Ivan Lau

Ivan hails from Venezuela where he studied biology at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. In 2017 he moved to Colombia, and he has been leading birding tours throughout the country ever since, from the endemic rich Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (where he’s bagged one of the rarest and hardest to see hummingbirds in the Americas, the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest!), through the Colombian Andes and as far south as Leticia, on the country's southernmost border. Ivan has even explored some of Colombia’s hardest to reach locations such as the Serranía del Baudó. In 2022 he embarked on a ‘Colombia Big Year’, and eventually ended up with a total tally of 1,471 species - a record which still stands today. Ivan has a special interest in bird calls and sound recordings, as well as frogs and insects. Clients invariably comment on his impressive ability to find rare birds, as well as his calm temperament as a tour leader.