Breiner Tarazona

30 Testimonials Write a testimonial for Breiner

Hello travelling birders! I have just returned from northern Colombia and want to highly recommend the region and our guide Breiner Tarazona. As others have said here, Breiner is 5 stars all the way - he has all of the birding skills (knowledge of species, habitat, ability to pick out calls and spot difficult species, etc) plus he is organized, punctual, flexible (adjusting to our preferred pace), thoughtful, and generally a great guy to spend time with. Furthermore he has a good network of local guides at different sites and has good relationships with a network of private property owners with gardens and feeders. We stayed in very comfortable accommodation throughout, ate fabulous food, felt safe and well looked after the entire time. As a bonus he is fluently bilingual but also patient and encouraging with our stumbling attempts at practicing Spanish (he deserves a gold star for that!). All in all, if you are thinking about going to Colombia (and if you are a travelling birder, I assume you are) I highly recommend contacting Breiner. My only concern is he will get too busy because we want to book him again!

I would love to give Breiner 100 stars! Breiner is an exceptional young man who is not only an amazing guide but an awesome human being overall. Our first tour, for the endemics of the Perija mountains, was so successful, especially with the endemics and the Painted parakeets. We had the best driver in difficult conditions and the most knowledgeable local guide. We just returned from seeing the Harpy Eagle nest in Mesetas, and the Green-bearded helmetcrest in Sumapaz, another amazing, fun, successful tour! Next…Santa Marta, can’t wait!

Brener was amazing. He knows the area extremely well, so knows where to find the many specialties in the region. He’s also an excellent birder by ear, which I greatly appreciate in a guide. He’s very passionate about what he does, and I love his sense of mission for inspiring the next generation to be more aware of the world around them. I plan to use him again in the near future.

My wife and I had the pleasure of being guided in the Santa Marta area by Breiner for three days. He is an excellent guide and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with him. We saw a wide variety of birds in the locations he took us to, including all but one of the endemics! I would highly recommend him!

Breiner accompanied us for 2 days in the heart of the Sierre Nevada mountains. It was a delight birdwatching with him because he is so knowledgeable about the birds in this region. He crafted for us a very well-organized tour that allowed us to discover many new species. His charisma and personnality made the long walks feel like a casual stroll through the forest. We enjoyed his company and recommend him 100% if you are searching endemics species in Minca.

Breiner guided us (my wife and me) for only two short days in the Sierra Nevada, but we agree that he deserves the high recommendations he receives. He's a top-notch birding guide, knowing how and where to find the birds of the region. In addition he's a true professional host and guide, attending to the needs and concerns of his clients with a cheerful spirit, kind heart, and entertaining manner. Furthermore he makes sure to connect with the people in the communities to which he brings his clients, and invests time in young Colombian birders and birding guides. We're sorry that his schedule limited his time with us, but we were so glad we got to meet Breiner and bird with him on our visit to Colombia! You won't regret hiring him as a guide for your trip!

My husband and I had a wonderful time on our recent 9 day birding tour of the Icaro Birding Tours Santa Marta endemic tour, led by Breiner. Breiner is passionate about birds. He is expert at spotting birds in the most difficult, dense foliage. More importantly, he had the patience to point out each bird to each of us. I saw dozens of "lifers" on this tour and over 230 unique species. Thank you, Breiner!

Breiner is an excellent guide. He knows the birds of the area very well, but is also very good about showing the client where the bird is located. He has great people skills and is highly recommended!

My wife and I had the pleasure of joining a small group from Feb 8-15 with Icara Birding, and our guide for the week was Breiner. From the very minute we met him and joined for the first outing his confidence, knowledge and tool kit for sighting, listening and sharing the likley sightings was at his finger tips. We moved for the next 6 days from the Barranquilla coastal plains to the Snata Marta / Sierra Nevada mountains, staying in the small lodges and briding 3 - 4 times a day. Breiner took care of the entire set up for us each step of the way, as he was a perfect host and guide for Icara. He made sure we all were safe, equiped and never hungry on the trip. Early morning starts and throughout the day and evening he made sure we had simple meals, beverages and daily briefings for the sightings and the next day's likley mix and location. In addition to making sure we were happy he was thoughtful with each encounter with other guides in the field, biriding operators of the hotels and restaurants too. Just always a good vibe with everyone. He is extremely well spoken, in English and Spanish, and sees the need for incorpororating the local area guide to join us for the very best knowledge and positioning in the field. He uses his phone, scope and helps insure everyone will see and identify the correct species. Filled with laughter and pleasure he loves being a guide, building the ecotourism in Colombia, which gives him joy and a strong sense of accomplishement. I would give him a wonderful and positive report, and use him again and confirm that for others. 5 STARS / TOPS

Breiner and one of his associates guided us for two days in the Santa Marta mountains. He is a fantastic birder and knows where to find all of the Santa Marta endemics. We found all of our targets and some great raptors. He works closely with local drivers and the staff from Mountain House, which made our trip really easy. We appreciated his connections to the local community and his outstanding bird finding abilities.

Linda and I had the pleasure of having Breiner as a guide in the Santa Marta area Nov 18 to 23, 2023. Breiner was high energy with excellent english, hard-working and a great birder. He knew when, where and how to find all the specialties of Magdalena and La Guajira provinces. This resulted in us seeing almost all the endemics of the area in a very short period of time. Breiner was well respected by other guides and appeared to have a reputation as being one of the best. The tour was run very smoothly and a lot of fun thanks to him, and I highly recommend him as a guide. Thomas Plath Richmond, Canada

Breiner came highly recommended from highly experienced birders and exceeded our wildest expectations. His knowledge of diverse Colombian ecosystems was complimented by extraordinary identification skills. But it was his genuine and compassionate connection to the local human communities we visited that left the most lasting impression. Yes, we ID’ed 100s of species, including much sought after endemics and rarities, but we got an even rarer taste of local customs and traditions.

We hired Breiner to guide us for 3 days in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Santa Marta and one day on the north coast of Colombia. Breiner is a fantastic guide. He is incredibly knowledgeable about where to find the challenging endemics and has all the vocalizations down cold. He is great at getting you on birds and will be as dogged in pursuit of rarities as you need him to be. We birded for a few days in Colombia without Breiner and even though he was not "on the clock" he was so generous with his time, identifying pictures for us over WhatsApp and giving us tips on other places to bird. Maybe most important for me was how tied Breiner is to the local community. He brought us to small restaurants off the beaten track, hired local drivers, and hooked us up with other local guides. He is bilingual, which was important for me, a non-Spanish speaker. And perhaps best of all, was his enthusiasm and positive attitude. If you are birding in the Santa Marta area, I can't recommend Breiner enough.

Breiner is fantastic. Excellent English (and Spanish haha) Friendly, knowledgeable, and well connected in the areas we visited. I very much hope to hire him again and am planning to do so as soon as I return to Colombia. Gracias!

Breiner organized an incredible adventure called the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest trek! We hiked up to 13,000 feet in the Santa Marta Mountains, Colombia, with breathtaking scenery for two days. We camped at the edge of the Sacred Lakes for four days to make sure we could spot and photograph the rare Blue-bearded Helmetcrest hummingbird, which was believed to be extinct for 75 years. I feel so lucky to have been part of this trip. Thank you, Breiner, for taking such good care of us!

I ended up hiring Breiner for two days while I was gallivanting around the Sierra Nevadas. Not only was he knowledgeable and a great guide, he's a great human being. Even when we weren't looking at birds or other wild life, Breiner was just fun to hang out with. And because of that I didn't just see birds, I met locals and went places I never would have been to if he had not been with me. He's also a great teacher. I want to do more than just see the bird, I want to learn how to identify in the future. I will forever be able to identify a sparkling violetear by their call.

En Julio 2023, tuve la fortuna de que Breiner me guiara por Santa Marta, fue una experiencia única e inigualable, llena de momentos transformadores. Conocí a muchas endémicas de la zona, y la convivencia con la gente local, fue fabulosa. Breiner siempre con toda la actitud, carisma más su conocimiento de las reservas y las aves que habitan ahí, me hicieron enamorarme de esta experiencia. Todo fue increible, realmente hace un aviturismo regenerativo. Agradecida con él por siempre!

Mi experiencia con Breiner desde el momento en que nos encontramos, fue maravillosa, su entusiasmo y conocimiento de la Sierra me sorprendieron. No solo me mostró lugares increíbles, sino que tambien me aporto nuevo conocimiento en cuanto a aves. Me encantó su capacidad para adaptarse a las necesidades y preferencias de las personas que guía, siempre dispuesto a responder preguntas y a brindar recomendaciones. Buen humor y personalidad amigable que hicieron que la experiencia fuera aún más agradable. Recomendado turismo de naturaleza y avistamiento de aves con el.

Breiner was our birding guide today, going from Minca up to El Dorado. With sharp observation skills he showed us many birds. The attraction of birds with their sound, the additional observation with telescope of breeding kites made it an unforgettable day. Besides an excellent birding guide Breiner told about the geographical history and the floral diversity.

Breiner was my guide in the mountains above Santa Marta in early February of 2023. Breiner was extremely knowledge about the avifauna in the area and did an excellent job arranging the logistics. I highly recommend Breiner as he is very personable and has a passion for birds. In addition, his English is very good and was able to answer all my questions related the natural history of the region.

Breiner Tarazona was our guide for 11 days and we had a great time. Breiner is knowledgeable and friendly… and just about every 3rd or 5th person seems to stop to say “hi” on the road from Minca to El Dorado when we birded once along the road. My husband and I were first-timers in Colombia, but we felt we belonged. His guiding map on this site only shows Magdalena, but we also birded in Cartagena, Atlantic, Cesar and La Guajira. He knows all those hotspots and birds, too. He also works with local guides and it was fun to meet other guides and visit local farms. Every day was different and special. In 11 days, I had seen 370 birds in Colombia and more than 250 lifers… more than my 355 species seen in 3 1/2 years in Oregon. I was tripping over bird names, but Breiner was patient and I liked his end-of-day quizzes to review what we had seen. He is also a great photographer and taught me some new tricks (digiscoping with a newer iPhone and how my camera works). Breiner is fluent in English, by the way. My husband isn’t a birder, but he hung in there with those long birding days, partly thanks to Breiner’s ability to relate to both of us, based upon our interests and who we were; it would be easy for a bird guide to neglect non-birders, but not Breiner. Breiner has a degree in hotel and hospitality management and is a certified bird guide. Anyway, we recommend him! Hotels and food were good, too. I hope to be back soon!

My wife and I toured Northern Colombia with Breiner in late January of 2023. Breiner was a fantastic guide with a remarkable ability for identifying birds quickly. His keen eyesight and knowledge of bird calls allows him to locate birds that I never would have known were there. Also, Breiner is funny, cheerful, and very well organized. We were very pleased with his punctuality: He was always exactly on time, even on those days that started at 4 or 5 am. We would highly recommend Breiner for any birders wishing to see the diverse bird life of Northern Colombia.

Breiner is a wonderfully warm, enthusiastic & charismatic man. Real fun to be with. An excellent communicator, he answered all of our queries on WhatsApp immediately, and made sure that all of our arrangements were in place. His knowledge of all aspects of flora and fauna, in particular the birds is phenomenal. If you’re fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be guided by Breiner, you’ll have a great time.

In January 2023 I joined Breiner Tarazona's trek to observe the critically endangered Blue-bearded Helmetcrest and Santa Marta Wren in paramo habitats near the Lagunas de Sevilla, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This area is not regularly visited by birders as a lot of logistical preparations, coordination, and time are required to reach it. Breiner did an amazing job organizing the expedition and leading clients in the field. He is extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic, friendly, and easy to talk to whether in Spanish or English. The quality of experience was extremely high and Breiner was key to making it happen. He is also mindful of the need to engage local people in order to secure a better future for these highly range-restricted species, whose habitats are increasingly affected by burning and other land-use practices. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking a guide, whether on Breiner's annual trip to this area, or anywhere else in the Santa Marta region. Thank you Breiner!

I had an opportunity of birding with Breiner in Santa Marta in Dec, 22. I was very impressed by his excellent knowledge about the local species and where to find them. He's also well connected with local people to make the logistics a relaxed and enjoyable experience. Above all, he's a real gentleman who treats birders with courtesy and respect, I view him as a trustworthy friend and strongly recommend him to fellow birders!

Breiner’s knowledge of the birds, and the region, are impressive. Just as important, he knows how to show birds, and birding, to his clients. He is an accomplished professional, but also good company. Strongly recommended.

Breiner knows his birds and he for sure knows where to find them. He's a fun person to travel with and more than dedicated to the job. Breiner, that morning with the Lilac-tailed Parakeets is forever etched in my memory!

Breiner make you feel like a friend, he is courteous and and gentleman, it’s impressive his knowledge about birds and he zone we were visiting, he knows where to find the bird, he is very professional, I will be hiring again every time I will visit Minca area, he is the best guide in that area.

Breiner is very knowledgeable about the birds in northern Colombia, and seems to have quite a bit of experience in the Santa Marta and Perijá areas. He has a sharp eye and is good at pointing out where a bird can be seen. He took good care of the logistics of the trip, and he has a calm and friendly demeanor and a sense of humor.

Breiner's enthusiasm and love for the birds in the Caribbean region of Colombia is just contagious. I'm impressed about his progress becoming one of the most knowledgeable guides in this region and I look forward to discovering more places and birds with him!