12 - 26 July 1991
by Eric & Lorna Salzman, Peter Joost
Friday, July 12 - New York to Venezuela
JFK to Caracas/Maiquetia with stopover and plane change in Miami. Overnight at the Hotel Macuto one block from the beach in old Macuto which is not in Caracas at all but over the mountain and down on the beach (the airport is in between). This is a pleasant hotel with a good restaurant and clean but dingy rooMs. It was the best reasonably-priced hotel that we could find in the airport vicinity and it enabled us to avoid Caracas altogether.
Saturday, July 13 - Caracas to Bolivar
6:30 am flight to Porto Ordaz on the Orinoco, part of a Brasilia-like new-city complex called Cuidad Guyana. We rent a Toyota Corolla from the Budget Rent-a-Car at the airport and head south across the state of Bolivar heading toward Brazil (Bolivar is the southeasternmost part of Venezuela, bordering Guyana and Brazil). We cross rolling, sparsely populated, largely agricultural and grazing country with few towns; some forest patches remain on the slopes of the higher hills and low mountain ranges that crop up. Heavy clouds move south from the Orinoco basin toward the highlands. At Upata, we leave the main road to travel east to the little town of El Palmar. This is grazing country but there are patches of dry thorn forest with interesting birds and howler monkeys. The road to the left of the church in the town plaza goes to a guard post called La Ceiba or Colina de la Ceiba ("Hill of the Ceiba Tree"); this is the road to the Campamento Rio Grande Preserve. Just before the guard post (Alcabala) is the Parador Taguapire where we stay (rather spartan, cement-block rooms but clean, sit-down flush toilets, shower, good food and pleasant management tuned in to birders; they will, for example, prepare coffee in a thermos and sandwiches for pre-dawn departures). After checking in (and waiting out a heavy rain), we drive the 21 kilometers to the reserve, birding our way along (a wet spot filled with hummingbird flowers and hummingbirds is outstanding). The road, already full of potholes, now becomes dirt and rough but still passable in our two-wheel drive. At the reserve itself, torrential downpours resume and, although we are able to reach the Rio Grande bridge, it is impossible to bird in the gloom and wet and we reluctantly turn around. On the way back, we find whistling-ducks active in the gather darkness between rain showers. It appears as though heavy tropical rain squalls in the afternoon and evening will be the pattern for this trip but, in fact, this first day's rain turns out to be most of the rain we will see on the entire trip.
Sunday, July 14 - Campamento Rio Grande (Sierra da Imataca)
We have arranged with Levis Stofikm, our genial host at the Parador Taguapire, for a local guide to take us deep into the reserve where there are nesting Harpy Eagles. We find Ramon in the village and, after a somewhat late start, head out to the reserve. This time we cross the bridge and venture through a fearfully muddy area that has been badly churned up by logging trucks that come through on this road. We come to a halt at a crossroads; we dare not take the Corolla any further. Ramon sets out on foot to find a four-wheel pick-up to take us further in while we bird the area of the crossroads (which is very good). He locates a vehicle, we load in and follow a muddy secondary road for several kilometers. The final kilometer or two is on foot and partly through fen and swamp. At the end of this road is the prize: a Harpy Eagle that flushes and perches high but well in view. On the walk back out, feeding flocks are everywhere and, back at the crossroads, we find an even higher level of activity than before. Eventually we attempt to drive on deeper into the Reserve in our Corolla but the car is not doing well and we decide to return to El Palmar for repairs. After these are accomplished, we return to the Reserve and bird the stretch from the park entrance to the bridge and back, again with good results.
Monday, July 15 - Campamento Rio Grande (Sierra da Imataca)
On the road before dawn for the Reserve. A full day in the Reserve, mostly on foot. The front part of the Reserve is being extensively logged and parts of it are an awful mess. In addition, settlers have moved into the recently logged portions and planted the clearings, severely compromising the integrity of the Reserve. In the long run, this will destroy the Reserve but ironically, for the moment the checkerboard pattern of forest and clearing makes for very good birding, some of the best we have ever experienced in the tropics.
Tuesday, July 16 - El Palmar to Henry Cleve's
Good early-morning birding right at the Parador Taguapire before departure. Back west on the El Palmar road, birding along the way. South on the main highway toward El Dorado and Brazil. 7 miles north of El Dorado, the main road bears left (all the kilometer markings from here on are calculated from this point) and crosses the Rio Cuyuni on a new bridge which avoids the gold rush town of El Dorado altogether. This road passes through the Venezuelan portion of the great Guinean forest, known here as the Cuyuni or Imataca forest. This forest stretches from the Rio Grande area south to Brazil, east to Guyana and west to the Angel Falls and further. It is home to large indigenous populations including the well-known Yanomanis. The many Indians living along this road are, however, quite acculturated: they live in settlements, cultivate small cleared plots in and around the forest, and are mostly converts to Christianity. The road, which is newly paved, appears to encourage outside settlers to come into the areas, most notoriously the gold miners but also agriculturalists. For whatever reason, there is a wide swath cut down next to the road for long distances, possibly to accomodate new power lines which are being installed.
At K84, just before the town of Las Claritas, we stop at Henry Cleve's Barquilla de Fresas (a name that can be translated as "Bowl of Strawberries" or "Strawberry Sundae"). We had written to Cleve more than a month before but he had not received our letter; fortunately, he had plenty of room. (The best plan for contacting Cleve is to write or call his mother in Caracas.) In spite of his name, Cleve is a Venezuelan of German descent who speaks only a little English. He is a charming and welcoming host who has settled here with his family out of a love for the wilderness and he has a great feeling for the forest and wildlife. He raises tropical fish and poodles (!) and takes in tourists--mostly birders--for a living. His house is a charming jungle hacienda, set in a small clearing next to the road but still surrounded by quite a lot of forest. You can see some very good birds right on his property. A fruiting tree right behind his fish ponds is literally filled with dozens of feeding Crimson Topazes, a sight almost as remarkable in its way as our views of the Harpy Eagle at the Campamento Rio Grande! Also Moriche Oriole, Opal-rumped Tanager, Cayenne Jays, and forest birds in the woods just behind.
Wednesday, July 17 - Escalera
Up before dawn. Cleve has left coffee and the keys to his front gate so we can let ourselves out. We head for the Escalera or Ladder Road, the section of the highway heading south that climbs up into the legendary tepui country and the Gran Sabana. At dawn we pause at La Piedra de la Virgen where there is a shrine to the Virgin, Cliff Flycatchers, a huge flock of Green Oropendulas and magnificent views over a wild landscape. We work our way up slowly, birding mostly from the roadside, occasionally finding a way into the forest. The tepui endemics begin to appear after K117; the best spot for these is a little side road to the left just past the Alcabala or guard station near the top. At K134 the forest abruptly ends and the Gran Sabana begins. We venture on to the savannah--a rolling pastoral landscape surrounded by giant flat-topped mountains or mesas and in sharp contrast to the lush cloud forest that drapes the way up--only as far as the Rio Aponguao at K140 before working our way back down.
Thursday, July 18 - Escalera
We return to the Escalera before dawn, repeating yesterday's expedition and picking up a somewhat different list of birds including endemics. At the Gran Sabana, one of the nearer tepuis--probably the Cerro Ptari-tepui--emerges with startling clarity from the clouds that had previously covered it. In the afternoon, we try a lowland forest trail near Las Claritas but the heat is oppressive and not much is stirring and we return, under threatening skys, to the lower portions of the Escalera to search for Cock-of-the-Rock. We are rewarded, amid fading light and torrential downpours, with one miserable flyover--two or three flying birds silhouetted against the lowering sky. As we drive down out of the rain, a Blackish Nightjar is sitting in the road, lit up mainly by our headlights.
Friday, July 19 - Guyana Trail; Henry Cleave's to Porto Ordaz
Our goal this morning is the notorious and much-rerouted Guyana Trail north of Cleve's and near one of the Indian villages in the region. After much wandering and stumbling about on paths that run through clearings, cultivated plots and indigeneous settlements, we find our way in. The birding in this forest is fairly difficult but rewarding. On the way out, we stop to talk to one of the Indian inhabitants. He is dressed in shorts, sandals and carries a machete which he uses to keep forest trails open, to keep his milpa or forest clearing open, and to harvest his crops. He speaks a kind of pidgin English which is very fluent and not hard to understand; he explains that everyone here speaks English because we are right on the Guyana border where everyone speaks English ('near' turns out to mean eight hours or perhaps half a day--on foot of course). The gentleman's name is Baptist Peters and, along with everyone else in the area, he is a Seventh-Day Adventist, having been missionized from over Guyana way (Guyana and Venezuela have a border dispute, there are no formal communications or roads and only the map makers seem to know or agree on where this border actually is). On our way out, we again get lost in the maze of paths that thread through the cultivated and inhabited part near the road and we emerge at a different place than where we entered. After walking for what seems like miles in the blazing sun (the sun only shines in this part of the world when you have to walk through an open area) we realize that we are headed in the wrong direction and we double back; the car turns out to be parked only a short distance the other way from where we emerged.
Back at Cleve's, we settle up and prepare to leave. After some last, fond glimpses of the Crimson Topaz tree, still full of these and other birds, we lumber off and head north, birding our way under threatening skies back up to Porto Ordaz. We stay the night in an elegant-looking hill-top motel that turns out to be a rather seedy place. The hotel parking lot is guarded by a man with a rifle, a touch of local color that we ignore until we are awakened in the middle of the night by gunfire. Nothing serious, we are assured, just a few warning shots.
Saturday, July 20 - Orinoco to Caripe
We are off at dawn to the nearby town of San Felix where we catch the first ferry of the morning across the Orinoco. Most of our fellow passengers are connected in some way with the oil business which, with all its ups and downs, has been the economic main-stay, not only of the region but of the country. Although this is the navigable and tamed lower stretch of one of the world's great rivers, it is still a thrill to cross it and, almost immediately after landing on the north bank, the road passes through extensive wetlands with open water areas alternating with dense shrub thickets; this proves to be one of the best birding areas of the trip and we spend most of the morning here. This is the state of Monagas which, after the Orinoco basin proper, is completely flat, featureless and very dry with only sterile rows of planted pines to break the monotony. There is a major oil producing region just to the east but we see little evidence of it from the road.
As we proceed north, the countryside turns wetter and greener; the wetlands and savannahs are somewhat comparable to the famous llanos to the west and the birds get more and more interesting. After Maturin, the state capital, we turn east and eventually north into the mountains. At one point, the road passes a large lake or reservoir with many birds. Although most of these slopes have been denuded, there are forest patches, particularly in the wet ravines. Caripe, a mountain resort town of some charm, is best known for its Oilbird Cave which was 'discovered' by the famous German naturalist Humboldt (it had, of course, been known for a long time to the locals who harvested the birds for their fat which was used for cooking and lighting; hence the name Oil-bird). This is now a National Park and there are guided tours into the cave which is well maintained and guarded. There a short tour and a long tour but the former is perfectly adequate to see the birds which are mostly near the entrance. The floor of the cave is literally littered with young oilbirds who have fallen off the nesting ledges and are left on the ground to die; the adults feed only their own young and only on the nest site. At 7 pm precisely, many thousands of adults (there are said to be 15,000 birds in this cave) gather at the entrance; they make a fearful racket and, forming a kind of whirling, whorling vortex, spin off into the outside world on their nightly search for the palm nuts on which they feed. It is one of the great avian sights.
The night in a charming hotel in Caripe would have been a lot more pleasant if there had not been a severe shortage of water in the town. One wonders how, in a country so rich in water resources there could be a water shortage.
Sunday, July 21 - Caripe to Sucre and the north coast to Cumana
The plan for today was to visit Cerro Humo, Paria National Park, state of Sucre, and search for endemics. This plan failed because (1) the old road was washed out; (2) the alternate road, described as awful, was not passable without a 4-wheel drive and certainly not in our fast-failing Corolla; (3) Claus Müller of the Vuelta Larga farm did not come through as promised - with a 4-wheel drive and driver to take us there; and, (4) no other 4-wheel drive could be located at the last minute. If you wish to attempt this, I recommend contacting Sr Müller well in advance at 094-69052 or by mail; - the Sucre phones do not seem to work very well at all.
Since we cannot get to the wilder areas, we are forced to stick to a somewhat more beaten track, wandering around the western part of the Paria Peninsula, ending up the sunbaked, forsaken town of Irapa on the Gulf of Paria. At this point, we decide to give up on Paria and its vaunted endemics and turn west. We head back up to the north coast, birding our way to Cumana. We spend the night in a luxury hotel on the beach west of Unare; Venezuelan luxury in an era of low oil prices comes cheap for gringos.
Monday, July 22 - Cumana to Guatopo National Park to Maracay
Our rental vehicle is giving off all kinds of negative indications but we decide to push on anyway following the main north coast highway with a detour at Clarines to skirt the Unare Lagoon. Birding is excellent at the lagoon and quite good on the highway which follows a kind of corniche overlooking the Caribbean much of the way. Unfortunately, the beauty of this route, a spectacular corniche highway, is ruined by the mounds of garbage strewn everywhere.
As we approach Caracas, the road improves but so does the volume of traffic. Since we are headed for Maracay, we decide to skirt the Venezuelan metropolis and we choose a more southerly route through Guatopo National Park. As we enter this beautiful subtropical forest on narrow, curvey roads, the brakes on the Corolla literally give out and we can move no further. Passing motorists, a local doctor and his wife, offer ES a lift, stopping at an isolated guard post in the middle of the park where their radiator immediately boils over!. After waiting for it to cool and adding water, we continue to the police station in the town of Santa Teresa, only 30 km away but a good hour's ride on these narrow roads. These good Samaritans are (like everyone else on this adventure) unfailingly helpful and pleasant, turning what might have been a nightmare into a memorable experience in the best sense. At Santa Teresa, ES is able to dispatch a tow truck to haul the car to Santa Teresa while he tries, without success, to reach the Budget office in nearby Caracas or at the airport. He finally gets through to the Budget office in Maracay and is duly informed that no replacement car is available; they merely agree to arrange for pickup of the wounded vehicle in Santa Teresa. (All this phoning, by the way, courtesy of the Santa Teresa police.) ES then engages an ancient taxi to take him back to the breakdown site. This enormous, worn-out American antique, about as wide as the road itself, is barely able to crawl up the steep slopes and it too overheats just as we are rolling into the Guard Post. At this very moment, however, the tow truck appears with Toyota, Lorna and Peter and all our gear in tow. I pay the taxi driver and hop into the tow truck which hauls us back to Santa Teresa. We now abandon the Toyota to its fate (Budget at least knows where it is) and engage a fairly promising-looking taxi to take us and our gear to Maracay. These long-distance taxi rides are not expensive (part of the reason is that gas is so cheap: c. $.20/gallon) and taxis are common long-distance transport everywhere in Venezuela.
Our initial idea was to go to the Maracay Airport and snare a replacement vehicle from Budget or someone else. But Maracay Airport is a tiny place, it appears to be mostly a military airport with no rent-a-car agencies in sight and it is, in any case, closed up tight. We then decide to head for the Hotel Pipo which turns out to be all the way on the other side of town, at the very foothills of the northern ranges. We check into the Pipo which is our home for the next three days. It is a rather pretentious and ugly de luxe style hotel with no birds in sight. [Frankly, if we ever went back, I would try the Hotel Maracay; we chose the Pipo because we were told that there were thefts at the Maracay which is, I hear, a pleasanter place in a birdier environment.] The Pipo, having failed to raise up a replacement car for us, arranges instead for a car and driver at a price that is comparable to the cost of the car rental. The driver, a charming and friendly fellow, actually appears at the Hotel to negotiate the details and the arrangements.
Birders should be aware that Maracay is not some little country town with a couple of hotels or motels somewhere on the outskirts, convenient to the Park entrance. It is, like many Venezuelan towns, a huge sprawling place with the best hotels located in the ritzier suburbs. The Hotel Pipo is located in the neighborhood called El Castaño; the Maracay is nearby. Transport and up-to-date directions to the Henri Pittier Park are essential; road detours are common, even routine.
Tuesday, July 23 - Ocumare Road, Rancho Grande (Henri Pittier National Park Our driver appears, as per agreement, well before dawn and we are on our way up into the northern ranges and the Henri Pittier National Park, also known as Rancho Grande from the days when it was the mountain retreat of the Venezuelan dictator. These northern ranges, the same ones that block off Caracas from the Caribbean, are a somewhat isolated extension of the Andes stretching all the way across the northern tier of the country and out on the Paria Peninsula. They have a flora and a fauna with many endemic elements. We arrive at the Rancho Grande Biological Center right at dawn--c. 6 am. The gate is closed but, acting on the advice of Mary Lou Goodwin in her book, "Birding in Venezuela", we climb on over. The dawn action right around the buildings themselves is sensational and we linger there, watching Swallow-Tanagers, Long-tailed Sylphs and whatnot until the care-taker shows up, mad as blazes that we had let ourselves in. We quickly retreat, not out the entrance, but up the mountainside onto the trails back of the Station.
It is often said that this park must be birded from the road because there are few or no trails but, in fact, the cloud forest back of the Biological Station is full of trails; one could easily spend the whole day there. (Access to these trails is through a gate at the back of the buildings; this gate was not locked so we right in. Of course, things may have changed since and it might be worthwhile to try and write to them in advance.) There are essentially three levels of trails here. The first level, to the left, is made up of a little network of interconnected paths which loop around. If you continue on up to the second level, always bearing right, you will come on a trail that goes right and around the mountain until it peters out on a steep, jungly mountain side that is a superb birding site. If, however, instead of bearing right, you keep center, climbing to a still higher level, you reach a major trail that threads its way up the mountain and then crosses over a saddle to the left onto the next ridge and unknown territory. Any and all of this is potentially very good. In the area on the slope just back of the station we got good looks at Black-faced Antthrush and Nightingale Wren. Feeding flocks abound; one of the best was on the back-of- the-mountain trail on the second level.
Later in the day, we go up a bit further on the road to the Portachuela Pass where there is a trail that goes up on a ridge to the west (easy to find behind a fence); here, flocks of high mountain tanagers peruse the shrubbery and swifts go over the mountain, whizzing by our noses, too close and too fast to get in the binoculars. In the afternoon, we bird the northern slope ending up just past the junction of the Turiamo Road at a fly-by-day shack--it was literally covered with flies--for coffee. The Turiamo Road, which goes to a naval station on the coast, is supposedly closed to traffic but it makes a pleasant and birdy walk in a cocoa plantation by a little stream with a very different set of birds than in the mountains. We walk as far as a bridge over the stream and back; lots of birds here. The return back over the mountains is late in the day and much less birdy but several stops on the lower southern slopes produce a few goodies.
Wednesday, July 24 - Choroni Road (Henri Pittier National Park)
Today's routine is similar to yesterday's except that we take another route, the Choroni Road, across the mountains. The Ocumare Road was completely clear but this narrow and twisty route is completely fogged in all the way to the top; they don't call it 'cloud forest' for nothing. As the dawn filters through the mist, many calling and flitting birds become identifiable. The descent down the north slope of this road is, curiously, not birdy. We turn on the La Planta Road to the Museum Cadafe (a neglected-appearing museum of electricity!) where we leave the car, proceeding on foot to a cocoa plantation in the Hacienda La Sabaneta). We go to the gate, cross the stream and then walk left down a clearly indicated dirt road which is outside the area around the old plantation house; this is birdy and worthwhile.
We had been advised to avoid the park on weekends and we have planned our schedule accordingly. However, it turns out that July 24 is Simon Bolivar's birthday and a national holiday and, as the day goes on, the traffic gets heavier and heavier and the birding harder and harder. We go back over the mountain by the way we came and, since it is still early, we return to the Ocumare Road to bird its lower portions. One road we hoped to follow, the entrance to the Park Headquarters (see below), is closed but we find other locations to explore. The traffic is bad here too but the worst of it is the inevitable garbage that has accumulated at the popular pull-off spots.
Thursday, July 25 - Ocumare Road, Rancho Grande, Macuto
After a late start (the driver says that he had to take care of a sick child), we return to the biological station and further explore the mountainside trails with good results. The rest of the day is spent birding from the roadside as before. Finally, at the end of the day, we return to the park entrance and explore the road to the park headquarters which is finally open. This area, lower and drier, has quite different habitat and, consequently, many new birds--a successful finish to the trip.
Afterwards, by previous arrangement, we check out of the hotel and are driven to the Hotel Macuto where we spent the night.
Friday, July 26 - return home
American Airlines to Miami and New York.
SOME VENEZUELAN FOOTNOTES
Our trip was limited to two weeks, largely because of the very cheap air fare. With an extra week we could have had more time in Bolivar. Or we could have added a visit to the llanos and possibly even a few days in the Andes which would have produced (admittedly in a big rush) at least one third again more species.
The Sucre debacle could have been avoided if we had been able to make a more secure advance arrangement with Sr Müller.
There were no other guests at the Parador Taguapire and at Henry Cleve's but both places would be riskier propositions in the winter. One should try and write or call ahead. Unless, new places have appeared recently, the alternatives are, to say the least, limited (esssentially camping).
Car rental is a problem. Venezuela is noted for its bad cars and we certainly didn't have much luck. Perhaps a 4-wheel drive would be a better idea. The lack of gas in southern Bolivar is over-exaggerated (or things have changed). You can fill up at K88 (Las Claritas). If you intend to venture all the way across the Gran Sabana you might consider carrying a jerry can (plastic ones are for sale here and there) but it probably won't be long before gas stations, complete with Roy Rogers and Howard Johnsons, appear on the Gran Sabana.
BIRD LIST
- follows de Schauensee & Phelps with modifications:
H = heard only
? = probable (insufficient field marks noted)
+ = endemic or near-endemic (also a lifer)
* = non-endemic lifer
| (H)Little Tinamou | (Crypturellus soui) | upper Escalera, 7/18/91 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | (Podilymbus podiceps) | several localities along the north coast, 7/21,22/91 |
| Brown Pelican | (Pelecanus occidentalis) | Caribbean, 7/21,22/91 |
| ?Brown Booby | (Sula leucogaster) | distant sighting of a sulid in the Caribbean; probably this species 7/21,22/91 |
| Olivaceous (Neotropic) Cormorant | (Phalacrocorax olivaceus) | everal locations including inland fresh water (Monagas) and north coast; 7/20-22/91 |
| Magnificent Frigatebird | (Fregata magnificens) | north coast, 7/21,22/91 |
| White-necked (Cocoi) Heron | (Ardea cocoi) | wetlands of north Bolivar, Monagas, and north coast, 7/19,20,22/91 |
| Great Egret | (Casmerodius albus) | very common in both wetlands and dry, upland pastures |
| Snowy Egret | (Egretta thula) | Orinoco basin, north coast, 7/20,22/91 |
| Little Blue Heron | (Florida or E. caerulea) | Orinoco basin, Unare Lagoon, 7/20,22/91 |
| Tricolored Heron | (Hydranassa or E. tricolor) | Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91 |
| Striated Heron | (Butorides striatus) | common in wet areas, Bolivar, Orinoco basin, Monagas, Sucre, 7/13,15,19-21/91; all observations are striatus. |
| Cattle Egret | (Bubulcus ibis) | many northern locations from Sucre to= Maracay |
| *Capped Heron | (Pilherodius pileatus) | streams at Campamento Rio Grande |
| Yellow-crowned Night Heron | (Nyctanassa violacea) | Laguna da Unare, 7/22/91 |
| American Wood-stork | (Mycteria americana) | Orinoco basin, Unare Lagoon (breeding colony in mangroves), 7/20,22/91 |
| Scarlet Ibis | (Eudocimus ruber) | several including immatures, Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91 |
| Roseate Spoonbill | (Ajaia ajaja) | Monagas, Unare Lagoon, 7/20,22/91 |
| Greater (American) Flamingo | (Phoenicopterus ruber) | north coast (Sucre), 7/21/91; seen by us (E & LS) in the Mediterranean but never in the New World |
| *White-faced Tree-duck | (Dendrocygna viduata) | near El Palmar, Orinoco Basin (south of river), 7/13,16,19/91 |
| White-cheeked (Bahama) Pintail | (Anas bahamensis) | Sucre, Unare Lagoon, 7/21,22/91 |
| Black Vulture | (Coragyps atratus) | everywhere |
| Turkey Vulture | (Cathartes aura) | ruficollis subspecies; marginally less common than preceding |
| Greater Yellow-headed Vulture | (C. melambrotus) | Rio Grande, 7/14/91 |
| White-tailed (Black-shouldered) Kite | (Elanus caeruleus) | Bolivar, Monagas, north coast, 7/13,19,20,22/91 |
| Pearl Kite | (Gampsonyx swansonii) | near El Palmar, Monagas, 7/13,20/91 |
| American Swallow-tailed Kite | (Elanoides forficatus) | common in Bolivar, often in large numbers |
| Gray-headed Kite | (Leptodon cayanensis) | perched bird examined at length west of El Palmar, 7/16/91 |
| Double-toothed Kite | (Harpagus bidentatus) | Rio Grande, 7/15/91 |
| Plumbeous Kite | (Ictinea plumbea) | common and widespread, often in numbers, Bolivar, Sucre, etc |
| White-tailed Hawk | (buteo albicaudatus) | Monagas, 7/20/91 |
| Roadside Hawk | (b. magnirostris) | many locations throughout |
| *Black-collared Hawk | (Busarellus nigricollis) | pond, north Bolivar, 7/19/91 |
| Savanna Hawk | (Heterospizias meridionalis) | many sightings in =09 Bolivar & Monagas |
| Common Black-hawk | (Buteogallus anthracinus) | road to El Palmar, north coast, 7/13,16,22/91 |
| Great Black-hawk | (B. urubitinga) | near El Palmar, 7/14/91 |
| *Harpy Eagle | (Harpia harpja) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/14/91; bird flushed (from nest?); perched on tree top in full view for an extended period |
| *Black-and-White Hawk-eagle | (Spizaetus melanoleucus) | Escalera Road,= 7/17/91 |
| ?Ornate Hawk-eagle | (S. ornatus) | Large Spizaetus Hawk-eagle soaring over forest at Rancho Grande and studied at some length may have been this species rather than the preceding, based on apparent size, sing shape and seeming lack of a black crest, 7/23/91 |
| Crane Hawk | (Geranospiza caerulescens) | Orinoco basin, 7/20/91 |
| Osprey | (Pandion haliaetus) | Orinoco basin, 7/20/91 |
| Laughing Falcon | (Herpetotheres chachinnans) | Monagas, 7/20/91; perched on a wire next to the highway |
| Red-throated Caracara | (Daptrius americanus) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/14,15/91 |
| Yellow-headed Caracara | (Milvago chimachima) | open areas throughout |
| Crested Caracara | (Polyborus plancus) | many locations in Bolivar, Monagas, Sucre, etc. A little less widespread than the preceding |
| *Orange-breasted Falcon | (Falco deiroleucus) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/15/91; perched in the open in a dead tree and observed leisurely and at length through the scope; large size and buffy barring on lower breast and belly were observed |
| Bat Falcon | (F. rufigularis) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/14/91; noticeably smaller than the 'flock' of Plumbeous Kites with which it was seen |
| American Kestrel | (F. sparverius) | common in many open areas throughout |
| Band-tailed Guan | (Penelope argyrotis) | 2 seen flying up over coast road between Cumana and Puerto La Cruz, early moneing, 7/22/91 |
| Helmeted Curassow | (Pauxi pauxi) | large dark bird flushed from low perch in heavy forest above Rancho Rande was very likely this species. Pair of cracids seen in the same area a short time before working the forest floor was probably also this species (Band-tailed Guan does not feed this way). |
| Crested Bobwhite | (Colinus cristatus) | widespread (by call) in open areas; one brief sighting by LS |
| Limpkin | (Aramus guarauna) | Orinoco basin near Caripe, 7/19,20/91 |
| Moorhen (Common Gallinule) | (Gallinula chloropus) | south of Caripe on lake or reservoir, 7/20/91 |
| Purple Gallinule | (Porphyrula martinica) | many wet areas south and north of the Orinoco |
| Caribbean Coot | (Fulica caribaca) | south of Caripe on lake or reservoir,= 7/23/91 |
| Wattled Jacana | (Jacana jacana) | very widespread on virtually every wet spot |
| Southern Lapwing | (Vanellus chilensis) | several locations from Campamento Rio Grande (in the mud tracks of the logging trucks!) to Sucre and Unare Lagoon |
| Thick-billed (Wilson's) Plover | (Charadrius wilsonia) | all the Charadrius plovers on the Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91, seem to have been this species |
| Greater Yellowlegs | (Tringa melanoleuca) | several north coast lagoons from Sucre to Unare, 7/21,22/91 |
| Least Sandpiper | (Calidris minutilla) | Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91 |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | (C. pusilla) | Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91 |
| Western Sandpiper | (C. mauri) | Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91; this species and the four preceding were in small flocks suggesting that they were early= migrants |
| Common (Black-necked) Stilt | (Himantopus himantopus) | north coast (Sucre, Laguna da Unare), 7/21,22/91 |
| Laughing Gull | (Larus atricilla) | Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91 |
| *Large-billed Tern | (Phaetusa simplex) | Orinoco, Unare Lagoon, 7/20,22/91 |
| Gull-billed Tern | (Gelochelidon nilotica) | north coast, 7/22/91 |
| Least Tern | (Sterna albifrons) | Unare Lagoon, 7/22/91 |
| Black Skimmer | (Rynchops nigra) | south of Caripe on lake or reservoir, Unare Lagoon, 7/20,22/91 |
| Ruddy Pigeon | (Columba subvinacea) | fairly common in several locations, south and north; 7/16,17,19-21/91 |
| Common Ground-dove | (Columbina passerina) | Orinoco basic, Monagas, 7/20/91 |
| Ruddy Ground-dove | (C. talpacoti) | common and widespread |
| *Scaly (Scaled) Dove | (Scardafella squammata) | Monagas, north coast, lower Choroni Road, 7/20,22/24/91 |
| White-tipped Dove | (Leptotila verreauxi) | north coast, Turiamo Road, Choroni Road, 7/22-24/91 |
| ?Military Macaw | (Ara militaris) | A large, noisy flock of macaws, possibly numbering in the 100s, in the hills bordering the Turiamo Road, would have been this species, 7/23/91. |
| Red-and-green Macaw | (A. chloroptera) | Rio Grande, Escalera; often heard and seen flying and even perched; apparently still common in forested areas |
| *Brown-throated Parakeet | (Aratinga pertinax) | common and widespread in open, non-forest areas, north and south |
| +Blood-eared (Red-eared) Parakeet | (Pyrrhura hoematotis) | Henri Pittier Park; flocks seen around Rancho Grande buildings, on the Choroni Rd, etc. 7/23-25/91; endemic in the northern cordillera |
| *Maroon-faced (White-eared) Parakeet | (P. leucotis) | flock active around and above the Oilbird Cave, Caripe, 7/20/91 |
| *Painted Parakeet | (P. picta) | active flocks with young at Campamento Rio Grande and by the Guyana Trail, 7/14,15,19/91 |
| +Fiery-shouldered Parakeet | (P. egregia) | upper Escalera in the orest;= 7/18/91 |
| Green-rumped Parrotlet | (Forpus passerinus) | the common and widespread parrotlet, north and south |
| ?Dusky-billed Parrotlet | (F. sclateri) | an early morning flock of parrotlets outside the Parador Taguapire, 7/15/91, may have been this species: square- tailed, darkish greet with yellowish green around the eyes and underneath, bill darkish, initially called a Tepui Parrotlet but the area (Bolivar near the Sierra da Imataca) and the habitat (semi-open at the edge of a village) are unlikely for that species. Noticeable lack of blue in the wings of all birds observed presumably indicates a flock dominated by juveniles and females (or a racial variant). |
| *Golden-winged Parakeet | (Brotogeris chrysopterus) | active around the Parador Taguapire, El Palmar, 7/15,16/91 |
| *Tepui Parrotlet | (Nannopsittaca panychlora) | upper Escalera Road in forest, 7/17,18/91 |
| *Black-headed Parrot | (Pionites melanocephala) | Campamento Rio Grand, 7/15/91; singleton and, later, a pair busy cracking nuts in a tree and dropping the shells on our heads! |
| Red-bellied Parrot | (Pionus sordidus) | Henri Pittier National Park on both roads, 7/23,24/91; high in treetops, hence best seen where there are good vantage points. |
| Orange-winged Parrot | (Amazonia amazonica) | At the Parador Taguapire, early morning, 7/16/91 (with Golden-winger Parrots) |
| Mealy Parrot | (A. farinosa) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/15/91; early morning, 7/16/91; single bird perched high |
| *Red-fan (Hawk-headed) Parrot | (Deroptyus accipitrinus) | Rio Grande,in the town of Las Claritas, 7/13,16/91; both birds perching high and out in the open |
| (H) Dark-billed Cuckoo | (Coccyzus melacoryphus) | Compamento Rio Grande, 7/13/91; heard only (seen by PJ) |
| Squirrel Cuckoo | (Piaya cayana) | single birds seen in many locations= throughout |
| Greater Ani | (Crotophaga major) | Orinoco basin, 7/20/91 |
| Smooth-billed Ani | (C. ani) | very common in all open areas |
| Groove-billed Ani | (C. sulcirostris) | very widespread and only slightly less common than preceding |
| Striped Cuckoo | (Tapera naevia) | quite common and widespread in open areas judging by the call. One bird seen calling atypically from an open perch c. 20' off the ground in a dead tree in a wet meadow in Sucre, 7/21/91; this was a loud and persistant one-note call that was quite different from the familiar 2-note call; bird flew off when a second bird appeared suggesting courtship behavior |
| (H)Tropical Screech-owl | (Otus choliba) | El Palmar (heard), 7/13/91 |
| *Oilbird | (Steatornis caripensis) | c. 15,000 birds at the Cueva del Guachara, 7/20/91. Nesting season in full swing; many abandoned birds on floor of cave; spectacular evening exit as thousands of birds form a noisy, hurricane-like spiral before spinning off into the night |
| ?Semicollared (Short-tailed) Nighthawk | (Lurocalis semitorquatus) | hunting at dawn on the Choroni Road, Henri Pittier National Park, 7/24/91; not very well seen in the fog but very likely this species |
| Lesser Nighthawk | (Chordeiles acutipennis) | reservoir north of Caripe (Embalse Las Clavellinas), 7/21/91; early morning; 2 birds making their last runs of the night and settling on low branches for the day |
| *White-tailed Nightjar | (Caprimulgus cayennensis) | road from El Palmar to Campamenta Rio Grande; very early morning at first light, 7/15/91; white on tail easily seen in car lights |
| *Blackish Nightjar | (C. nigrescens) | Escalera Road near Piedra de la Virgen, evening of 7/17/91; hunting in the road; (all black) well seen flying and perched on the road |
| White-collared Swift | (Streptopracne zonaris) | most widespread and common swift almost everywhere |
| ?Chestnut-collared Swift | (Cypseloides rutilus) and/or White-chinned Swift | (C. cryptus)1 or both of these largish, square- tailed dark species at Rancho Grande flying with the smaller Vaux's |
| Vaux's Swift | (Chaetura vauxi) | the majority of the Chaetura swifts at the Portachuelo Pass above Rancho Grande were this species; 7/23,24/91 |
| *Gray-rumped Swift | (C. cinereiventris) | large numbers at the Rio Cuyuni, 7/19; some of the Chaetura swifts at the Portachuelo Pass (see preceding species) may also be been Gray-rumped |
| Short-tailed Swift | (C. brachyura) | road to El Palmar, 7/16/91 |
| *White-tipped Swift | (Aeronautes montivagus) | both this and the next species (?) are said to nest in the buildings at Rancho Grande. At least some of the birds flying in and out of the holes in the concrete and foraging in the neighborhood had square-tipped or very slightly forked tails and white bellies and were therefore this species.Observations of these birds even on their nesting grounds are not easy as they fly out of the nesting holes at extremely high velocity and often from a different hole than the one used to enter (or so it seems). |
| *Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift | (Panyptila cayennensis) | widespread (El Palmar/Rio Grande, Escalera, Caripe, etc), 7/14,17,18,20/91 Rufous-breasted Hermit (Glaucis hirsuta)the Hermit with the rounded tail; Campamento Rio Grande, 7/13/91 |
| Long-tailed Hermit | (Phaethornis superciliaris) | Rio Grande, Guyana Trail, 7/14,15,19/91; most common hummer inside the forest |
| *Pale-bellied Hermit | (P. anthophilus) | Henri Pittier (lower front part of Ocumare Road, 7/24/91; fairly common and easy to identify in its habitat |
| *Sooty-capped Hermit | (P. augusti) | Henri Pitter, 7/23/91; red rump well= seen |
| *Reddish Hermit | (P. ruber) | Rio Grande, Henry Cleve's, 7/15,16/91; several observations; in no case did the black chest band appear with anything remotely like the definition shown in the plate so this identification is based, at least in part, on range (the assumption being that the Gray-chinned occurs only further south) |
| Little Hermit | (P. longuemareus) | the common Hermit in the northern interior forests (Sucre, Henri Pittier), 7/21,24,25/91 |
| +Rufous-breasted Sabrewing | (Campylopterus hyperythrus) | Escalera (at the sideroad near the Alcabala near the top), 7/17/91; this is a Tepui endemic |
| White-breasted Jacobin | (Florisuga mellivora) | Escalera Road; feeding in flowering trees high on the hillside with other hummers,= 7/17/91 |
| Black-throated Mango | (Anthracothorax nigricollis) | Sucre, 7/21/91 |
| Blue-tailed Emerald | (Chlorostilbon mellisugus) | road from El Palmar to Rio Grande; in wet area with other hummers, 7/13/91 |
| *Fork-tailed (Common) Woodnymph | (Thalurania furcata) | Guyana Trail, 7/19/91; very tame and easily observed inside forest |
| *Glittering-throated Emerald | (Amazilia fimbriata) | road from El Palmar to Rio Grande (wet area with other hummers feeding on proliferation of tubular red flowers); also Sucre; 7/13,14,21/91 |
| Copper-rumped Hummingbird | (A. tobaci) | same Bolivar locality as preceding; also north coast; 7/13,14,22/91 |
| +Violet-chested Hummingbird | (Sternoclyta cyanopectus) | one bird prominently perched at eye level in full sunlight at the bridge shortly after the beginning of the Turiamo Rd; also inner forest areas in several places in the Henri Pittier park; 7/23-25/91. Endemic in the Venezuelan mountains. |
| *Crimson Topaz | (Topaza pella) | dozens of birds high in a fruiting tree at Henry Cleve's well observed from facing hillside through scope! Birds with stripy red throats, initally misidentified as Starthroats, were the females (not in the book). A highlight of the trip. 7/16,19/91 |
| Brown Violetear | (Colibri delphinae) | single bird hovering at edge of road, Henri Pittier, 7/23/91 |
| Long-tailed Sylph | (Aglaiocercus kingi) | Rancho Grande, in tree by main building, early morning, 7/23,25/91 |
| Black-eared Fairy | (Heliothryx aurita) | wet area near El Palmar, Escalera, 7/14,17,18/91 |
| White-tailed Trogon | (Trogon viridis) | Rio Grande, Cleve's, Escalera, Guyana Trail, 7/14-19/91 |
| Collared Trogon | (T. collaris) | several locations in Henri Pittier Park (biological station, Choroni Road, etc), 7/23=3D25/91 |
| Masked Trogon | (T. personatus) | Escalera, 7/18/91 |
| Violaceous Trogon | (T. violaceus) | El Palmar, 7/14/91 |
| Ringed Kingfisher | (Ceryle torquata) | several obserations:Orincoco basin, north coast, 7/20,21/91 |
| Green Kingfisher | (Chloroceryle americana) | Rio Grande, Orinoco basin, 7/13-15,20/91 |
| Pygmy Kingfisher | (C. aenea) | Rio Grande, reservoir near Caripe, Henri Pittier near park headquarters; 7/15,20,25/91 |
| *Green Jacamar | (Galbula galbula) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/15/91 |
| Rufous-tailed Jacamar | (G. ruficauda) | Rancho Grande (near headquarters); dry area; on wire over water; 7/25/91 |
| *Paradise Jacamar | (G. dea) | Cleve's, Escalera, Guyana Trail, 7/16,17,19/91 |
| Great Jacamar | (Jacamerops aurea) | pair in forest on Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| White-necked Puffbird | (Norharchus macrorhynchus) | Campamento Rio= Grande,7/14/91 |
| *Russet-throated Puffbird | (Hypnelus ruficollis) | Orinoco basin, 7/20/91 |
| *Black Nunbird | (Monasa atra) | Rio Grande, El Palmar, Escalera,= 7/14,15,17/91 |
| Swallow-wing | (Chelidoptera tenebrosa) | Rio Grande, Escalera; fairly common; 7/14,16,18/91 |
| Black-spotted Barbet | (Capito niger) | Rio Grande, Escalera, Guyana Trail, 7/15-17/91 |
| +Groove-billed Toucanet | (Aulacorhynchus sulcatus) | Caripe, Henri Pittier, 7/20,23-25/91; the common toucanet of the north and an endemic |
| *Black-necked Ara=E7ari | (Pteroglossus aracari) | Rio Grande, Las Claritas, Guyana Trail, 7/13-16,19/91 |
| +Green Ara=E7ari | (P. viridis) | Rio Grande, Escalera Road, 7/14,16/91;= endemic to Guinean region |
| Channel-billed Toucan | (Ramphastos vitellinus) | near El Palmar, 7/13/91 |
| *Red-billed Toucan | (R. toucanus) | Rio Grande area; several sightings; 7/13-15/91 |
| +Golden-spangled Piculet | (Picumnus exilis) | Escalera and Guyana Trail, both times in mixed flocks; 7/18,19/91; a near endemic. |
| Golden-olive Woodpecker | (Piculus rubiginosus) | The most common woodpecker virtually everywhere |
| *Golden-green Woodpecker | (P. chrysochloros) | A female of the northern race was well seen on 7/25/91 on road leading to the administration buildings of the Henry Pittier National Park. This was a Golden-olive size and type; rather uniformly olive on the back, wings and tail; barred on the front; yellow head, a darkish face patch with a whitish streak and reddish under the wings. This bird was apparently somewhat outside of its recorded range; according to de Scauensee & Phelps, it occurs in "xerophytic areas (in Zulia), deciduous forest (in) tall trees in clearings and pastures, often near water or marshy ground" as near as eastern Falcon. The habitat description fits the area where the bird was seen quite well. |
| Lineated Woodpecker | (Dryocopus lineatus) | near Rio Grande, 7/14,15/91 |
| Yellow-tufted Woodpecker | (Melanerpes cruentatus) | common in Rio Grande, Escalera and Guyana Trail, 7/14-16,19/91 |
| Red-crowned Woodpecker | (M. rubricapillus) | common and widespread in open= areas |
| *Smoky-brown Woodpecker | (Veniliornis fumigatus) | Rancho Grande in trails behind biological station; 7/23,25/91 |
| Crimson-crested Woodpecker | (Campephilus melanoleucos) | road to Rio Grande, 7/14,15/91; also Henri Pittier, 7/23/91 |
| *Red-necked Woodpecker | (C. rubricollis) | Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| Plain-brown Woodcreeper | (Dendrocincla fulginosa) | small group (6 or 8 birds) foraging on the ground amid cocoa or coffee plants at Hacienda La Sabaneta, La Planta Road, north of Henri Pittier Park (Choroni Road(,= 7/24/91 |
| Olivaceous Woodcreeper | (Sittasomus griseicapillus) | many locations in Bolivar, Sucre and Henri Pittier Park |
| Wedge-billed Woodcreeper | (Glyphorhynchus spirurus) | forest at Cleve's; Guyana Trail; 7/16,19/91 |
| *Strong-billed Woodcreeper | (Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus) | road to Caripe, 7/20/91 |
| *Barred Woodcreeper | (Dendrocolaptes certhis) | Rio Grande, 7/15/91 |
| *Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper | (Xiphrhynchus pardalotus) | Rio Grande, 7/15/91; smaller version of Buff-throated with streaked throat |
| Buff-throated Woodcreeper | (X. guttatus) | Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| *Olive-backed Woodcreeper | (X. triangularis) | Rancho Grande, 7/25/91; back pattern like Olivaceous (olive back and upper wings; somewhat reddish only on outer wings and tail; spotted head and breast) |
| Streak-headed Woodcreeper | (Lepidocolaptes souleyetii) | Hacienda La Sabaneta, 7/24/91 |
| Spot-crowned Woodcreeper | (L. affinis) | Sucre, Rancho Grande, 7/21,23,25/91 |
| *Dusky Spinetail | (Synallaxis moesta) | Escalera, 7/17/91 |
| Pale-breasted Spinetail | (S. albescens) | west of El Palmar in thickets; noisy; 7/16/91 |
| *Ruddy Spinetail | (S. rutilans) | single dark reddish bird foraging in shrub layer in forest on Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| +Tepui Spinetail | (Cranioleuca demissa) | near top of the Escalera Road on side road near the Alcabala, 7/18/91; endemic |
| *Plain | (Rufous-fronted) Thornbird | (Phacellodomus rufifrons)to judge by the prominent stick nests, this species is widespread in open areas with scattered trees in Monagas, Sucre and west; seen only near Cumana, 7/22/91 |
| *Spotted Barbtail | (Premnoplex brunnescens) | Rancho Grande; in forest understory on trail back of biological station, 7/23/91 |
| +Guttulated Foliage-gleaner | (Syndactyla guttulata) | pair foraging just above ground on slope immediately back of the trail that curves around the mountain in back of the Rancho Grand biological station (at eye level due to the slope); 7/25/91. This species is endemic to the northern ranges in Venezuela |
| *Montane Foliage-gleaner | (Anabacerthia striaticollis) | quite common in feeding flocks, Henri Pittier Park, 7/23-25/91 |
| *Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner | (Philydor rufus) | fairly common in feedingflocks, Henri Pittier Park, 7/23-25/91 |
| Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner | (Automolus ochrolaemus) | in feeding flock, Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| Plain Xenops | (Xenops minutus) | in feeding flocks, Henri Pittier= Park,7/23-25/91 |
| Black-crested Antshrike | (Sakesphorus canadensis) | Orinoco basin, road to Caripe, 7/21/91 (how did this bird ever get to be called canadensis?) |
| Barred Antshrike | (Thamnophilus doliatus) | common & widespread |
| *Mouse-colored Antshrike | (T. murinus) | Rio Grande, 7/15/91;identified by lightly dotted brownish wings |
| *Plain Antvireo | (Dysithamnus mentalis) | family group in dense forest understory on trails back of the Rancho Grande biological station, 7/25/91; all forms well seen and studied |
| *Dusky-throated Antshrike | (Thamnomanes ardesiacus) | in forest undergrowth, Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 (black throat well seen) |
| *Plumbeous Antshrike | (T. plumbeus) | Distinctive seen with Plain Antvireos (see above) back of biological station, Rancho Grande, 7/25/91 |
| Streaked Antwren | (Myrmotherula surinamensis) | in feeding flock, Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| ?Slaty Antwren | (M. schisticolor) | fs and/or imms seen in forest understory with Plain Antvireos (see above) at Rancho Grande, 7/25/91; well seen and ID probably correct |
| *White-browed Antbird | (Myrmoborus leucophrys) | distinctive well seen in forest understory near water on the lower Escalera, 7/17/91; bird responded to imitation of Warbling Antbird call! |
| Warbling Antbird | (Hypocnemis cantator) | common on Escalera; seen near ground in forest understory at same spot as preceding species; rosponded to imitation of call; 7/17/91 |
| *Ferruginous-backed Antbird | (Myrmeciza ferruginea) | Campamento Rio Grande (hear entrance just off road), 7/15/91. Persistent singer in low forest under growth; foraging on ground. Responded to recording. Chestnut back, blue eye patch, black throat and breast with white streak running back from eye |
| Black-faced Antthrush | (Formicarius analis) | trails immediately back of station, Rancho Grande, 7/23,25/91. Persistant caller; very responsive to imitation call & tape, coming right out onto trail several times |
| +Handsome Fruiteater | (Pipreola formosa) | Rancho Grande, 7/23-25/91; endemic in the Venezuela coastal cordillera |
| Screaming Piha | (Lipaugus vociferans) | common in all forested areas in= Bolivar |
| +Rose-collared Piha | (L. streptophorus) | upper Escalera,7/18/91; 2 birds, possibly a pair, active by roadside, medium height (just above K117);endemic |
| *Chestnut-crowned Becard | (Pachyramphus castaneus) | Rancho Grande, 7/23,25/91; once in big feeding flock on back-of-the-mountain trail behind the biological station; in dense cloud forest; second time, also in flock with other birds but in dry, open vegetation on the road to the park offices at the Maracay entrance; a pair in both cases |
| *Black-and-white Becard | (P. albogriseus) | f in feeding flock on back-of-the- mountain trail, Rancho Grande biological station, 7/23/91 |
| Black-tailed Tityra | (Titrya cayana) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/13,15/91 |
| Masked Tityra | (T. semifaciata) | Henri Pittier Park, 7/24,25/91 |
| ?Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock | (Rupicola rupicola) | 1 miserable flyover at dusk in a tropical downpour! Escalera, c. K105, 7/18/91; unmistakeable this species but hardly what one wants to count as life bird |
| Golden-headed Manakin | (Pipra erythrocephala) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/15/91; 1 or 3 active in a small feeding flock |
| *White-crowned Manakin | (P. pipra) | single bird in lower forest understory, Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| *White-fronted Manakin | (p. serena) | small groups on two occasions, lower Escalera Road, 7/17,18/91 |
| Lance-tailed Manakin | (Chiroxiphia lanceolata) | fairly common and easy to find in cocoa plantations, Sucre, Turiamo Road, Hacienda La Sabaneta, 7/21,23,24/91 |
| *White-throated Manakin | (Corapipo gutturalis) | Campamento Rio Grande, with or near Golden-headed Manakins, 7/15/91 |
| Pied Water-tyrant | (Fluvicola pica) | Orinoco basin, 7/20/91 |
| White-headed Marsh-tyrant | (Arundinicola leuocephala) | common and widespread in wet areas of Bolivar and Orinoco basin, 7/13- 20/91 |
| Vermilion Flycatcher | (Pyrocephalus rubinus) | north coast near Cumana,= 7/22/91 |
| *Cattle Tyrant | (Machetornis rixosus) | road near El Palmar;Monagas,= 7/16,20/91 |
| Fork-tailed Flycatcher | (Muscivora tyrannus) | virtually all non- forest areas, sometimes in very large numbers; apparently mostly south migrants |
| Tropical Kingbird | (Tryannus melancholicus) | everywhere except deep forest |
| Gray Kingbird | (T. dominicensis) | north coast (coastal scrub)7/22/91 |
| Sulphury Flycatcher | (Tyrannopsis sulphurea) | near Caripe (wet area near reservoir or lake south of Caripe), 7/20/91 |
| *Variegated Flycatcher | (Empidonomus varius) | Turiamo Road, Hacienda la Sabaneta, Rancho Grande, 7/23-25/91 |
| Boat-billed Flycatcher | (Megarhynchus pitangua) | widespr, many locations,n &= s |
| Streaked Flycatcher | (Myiodynastes maculatus) | widespread, many locations, n & s |
| Social Flycatcher | (Myiozetetes similis) | widespread, many locations, n= & s |
| Great Kiskadee | (Pitangus sulphuratus) | very common and widespread, n & s |
| Lesser Kiskadee | (P. lictor) | road to Rio Grande (wet area near El Palmar), 7/13/91 |
| *Grayish Mourner | (Rhytipterna simplex) | Guyana Trail, 7/19/91 |
| +Venezuelan Flycatcher | (Myiarchus venezuelensis) | Hacienda la Sabaneta, 7/24/91; identification based on (1) call (an often repeated mournful whistle; (2) medium size; (3) dark brown crest; (4) some rufous on tail, particularly as seen from above. Endemic. |
| Tropical Pewee | (Contopus cinereus) | Sucre, north coast, 7/21/91 |
| Smoke-colored (Greater) Pewee | (C. fumigatus) | common and widespread in many locations, north and south; in forested as well as open areas |
| Cinnamon Flycatcher | (Phrrhomyias cinnamomea) | near Caripe, 7/20/91; Rancho Grande; active at biological station and elswhere; 7/23- 25/91 |
| Cliff Flycatcher | (Hirundinea ferruginea) | Escalera Road (Virgen de la Piedra and K117; 7/17,18/91 |
| Yellow-olive Flycatcher | (Tolmomyias sulphurescens) | Campamento Rio Grande, Escalera, 7/15,18/91 |
| (L)Painted Tody-flycatcher | (Todirostrum chrysocrotaphum) | west of El Palmar, 7/13/91; seen by LS next to road near site of following species and clearly described as "a Tody-flycatcher with a streaked breast" |
| Common Tody-flycatcher | (T. cinereum) | west of El Palmar, 7/13,16/91 (same site as preceding) |
| *Slate-headed Tody-flycatcher | (T. sylvia) | Choroni Road, 7/24/91; gray head, white spectacles, heavy bill, yellow wingbars and feather edgings |
| *Pale-eyed Pigmy-tyrant | (Atalotriccus pilaris) | north coast in coastal scrub, 7/22/91; small, streaked, yellowish wing bars, olive-backed, white iris |
| +Venezuelan Bristle-tyrant | (Pogonotriccus venezuelaus) | This endemic was a common member of virtually every feeding flock in the Henri Pittier National Park, 7/23-25/91. Probably also with the slightly larger and very similar Marble-faced Bristle-tyrant which, unaccountably, we neglected to search for ("Oh, just some more Venezuelan Bristle-guys") |
| White-throated Tyannulet | (Mecocerculus leucophrys) | Henry Pittier Park,= 7/23/91 |
| Mountain Elaenia | (Elaenia frantzii) | Henri Pittier, 7/23/91 |
| *Slaty-capped Flycatcher | (Leptopogon superciliaris) | Sucre, 7/21/91; very similar to Bristle-tyrants which do not occur in Sucre |
| Ochre-bellied Flycatcher | (Pipromorpha oleaginea) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/15/91; ochre belly and ochre wing-bars and wing- edging make it Ochre-bellied rather than McConnell's |
| White-winged Swallow | (Tachycineta albiventer) | widespread over water (Rio Grande, Orinoco, north coast, etc) |
| Gray-breasted Martin | (Progne chalybea) | very common and widespread in all non-forest areas; all martins that were identified were this species |
| Blue-and-white Swallow | (Notiochelidon cyanoleuca) | common and widespread, mostly in higher areas |
| *Black-collared Swallow | (Atticora melanoleuca) | Rio Cuyuni, 7/16/91 |
| Southern Rough-winged Swallow | (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis) | widespread |
| *Cayenne Jay | (Cyanocorax cayanus) | fairly common from Campamento Rio Grande south, 7/13,16,18,19/91; inside the forest as well as at the edge |
| *Whiskered Wren | (Thryothorus mystacalis) | Hacienda la Sabaneta,7/24/91 [this is a split from the Moustached Wren, T. genibarbis, see Ridgley/Tudor, 1989] |
| *Coraya Wren | (T. coraya) | upper Escalera on side road near Alcabala,= 7/18/91 |
| (Southern) House Wren | (Troglodytes aedon [musculus]) | common and widespread |
| White-breasted Wood-wren | (Henicorhina leucosticta) | Escalera, 7/18,19/91; common (by sound) but also observed on several occasions |
| *Nightingale Wren | (Microcerculus marginatus) | Rancho Grande, behind biolatical station; called in and well seen; 7/23,25/91 |
| (H)Flutist Wren | (M. ustulatus) | Escalera endemic (heard only), 7/18/91 |
| (H)Musican Wren | (Cyphorhinus arada) | the extraordinarily beautiful song heard in evening concert at the Campamento Rio Grande, 7/14/91; this may be the most accomplished singer of all the birds |
| Tropical Mockingbird | (Mimus gilvus) | common and widespread in open areas |
| *Andean Solitaire | (Myadestes ralloides) | Choroni Road, 7/24/91 |
| *Glossy-back Thrush | (Turdus serranus) | Choroni Road, 7/24/91 |
| *Pale-breasted Thrush | (T. leucomelas) | south of Caripe, 7/20/91, & Henri Pittier Park, 7/23-25/91 |
| Black-billed Thrush | (T. ignobilis) | Escalera, 7/18/91 (some people think this tropical forest thrush (whose song has been identified only recently) is the best singer among the thrushes and rival for the Musician Wren for the 'best bird singer' title but we did not hear it= sing) |
| Bare-eyed Thrush | (T. nudigenis) | Sucre, Turiamo Road, Hacienda la Sabaneta, 7/21,23,24/91 |
| Tropical Gnatcatcher | (Polioptila plumbea) | widespread north and south |
| Rufous-browed Peppershrike | (Cyclarhis gujanensis) | many locations; widespread, north and south |
| Red-eyed Vireo | (Vireo olivaceus) | very widespread from Bolivar (road to El Palmar) to Caripe to Sucre and the north coast to Rancho Grande, Henri Pittier; this is the resident chivi form, which may be a species (looks like the Yellow-green Vireo, flavoviridis, but sounds like our Red-eye) |
| Brown-capped (Warbling) Vireo | (V. leucophrys [gilvus]) | Rancho Grande; common around biological station; now generally considered a separate species from gilvus; 7/23-25/91 |
| *Buff-cheeked Greenlet | (Hylophilus muscicapinus) | Escalera, 7/17/91 |
| Golden-fronted Greenlet | (H. aurantiifrons) | Choroni Road, 7/25/91; one calling bird seen perched showing reddish-gold forehead spot |
| Scrub Greenlet | (H. flavipes) | arid coastal scrub of north, 7/22/91 |
| Shiny Cowbird | (Molothrus bonariensis) | El Palmar and area, 7/15,16/91 |
| Crested Oropendola | (Psarocolius decumanus) | common in or near forest areas, north and south |
| *Green Oropendola | (P. viridis) | Escalera, 7/17/91; huge flock seen flying over forest, early morning, near the bottom of the Escalera (La Piedra de la Virgen); also isolated birds |
| Yellow-rumped Cacique | (Cacicus cela) | Sucre, 7/21/91 |
| Red-rumped Cacique | (C. haemorrhous) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/14/91 |
| Carib Grackle | (Quiscalus lugubris) | common and widespread,Orinoco north |
| +Golden-tufted Grackle | (Tepui Mountain-grackle) | (Macroagelaius imthurni)large flocks of this Tepui endemic on the upper Escalera, 7/17,18/91 |
| Yellow-hooded Blackbird | (Agelaius icterocephalus) | near El Palmar, Sucre, north coast, 7/13,16,21,22/91 |
| Moriche Oriole | (Icterus chrysocephalus) | in Henry Cleve's fruiting tree with the Crimson Topazes, 7/19/91 |
| *Orange-crowned Oriole | (I. auricapillus) | Choroni Road, Hacienda la Sabaneta, 7/24/91 |
| Yellow Oriole | (I. nigrogularis) | near El Palmar, Orinoco, Sucre,= 7/13,20,21/91 |
| Oriole Blackbird | (Gymnomystax mexicanus) | Monagas, Sucre, north coast, Henri Pittier, 7/20-22,25/91 |
| Red-breasted Blackbird | (Leistes [Sturnella] militaris) | near El Palmar, Monagas, 7/13,20/91 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | (Sturnella magna) | near El Palmar, 7/13/91 |
| Tropical Parula | (Parula pitiayumi) | widespread and fairly common, n & s |
| Slate-throated Redstart | (Myioborus miniatus) | widespread, n & s |
| +Tepui Redstart | (M. castaneo-capillus) | upper Escalera at the road by the Alcabala; 7/17/91; in a small flock with the previous species; endemic |
| Flavescent Warbler | (Basileuterus flaveolus) | Hacienda la Sabaneta, 7/24/91. N.B.; there is a possible confusion with young or Three-striped Warbler (seen higher up in mountain forests; see following); this species was seen lower down in different habitat (cocoa plantation, active in low= shrubs) |
| Three-striped Warbler | (B. tristriatus) | common in large feeding flocks, Rancho Grande/Henri Pittier, especially behind the biological station, 7/23-25/91 |
| Golden-crowned Warbler | (B. culicivorus) | Rancho Grande, Choroni Road, 7/24,25/ 91; with feeding flocks and, especially, with the preceding species |
| Bananaquit | (Coereba flaveola) | widespread |
| Swallow-tanager | (Tersina viridis) | easily seen at the Rancho Grande biological station, especially early morning, 7/23,25/91 |
| +Greater Flower-piercer | (Diglossa major) | Around K122 on the upper Escalera Road, 7/17/91. This is the stake-out for this Tepui endemic |
| Purple Honeycreeper | (Cyanerpes caeruleus) | Rio Grande, Escalera, Guyana Trail, Rancho Grande, 7/14,17-19,23/91 |
| Red-legged Honeycreeper | (C. cyaneus) | Campamento Rio Grande, Escalera, 7/15,17,18/91 |
| Green Honeycreeper | (Chlorophanes spiza) | Campamento Rio Grande, Escalera, Guyana Trail, 7/14-19/91 |
| Blue Dacnis | (Dacnis cayana) | Campamento Rio Grande, Escalera, n coast, 7/14,15,17,18,22/91 |
| *Opal-rumped Tanager | (Tangara velia) | Escalera, Cleve's tree, 7/17,19/91 |
| Paradise Tanager | (T. chilensis) | Guyana Trail, 7/19/91; foraging high in= forest |
| *Spotted Tanager | (T. punctata) | Campamento Rio Grande, Guyana Trail,= 7/14,19/91 |
| Speckled Tanager | (T. guttata) | Choroni Road, 7/24/91 |
| Yellow-bellied Tanager | (T. xanthogastra) | exceptionally common on the Escalera with family groups everywhere; 7/17,18/91 |
| Golden Tanager | (T. arthus) | Rancho Grande/Henri Pittier, 7/23-25/91; particularly in largish flocks in high places; often with the next species; this is the distinctive northern race which is quite different from the birds seen in Ecuador (may turn out to be a species) |
| +Olive-backed Tanager | (Mitrospingus oleagineus) | upper Escalera (side road at the Alcabala and elsewhere), 7/17,18/91; endemic |
| *Yellow-backed Tanager | (Hemithraupis flavicollis) | Campamento Rio Grande; 1 bird in a feeding flock, 7/14/91 |
| *Fulvous-headed Tanager | (Thlypopsis fulviceps) | Rancho Grande, 7/23/91; several sightings on Ocumare Road |
| Common Bush-tanager | (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus) | Henri Pittier Park, in almost every feeding flock on both roads; 7/23-25/91 |
| Magpie Tanager | (Cissopis leveriana) | near El Palmar, 7/15/91 |
| *Black-faced Tanager | (Schistoclamys melanopsis) | Gran Sabana; easily seen at the Monument to the Pioneer Soldier and elsewhere; 7/17,18/91 |
| Blue-black Grosbeak | (Cyanocompsa cyanoides) | in forest underground on slope back of Rancho Grande biological station, 7/23/91 |
| Buff-throated Saltator | (Saltator maximus) | Campamento Rio Grande, Guyana Trail, Orinoco basin, 7/14,15,19,20/91 |
| Grayish Saltator | (S. coerulescens) | near El Palmar, Campamento Rio Grande, Sucre, Rancho Grande, 7/13-15,21,25/91 |
| *Orinocan Saltator | (S. orenocensis) | Orinoco wetlands, 7/20/21 |
| *Streaked Saltator | (S. albicollis) | Maracay entrance to Henri Pittier, near administration buildings, 7/25/91 |
| Slate-colored Grosbeak | (Pitylus grossus) | Campamento Rio Grande, 7/14/91 |
| *Yellow-green (Green) Grosbeak | (Caryothraustes canadensis) | active flock in treetops by Escalera Road, 7/18/91 (Canadensis?) |
| Red-capped Cardinal | (Paroaria gularis) | Orinoco wetlands, 7/20/91 |
| +Tepui Brush-finch | (Atlapetes personatus) | upper Escalera at Alcabala Road, 7/17,18/91; endemic |
| +Ochre-breasted Brush-finch | (A. semirufus) | Choroni Road, Henri Pittier Park, 7/24/91; a northern endemic |
| Black-striped Sparrow | (Arremonops conirostris) | south of Caripe, Sucre, Rancho Grande, 7/20-22,24/91 |
| *Pectoral Sparrow | (Arremon taciturnus) | Escalera, Guyana Trail, 7/18,19/91 |
| Lesser Seed-finch | (Oryzoborus angolensis) | near El Palmar, 7/13/91 |
| *Slate-colored Seedeater | (Sporophila schistacea) | near El Palmar,= 7/14,16/91 |
| *Gray Seedeater | (S. intermedia) | Sucre, north coast, 7/21,22/91 |
| *Lined Seedeater | (S. lineola) | n Bolivar including El Palmar area,= 7/13-16/91 |
| Yellow-bellied Seedeater | (S. nigricollis) | north Bolivar, Monagas,= 7/13,20/91 |
| Ruddy-breasted Seedeater | (S. minuta) | near El Palmar, Gran Sabana,= 7/14,17/91 |
| Blue-black Seedeater | (Volatinia jacarina) | extremely widespread and common |
| Rufous-collared Sparrow | (Zonotrichia capensis) | common on the Gran Sabana (surprising in that this is mostly an Andean species), 7/17,18/91 |
| Dark-backed (Lesser) Goldfinch | (Carduelis psaltris) | El Palmar, 7/16/91 |
338 species [5 heard only; 9 probably (insufficient field marks)]
22 endemics (9 in north, 13 in south)
112 lifers (113 if American Flamingo is split from Greater Flamingo)
Eric Salzman
29 Middagh Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone & Fax: 718 522-6138
e-mail: esalzman@aba.org