Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

General characteristics 

This isolated range of table-top mountains, protected by a national park, rises from the flat Amazonian lowlands in Guaviare and Caquet departments of south-east Colombia (see map, p.194). The sierra consists of an arc of sandstone mesas some 125km long and 30km wide rising abruptly from the surrounding flat lowlands; they reach heights of 800-900m in the north and 600m in the south, often presenting several levels of terraces separated by vertical cliffs. The thin, sandy soil of the table-tops supports a scrubby vegetation interspersed with areas of naked rock, and the stature of the vegetation reflects the depth of the soil (or its absence) at any given point. The sierra has been identified as a Secondary Area due to the presence of the endemic and recently discovered Chiribiquete Emerald Chlorostilbon olivaresi (as described by Stiles 1996), which is a common inhabitant of the scrub and adjacent forests of the middle and upper levels of the sierra, but evidently does not occur in the surrounding lowlands (Stiles 1996). The region is also important for the widespread but threatened Wattled Curassow Crax globulosa (classified as Vulnerable) (Wege and Long 1995).

Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Sierra de Chiribiquete. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/05/2013

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