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BIRDING SUCRE PROVINCE, VENEZUELA30 October - 3 November 1999by Niels Poul DreyerI arrived by plane at the Barcelona Airport and hired a taxi for $50 to drive me to Carupano, a 4-hour trip. In Carupano, there is a very nice hotel called La Colina C.A. with a veranda restaurant serving German food. The price is about $40 per night including tax. The owner of the hotel is the German-born Mr Wilfrid Merle, a very successful businessman who wants to promote ecotourism on a ranch called Aquasana. The best place to stay and visit, however, is the German-born conservationist Klaus Muller's ecotourism venture at Vuelta Larga, Calle Bolivar No 8 near Guaraunos, about 1½ hours drive southwest from Carupano. The accommodation is very nice and ecologically sound. Just upon my arrival I spotted a Striped Owl sitting in one of the pine trees in front of the facilities. However, the real attraction is his farm about 20 minutes to the east. During his tenure the 2000-hectare buffalo farm has been turned into a wildlife sanctuary with a lot of trees and secondary forest, an ideal situation for the birds which live in the national park next door. Klaus want to show others that it is possible to make a living and on the same time improve nature. At the moment you do not stay on the farm but in the village, but fortunately special accommodation is under construction on the farm, which will make it possible to venture out any time to photograph birds. Klaus has a son by the name Daniel who has a special knowledge about the birds in Sucre Province. He can take you everywhere you want on field excursions in the four-wheel drive. Consequently, I visited the farm twice. It is an excellent place to see water birds and 3 local species. We went on a canoe trip and a walk and saw Pygmy Kingfisher, White-tailed Goldenthroat, five endemic Black-dotted Piculets, a lek with two male Crimson-hooded Manakins and three beautiful Cream-colored Woodpeckers. It was great to watch large flocks of Orange-winged Parrots migrating across the red late afternoon sky to a night roost. Daniel told me that even the Yellow-knobbed Curassow is returning to the area as the vegetation grows up at the edges. It was impossible to visit Cerro Humbo, because excessive rain had created 3 major landslides and consequently cut off the road. Upon my return to Europe, I learned over the news media that Venezuela had been hit by the worst natural disaster in this century just after I left, so I would expect that it will take a while before that road is fixed. It is certainly not on the high priority list! Alternatively Daniel took me to Cumbre Brason, elevation 650 m, about 40 minutes drive from Guaraunos. Just when the road reaches a gap we stopped at some sunflower type to see the Tufted Coquette. The gap proved to be excellent raptor spot and we saw Great Black and Common Black Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Grey Hawk and a hawk-eagle not to be identified. Other birds recorded were Sooty-capped Hermit, Pearly-vented Tody-Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Spinetail, Orange-headed & Lance-tailed Manakin and Rufous-breasted Wrens. On the final morning Daniel took me to the arid Araya Peninsular opposite to touristy Mararita Island about 2 hours drive vest of Carupano. The best habitat is found near Charcopacta lagoon, about ½ hour drive from Carupto. The dry xerophytic thorny area next to the road offers some excellent opportunities to see the vulnerable Yellow-shouldered Parrot. We saw 6 parrots perched and flying around in the cactus. Other special birds seen there were Harris Hawk, Buffy Hummingbird, Blue-tailed Emerald, Pale-eyed Pigeon, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Yellow-billed Elaenia, Vermilion Cardinal in the cactus, Pileated Finch and Striped Saltator in a big acacia tree. Near the lagoon several waders were feeding and I got good views of some immature Scarlet Ibises, one Tricolored Heron and some seabirds along the beach. Unfortunately, we got bogged near the lagoon and needed help to get the four-wheel truck liberated from the soft moist sand. My suggestion to people interested in birding Sucre is to contact/fax Klaus directly at vueltalarga@cantv.net or telephone 094 69052. Arrangements can also be booked through Audubon Venezuela. This is because it is nearly impossible to visit the best areas in a traditional car, and it is far cheaper and more comfortable having Klaus & Daniel to organize your trip. This is especially so if your group consists of more than one person. Klaus told me that it will be a bit difficult to do those trips for a single at a reasonable cost in the future. It was a bit tricky to contact Klaus, as his telephone was disconnected. They are now working on the problem, but in Venezuela it is prudent to expect the unexpected! I paid about $250 for 4 nights full board (3 days), 2 excursions to the farm, a visit to Cumbre Brason and the big trip to arid part of Araya Peninsula back to Carupano. I could not have done this trip to that price in a rented 4WD car and camping! They can pick you up at hotel La Colina C.A. I will return as I missed four critically endangered birds at Cerro Humbo. If you have any questions, please contact Niels Poul Dreyer BirdlistRed-legged Tinamou Crypturellus erythropus Brown Booby Sula leucogaster Capped Heron Pilherodius pileatus Great Egret Ardea alba Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea Snowy Egret Egretta thula Green Heron Butorides virescens Scarlet Ibis Eudocimus ruber Green Ibis Mesembrinibis cayennensis Black Vulture Coragyps atratus Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura Osprey Pandion haliaetus Black-collared Hawk Busarellus nigricollis Gray-lined Hawk Buteo nitidus Common Black-Hawk Buteogallus anthracinus Great Black-Hawk Buteogallus urubitinga Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris Short-tailed Hawk Buteo brachyurus White-tailed Hawk Buteo albicaudatus Crested Caracara Caracara plancus Yellow-headed Caracara Milvago chimachima Laughing Falcon Herpetotheres cachinnans American Kestrel Falco sparverius Aplomado Falcon Falco femoralis Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis Horned Screamer Anhima cornuta Hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin Limpkin Aramus guarauna Gray-necked Wood-Rail Aramides cajanea Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus Azure Gallinule Porphyrio flavirostris Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria Spotted Sandpiper Tringa macularia Willet Catoptrophorus semipalmatus Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago Laughing Gull Larus atricilla Royal Tern Sterna maxima Bare-eyed Pigeon Columba corensis Pale-vented Pigeon Columba cayennensis Scaled Dove Columbina squammata Ruddy Ground-Dove Columbina talpacoti Brown-throated Parakeet Aratinga pertinax Green-rumped Parrotlet Forpus passerinus Yellow-shouldered Parrot Amazona barbadensis Yellow-crowned Parrot Amazona ochrocephala Orange-winged Parrot Amazona amazonica Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana Little Cuckoo Piaya minuta Greater Ani Crotophaga major Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani Striped Cuckoo Tapera naevia Striped Owl Pseudoscops clamator Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis Gray-rumped Swift Chaetura cinereiventris Green Hermit Phaethornis guy Sooty-capped Hermit Phaethornis augusti Little Hermit Phaethornis longuemareus Gray-breasted Sabrewing Campylopterus largipennis Black-throated Mango Anthracothorax nigricollis Tufted Coquette Lophornis ornatus Blue-tailed Emerald Chlorostilbon mellisugus Fork-tailed Woodnymph Thalurania furcata White-tailed Goldenthroat Polytmus guainumbi Buffy Hummingbird Leucippus fallax Glittering-throated Emerald Amazilia fimbriata Copper-rumped Hummingbird Amazilia tobaci Venezuelan Sylph@ Aglaiocercus berlepschi Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquata Amazon Kingfisher Chloroceryle amazona Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana Green-and-rufous Kingfisher Chloroceryle inda American Pygmy Kingfisher Chloroceryle aenea Blue-crowned Motmot Momotus momota Rufous-tailed Jacamar Galbula ruficauda Russet-throated Puffbird Hypnelus ruficollis Black-necked Aracari Pteroglossus aracari Red-billed Toucan Ramphastos tucanus Black-dotted Piculet Picumnus nigropunctatus Cream-colored Woodpecker Celeus flavus Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus Buff-throated Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus guttatus Streak-headed Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes souleyetii Stripe-breasted Spinetail Synallaxis cinnamomea Yellow-chinned Spinetail Certhiaxis cinnamomea Great Antshrike Taraba major Golden-faced Tyrannulet Zimmerius chrysops Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant Lophotriccus pilaris Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus margaritaceiventer Common Tody-Flycatcher Todirostrum cinereum Yellow-olive Flycatcher Tolmomyias sulphurescens Pied Water-Tyrant Fluvicola pica Cattle Tyrant Machetornis rixosus Cinnamon Attila Attila cinnamomeus Lesser Kiskadee Philohydor lictor Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus Rusty-margined Flycatcher Myiozetetes cayanensis Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus Black-crowned Tityra Tityra inquisitor Lance-tailed Manakin Chiroxiphia lanceolata Crimson-hooded Manakin Pipra aureola Golden-headed Manakin Pipra erythrocephala White-winged Swallow Tachycineta albiventer Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis Stripe-backed Wren Campylorhynchus nuchalis Rufous-breasted Wren Thryothorus rutilus Gray-breasted Wood-Wren Henicorhina leucophrys Black-capped Donacobius Donacobius atricapillus Yellow-legged Thrush Platycichla flavipes Long-billed Gnatwren Ramphocaenus melanurus Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina Gray Seedeater Sporophila intermedia Chestnut-bellied Seedeater Sporophila castaneiventris Pileated Finch Coryphospingus pileatus Vermilion Cardinal Cardinalis phoeniceus Streaked Saltator Saltator striatipectus White-lined Tanager Tachyphonus rufus Silver-beaked Tanager Ramphocelus carbo Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum Trinidad Euphonia Euphonia trinitatis Bay-headed Tanager Tangara gyrola Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia Bananaquit Coereba flaveola Velvet-fronted Grackle Lampropsar tanagrinus Carib Grackle Quiscalus lugubris |
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