Colombia is home to more bird species than any other country in the world, hosting almost 2,000 species (20% of the global total) in a land area 2/3 the size of Alaska. This diversity is related to Colombia’s position as a tropical crossroads linking the Americas, its rugged topography and huge elevation ranges, and intact lowland forests in the Amazon and Orinoco watersheds. Colombia’s geography and variety of habitats have led to a high degree of endemism, with many distinctive species tied to small geographic ranges within the country. We recently visited three very different ecological regions of Colombia—tropical forest and savanna in the far eastern lowlands, montane forests in the central Andes, and the “rooftop” of Colombia, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, one of the most renowned endemic bird areas in the world. In this talk we will transport you to Colombia’s vibrant landscapes, cultures, and bird life! We will highlight many of the birds, from the flamboyant, to the cryptic, to the downright zany, including encounters with one of the world’s rarest hummingbirds—the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest, a spectacular high-altitude species that was thought to be extinct until 2015.