Bogota Birding (1)

For a capital city Bogota has some prime birding. Several endemics and near-endemics can be seen within an hours drive of the city. We had two days in the beginning of the trip and an afternoon in the end to find as many as possible of these.

The first day was centered around Chingaza National Park and the Guasca Wetlands both north/north-east of the city. Target species were Brown-breasted Parakeet (E), Pale-bellied Tapaculo (E), several near-endemic hummers and Bogota Rail (E), Noble Snipe and Spot-flanked Gallinule at Guasca. We succeeded in finding most of our target species.

Black-billed Mountain-Toucan. Fairly common in Chingaza. We had three sightings during the day. 

Black-chested Mountain-Tanager. Scarce in Chingaza but we luckily caught up with two birds just before we were about to leave. The birds were seen in mixed group with Hooded and Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers (both commonly seen).

Bogota Rail (E). Only found in wetlands around Bogota. We saw 2-3 birds but heard many more. Seems like its easier to see the species at Guasca than at La Florida. Spot-flanked Gallinule was easily seen at Guasca as well and we also managed to find two Noble Snipes amongst the more common Wilsons Snipes. The call of the Noble Snipe was very different to the one of Wilsons. 

Golden-Crowned Tanager. One of the best tanagers of the trip. 

Golden-Fronted Whitestart (NE) of the white-faced form. Common in Chingaza.

Rufous-browed Conebill (NE). One of the target species in Chingaza. We had some trouble getting good views, though we ended up seeing several birds very well.

Spot-Flanked Gallinule. Common in wetlands around Bogota. Easy at Guasca. Nice after missing it in Argentina.

Slaty Brush-Finch. Common in Chingaza

White-Chinned Thistletail. Only sighting of our entire trip. 

White-Throated Tyrannulet. Very common 

RDN