Ecuador
Buenaventura Reserve
Buenaventura protects a small (3,000 acre) oasis of cloud forest in an otherwise arid region. Here elements of the northern Chocó forest and southern Tumbesian habitat mix to form an extremely rich ornithological site, home to 327 species of birds, 26 of which are restricted-range bird species and nine of which are classified by BirdLife International as globally threatened or vulnerable. The area is the only known site of two endangered species, the recently discovered El Oro Parakeet and the El Oro Tapaculo. Fewer than 120 El Oro Parakeets remain in the wild; half of these live in the reserve. The threatened Gray-backed Hawk as well as several other endemic species are also found here. Quito-based Tropical Birding, provides scheduled and custom tours to the reserve.
The nearest city is Machala. The reserve lies between Machala and Piñas. For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
Machalila National Park
Machalilla is located in the central part of Ecuador’s Pacific Coast. 230 species of birds have been sighted in the park, including pelicans, petrels and storm-petrels (including the White-vented Storm-petrel), frigatebirds, boobies and most importantly the Waved Albatross. Fog forest, dry forest and coastal scrub characterize the more than 135,000 acres (54,000 hectares) of the park, which also counts 316,160 acres (128,000 hectares) of marine and coastal habitat along the mainland and the islands. Birds include the endemic Gray-backed Hawk and Saffron Siskin, plus Little Woodstar, Gray-and-White Tyrannulet, Red-masked Parakeet, among others. For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
Cerro Blanco Forest Preserve
Cerro Blanco, with 3,450 ha of tropical dry forest, is 16 Kilometers west of Guayaquil. 200 plus bird species have been seen here The reserve is open daily from 8:30 am till 4:30 pm.
For permission to enter this reserve, write to The Director, Cerro Blanco Reserve, La Cemento National, Apartado Postal 09-01-04234. (The property belongs to the cement company).
For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
Galapagos Islands
Visitors to the various islands of the Galapagos must be accompanied by a registered naturalist guide. Guides on birding tours will take visiting birders to the best spots on the individual islands on which people are allowed to land. In addition, the boats carrying birders will usually circle other small islands, but not land, in order to allow birders to see local endemics, e.g. the different mockingbirds that have evolved on several islands, from the deck of their tour boat.
Choco Region sites
The Choco region, two hours northwest of Quito, is one of the prime birding destinations in Ecuador, indeed in all of South America. An extraordinary number of species can be seen here, dozens and dozens of species of hummingbirds, glorious mixed flocks of tanagers and mountain-tanagers, a wide variety of antbirds, and other specialties, including some fine leks. There are a number of excellent sites from which a birder can choose, and a number of excellent lodges that have their own birding areas. For detailed and relatively recent information on this region you might look at Mark Guerney's report. Much of the following, though not all, is based on his information.
Mindo Loma,#74 km along the main road from Quito to La Independencia, has a fine track which leads uphill through forest to a waterfall. The trail heads off to the left from the highway, and features a restaurant, with good food and good hummingbird feeders, is located close to the beginning of the track. The feeders attract wonderful birds like Velvet-purple Coronet and Empress Brilliant. The trail can hold mixed tanager flocks, both Golden-headed and Crested Quetzals, plus a variety of antbirds (heard more often than seen) and other Choco specialties.
Milpe Bird Sanctuary, is located on the far end of the village of San Jose de Milpe. The village itself is at km 91 on the road from Quito to La Independencia. The Milpe road, unpaved, turns off next to the bus shelter on the right side of the road. The entrance to the reserve is about a kilometer along this road. There is a sign, gate, and visitor building. The entry fee is currently $5. The trail network begins from the car park. A viewpoint with hummingbird feeders is located along the path, from which some trails lead down towards the river while others pas through the top part of the reserve. Mixed flocks here can include dozens of species, the more common ones being Ochre-breasted and Rufous-throated Tanagers, Yellow-throated Bush-tanager,Choco Warbler, and Orange-crested Flycatcher. There are several species of antbirds, as usual more often heard than seen. The list of other possibilities is too long to be given here. In addition to the reserve itself, the road provides good birding. Indeed, some species are more easily seen along it, especially the section for about a kilometer beyond the entrance to the reserve.
Rio Silanche Reserve is located a few kilometers off the main road from Quito to La Independencia. The unpaved road to the reserve turns off the highway at kilometer point 126. Follow it down, take the left fork on the far side of the quarry, turn left again at the next fork, and at the T junction turn right to the bridge. The best place to bird is the forest patch owned by the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation (www.mindocloudforest.org), located about a kilometer beyond the bridge over the Rio Silanche. There is a car park on the left and a trail leading to a canopy tower and a guardhouse where you can pay the admission fee. The list of birds here is phenomenal, far too long to be given here.
Tandayapa Valley, with private reserves that cover a substantial area, is one of the best places to see Choco specialties. The road from Tandayapa Village (1700 M altitude) and the top of the valley (2300 meters) and can be birded of foot or from a car, beginning in the village itself. From the lower altitude, with Beautiful Jay, Black-capped Tanager, and Whiskered Wren among others, the bird species slowly change, with Turquoise Jay, Toucan Barbet, Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Grass-green Tanagers and others, and at the very top birds like Pearled Treerunner, Beryl-spangled Tanagers, Rusty-winged Barbtail, and many more.
Another area, not covered in Mark Guerney's report but definitely worth a closer look (the bird list for the area is around 400, including such difficult to see species as White-faced Nunbird) is around the town of Nanegal. Loreto Road
The stretch of road from Tena to Coca is an excellent birding site, for two reasons. First, the area is in the boundary zone between the lower montane birds and the birds of the Amazonian lowlands. Second, because you are birding on a paved road, you will have good sight lines. This is especially important for groups. The area also records some more unusual species. A single Dark-billed Cuckoo was seen here in June of 2005, a bird usually seen as an uncommon Austral migrant to the coastal regions of central and southern Ecuador.
For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
Papallacta Pass
Papallacta(3,960 m/12,992 ft) is the closest pass over the Andean ridge en route from Quito to the eastern slope, so it falls into both the Atlantic and Pacific Andean slopes. Along this Andean ridge, a high country of paramo, mountain lakes, and spectacular mountains, the numbers of species may be low (relative to the astounding numbers in some parts of Ecuador), but some, like the Andean Condor, are eagerly sought after. The road over the pass has several places to stop in search of the Sword-billed Hummingbird, a datura specialist. Near the top of the pass, on the way from Quito to the east, a road leads off to the left. Following that road to its end, you arrive at a set of buildings (including bathrooms), an excellent place to look for the Rufous-bellied Seed-snipe (provided the weather cooperates). We saw half a dozen, running and flying, in a span of ten minutes. Also possible in this area: Mountain Avocetbill, Andean Condor, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Many-striped Canestero, Giant Conebill, Black-billed Shrike-tyrant, and numerous others.
For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America. Quito area - Yanacocha and Pasachoa
The Quito area has two good preserves for visting birders, close and productive. Yanacocha, a recently established reserve, is a prime destination for visitors to Quito. It is close to the city, provides a good introduction of Ecuadorian birds, and is the best place in Ecuador to see the Black-breasted Puffleg, said to be the rarest living hummingbird. You will need a high-clearance vehicle to get to the reserve. Bring water and food. The main path leads from the parking lot along the side of the volcano. A number of hummingbird feeders are scattered along the trail. To see the Puffleg you should go to the farthest spot along this trail, past the bathrooms. Other good species to be found along the open upper trail and in the forest trails downhill include Tawny-breasted and Curve-billed Tinamous, Imperial Snipe, Buff-fronted Starfrontlet, Golden-breasted Puffleg, Giant Hummingbird, Rainbow-bearded and Purple-backed Thornbills, Mountain Avocetbill, White-browed Spinetail, Red-crested Cotinga, Unicolored and Ocellated Tapaculos, and Giant, Capped, and Blue-backed Conebills, plus many others, to be found either on the drier slopes uphill from the main path or the wooded areas on the down hills side (which also have a set of trails).
For further information see http://www.fjocotoco.org/reserves-Yanacocha.html
email at fjocotoco@andinanet.net
For other details, including a longer birdlist, see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
Pasachoa Reserve has a small list, about 100 species, but still gives a good sampling of the birds of this altitude, 9470 feet at the parking lot. On a recent a Unicolored Tapaculo fed only a few feet from the path, and a cooperative Olive Finch (not always an easy bird to see) sat in the open for minutes. Other good birds of this area include a number of hummingbirds, including Golden-breasted, Sapphire-vented, and Glowing Pufflegs, White-bellied Woodstar, Collared Inca and others, plus Giant Antpitta (if you are lucky), Ash-colored, Andean and Ocellated Tapaculos, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Rufous-chested Tanager, Rufous-naped and Stripe-headed Bush-Tanagers, and Plush-capped Finch.
The habitat is secondary subtropical forest with bamboo. There are several trails. The coordinates of the Reserve are S00.25º W078.31º. This small reserve is reachable by public bus from the lower section of Quito's Old Town. Men with communals will be at the intersection, ready to take you to the reserve. When we were there in June 2005 they charged $7 for the round trip. Take food and water.
For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
The Calicali Highway provides one other spot in the Quito area that could be worth checking out (for the White-tailed Shrike-tyrant, an uncommon and local bird). The highway leaves Quito by way of a long gradual hill. Near the top of the hill, on the left hand side, is a shrine to the Virgin del Qince de la Cruz. From behind this shrine there is a trail that runs along the scrubby hillside. Scan the downhill slope for the Shrike-tyrant.
Cuyabeno Reserve
Cuyabeno , an enormous reserve of 655,000 hectares, is home to well over 400 species of birds, as well as several eco-lodges. The area, near the far northeastern border of Ecuador, is usually not accessible during the height of the Amazonian wet season, from January to March. Among the more than 400 species of birds some of the highlights are the 50 species of antbirds, and one endemic, the Orange-crested Manakin.
For more details see Wheatley, Where to Watch Birds in South America.
Las Cajas National Recreation Area
Las Cajas,(alt. 3,150-4.450 meters)is mostly paramo, but the rather bleak landscape is relieved by numerous glacial lakes, and pieces of forest survive in the sheltered areas. The bird list is not long, about fifty species, but this is supposed to be a good site to see the Ecuadorean endemic Violet-thraoted Metaltail and possibly the Tit-like Dacnis, plus other high altitude specialties. For anyone visiting the city of Cuenca it is a natural stop. Baeza Road region
The remnant subtropical forest patches that line the road from Baeza toward Papallacta Pass as well as the remnant forest in the Quijos Valley betweem Baeza and Cuyuja, is home to wonderful tanager flocks and a host of hummingbirds. For those with good luck or persistance there are also possibilites for Moustached Antpitta, Andean Potoo, White-bellied Antpitta, White-capped Tanager, plus a host of other fine birds including some outstanding owls, two species of Quetzal, Plain-tailed Wren and more. |
