ECUADOR BIRDING TOURS
Our Ecuador Tours
*Galapagos Islands & Amazon Jungle
*Birding the Remote Choco
*Northern Andean Cloud Forest Birding
*High Elevation Paramo Birding
*Birding Southern Ecuador
*The East Slope: Birds from Paramo to Jungle
*Searching for Specialties
*General Nature Tours
*Photography Tours
*Day tours from Quito
Contact us for details
Tour M01-W: "Cloud Forest Birds of Northwest Ecuador" Tour Description Our most popular tour is based just two hours from Quito amidst the lush, bird-rich cloud forests of the northwestern Andes. We visit all the key birding sites, including Yanacocha, Mindo, Reserva Las Gralarias, Bellavista, Paz de las Aves, Tandayapa, Milpe, Silanche and Mashpi-Chontal. We begin the tour leaving early from your hotel in Quito to travel by private vehicle to Yanacocha Reserve which is the site of the rare Ecuadorian endemic hummingbird, the Black-breasted Puffleg. The morning at Yanacocha shows us the beautiful forest that forms the beginning of the watershed of the Rio Mindo and also allows us good looks at many hummingbird species, including the amazing Sword-billed Hummingbird, the unforgettable Shining Sunbeam and the elegant Great Sapphirewing, as well as other high elevation species such as Andean Guan, Andean Pygmy-Owl, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Pearled Treerunner, Rufous Antpitta, Tawny Antpitta, Ocellated Tapaculo, Red-crested Cotinga, Barred Fruiteater, Rufous Wren, Blue-backed Conebill, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager and Hooded Mountain-Tanager. After lunch we continue down the old Nono-Mindo Road, birding en route along the Alambi River, searching especially for river-side specialties such as Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper. We arrive at our lodge late in the day just in time to watch the late afternoon bird activity and the end-of-the-day gathering of hummingbirds at the feeders. We spend the rest of the tour birding among private nature reserves and bird sanctuaries, exploring the entire area, from 7000ft (2400m) elevation down to 1500ft (500m) elevation. Our week-long trip lists usually result in some 300 species of birds seen, many of them rare and endemic species found only in the Chocó biogeographic region. In fact, it was on one of our northwest Ecuador private tours that we found the first Chocó Vireo in Pichincha province - one of only a handful of records in the country! And with luck we may even see some of the mammals in the area such as the endemic Dwarf Red Brocket Deer, Tayra, Mountain Coati, and Two-toed Sloth. For those who want even more birds, we can arrange a stay for you at an Amazon jungle lodge, in the vast highland páramo zone and/or a Galapagos cruise, or any type of extension either before or after the regular tour. Just let us know what you would like to do. [email protected] |
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Tour Description
Rapidly becoming one of our most popular tours, our two-week “Birds of Southern Ecuador” includes all the southern birding sites of Jorupe Reserve, Utuana Reserve, Bombuscaro and Podocarpus National Park, Tapichalaca Reserve, Valladolid, Buenaventura Reserve, Yunguilla Reserve, El Cajas National Park, Nangaritza River and the Shaime Road. Among the many highlights of this very birdy tour are the endemic El Oro Parakeet and El Oro Tapaculo, the extremely rare and endemic Pale-headed Brush-Finch, the endemic Violet-throated Metaltail, the amazing Long-wattled Umbrellabird, the stunning Jocotoco Antpitta, and the beautiful Orange-throated Tanager. These very fun and birdy tours usually record 500+ species. And on two of our tours to southern Ecuador we have discovered new bird species for Ecuador!
You arrive into the Quito airport and take a short flight to Loja. We meet you at the airport and travel by private vehicle throughout southern Ecuador, visiting the Tumbesian Dry Forest EBA, mid-level evergreen forest and upper Amazonian rain forest as well as some key higher elevation and paramo sites.
Lodging is at excellent birding sites with active bird feeders, great photography opps and comfortable accommodation.
For more details, full itinerary, price and conditions, contact us at [email protected].
Note that this tour can easily be adjusted and combined with a tour of northern Peru to see the Marvelous Spatuletail and the Long-whiskered Owlet.
- Tour SO1-Q:
- "BIRDS OF SOUTHERN ECUADOR"
Tour Description
Rapidly becoming one of our most popular tours, our two-week “Birds of Southern Ecuador” includes all the southern birding sites of Jorupe Reserve, Utuana Reserve, Bombuscaro and Podocarpus National Park, Tapichalaca Reserve, Valladolid, Buenaventura Reserve, Yunguilla Reserve, El Cajas National Park, Nangaritza River and the Shaime Road. Among the many highlights of this very birdy tour are the endemic El Oro Parakeet and El Oro Tapaculo, the extremely rare and endemic Pale-headed Brush-Finch, the endemic Violet-throated Metaltail, the amazing Long-wattled Umbrellabird, the stunning Jocotoco Antpitta, and the beautiful Orange-throated Tanager. These very fun and birdy tours usually record 500+ species. And on two of our tours to southern Ecuador we have discovered new bird species for Ecuador!
You arrive into the Quito airport and take a short flight to Loja. We meet you at the airport and travel by private vehicle throughout southern Ecuador, visiting the Tumbesian Dry Forest EBA, mid-level evergreen forest and upper Amazonian rain forest as well as some key higher elevation and paramo sites.
Lodging is at excellent birding sites with active bird feeders, great photography opps and comfortable accommodation.
For more details, full itinerary, price and conditions, contact us at [email protected].
Note that this tour can easily be adjusted and combined with a tour of northern Peru to see the Marvelous Spatuletail and the Long-whiskered Owlet.
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FOR MORE DETAILS AND FOR ADDITIONAL TOUR ITINERARIES,
PLEASE CONTACT US AT
[email protected]
or
[email protected]