This isolated range of table-top mountains, protected by a national park, rises from the flat Amazonian lowlands in Guaviare and Caquetá departments of south-east Colombia (see map, p. 194). The sierra consists of an arc of sandstone mesas some 125 km long and 30 km wide rising abruptly from the surrounding flat lowlands; they reach heights of 800-900 m in the north and 600 m 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).

Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Sierra de Chiribiquete. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/319 on 26/12/2024.