Photographer: Adam Riley   Destination: Colombia

The 50 species of antpittas that make up the family Grallariidae are some of South and Central America’s most attractive and sought-after species. Generally secretive forest-understorey skulkers, they might not have the brilliant colors of the Old World pittas, but they make up for it with their attractive patterns and cute long-legged, short-tailed body shapes. Antpittas are notoriously difficult to observe, however the advent of antpitta worm feeders has resulted in the habituation of several species that were previously considered near-impossible to see. At these sites, antpittas have become easy to watch and photograph at length, providing views that previously could only be imagined! Colombia has several antpitta feeding stations, and this photograph of the lovely Chestnut-crowned Antpitta was taken by Adam Riley at a feeding station in Colombia’s Rio Blanco reserve. Here our guests have also been treated to Bicoloured, Chestnut-naped and Slaty-crowned Antpittas, as well as a variety of other species that are attracted to the worms. More information and images can be found on the Rockjumper blog.

Per square mile, Colombia is the most biodiverse country on the planet, supporting over 10% of all known species. It boasts the world’s 4th largest mammal list (467 species), is 3rd in terms of reptiles (518 species), 2nd for butterflies (approx. 14,000 species), flowering plants (approx. 51,200) and freshwater fish (approx. 3,200), and first in the world for amphibians (623) and most significantly birds with a current list of 1,889.  This remarkable avifauna includes nearly 80 endemics and a wealth of other range restricted species. Our 19-day Andean Endemics tours combined with the 6-day Santa Marta Extension provides comprehensive coverage of the endemics and other specialties of Colombia and at the same time racks up an impressive bird list (765 on our most recent tour).

Rockjumper still has space available on our November 2012 Andean Endemics and Santa Marta Extension. Some of the target birds we will seek include the localized Bogota Rail, Northern Screamer, Yellow-eared Parrot, the fabulous Bearded Helmetcrest (one of the over 70 hummingbird species that our tours usually observe!), over a dozen species of antpittas, Chestnut-capped Piha, Tanager Finch, Gold-ringed and Black-and-gold Tanager (over 60 tanager species can be expected!), White-tipped Quetzal and a host of Santa Marta endemics. We are thrilled to be able to offer this tour at a significant discount – the cost of our November 2012 Andean Endemics tour has been reduced by over US$900 and is now approximately US$5,900 (Colombia Peso 10,500,000).

We are also proud to announce our inaugural Colombia 1,000 Bird Mega Tour from 22nd November to 19th December 2013. This 28-day birding adventure is the most thorough tour of Colombia available; our route covers the ranges of over 1,300 birds and our participants can expect to see over 1,000 species, including almost all of Colombia’s endemics and near-endemics.

These tours will be guided by Forrest Rowland, Rockjumper’s lead South American bird tour leader, as well as a local birding expert. Please contact our offices for more details on these and other Colombian tours that we are offering.

Lastly, a final reminder that if you haven’t entered our competition to win a cruise of the North West Passage (valued at US$10,000) or an African safari, the draw will take place shortly and you can enter on our website  or via our Facebook page. Also if you have not yet ordered your complimentary hard copy or electronic version of our 2013 brochure, please visit our homepage and let us know your brochure preference!