Bulletin 387 - Colombia 2021 #4 - Warblers, Donacobius, Cardinal

  I finally made it back to Colombia for my second visit and again used the guide services of Pablo Florez. I went with my friend Martin Jackson. We visited Inirida on the Orinoco, Santa Marta of course, Guajira Peninsula on the Caribbean coast, and a couple of National Parks around Bogota.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northeast Colombia is the tallest coastal mountain range in the world and the tallest peak in Colombia. It is the most important area of endemism in the world with about 27 endemic species of birds. There are 3 warblers, 4 hummingbirds, and 2 sparrows among others. Naming them often leads to a Santa Marta species and another one Sierra Nevada same species. If a bird has either of these names, it is in the Santa Marta mountain range and endemic.

We saw all 3 endemic warblers, but I was unable to photo the Santa Marta Warbler as it is a skulker. The next 2 photos are Santa Marta endemics. The 5.5" White-lored Warbler (Myiothlypis conspicillatus) has an olive back, yellow breast and gray head with white eye-ring.

White-lored Warbler

The 5" Yellow-crowned Whitestart (Myioborus flavivertex) has a black face, all yellow below and yellow cap with white under the tail.

Yellow-crowned Whitestart

The 5" Slate-throated Whitestart (Myioborus miniatus) has a gray head, back and throat and a yellow belly. It is a potential split as the birds in northern Central America have a rusty belly.

Slate-throated Whitestart

Another potential split is the 5" Golden-fronted Whitestart (Myioborus ornatus). This bird is gray above, has a yellow cap and underparts and a white face. The birds in the western Andes, I photographed on my previous Colombia trip, have a yellow face.

Golden-fronted Whitestart

A new warbler name for many of you is the 5" Chestnut-capped Warbler (Basileuterus delattrii). This was split from the Rufous-capped Warbler in July 2021 - just before my trip.

Chestnut-capped Warbler

The 8" Black-capped Donacobius (Donacobius atricapilla) is a bird that resembles a large wren and used to be included in the wren family. But now it is the only member of its own family. It is described as a skulker - more often heard than seen, but this bird landed right beside our boat, to give me my best ever photo of the species. It is an easy ID with the bright yellow eye.

Black-capped Donacobius

The 7.5" male Vermilion Cardinal (Cardinalis phoenicius) looks like our Northern Cardinal but with a taller crest and a white bill.

Vermilion Cardinal - male

The female is also similar to our female Northern Cardinal - but paler and with a white bill.

Vermilion Cardinal - female

We also saw the Rose-breasted Chat, another member in the cardinal family, in the Amazon portion of the trip - but I was unable to gat a photo.

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 77 of the 120 species of New world warblers.

I have photos of 30 of the 53 species of cardinals.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2021 David McDonald

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