Colombia is a place that every bird watcher or photographer dreams about. It is, after all, the country with more birds than any other, with a whopping 2,016+ species! This is a place that every bird photographer should not leave on their bucket list. I have designed this trip to visit some of Colombia’s truly special bird hotspots. We’ll see Mountain Tanagers, Antpittas, Cock of the Rocks, and hummingbirds.

Arriving in Medellin, Colombia on Sunday March 7th, lodging is the Hilton Hampton Inn.

The tour begins in Medellin, on Monday March 8, 2027. We have planned a short city tour plus spending a few hours birding in local community gardens.

Day 1 – From Medellín, we would continue to Jardín, Beautiful location one of the most beautiful and iconic towns in Colombia’s coffee region. Jardín would give us the opportunity to look for the spectacular Andean Cock-of-the-rock, together with a wonderful selection of Andean species. We could also incorporate a short coffee experience here, giving participants an opportunity to learn about Colombia’s coffee culture without taking too much time away from birding.

Day 2 – From Jardín, we would continue toward Manizales and the Central Cordillera good hot spot exploring the high-elevation ecosystems around the páramo and the magnificent Hacienda El Bosque and Termales del Ruiz area.

Days 3 & 4 – This portion of the tour would give us access to high-Andean and páramo habitats, as well as montane and cloud-forest environments, with opportunities for species associated with the upper elevations of the Central Andes.

Days 5 & 7 -We would then continue west toward Montezuma which would be one of the major highlights of the entire itinerary.

Day 8 – Birding en route the Pereira International Airport.

Montezuma is currently regarded as one of Colombia’s premier birding destinations. More than 500 species have been recorded along the Montezuma Road, which climbs through an extraordinary elevation gradient on the western slope of the Andes and into the Chocó biogeographic region

It has also received considerable international attention recently because of the CBS 60 Minutes report on Colombian birding, presented by the American journalist Anderson Cooper. Cooper and the 60 Minutes team spent time in Montezuma, highlighting both its extraordinary bird diversity and the remarkable story of how birding and ecotourism have helped transform an area once affected by armed conflict. (CBS News)

For an eight-day itinerary, birding the Montezuma region I think is essential. Beautiful location and the owner is a gracious host.

In Montezuma specifically, we would move from the humid Chocó foothills through mature montane and cloud forest toward the higher elevations. The area is particularly famous for its Chocó and Western Andes endemics and range-restricted species, as well as exceptional hummingbird and tanager diversity. Species such as Gold-ringed Tanager, Black-and-gold Tanager, Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer, Munchique Wood-Wren, Chocó Vireo, Toucan Barbet, Beautiful Jay, Tatamá Tapaculo and many others are among the possibilities. (Colombia Birdwatch)

Depending on conditions, I would estimate roughly 275– 300 species as a realistic target for the entire eight-day tour, while of course emphasizing quality encounters and the possibility of finding specialty and endemic species rather than simply maximizing the checklist.

Another important advantage of this itinerary is the accommodation. We can use comfortable and well-established birding lodges such as Hacienda El Bosque and Termales del Ruiz, together with comfortable lodging in Jardín and Montezuma. This gives the tour a good balance between serious birding and a comfortable travel experience.

This itinerary works extremely well as a small group tour of no more than 8 participants.

The overall route would allow us to experience an exceptional cross-section of Colombia’s Andean ecosystems, including premontane forest, montane forest, Andean Forest, high-Andean forest, elfin or dwarf forest, páramo, humid tropical forest, rainforest and cloud forest. The great advantage is that these habitats are encountered along a relatively compact route, producing a remarkable turnover of bird species as we move through different elevations and biogeographic regions.

The tour ends Monday March 15 in The City of Pereira Matecana International Airport with connecting flights to the United Staes, eliminating backtracking to Medellin.

Cost to be determined – a budgetary is $ 5400.00 a single supplement is approximately $600. I also want to mention one important issue regarding the pricing. The US dollar has fallen significantly against the Colombian peso over the past few months — roughly 25% — and there has also been an increase in local costs compared with last year. This means that the tour will be considerably more expensive in US-dollar terms than it might have been previously.

Please get in touch with us to request a registration form and pricing.