian treasures. Once such area is the Santa Marta Mountain range, the highest coastal mountain range in the world, home to 26 species of endemic birds.

Our 9-day trip begins along the Caribbean coast just west of Barranquilla, where patches of pristine mangrove swamps provide important refuge for an enormous diversity of migrating birds throughout the year. We will look for American Flamingos at nearby Flamencos National Park, which also contains dry forest as well as coastal wetlands. At Tayrona Forest we search for the critically endangered and endemic Blue-billed Curassow, and in the shrublands of the Guajira Peninsula, we should find the southernmost species of the Cardinalis genus, the Vermilion Cardinal. We then head up into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta where we will spend the rest of our trip. Avian biodiversity and endemism are downright staggering in these mountains, and we will do our best to find the 26 endemic species of birds that can be found here. We will stay one night in the mid-elevation town of Minca and then 2 nights at the famous El Dorado Lodge up in the cloud forest.

All told we expect to encounter 400-500 bird species on this trip! Join Clifton for what should be an unforgettable trip to Colombia’s Caribbean Coast!

Some of the Birds We Hope to See

Blue-billed Curassow, Military Macaw, Roby-topaz Hummingbird, Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird, Santa Marta Blossomcrown, Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner, Santa Marta Tapaculo, Santa Marta Antbird, Santa Marta Sabrewing, Santa Marta Wood-Wren, Santa Marta Parakeet, Santa Marta Screech-Owl, White-tailed Starfrontlet, Santa Marta Woodstar, Rusty-headed Spinetail, Santa Marta Antpitta, Brown-rumped Tapaculo, Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant, Yellow-crowned Whitestar, White-lored Warbler, Santa Marta Warbler, Santa Marta (Black-cheeked) Mountain-Tanager, Black-backed Thornbill, Sierra Nevada Brush-Finch, Vermilion Cardinal, and many many more