Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve, also known as the Reinita Cerúlea Bird Reserve, is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 near Bucaramanga

Bucaramanga

Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...

 in central Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. The reserve is set among oak

Quercus humboldtii

Quercus humboldtii, commonly known as the Andean Oak, Colombian Oak or Roble, is a species of oak in the Fagaceae family. It is endemic to the highlands of northern South America, with an altitudinal range from 1,000 to 3,200 m...

 forest on the eastern slopes of the Magdalena River

Magdalena River

The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...

. It measures 545 acres (220.6 ha) and adjoins the Yariguíes National Park

Yariguíes National Park

Yariguíes National Park is a natural park in north central Colombia. It is located in the Santander department and measures . It was officially designated as a national natural park in 2005.-External links:*...

.

The reserve was founded in 2005 by Fundación ProAves

Fundación ProAves

Fundación ProAves is a nonprofit environmental organization in Colombia established in 1998. Its primary aims are to protects birds of conservation concern and their habitats across Colombia.ProAves has over 60 full-time professional staff...

, a non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 environmental organization

Environmental organization

An environmental organization is an organization that seeks to protect, analyze or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation or lobby for these goals....

 that owns and manages several reserves in Colombia, with the assistance of the American Bird Conservancy

American Bird Conservancy

American Bird Conservancy is a non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas...

. It was established to provide an area of protected habitat for migratory

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s from North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 such as the Cerulean Warbler

Cerulean Warbler

The Cerulean Warbler, Dendroica cerulea, is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.-Description:Adult males have pale cerulean blue upperparts and white underparts with a black necklace across the breast; they also have black streaks on the back and flanks...

 as well as locally threatened species. The reserve has incorporated a 15 hectares (37.1 acre) coffee farm, producing shade-grown coffee which it promotes and sells as conservation-friendly ‘Cerulean Warbler Coffee’ to cover the operating costs of the reserve.

Birds

Some 270 bird species have been recorded from the reserve. As well as the Cerulean Warbler, critically endangered local birds found there include the Gorgeted Wood-Quail

Gorgeted Wood-quail

The rare Gorgeted Wood Quail, Odontophorus strophium, is a small ground-dwelling bird. This tiny member of the New World quail family has been found in the larger oak forest remnants in the eastern Cordillera section of Colombia.Its natural habit are humid subtropical and temperate forests that...

, Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird

Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird

The Chestnut-Bellied Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family.It is found only in Colombia....

 and Mountain Grackle

Mountain Grackle

The Colombian Mountain Grackle , also known as the Mountain Grackle, is a species of bird in the Icteridae family.-Distribution and habitat:...

. Other threatened species include the Rusty-faced Parrot

Rusty-faced Parrot

The Rusty-faced Parrot is a species of parrot in the Psittacidae family.It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:*...

, White-mantled Barbet

White-mantled Barbet

The White-mantled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is endemic to Colombia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, pastureland, and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on...

, Black Inca

Black Inca

The Black Inca, Príncipe de Arcabuco is a bird species in the family Trochilidae. It is found only in Colombia....

, Upper Magdalena Tapaculo

Upper Magdalena Tapaculo

The Upper Magdalena Tapaculo is a member of the tapaculos, a group of Neotropical birds. It was described as new to science in 2005....

, Turquoise Dacnis

Turquoise Dacnis

The Turquoise Dacnis is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is endemic to Colombia. It is a rather distinct species of dacnis, formerly separated in the monotypic genus Pseudodacnis....

 and the Recurve-billed Bushbird

Recurve-billed Bushbird

The Recurve-billed Bushbird is a Thamnophilid antbird that inhabits dense stands of secondary vegetation at the northern end of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela. It is named for its extraordinary bill, which curves upwards...

. The Yariguies Brush-finch

Yariguies Brush-finch

The Yariguies Brush-finch is a subspecies of the Yellow-breasted Brush-finch, discovered in 2004 in Colombia.-Description:...

 is a new subspecies recently discovered just outside the reserve. Other animals of conservation interest include the
Spectacled Bear

Spectacled Bear

The spectacled bear , also known as the Andean bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari, is the last remaining short-faced bear and the closest living relative to the Florida spectacled bear and short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.The spectacled bear is a...

, Crab-eating Fox

Crab-eating Fox

The crab-eating fox , also known as the forest fox, wood fox, and the common fox, is an extant species of medium-sized canid endemic to the central part of South America and which appeared during the Pliocene epoch...

 and Santander poison dart frog

Poison dart frog

Poison dart frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. These species are diurnal and often have brightly-colored bodies...

.

Access

Accommodation is available at the reserve, which is two hours by road from Bucaramanga to San Vicente

San Vicente

San Vicente can refer to:*Argentina**San Vicente, Buenos Aires**San Vicente Partido*Bolivia**San Vicente Canton, Bolivia and its seat San Vicente*Chile**San Vicente, Chile*Colombia**San Vicente del Caguán** San Vicente, Antioquia...

, and twenty minutes by 4WD

Four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...

vehicle from San Vicente up to the reserve. The lodge is 1400 metres (4,593.2 ft) above sea level.