EcuadorEcuador
Hummingbirds, Tanagers and Antpittas!
A Perfect Introduction to Andean Birds
May
21-30, 2009
Reservations and prepayment are required on all Ventures. Your place on this Venture will be reserved when your deposit of $300 has been received. Please make your check payable to VENTURES, Inc. and send it to this address or call the office with your VISA or MasterCard #.
Limited to 10 participants.
Ecuador is only half the size of Texas, but over 1,500 species of birds have
been recorded in the country. On this introductory Venture, we travel throughout
the Andes, seeing a dazzling display of tanagers, flycatchers and hummingbirds;
through Chocó cloudforest, where we hope to find such regional endemics as
Toucan Barbet, Pale-mandibled Aracari and Chocó Toucan; over high, windswept
Paramo passes for Rufous-breasted Seedsnipe, patches of Elfin Forest and
mountain grassland where the local Tawny Antpitta is easy to see; to relict
patches of polylepis forest for Giant Conebill and. We then spend time in the
beautiful Tandayapa Valley for a bevy of different hummingbirds, tanagers,
Andean Guan and Andean Cock-of-the-Rock.
With the recent publication of The Birds of Ecuador, there is not a better time to visit this small, yet wonderfully diverse, Andean nation. Our accommodation will be comfortable and convenient to the best birding spots. The food is excellent and the people very friendly. If you have never been to South America before, this trip to Ecuador will open your eyes to the beauty and diversity that is South America.
Leader: Mark Welford
$ TBA per person with single room supplement of $TBA
Price includes: bus transportation throughout (with driver), all accommodation, all meals, entrance fees and gratuities (except for leader/guide), trip information packet & bird checklist, and guide/leader service throughout.
Not included: Flights to and from the US not include, airport departure tax, alcoholic beverages, any meals specified in the itinerary, laundry, and other items of a personal nature.
Day 1 (May 21) Quito
We'll arrive in Quito at noon from Miami on our Lan Ecuador flight and
freshen up at our hotel before heading out to bird the local area. We should see
a good selection of local birds including Black-tailed and Green-tailed
Trainbearer, Rusty Flowerpiercer, Sparkling Violet-ear, Great Thrush, Rufous-collared
Sparrow and Hooded Siskin. Night in Quito
Day 2 (May 22) Papallacta Pass - High Altitude Paramo
Following an early breakfast, we drive up to Papallacta Pass (c.13, 000')
for the morning. Birding is good along the old road and could include Shining
Sunbeam, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, and if we are lucky Andean Condor and Black-chested
Buzzard-Eagle. The road to the antennas is good for Andean Condor, Carunculated
Caracara, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, Many-striped
Canastero and Tawny Antpitta, while the area immediately around the antennas is
an excellent spot for the localized Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe. We will also bird
down the east side of the pass, stopping at a range of wooded and wetland
habitats for: White-chinned Thistletail, Andean Gull, and Silvery Grebe. Lunch
is at Guango Lodge (not included in tour cost) which is renowned for its
hummingbird feeders. We could get Tourmaline Sunangel, Golden-bellied and
Glowing Puffleg, Long-tailed Sylph, Sword-billed Hummingbird and many more. In
the surrounding forest are Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Dusky Piha, Red-hooded
and White-capped Tanagers, Tyrannine Woodcreeper and Turquoise Jay. Night in
Quito
Day 3 (May 23) Yanacocha
An early morning start should find us on Yanacocha ("Inca
Ditch"), a side-vent of Pichincha volcano. The scenery here is outstanding,
as is the birdlife and we hope to see Andean Guan, Swallow-tailed Nightjar,
Great Sapphirewing and Undulated Antpitta. After breakfast we will walk along
the trail to the second tunnel (a very level and gentle hike of about 2 miles at
12,000 ft) looking for the following birds: Golden-crowned Tanager, Black-chested,
Hooded and Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers, Rufous Wren, Ocellated Tapaculo,
Tyrian Metaltail, Purple-backed and Rainbow-bearded Thornbills, the critically
endangered and endemic Black-breasted Puffleg (which we saw last year),
Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Barred Fruiteater and Bar-bellied Woodpecker. Return to
Quito in the afternoon. Night in Quito
Day 4 (May 24) Volcan Antisana
After an early breakfast, we'll drive up to the slopes of Volcan
Antisana, with breathtaking scenery and sweeping vistas. There are several birds
we can get more easily here than anywhere else, including Andean Condor,
Black-faced Ibis, Carunculated Caracara, Andean Lapwing, Black-winged
Ground-Dove, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Stout-billed and Bar-winged Cinclodes,
Streak-backed Canastero, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Paramo Ground-Tyrant, and
Paramo Pipit. Night near Cerro Mongus
Day 5 (May 25) Cerro Mongus
We spend all day searching for some of the most elusive high elevation
birds in the northern Andes, including Imperial Snipe, Black-thighed Puffleg,
Undulated Antpitta, Rufous Antpitta, Crescent-faced Antpitta, Chestnut-bellied
Cotinga, Black-headed Hemispingus , Black-chested Mountain-Tanager, and numerous
other species. Night near Cerro Mongus.
Day 6 (May 26) Los Bancos and Septimo Paraiso
Today will be very different from the mountain habitats of the past few
days. From Otavallo we will drive towards Mindo stopping at a great spot for
Giant Hummingbird before having lunch at Los Bancos. Like many lodges and
restaurants in this area of Ecuador, the Mirador Rio Blanco has hummingbird and
fruit feeders, which attract Green-crowned Woodnymph, Green Thorntail, Andean
Emerald, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, and Fawn-breasted Brilliant and many
tanagers. After lunch will we bird slowly back up to Septimo Paraiso lodge - our
lodging for the rest of the trip. Target birds include Sickle-winged Guan, Bat
Falcon, Bronze-winged Parrot, Golden-headed Quetzal, and Broad-billed Motmot.
Their hummingbird feeders will quickly get our attention and have many of the
resident hummingbirds of the region, but also include Booted Racket-Tail, Brown
Violet-Ear, Empress Brilliant and Velvet-Purple Coronet. Should the weather
cooperate while at Septimo Paraiso we could go owling for Black-and-white Owl,
Cloud forest Pygmy-Owl and Rufous-bellied Nighthawk. Night at Hosteria Septimo
Paraiso
Day 7 (May 27) "Antpitta Farm" and Tandayapa Valley
There are some very special places in this area of Ecuador and one of
these is the "Antpitta Farm". This patch of forest is home to Giant,
Moustached and Yellow-breasted Antpittas (all were seen very well last year). We
will leave the hotel early (before breakfast) to visit this forest, where our
first birds will probably be Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks at their lek. Others may
include Dark-backed Wood-Quail, Crimson-rumped Toucanet and of course, the 3
antpittas mentioned above.
We'll then drive to the Tandayapa Valley and bird this very bird-rich area for the rest of the day. Along the first km of the Nanegalito road we will look and listen for a resident mixed species flock. A Plushcap seems to follow this flock, whose core members include Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Pearled Treerunner, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Montane Woodcreeper, both White-sided and Masked Flower-piercers, and several Tanager species. A resident pair of Powerful Woodpeckers is also in this area. Other non-flock species we might encounter include: Flammulated Treehunter, Long-tailed Antbird, Spillman's Tapaculo, Barred Becard, Crested Quetzal, Beautiful Jay, and Plain-tailed Wren.
The roadside verge here is also one of the best places in Ecuador to find the rare and elusive Tanager Finch. We will spend most of the rest of the day and lunch on or around Pacha Quindi. But driving down the valley to Pacha Quindi we'll look for mixed-species flocks, swifts, parrots, and tanagers. The most common swift is the White-collared, but White-tipped, Chestnut-collared, and Spot-fronted Swifts are possible. Parrots could include Red-billed and Scaly-naped. The road is also a good place to see Toucan Barbet, Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan and Guans. Flocks of tanagers are frequently encountered in the valley. Common and easy to see are Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Golden, Blue-and-black, Golden-naped, Flame-faced, Blue-capped, Grass Green, and Beryl-spangled Tanagers.
The hummingbird feeders at Pacha Quindi arguably have the highest diversity in the world and have attracted over 40 species to date. While we won't see this many, we could see Brown Violet-ear, Collared and Brown Inca, Booted Racket-tail, Empress Brilliant, Wedge-billed Hummingbird, Violet-tailed Sylph, Purple-bibbed Whitetip and Gorgeted Sunangel. Resident species in the front garden include Plain-breasted Hawk, Barred Forest-Falcon, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Blue-black Grassquit, Black-and-white and Yellow-bellied Seedeaters, and White-winged Brush-Finch. In the later morning, if there are few clouds present, Black-and-chestnut Eagle, Hook-billed Kite, Barred Hawk, White-rumped Hawk, and White-throated Hawk are all possible soaring above the ridge here behind Pacha Quindi. Night at Hosteria Septimo Paraiso
Day 8 (May 28) Silanche and Septimo Paraiso
An early breakfast will find us much lower in elevation in the humid
tropics at the Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary, a part of the newly formed Mindo
Cloud Forest Foundation. This 175 acre tropical lowland reserve has high species
diversity, level trails and a 15 meter high observation tower that puts you
eye-to-eye with mixed species flocks. This is one of the last remaining
accessible forest remnants found in this area, and is home to many Chocó and
Tumbesian endemic bird species, including Dusky Pigeon, Purple-chested
Hummingbird, Little Woodstar, Double-banded Graytail, Stub-tailed Antbird,
Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Scarlet-and-white and
Blue-whiskered Tanagers.
After lunch (and depending on the weather) we will either drive to Pedro Vicente Maldonado and search for more Chocó endemics such as the Stub-tailed Antbird, and other species such as Great Green Macaw or head back up to our hotel to either walk the access Road or some of the many trails (which are also excellent). Night at Hosteria Septimo Paraiso
Day 9 (May 29) Milpe and Mindo
The Milpe Bird Reserve is another excellent patch of preserved lowland
forest that has also just been established by the Mindo Cloud Forest Foundation.
Some of the open pastures have been reforested and native vegetation is already
coming back into cleared areas. On the forest trails we can expect to locate
some of the following species: Toucan and Red-headed Barbets, Plumbeous
Forest-Falcon, Rose-faced Parrot, Chocó Trogon, Chocó Warbler, Cloud-forest
Pygmy-Owl, Purple-chested Hummingbird, Pale-mandibled Aracari, Pacific
Tuftedcheek, Club-winged Manakin, Moss-backed Tanager and Yellow-collared
Chlorophonia. After our picnic lunch we will climb higher in elevation to the
town of Mindo. Pacific Hornero is easy to see in the town park and we will spend
the afternoon looking for dry scrub species that we may have missed, such as
Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Smoke-colored Pewee, Striped Cuckoo and Ecuadorian
Thrush. Night at Hosteria Septimo Paraiso
Day 10 (May 30) Septimo Paraiso and Quito
We will spend the morning at Septimo Paraiso - either walking the
trails, watching the hummingbird feeders or just relaxing. We will head back to
Quito after lunch for our early evening flight back to the US.