San Cipriano is a small town located approximately 10 minutes inland from the port of Buenaventura. At 600 feet above sea level and with over 80 species of birds, this area is a protected reserve in the Choco Bioregion, and is the source of the drinking water for Buenaventura. One of the coolest parts of this locality is the means of getting there, which is done in vehicles the locals know as brujitas. There are no roads to San Cipriano, so locals have devised a way to use the railway to their advantage. Brujitas are homemade, wood carts powered by a motorcycle. They are used to transport tourists and supplies on the railway, and make for an incredibly fun ride!
Part of the experience includes crossing the picturesque, culturally significant town on foot, where we will be able to see a nesting colony of Chestnut Oropendolas and the conspicuous Lemon-rumped Tanager. Past the town we enter the reserve looking for Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Blue-headed Parrots, Rose-faced Parrot, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Golden-collared Manakin, and Stripe-billed Araçari, White-tipped and Blue Cotinga, Blue-whiskered, emerald, palm, Dusky-faced and Rufous-winged Tanager, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, Ruffous-tailed Jacamar, Ocellated and Bicolored Antbird, and Long-tailed Tyrant amongst many others. Other specialties of the area include Masked Tityra, and Cinnamon and Crimson-bellied Woodpeckers. Towards the end of the morning, we will have the opportunity to bathe in the crystal clear waters of the San Cipriano River and relax before returning to the town for a typical Fish Sancocho.
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Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis
Snowy Egret, Egretta thula
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus
Swallow-tailed Kite, Elanoides forficatus
Roadside Hawk, Buteo magnirostris
Crested Tagle, Morphnus guianensis
White-throated Crake, Laterallus albigularis
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius
Rose-faced Parrot, Gypopsitta pulchra
Blue-headed Parrot, Pionus menstruus
Mealy Parrot, Amazona farinosa
Striped Cuco, Tapera naevia
Smooth-billed Ani, Crotophaga ani
White-necked Jacobin, Florisuga mellivora
White-tipped Sicklebill, Eutoxeres aquila
Little Hermit, Phaethornis longuemareus
White-whiskered Hermit, Phaethornis yaruqui
Tooth-billed Hummingbird, Androdon aequatorialis
Purple-crowned Fairy, Heliothryx barroti
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Chalybura urochrysia
Purple-chested Hummingbird, Amazilia rosenbergi
White-tailed Trogon, Trogon viridis
Blue-tailed Trogon, Trogon comptus
Ringed Kingfisher, Megaceryle torquata
Green Kingfisher, Chloroceryle americana
Rufous-capped Motmot, Baryphthengus ruficapillus
Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Galbula ruficauda
Black-breasted Puffbird, Notharchus pectoralis
White-whiskered Puffbird, Malacoptila panamensis
Spot-crowned Barbet, Capito maculicoronatus
Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Ramphastos swainsonii
Stripe-billed Aracaris, Pteroglossus sanguineus
Cinnamon Woodpecker, Celeus loricatus
Striped Woodhaunter, Hyloctistes subulatus
Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla fuliginosa
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Glyphorynchus spirurus
Spotted Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus erythropygius
Checker-throated Antwren, Epinecrophylla fulviventris
Guianan Streaked-Antwren, Myrmotherula surinamensis
Bicolored Antbird, Gymnopithys leucaspis
Ocellated Antbird, Phaenostictus mcleannani
Olive-striped Flycatcher, Mionectes olivaceus
Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant, Myiornis ecaudatus
Tawny-breasted Flycatcher, Myiobius villosus
Eye-ringed Flatbill, Rhynchocyclus brevirostris
Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Terenotriccus erythrurus
Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
Long-tailed Tyrant, Colonia colonus
Piratic Flycatcher, Legatus leucophaius
Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Myiozetetes cayanensis
Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus
Rufous Piha, Lipaugus unirufus
Black-tipped Cotinga, Carpodectes hopkei
Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Querula purpurata
Golden-winged Manakin, Masius chrysopterus
Blue-crowned Manakin, Lepidothrix coronata
Green Manakin, Xenopipo holochlora
Golden-collared Manakin, Manacus vitellinus
Cinnamon Becard, Pachyramphus cinnamomeus
Sapayoa, Sapayoa aenigma
Black-chested Jay, Cyanocorax affinis
Gray-breasted Martin, Progne chalybea
Blue-and-white Swallow, Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
White-thighed Swallow, Neochelidon tibialis
Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
White-headed Wren, Campylorhynchus albobrunneus
Bay Wren, Thryothorus nigricapillus
White-breasted Wood-Wren, Henicorhina leucosticta
Half-collared Gnatwren, Microbates cinereiventris
Tropical Gnatcatcher, Polioptila plumbea
Swainson's Thrush, Catharus ustulatus
White-shouldered Tanager, Tachyphonus luctuosus
Tawny-crested Tanager, Tachyphonus delatrii
Lemon-rumped Tanager, Ramphocelus flammigerus icteronotus
Blue-gray Tanager, Thraupis episcopus
Palm Tanager, Thraupis palmarum
Golden-chested Tanager, Bangsia rothschildi
Gray-and-gold Tanager, Tangara palmeri
Blue-whiskered Tanager, Tangara johannae
Emerald Tanager, Tangara florida
Rufous-winged Scrub Tanager, Tangara lavinia
Golden-hooded Tanager, Tangara larvata
Scarlet-browed Tanager, Heterospingus xanthopygius
Lemon-spectacled Tanager, Chlorothraupis olivacea
Dusky-faced Tanager, Mitrospingus cassinii
Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Sporophila nigricollis
Orange-billed Sparrow, Arremon aurantiirostris
Buff-throated Saltator, Saltator maximus
Buff-rumped Warbler, Phaeothlypis fulvicauda
Scarlet-rumped Cacique, Cacicus uropygialis
Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus
Orange-bellied Euphonia, Euphonia xanthogaster