7. Andes:
Yacambú National Park


For many years, the 14,580 ha Yacambú National Park was little known and even less visited by birders, probably because it lay some distance from the traditional birding circuits. Nowadays this has changed and the park has justly become one of Venezuela’s most popular birding sites, due in large part to Peter Boesman and Dave Willis’ rediscovery a few years ago of the Great Antpitta, a bird previously unknown in life. In fact, Yacambú gives the impression of being full of ornithological surprises: in just a few visits I have been fortunate enough to find over thirty species new to the park, many of these range extensions from much further south in the Andes.

Yacambú is justly famous as a cloud forest park and, as such, holds many of the specialities of the Coastal Cordillera and Andes. Oddly enough the Parakeets here are Blood-eared from the Coastal Cordillera rather than Rose-headed, and Green-tailed Emerald is the common Chlorostilbon on the lower slopes. However, typical Andean species include White-rumped Hawk, Golden Starfrontlet, Orange-throated Sunangel, Crested Quetzal and Mérida Tapaculo. The latter is actually more common here than anywhere else within its range. Mixed tanager flocks are always an exciting feature at Yacambú and neotropical migrants are common during the boreal winter.

Apart from the cloud forest, a small artificial pool at El Blanquito has long been known as a reliable site for Rusty-flanked Crake with a couple of pairs usually present. The pool usually has Caribbean Coot and Masked Duck and a variety of other commoner birds like Rusty-breasted Antpitta and Golden-winged Manakin too.

While not strictly within the park, Yacambú abuts on the xeric habitats which characterise NW Venezuela and one only has to descend a few kilometres towards Barquisimeto to be in with a chance of dry country endemics like Slender-billed Inezia and Tocuyo Sparrow.

Quiet lodgings and restaurants are available in Sanare just a few kilometres from the park.

Specialities and endemics

Rufous-vented Chachalaca S
Band-tailed Guan S
Helmeted Curassow S
Rusty-flanked Crake E
Blood-eared Parakeet E
Lilac-tailed Parrotlet S
Green-tailed Emerald E
Copper-rumped Hummingbird S
Violet-chested Hummingbird S
Golden Starfrontlet S
Orange-throated Sunangel S
Rufous-shafted Woodstar S
Crested Quetzal
Yellow-billed Toucanet S
Scaled Piculet S
Crested Spinetail S
Great Antpitta E
Rusty-breasted Antpitta S
Mérida Tapaculo E
Venezuelan Tyrannulet S
Slender-billed Inezia S
Golden-breasted Fruiteater S
Red-ruffed Fruitcrow
Black-hooded Thrush S
Fulvous-headed Tanager S
Tocuyo Sparrow E


Full bird checklist

Goodwin, M.L. and M. Lentino. 1992. Lista de las Aves del Parque Nacional Yacambú, Estado Lara, Venezuela. Sociedad Conservacionista Audubon de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela. 33 pp. 254 spp., but recent additions make nearly 290 spp. Available from SCAV (http://www.audubondevenezuela.org).

Links

Bioparques: http://www.parkswatch.org/parkprofiles/yacambu/yacambu.shtml

(see also 6. Andes: La Mucuy and the Humboldt Trail)

 

Coastal Cordillera
Birding Caracas
El Ávila
Henri Pittier National Park
Llanos
Hato Piñero
Hato Cedral
Andes
La Mucuy and the Humboldt Trail
Yacambú National Park
Coast
Morrocoy National Park &
Cuare Faunal Refuge and Ramsar Site
Tepuis
La Escalera
Amazonas
Gavilán Road

 

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