Lifers, Salsa Dancing, and Urban Birding | Valle del Cauca, Colombia | Field Guides

Lifer bonanza! Don't miss our new birding adventure in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in the latest episode of our 'Field Guides' series.
In this episode, Chris and Diego enjoy some urban birding in downtown Cali, sample the gastronomic and cultural highlights of the city, and enjoy some incredible lifers in the dry forests and wetlands of the Cauca River Valley. And, of course, there's a surprise in store for another special birder.
This video is brought to you along with our partners at Kowa Sporting Optics, who are helping us to achieve our mission to make birding more accessible to people around the world.
sportingoptics...
Merchandise coming soon here: thebirdersshow...
We have a Patreon page! If you'd like to support us, please visit / thebirdersshow
Produced by WhereNext
A Bird-Loving Storytelling Agency
WhereNext.com

[@leoalvarez1073]

Gracias por mostrar la riqueza de nuestro país

[@julianmanriquet]

Yeeaaaah Another great episode, happy to see Potoos my new favorite bird!

[@diegoCOLbirding]

son una chimba!

[@petriparkko213]

Thank's again guys! Great Show!

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thank you, Petri, we really appreciate it :)

[@diegoCOLbirding]

thanks!

[@greggbleakney3109]

"Not too shabby" of an episode! Seriously, one of the best yet.

[@TheBirdersShow]

"Not too Shabby" merch, coming soon... 😉

[@diegoCOLbirding]

;-)

[@marylamke7272]

I birded with Jonathan at sanso wetlands when we're in Columbia in October. He was a wonderful and talented young guide. Very special day

[@TheBirdersShow]

He really is! The work Omaira has done to help these young kids get into birding and guiding is incredible, she was definitely a worthy recipient of the binoculars. And thanks for your comment, Mary, we're happy you has such a good time birding in Colombia.

[@diegoCOLbirding]

cool !

[@horco987]

Excelente Diego y Chris

[@TheBirdersShow]

Muchas gracias 🙏

[@diegoCOLbirding]

thanks!

[@jacobstreets8445]

Great video!

[@diegoCOLbirding]

thanks!

[@jacobogiraldotrejos2876]

When you're going to santuario de fauna y flora in Risaralda It's a good place to go birding

[@TheBirdersShow]

Hi Jacobo, thanks for your comment! I love birding there! And hopefully soon we'll be able to film a series of episodes in Risaralda :)

[@romanspildooren4628]

What an episode again!! Love it

[@TheBirdersShow]

Cheers Roman! And thanks for your support for the show :)

[@diegoCOLbirding]

THANKS!

[@brianfoxellis3294]

Good fun in a great country for birding! I got 150 lifers in one day in Colombia. A local guide who knows the countryside and knows the birds is always best.

[@TheBirdersShow]

150 is not too shabby Brian! ;-)

[@willj9816]

People have always told me that Medellin was the best place in Colombia for urban birding, but I’m with you guys. The birds you see in Cali are top notch!

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thanks for commenting, Will. Medellin is definitely up there, and to be fair, most Colombian cities have some pretty top-notch urban birding spots. But Cali is hard to beat for sure

[@anthonymendoza1327]

@@TheBirdersShow There is an open-air shopping mall in Medellin that I love. It has trees in the middle of the mall and the parrots (and other birds) fly in and out from a nearby park and land on the trees. I remember waiting for my daughter to finish shopping while watching the parrots (and other birds) attack a fruit filled tree.

[@diegoCOLbirding]

@@anthonymendoza1327 so cool! which one is that? I DON?T KNOW shopping malls here but would pay a visit to that one mate! ;-)

[@diegoCOLbirding]

indeed @will J... Medellin definitively not as cool as Cali or Manizales for example!

[@anthonymendoza1327]

@@diegoCOLbirding I believe that would be Centro Comercial Santafé. It is has been a few years since I went to Medellin so that might be wrong. By the way, as long as you are in Medellin, fly over to Bahía Solano. The birding there is really good.

[@steve.hamlin.artist]

KZbin served up the first episode of your show I ever watched. I didn't think I'd care for it, since I don't expect I'll ever get to visit Colombia. I watched a couple of episodes and now I'm hooked. You guys are great, and the people you feature are too. I love the free bins program. I also appreciate that you take a world view on birding, although I can't blame you for highlighting the incredible diversity of species in Colombia. As a US birder, it's cool to see a lot of our species on their wintering grounds.

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thank you, Stephen! That really means a lot to me, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and welcome to the Birders Show community ☺️ we’re lucky to be based here in Colombia to film these lovely birds but we’ll be travelling abroad more this year hopefully 🤞

[@_Creaux]

When you gonna take me along with you? 🤣 great episode per usual!

[@TheBirdersShow]

Let us know when you're in Colombia Elliott mate, we'll gladly go birding together 😁 and thank you, glad you liked it

[@_Creaux]

@@TheBirdersShow 😄will do!

[@ROLLRIGHTYT123]

Another great show. Great filming thank you. Steve 🇬🇧

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thanks Steve! We're glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for your support :)

[@diegoCOLbirding]

THANKS!

[@carmenderibbonsaenz94]

Wao! Guys you are the best ambassadeurs of Colombia! Greetings from The Netherlands!

[@TheBirdersShow]

Greetings from Colombia, Carmen! Thank you so much for your comment, we're glad you're enjoying the videos :)

[@waskitokw]

Surfing on the youtube and then i found guys. Congratulations for the lifer you've got yeeeaaayyy!!! Very enjoy the show, indeed the birds. So glad about how you support local guides/people and encouraging people to love birds in the wild habitat. Best regards Waskito from Indonesia

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thank you! We're glad you found us and that you enjoyed the video 🥳 we all really appreciate it

[@waskitokw]

@@TheBirdersShow sure. I am so happy to get so much insight and inspiration from your channel. I will try to mine, to fight bird poaching content in internet.

[@CapitanCabal]

Great episode featuring my city 👏 👏 👏, definitely received a huge motivation to start bird watching

[@TheBirdersShow]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@benedictpsamuelr]

Capricho Árabe… nice

[@TheBirdersShow]

Great tune! :)

[@diegoCOLbirding]

thanks!

[@johntebbet673]

Great to see this video guys as I have just returned from Colombia from a tour of the Cauca valley, and visited all the birding sites you featured. And we had one of your young guides on our walk around the Sonso lagoon, and he was excellent. Those Poto’s were everywhere! Great work with the binoculars and your donations. I’ve never seen so many locals so passionate about birding and nature, so great to see them being encouraged in the way you are.

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thanks, John, we really appreciate the comment, and glad you enjoyed the episode. And that's so great that you were with one of the young guides at Sonso, their passion really made our day as well. And we're so happy that we're able to help them grow that passion. Glad you had a good trip to Colombia :)

[@diegoCOLbirding]

so COOOOOL !... great sites great people!

[@kurtniznik8116]

Sonso may be hot, full of bugs and tough some times but it is wonderfully accessible and really chock full of great birds. Not to be missed if you're in the area. I recommend getting there before dawn, the morning birding is the best!

[@TheBirdersShow]

Jaja, Sonso can be a challenge, alright! But, like you say, it's a top birding spot, especially when you time it right. As a big fan of wetland and dry forest birding, it has a lot of things I like, bird-wise. Thanks for commenting and hope you enjoyed the episode :)

[@kurtniznik8116]

@@TheBirdersShow As always, love what you guys are doing, keep at it!

[@diegoCOLbirding]

@@kurtniznik8116 kinda too hot for me! ;-) jejeje

[@GlennBartley]

A fun episode. Nice work guys!

[@diegoCOLbirding]

thanks mate... we gotta do one with you!

[@hernanruiz6683]

Loved the video, our beautiful country Colombia 🇨🇴 is paradise. 🙏♥️🇺🇲👋

[@TheBirdersShow]

THANKS FOR WATCHING!

[@CharlesDDuncan]

Great stuff guys! On top of the wonderful birds--so well video'ed--the emphasis on conservation and reaching out to local people (and kids) is a joy. In that vein, I want to send a shout-out to Colombia's FedArroz and Asociación Calidris for their innovative work with rice growers called Las Alas de Arroz (the Wings of Rice). It's been a model internationally for waterbird conservation in rice-fields.

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thank you, Charles! We're so glad you enjoyed the new episode and thanks for your support of the show. And we definitely second that shout-out: the work they both do is excellent!

[@diegoCOLbirding]

you mentioned that in out previous trip mate... THANKS for bringing it again... Calidris been doing great work!

[@turismocapybara]

Los invitamos al departamento de Arauca y de seguro se encantaran

[@diegoCOLbirding]

gracias...nos encantaría!!

[@TheBirdersShow]

De una! Me encanta pajarear en Arauca, si quieres mandar un correo a [e-mail] podemos cuadrar algo espero. Muchas gracias :)

[@michaelhochstetler8483]

Great video & congrats on the lifers! I love the Common Potoos call. I grew up in the country & never thought I'd someday live in a city, and though I prefer the country, I thoroughly enjoy urban birding.

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thanks, Michael, glad you enjoyed it :) the potoo call is indeed amazing! I'm exactly the same: rural childhood, now living in a city. I also typically prefer birding in the countryside, because when the weekend comes around I'm itching to escape the city! But urban birding can be extra rewarding when you find some surprise treasure in the most unexpected surroundings. My first urban peregrine in Cali a few years ago was one such moment.

[@diegoCOLbirding]

both Urban, jungle, rural, etc etc is fun! ;-)

[@morafrank4624]

Quiero unos prismas 😍

[@JustOneKnight]

Awesome 👌

[@dylannewton76]

Where can we access the merch guys?

[@TheBirdersShow]

It's coming very soon, Dylan! We'll let you and everyone know as soon as it's available on thebirdersshow.com 😁

[@tattaylor4786]

Excellent entertainment as always. Just returned from Costa Rica where I managed to get "Not too shabby" a regular catchphrase amongst our group for great bird sightings and experiences. Maybe it can become Global

[@TheBirdersShow]

Thank you, we're glad you enjoyed it! And that's amazing that it became a catchphrase on your trip 🤣 we'll have some "not too shabby" merch soon, you can sign up to our mailing list on thebirdersshow.com and get notified when it drops

[@diegoCOLbirding]

jajajaja.. love it!

[@ankithrao3934]

Hello from Hyderabad, India! I'm 17 years old and just recently fell in love with your KZbin channel (binged all your series over the weekend :) Thank you for the amazing content, it's like taking a virtual trip across South America and getting to such a plethora of birds from a whole different continent! I just recently started making daily checklists of my neighborhood birds and I have this question, which I hope you can address... because there's a lot of mixed views on the internet- Is it ethical to use birdsong playbacks or noises to lure birds out of hiding to observe them? Merlin(the app) has a great library for this. Just today I identified an Indian Golden Oriel's call(Oriolus kundoo) and then played it's song after this. It replied to the electronic call and eventually showed itself out of the foliage. I don't know how I feel about this and would like to know your views on the subject. Thanks for everything and I really hope y'all visit India for future birding trips! New lifers await!

[@diegoCOLbirding]

Hello @Ankith Rao and THANKS for watching the show and great you are enjoying it... about playback I normally try to use it and do it as natural as possible... simulate nature the best you can and all will be fine: I mean, a bit of playback happens naturally when neighboring birds sing to each other, so that's OK... try to do it moderate volume, not too repetitive, and try to use different tapes than the ones EVERYONE uses (like Merlin ones... use Xeno Canto and download your own tapes and edit them for example)... also, try to not use playback at very visited popular places as those individual birds are more exposed to it than birds in remoter areas where not many people goes birding... don't feel bad, just start to think more like a bird and do it moderately... many advantages about playback, and not a single study showing negative real effects...all moderate is ok ;-)

[@ankithrao3934]

@@diegoCOLbirding Gracias Diego sir:D Will keep this in mind!

[@orlandomodeno7567]

Where can I access the t-shirts?

[@TheBirdersShow]

Hi Orlando! If you go to our website and sign up to our mailing list you'll be notified when our store officially launches, but you'll be able to buy merch this week 🥳

[@bxmundo]

Are the rice fields publicly accessible?

[@TheBirdersShow]

they are indeed... they show up as eBird hotspots also