September 5-21, 2025 with Dan Lane
Five hundred species in two weeks… That’s a rather good year list in the US or an excellent life list for Britain! In Bolivia, it is witness to the incredible diversity of habitats and elevations packed into a fairly small area that we explored, from the lowlands of Santa Cruz and up into the Andes as we progressed westward through Cochabamba and La Paz departments. The country is nothing if not variable and impressive. The sights are awe-inspiring, and our group enjoyed the visit thoroughly! We began around the largest city in the country, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where the open grasslands of Viru-Viru Airport provided our first outing of the tour, followed by the gallery forest of the nearby Rio Piraí, one of the southernmost tributaries of the Amazon drainage. Next, we visited the chaco-like Lomas de Arena reserve south of the city, after which we headed into the foothills of the Andes to the quiet and impressive Refugio los Volcanes. Continuing westward, we stayed in the dry valleys of western Santa Cruz and eastern Cochabamba departments in Tambo and then the Frente Roja reserve to see several of Bolivia’s true endemics, most notably the endangered Red-fronted Macaw. Then on to Cochabamba, nestled in a semi-arid bowl and our base for several days of outings into higher dry mountains (Cerro Tunari) and the humid Chapare slope to the north. From here, we flew to La Paz, and hit the really high elevations at La Cumbre, working our way back down into lower tropical foothill habitats near Coroico and back up the next day. We bid the humid slope goodbye at this point and birded the Altiplano around the Titicaca basin and nearby Sorata. Then it was time to bid farewell to this impressive country, underappreciated by the ecotourist trade, but we know better, don’t we? It is some of the best birding in the world!
Our tour resulted in a lot of fond memories for the group. I am proud to report that our top bird sightings included tyrants (!) such as the Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher and the Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant, but these can’t outshine the adorable Southern Antpipit we had at Refugio los Volcanes! A few other not-exactly-brightly-colored contenders included the chubby Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, the peppy Puna Tapaculo after lunch in the Polylepis, the excellent looks at Darwin’s Nothura our last day (that was our fifth seen tinamou of 11 overall species detected!), the very cute family of Lanceolated Monklets we shared our breakfast space with near Coroico, and the impressively-billed Boulder Finch we saw at Pongo. We mustn’t overlook a few enigmatic species we enjoyed thoroughly, starting with a bold pair of Red-legged Seriemas that loped up to us at Lomas de Arena, the amazing kettle of Andean Condors and King Vultures we encountered as we drove west from Samaipata, the baby Torrent Ducks that captivated us near Coroico, and the Titicaca Grebes we observed sliding under the clear waters of Lake Titicaca. Then there were a few truly eye-catching gems we savored, such as the stunning Hooded Mountain-Toucans that came up the slope of the “Death Road” from well below us to perch only a few feet away, the pair of magnificent Cream-backed Woodpeckers Paul spotted and that gave us prolonged views in a leafless woodland landscape, the Yellow-bellied Tanager that was part of a feeding flock near our lodge in the foothills of La Paz, and the absolutely stunning Black-hooded Sunbeam that danced around in front of us! Besides birds, things that will remain with us included the amazing scenery we witnessed in the high elevations, particularly the freezing wasteland of La Cumbre where our breakfast warmed us up amid a frigid landscape! Our walk in the desert of the Tambo area was another experience voted as a top one, as did the river crossing at the Mizque by Frente Roja reserve, the afternoon birding the Altiplano near Lake Titicaca, and of course, Benita hunting us down to offer us our mid-morning snacks, which were always appreciated!
Hopefully, folks will become more aware of the riches of Bolivia and tourism here will pick up enough to promote more lodges and hummingbird gardens, etc. It’s hard to overstate how much there is to see here, and I hope you can be ambassadors for the country in the future! Our hosts, Carlos and Benita, and I were very pleased to have you along on this visit and that we could experience these sights, sounds, tastes, and birds! I hope we will meet up again in the future to do it all again! Good birding meanwhile!
Mammals encountered:
Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)
Silvery Marmoset (Mico argentatus)
Guianan Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus)
Brown Capuchin (Sapajus apella)
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus)
Bolivian Squirrel (Sciurus ignitus)
Montane Guinea Pig (Cavia tschudii)
Greater Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
Brown Agouti (Dasyprocta variegata)
Paca (Cuniculus paca)
Common Mountain Viscacha (Lagidium viscacia)
Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous)
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
Tayra (Eira barbara)
Common Brown Brocket (Mazama gouazoubira)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/412409
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/bol25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Dan (the Barbet)