Northwest Ecuador

11–24 June 2005

Leader: Mark Gurney

All the photos in the report were taken on the tour.

© Mark Gurney 2005 

12 June

After arriving the night before, our first day was a leisurely drive down the western slope of the Andes.  The first stop was Yanacocha, a temperate forest reserve run by Fundación Jocotoco.  A Rainbow-bearded Thornbill and a family parties of Andean Guans enlivened the walk to the hummingbird feeders, where Sapphire-vented and Golden-breasted Pufflegs, Great Sapphirewing, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, and Sword-billed Hummingbird were admired.  The fog rolled in at the end of the morning, but the bright colours of Scarlet-bellied, Black-chested, and Hooded Mountain-Tanagers, still shone through.  Driving down the hillside, we soon emerged below the clouds, and paused to enjoy a couple of Red-crested Cotingas and a singing Tawny Antpitta.

After joining the old Nono–Mindo road, we were in subtropical cloudforest.  An elusive Toucan Barbet brought us to a swift halt, as did a couple of Sickle-winged Guans, and we eventually tracked down the ventriloquial Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant.  It was almost dark by the time we arrived at Tandayapa Bird Lodge, so we settled in to our rooms and had dinner whilst watching Southern Opossums feeding on fruit outside the window.

13 June

At dawn we were sitting in the hide in the forest at Tandayapa, awaiting the first birds of the day.  A pair of Immaculate Antbirds soon arrived and were joined by another pair soon after.  A Rufous-breasted Antthrush walked past, giving us good views of this very shy species, and a White-throated Quail-Dove slowly meandered its way across the forest floor.  Such a good start would be hard to top, but we managed it with a superb male Andean Cock-of-the-rock flying past as we stood on the lower deck, a Nariño Tapaculo running across the trail, an Olivaceous Piha feeding at a fruiting tree, and an young Moustached Antpitta perched on a branch near a small stream.  After some time watching the a dozen species at the hummingbird feeders and Blue-winged Mountain-Tanagers munching on fruit, we headed up the road in the afternoon, where a Barred Becard and White-capped Dipper were the highlights.

14 June

This turned out to be one of the best days of the tour, with 107 species seen.  Along the road near the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation's Milpe Bird Sanctuary, we soon found a Moss-backed Tanager, and a Slate-coloured Grosbeak appeared. At the entrance to the reserve Pale-mandibled Araçaris were flying between the trees, and descending one of the trails we encountered a good mixed flock.  Chocó Warblers and Yellow-throated Bush-Tanagers were the commonest species, but they brought with them Uniform Treehunter, Pacific Flatbill, Tawny-breasted Flycatcher, and Ochre-breasted Tanager.  An Orange-crested Flycatcher eventually showed itself through the low vegetation and Chocó Toucans were waiting for us when we arrived back at the car park.  The feeders attracted many Green-crowned Woodnymphs, Green Thorntails, Green-crowned Brilliants, and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, as well as a few Purple-bibbed White-tips and White-whiskered Hermits, and a Stripe-throated Hermit put in a few appearances.

For lunch we visited a restaurant in the nearby town.  The food was very good, but we had to keep getting up to look at the tanagers that came to the bananas outside the dining room: Rufous-throated, Silver-throated, Lemon-rumped, Blue-necked, and the dazzling Flame-faced.  Returning to Milpe in the afternoon, we took a drive up the road.  A White-throated Crake ran across in front of us and furtively emerged from the long grass to inspect us after we stopped.  Whilst looking at a Boat-billed Flycatcher, we noticed four species of Swift overhead (White-collared, Grey-rumped, Lesser Swallow-tailed, and Band-rumped), and a Scarlet-backed Woodpecker in a nearby tree.  At the end of the road Grey-and-gold Tanagers were feeding in a cecropia tree, and a flock of Scarlet-rumped Caciques flew past, flashing their red rumps.

15 June

Following a day in the lower foothills, today we went higher up the Tandayapa Valley.  Leaving the lodge well before dawn, we were in position to see a couple of Chestnut-crowned Antpittas feeding in the road before it was light.  Capped Conebill and Dusky Bush-Tanagers were common in the mixed flocks, with a couple of Streaked Tuftedcheeks, Green-and-black Fruiteaters, and Grass-green Tanagers thrown in to brighten things up.  Today's lunch stop also had bananas for tanagers and feeders for hummingbirds, but being 800m higher than yesterday, we were treated to different species.  Velvet-purple Coronets were common at the feeders, and Empress Brilliants, Brown Incas, and Violet-tailed Sylphs, all Chocó endemics, joined them.  Blue-winged Mountain-Tanagers ate the bananas, giving way several times to the larger and rarer Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers.

In the afternoon we did at all again, starting from Tandayapa and heading up the valley.  The mixed flocks were harder to see in the fog, but Gorgeted Sunangels were close enough for us to appreciate, as was a Long-tailed Antbird.  We finished the day with a Spillmann's Tapaculo sprinting across the road and a Strong-billed Woodcreeper calling loudly from a moss-covered trunk.

16 June

For our last day at Tandayapa we again set out for the upper Valley in darkness.  Two more Chestnut-crowned Antpittas were seen in the road again, and after it got light we found three Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans calling from the forest.  Continuing over the pass, Flammulated and Streak-capped Treehunters completed our collection of this genus, and a couple of Toucan Barbets delighted us as they fed in a cecropia tree.  One of these, depending on your taxonomy, was Travis's 5000th bird, and we all hoped it was the splendid barbet.  A soaring Barred Hawk accompanied us on our way down to Mindo, where we picked up yet another hummingbird, White-necked Jacobin, at the feeders.  After lunch back at the Lodge, we decided to have another try for Tanager Finch and we found two of them feeding in the roadside verge, at the limit of our close-focussing.  A superb finish to the day, or it would have been if we had not found ourselves watching a pair of Lyre-tailed Nightjars courting each other at dusk.

17 June

Leaving the subtropics behind, we began the long journey down to the last large tracts of forest remaining in the western lowlands.  During a stop at Four Rivers, a small private reserve near Los Bancos, we picked up a few more goodies.  One of the first was a superb Sunbittern perched on a rock in the second river, which we crossed to find an ant swarm being attended by Plain-brown Woodcreepers, Chestnut-backed, Immaculate, and Bicoloured Antbirds, Black-headed Antthrush, and Northern Barred-Woodcreeper.  A Chocó Trogon was a new Chocó endemic for us, as were Purple-chested Hummingbird and Dusky Pigeon.  Western Woodhaunters seemed to be everywhere, and a small mixed flock contained Grey-mantled Wren, Russet Antshrike, and Spot-crowned Antvireo.  Orange-billed Sparrows were easy to see, unlike the Ruddy Foliage-gleaner.  The journey to the Fundación Jocotoco reserve at Canandé was long, but we stopped a few times to look at open country birds, like Pacific Parrotlet and Ecuadorian Ground-Dove, and a group of Mantled Howler Monkeys.

18 June

Before we had even left the cabins this morning we had seen four Crested Guans in the trees opposite.  Our first mixed flock was small, but with Scarlet-breasted Dacnis and Scarlet-browed Tanager nobody was complaining.  Another small group gave us Griscom's Antwren and Pacific Flatbill, but the big prizes were at the top of the ridge, where a flock contained Scarlet-and-white, Emerald, and Golden-chested Tanagers, Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo, Grey-mantled Wren, and Slate-throated Gnatcatcher.  In between craning our necks to look at the tanagers, we found Bicoloured and Ocellated Antbirds, Rufous Piha, Great Jacamar, Broad-billed Motmot, Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, and a young Barred Puffbird that allowed Richard an obscenely close approach with his camera.  Two groups of Rufous-fronted Wood-Quails were a nice surprise on the way back down, and we arrived back at the lodge in time for dinner.

19 June

After a day on the trails, today we hit the road, hoping to run into some mixed flocks and raptors.  It was rather cloudy, so there were not many birds soaring, but we found Semiplumbeous Hawk, and Laughing Falcon perched in trees.  Before we found any flocks, a couple of Guayaquil Woodpeckers, the first of three Black-tipped Cotingas, and a Cinnamon Woodpecker appeared.  Our first flock coincided with a White-ringed Flycatcher and an Orange-fronted Barbet, and the next contained some real gems, including a Blue-whiskered Tanager and a Scarlet-breasted Dacnis.  We ate lunch whilst Double-banded Greytail, Scarlet-and-white Tanager, Grey-and-gold Tanager, Fulvous- and White-vented Euphonias, Blue-crowned Manakin, and Scarlet-browed Tanagers circulated in the trees around us, and a group of Rose-faced Parrots came in.  Later we were able to compare Stripe-billed and Pale-mandibled Araçaris, and watch a Long-tailed Tyrant feed its young.  A superb male Lita Woodpecker rounded off another excellent day full of Chocó endemics and other special tropical birds.

20 June

Before we left Canandé, we took a final short walk along the trail to a Red-capped Manakin lek, past a nesting Ruddy Quail-Dove, a group of Scarlet-rumped Caciques, and a very obliging Southern Nightingale-Wren.  After an early lunch, we began the drive to Santo Domingo, our base for exploring the small reserve at Río Palenque.  We were leaving the Chocó behind, and entering the Tumbesian region, where we hoped to find a different group of range-restricted species.  A Pacific Pygmy-Owl in the grounds of our hotel was a good start.

21 June

Ecuadorian Trogon was the one of the first birds of the day at Río Palenque, and as we continued along the trails we found a few Pallid Doves, several White-whiskered Puffbirds, Grey-and-gold Warblers, and a couple of beautiful Ochraceous Attilas.  Baron's Hermits buzzed past us a few times, and a Grey-breasted Flycatcher sang quietly from some small trees.  As we climbed up the hill to the car park to leave, we found a Long-billed Gnatwren and a Little Cuckoo.

22 June

As we had seen a lot of the Río Palenque specialities, we decided to spend today in a totally different habitat at the wetlands near Chone.  There were plenty of water birds here, such as Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling Ducks, a flock of Glossy Ibis, lots of herons, and a few White-cheeked Pintails, but it was the land birds that were really more interesting.  The Tumbesian endemics included Chestnut-collared Swallow, Short-tailed Woodstar, and Crimson-breasted Finch. Parrot-billed Seedeaters fed in the corn, and an elegant White-tailed Kite kept watch over some roadside fields.

23 June

Today we left the lowlands in a big way, climbing up four thousand metres to the páramo at Antisana. With a look at a pair of Torrent Ducks on the way up, we were going to finish the tour in the spectacular upland scenery of the Andes.  As we entered the reserve, six Andean Condors cruised overhead, dipping into the valley below us.  We were very lucky to have a relatively clear sky, and the snow-capped volcano that we had seen from a distance on our first morning loomed into view.  Carunculated Caracaras and Black-faced Ibises fed in their favourite grasslands on the plain, where they were joined by Andean Lapwings and Black-winged Ground-Doves.  At the Hacienda we appreciated the beautiful purple iridescence of Ecuadorian Hillstars before moving on to the lake, where Silvery Grebes, Yellow-billed Pintails, Andean Teals, Andean Coots, and Andean Ruddy-Ducks swam in the cold waters.  On our way out we found a couple of Streak-backed Canasteros, and an Andean Gull on the deep lakes among the old lava flow finished the trip off nicely.

A total of 434 species was seen by the group, including 62 tanagers and 43 hummingbirds.  Forty Chocó endemics (25 of them restricted-range species) and 17 Tumbesian endemics (seven restricted-range species) constituted an impressive haul of rare birds.  A further 20 species were heard only.  The full species list below does not include birds that were heard only, or seen only by the leader.  Birdlife International restricted-range species are in bold.  Chocó, Tumbesian, or Interandean Valley endemics are in italics.  Globally threatened species are in red.