SIBERIA & LIST
BOLIVIA
SANTA CRUZ (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit (11th January, 2006)
Birding Site Guide
Siberia (3,480m) is a small town between Comarapa and Pojo on the Old Highway between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. Below it towards Comarapa is some good high-elevation Yungas Forest. It is difficult to reach by public transport as buses to Cochabamba from Comarapa only leave in the evening. There is no accommodation in Siberia and no restaurant although there are a couple of very small shops selling cookies and things. Some trucks leave Comarapa in the morning and it is possible to get a ride in the back (Bs 5). I got a ride at about 7am in a truck full of chicken shit. Several trucks pass in the afternoon coming back to Comarapa so getting back is not a problem. It's best to wait by the Siberia/Torresillas taxi stand and question any truck passing. Alternatively a taxi can be hired privately which may be as much as Bs 90. Once in Siberia, start walking back towards Comarapa. Birding is good from the start, with this top area having Red-crested Cotinga, White-browed Conebill and Andean Lapwing as well as many hummingbirds. I saw the endemic Black-throated Thistletail a little further down by an old km 280 (from Santa Cruz) stone. Any forest below this can be good. There are some spectacular views when it is clear. I saw 42 species including 6 lifers.
Species seen
- Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
- Hook-billed Kite Chondrohierax uncinatus Photographed
- Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus Photographed
- Rufous-thighed Hawk Accipiter erythronemius Photographed
- Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
- Mountain Caracara Phalcoboenus megalopterus Photographed
- Stripe-faced Wood-Quail Odontophorus balliviani Possibly heard
- Andean Lapwing Vanellus resplendens
- Band-tailed Pigeon Patagioenas fasciata
- Plumbeous Pigeon Patagioenas plumbea Possibly seen
- Black-winged Parrot Hapalopsittaca melanotis Possibly seen
- Scaly-naped Parrot Amazona mercenaria Possibly seen
- Andean Swift Aeronautes andecolus
- Sparkling Violet-ear Colibri coruscans
- Black-hooded Sunbeam Aglaeactis pamela Endemic Possibly seen
- Tyrian Metaltail Metallura tyrianthina
- Azara's Spinetail Synallaxis azarae
- Black-throated Thistletail Schizoeaca harterti Endemic Photographed
- Pearled Treerunner Margarornis squamiger
- Montane Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger
- Variable Antshrike Thamnophilus caerulescens
- Rufous-faced Antpitta Grallaria erythrotis Endemic Heard only
- Red-crested Cotinga Ampelion rubrocristata Photographed
- White-crested Elaenia Elaenia albiceps
- Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet Phyllomyias uropygialis
- Cinnamon Flycatcher Pyrrhomyias cinnamomea
- Andean Tyrant Knipolegus signatus
- Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
- House Wren Troglodytes aedon
- Mountain Wren Troglodytes solstitialis
- Great Thrush Turdus fuscater
- Glossy-black Thrush Turdus serranus
- White-browed Conebill Conirostrum ferrugineiventre
- Common Bush-Tanager Chlorospingus ophthalmicus
- Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus igniventris
- Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus somptuosus
- Rusty Flowerpiercer Diglossa sittoides
- Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer Diglossa carbonaria Endemic
- Masked Flowerpiercer Diglossopis cyanea
- Bolivian Brush-Finch Atlapetes rufinucha Endemic
- Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
- Hooded Siskin Carduelis magellanica Possibly seen
Other Fauna
A total of -- species of mammals.
There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles.
Flora
Author: Charles Hesse
www.birdingsiteguide.com
