The vast South American country of Venezuela holds an amazing avian diversity. While quite a few people have visited the classic circuit north of the Orinoco, it’s the vast forested areas and unforgettable tepuis landscape south of the Orinoco that really hold the strangest and most alluring set of birds. This tour will focus on the Guianan forests of Río Grande and the lush cloudforests of the Escalera with their numerous endemics. However, we will not neglect the country’s northeastern region, where we will search for several endangered birds found on the isolated mountain ranges.

Day 1: Caracas
Our international flights arrive in Caracas, where we will spend the night.

Day 2:  Araya Peninsula
We will fly to Carupano in the northeast part of the country. The arid Araya Peninsula projects westward from the same pedestal it shares with the Paria Peninsula, but unlike the latter it is covered in xerophytic scrub and cacti. A number of specialties are to be found here, the most important being the threatened Yellow-shouldered Parrot. We will also look for Buffy Hummingbird, Glaucous Tanager, and Vermilion Cardinal. Nearby woodlands and lagoons hold a multitude of other birds. We’ll spend the night in Carupano.

Day 3: Vuelta Larga
A short drive takes us to Finca Vuelta Larga, a ranch that has been converted to an eco-lodge, for a three-night stay. The flooded várzea forest near the ranch holds several rare and local species like the superb Crimson-hooded Manakin, the cute Black-dotted Piculet, and the odd Rufous Crab-Hawk. We’ll take a boat ride through a wooded channel to look for these and plenty of other birds. The ranch itself is great for some of the more common yet still spectacular birds like Hoatzin, Scarlet Ibis, and Black-necked Araçari.

Day 4: Cerro Humo
We need an early start as we take a day-trip to Cerro Humo, one of the highest peaks on the narrow Paria Peninsula which projects into the Caribbean Sea towards Trinidad. A steep trail takes us into lush humid forest, where we will look for several Venezuela endemics found only in the country’s northeastern mountains: Scissor-tailed Hummingbird, White-throated Barbtail, and Paria Redstart.

Day 5: Oilbirds
We will drive to Caripe today, making various stops to bird roadside woodland. In the afternoon we will visit Cueva de los Guácharos, where the spectacle of thousands of Oilbirds blasting out of the cave entrance at dusk has to be seen to be believed!

Day 6: Cerro Negro
This morning we will make a strenuous hike (optional) up the slopes of Cerro Negro, where we have a chance to find Gray-headed Warbler, an endangered endemic. Other goodies possible here are the endemic Venezuelan Sylph, Guttulated Foliage-gleaner, and Rufous-shafted Woodstar.

Day 7: Drive to El Palmar
This is mostly a travel day as we head south to the Guianan rainforests.

Days 8-9: Río Grande
The selectively logged forests of Río Grande have become world famous the past decade or so due to their staked-out Harpy Eagle nests. This “king of Neotropical raptors” will definitely be our main target here, and with the help of the local rangers should have a very good chance of finding this amazing beast. The Guianan lowland forests here are among the richest in the country, and we will have two full days and a morning to look for many other birds as well. Early morning roadside birding can be amazingly good, scoping parrots, cotingas, and woodpeckers in the many dead treetops. Along the trails are leks of Screaming Pihas, and many mixed understory and canopy flocks. Special treats we will look for include the amazing Crimson Topaz, Green Araçari, Pompadour Cotinga, Black-Spotted Barbet, and Ferruginous-backed and Rufous-throated Antbirds.

Day 10: Río Grande to Las Claritas
After some further early morning birding at Río Grande we will move on southward to Las Claritas, our base for the next five nights.

Days 11-14: Las Claritas and the Escalera
Just a short distance south of Las Claritas lies the Escalera, a long paved road gradually winding its way through the still largely pristine slopes of the Sierra de Lema, one of the many tepuis dotting the southern part of Venezuela. There are many species found only here in these ancient mountains of southern Venezuela and adjacent Guyana. A large part of our time will be devoted to finding these endemics, like Fiery-shouldered Parakeet, Peacock Coquette, Velvet-browed Brilliant, Tepui Spinetail, Roraiman Barbtail, White-throated Foliage-gleaner, Streak-backed Antshrike, Red-banded Fruiteater, Rose-collared Piha, Ruddy Tody-Flycatcher, Black-fronted Tyrannulet, Tepui Brush-Finch, and Golden-tufted Grackle. Further south the forests of the Escalera open up into the vast Gran Sabana, where we will look for Tepui Goldenthroat. Some of our time will be spent in the lowland forests around Las Claritas, where one of our main targets will be the amazing Capuchinbird, regularly seen at a nearby lek. The nearby Guyana trail allows us to look for some of the birds we may have missed at Rio Grande, like Black-throated Antshrike, Waved Woodpecker, and a variety of rare antwrens.

Day 15: Return to Caracas
Today we will drive to Puerto Ordaz where we will catch a flight to Caracas, connecting from there with our international flights. (Depending on flight schedules, we may have to spend the night of day 14 in Puerto Ordaz.). On the 2009 tour, we'll spend this night in an airport hotel.

Day 16: Departure
Transfer to the airport for departure.

Tour Info

CLIMATE: Warm and humid with some rain, cooler in the mountains.

DIFFICULTY: Moderate. The difficult hike for the Gray-headed Warbler is optional.