Bolivia
Noel Kempf Mercado National Park
The National Park, one of the largest and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin, is located in far eastern Bolivia (14° 36' S, 60° 14' W) on the border with Brazil. With an altitudinal range of 200 m to nearly 1,000 m, it is the site of a rich mosaic of habitat types including Cerrado, gallery forest, marshes, savannah and rainforest (both terra firme and igapo). An estimated 4,000 species of flora as well as over 700 bird species and viable populations of many globally endangered or threatened vertebrate species live in the park. Among the extraordinary number of fine birds a few can be mentioned here: Zigzag Heron, Ocellated Crake, Hyacicth Macaw, Long-tailed Potoo, Horned Sungem, Rufous-sided Pygmy-Tyrant, Gray-and-chesnut Seedeater, Coal-crested Finch.
The park is accessible only by charter flights from Santa Cruz. Check with the tourist agencies in Santa Cruz for information on visiting and staying in the park. For more detail see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America. La Paz area - Cotopata
Cotopata(p>The petrol station oat Cotapata. is some 57 km from La Paz, on the road to Coroico and Caranavi. A narrow vehicle track leads down the northern side of the ridge to the wet and disturbed montane shrubbery and forest of the birding site.
Behind the petrol station, a track leads over the ridge. After two curves, at the foot of an electricity pylon, the track forks: take the track to the right, which leads over the ridge and zigzags down the other side.
Birding is good everywhere here, including along the track back to the petrol station. The birds to be seen include Sickle-winged Guan, Diademed Tapaculo (Playing its song lures it easily into view; the alarm calls works even better. Pishing works quite well too. Adults can be distinguished from Scytalopus tapaculos by the silvery-white, transverse crescent on the forecrown (the "diadem"), which is most conspicuous when seen from a frontal angle.
The song is distinctive: a fast evenly pitched series of about 10 seconds, starting slowly with throaty syllables far enough apart to be counted easily, after which it accelerates steadily for several seconds. ), Scaly-naped Parrot, Andean Pygmy-Owl, Rufous-banded Owl, Collared Inca, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Amethyst-throated Sunangel,), Masked Trogon , Hooded Mountain-Toucan, Bar-bellied Woodpecker, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Light-crowned Spinetail, Black-throated Thistletail and many more. (The above material was drawn from the excellent website of Sjoerd Mayer. For the full text, which mentions other places, see www.bolivianbeauty.com for the full text and other La Paz sites. Amboro National Park
This huge mountainous park which ranges from about 300 to 3,300 meters, is the intersection of three major ecological zones, the western edge of the Brazilian plateau with subtropical, deciduous forest, the southern edge of the Amazon basin and its tropical forests, and the northern edge of the temperate woodlands of the Chaco. This diversity is reflected in its extraordinary profusion of birds, over 800 species. With a list that long it is possible to mention only a few of those a visitor might well see, such as Hoatzin, Southern Screamer, Toco Toucan, White-eared Puffbird, White-bellied Seedeater, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Common Potoo, Bolivian (Southern White-crowned) Tapaculo, White-tailed Goldenthroat, Tataupa and Small-billed Tinamous, Nacunda Nighthawks, Red-billed Scythebill, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Saffron-billed Sparrow, Capped Herons, and Black-capped Donacobius.
Amboro National Park is located near the city of Santa Cruz
http://gorp.com/gorp/location/latamer/bolivia/amboro.htm
Madidi National Park
The park, which lies in the transition zone between the Amazon rainforest (west of the Rio Beri) and the Amazonian pampas (east of the Rio Beri), is in Northwestern Bolivia, the region of Bolivia with the greatest biodiversity. The bird list for the park is huge. Among the possibilities: Curl-crested Aricari, Golden-collared Toucanet, Horned Screamer, Rufous-sided Crake, Black-capped Donacobius, White-chinned Sapphire, Black-tailed Trogon, Red-headed Manakin, Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, White-winged Shrike-Tanager, Gilded Barbet, Scale-breasted, Red-necked, and Cream-colored Woodpecker, Elegant and Cinnamon-throated Woodcreepers, White-flanked Antwren, Plumbeous Antbird, Thrush-like Antpitta, White-throated Antbird, Scaly-breasted Wren, Flammulated Pygmy-Tyrant, White-crested Spadebill, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, Chestnut-winged Hookbill, Screaming Piha, and such night birds as Ladder-tailed and Silky-tailed Nightjars, Crested Owl, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, and Great Potoo. Santa Cruz environs
Santa Cruz (437m/1,439 ft), Bolivia’s fastest growing city, is surrounded by cerrado, a dry thorn-scrub savannah. Birding is good around the Viru Viru airport, about sixteen miles north of Santa Cruz, where you might see Tawny-bellied and Dark-throated Seedeaters, as well as Long-winged Harrier, Cattle Tyrant, Wedge-tailed Grassfinch, Grassland Sparrow, Chopi Blackbird and possibly Red-legged Seriema and Greater Rhea.
Closer to the city birders can visit the botanic garden, which includes over 100 hectares of dry native forest. The light forest around the lake there should have Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Blue-winged Parrotlets, Thrush-like Wrens and Rufous Horneros. In the taller dry forest search for Green-cheeked Parakeet, White-wedged Piculet, Bolivian Slaty Antshrike and Fawn-breasted Wren. The area of thornscrub east of the botanic garden harbors birds such as Gilded Sapphire, Stripe-backed Antbird, Red-billed Scythebill, White-bellied and White-crested Tyrannulets. Finally, the area around the lake at the botanic garden is home to Rufescent Tiger-heron, Wattled Jacana, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, and several other good birds. For more detail see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America. Buena Vista
Buena Vista is situated on the northern edge of the Amboró National Park. There are some fine birds in the city and its environs, which may whet your appetite for the treasures to be found in the park.
Early in the morning, visiting the hides at a marsh on the outskirts of the town, you might see Green Ibis, Rufous-sided Crake, Greater Ani, Southern Screamer, the pre-historic looking Hoatzin, and seedfinches, including the Great-billed Seedfinch. In and around the city there are Gray-breasted Martins, Saffron Finches, and Short-tailed Swifts. In late afternoon Chestnut-fronted Macaws fly in to roost close to the river. Other birds seen in this area include Amazonian and Russet-backed Oropendolas, Swallow-tailed Kites, Scissor-tailed and Little Nightjars, White-bellied Nothura, White-eyed and Dusky-headed Parakeets, Speckled Chachalaca, and Band-tailed Manakin. |
