What could be more spectacular than a flock of glorious Ararajubas (better known to English-speakers as Golden Conures, Golden Parakeets or Queen of Bavaria Conures)? Best to come to Amazônia National Park to see them for yourself but for now enjoy this wonderful video!
The Dusky Starfrontlet (Coeligena orina) is a hummingbird species in the subfamily Trochilinae. It is found only at high altitudes in the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia, and was first discovered on Páramo de Frontino. Its status was mysterious for a long time as it was only known from a few museum specimens; it was often held to be a mutant or color morph of some other species of Coeligena. When it was rediscovered in 2004, in what is now the Colibri del Sol Bird Reserve, its status as a distinct species was confirmed.
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This species has a very restricted range, being known from two tiny forest fragments at Páramo Frontino and Farallones del Citará in north-west Colombia. There are only five other localities in the entire western Andes that retain suitable habitat. The combined area of all potentially suitable sites is thought to be less than 25 km2. Therefore, the species’s global population is unlikely to exceed 250 individuals.
Getting to Colombia is easy with airline miles. Since Colombia is in the northern South America region with Peru, please see this post for details on how many miles you would need. The main airport, Bogota is well served by both Star Alliance (Avianca, Copa, United, Lufthansa, Air Canada) and One World (American, LAN, Iberia).
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This video has a fund raising campaign where you can buy 1 acre of land to donate to bird conservation for $100.
If your birding adventure brings you into the rainforest and you will be camping out, you need protection! Mosquitoes love foreign tourists and unfortunately their feast can cause you to get malaria or dengue fever. It might be worthwhile bringing a mosquito net along just to be prepared!
*Disclaimer: The link above contains an affiliate link and I will receive a small commission if you buy this or any other product on Amazon.com after clicking it. As always, I appreciate your support, thank you!
It’s not something that most people would look forward to but sometimes you just don’t have a choice. Maybe your flight was delayed, you don’t have a visa for the transited airport or your connection is in the middle of the night. If you arrive after 10pm and your flight out is early in the morning, it may not be worth it.
The one thing you can count on is that this option won’t be comfortable. The best you can hope for is to at least be safe and secure and maybe catch a few winks. The website Sleeping in Airports has a list of the top 12 airports that meet their criteria for being the best airports to spend a night in.
Comfort: Seats (and lots of them) without armrests and non-metallic.
Conveniences: FREE WiFi, 24-hour food, showers, and activities to do in transit.
Cleanliness: Bathrooms that don’t make us want to gag when we enter and clean floors for those of us who have to sit on the floor due to limited seating.
Customer Service: A smile and friendly attitudes go a long way. We thank the kind airport workers who give us blankets and pillows when we’re stranded and share their tips about the best sleeping spots..
Over the years, I have personally slept in Singapore Changi Airport, the old Bangkok Airport, Dubai Airport, Papeete Airport (not waiting for a flight, it was just too expensive to get a taxi and a hotel for a few hours), Auckland and more recently Santarem, Brazil. Eco-travelers are likely to find themselves in this situation as we travel long distances to far-off exotic lands and we have to be flexible when using miles to get an award flight.
Like I said, it’s not the best solution in the world but in a pinch you sometimes have to make the best of it. The better airports will have seats that aren’t divided so you can stretch out across them. I try to push a bank of seats against the wall, use my backpack for a pillow and use a sarong to cover up.
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If you aren’t lucky, the seats will be divided so you can’t stretch out. In this case, you’re stuck with the floor. Once again, put your backpack against the wall, use it as a pillow and try to cover up as much as possible with a sarong.
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One small consolation is that you probably won’t be alone!
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In the morning, you will probably be woken up early by the cleaning crew. If you are lucky, there will be free public showers in the bathrooms. If you aren’t lucky, you can do your best trying to wash up in the sink. Sleeping in an airport won’t be a pleasant experience but if you do get stuck, make the best of it and focus on the trip ahead. Maybe even treat yourself to a massage at the destination!
The Plum-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. They are found from the foothills of the Himalayas south to Sri Lanka. They are not found in the dry regions of western India.
The photos above were taken in Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala, India. It’s very easy to get to India using airline miles. I have details in my blog post about “Getting to Central Asia using Miles“. You can also see them in Nepal in the Chitwan National Park by flying into Kathmandu.
Plumheaded Parakeet Range with red dots on Chitwan National Park and Thattekad Bird Sanctuary
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The best field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent is now even better. Thoroughly revised, with 73 new plates and many others updated or repainted, the second edition of Birds of India now features all maps and text opposite the plates for quicker and easier reference. Newly identified species have been added, the text has been extensively revised, and all the maps are new. Comprehensive and definitive, this is the indispensable guide for anyone birding in this part of the world.
*Disclaimer: The link above contains an affiliate link and I will receive a small commission if you buy this or any other product on Amazon.com after clicking it. As always, I appreciate your support, thank you!
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The Yellow Wattlebird is the largest of the honeyeaters,and is endemic to Tasmania. They are usually 375–450 millimetres (15–18 in) long. They are named for the wattles in the corners of their mouths. Yellow Wattlebirds are slim birds with a short, strong bill. They are dark-coloured forest birds that somewhat resemble Slandering Grackles. They have a white face and black-streaked crown. They also have a long, pendulous yellow-orange wattle. The wattle becomes brighter during the breeding season. They have dark wings and a yellow belly, whereas the upperparts are grey to dusky brown. The female Yellow Wattlebird is much smaller than the male. The young Yellow Wattlebirds have much smaller wattles, a paler head and a browner underbelly than the adult birds. Yellow Wattlebirds are active and acrobatic with a strong flight. They are fairly tame birds and often enter gardens looking for food.
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If you would like to see this little bird in the wild, first you need to fly to Hobart in Tasmania. You can use your airline miles to get to Australia. Once there, hire a car and drive to one of these national parks. More information about Freycinet, Mole Creek, Cradle Mountain and all of Tasmania’s national parks can be found on the Parks & Wildlife website. Freycinet has a very impressive bird list!
This little guy seems to have been filmed in someone’s backyard but it’s a great close up video which clearly shows his wattles. Nice to see him enjoying his bath!
I was scrolling though some of the camping/survival gear on Amazon.com and found this curious looking multi-tool. It also comes in black but if you are going to buy such a curiousity, you might as well go all out and get fuschia! It looks like it would pass airport security too!
*Disclaimer: The link above contains an affiliate link and I will receive a small commission if you buy this or any other product on Amazon.com after clicking it. As always, I appreciate your support, thank you!
