Peter C.
...just zis guy, you know?
Wow, Peter C., Diego, you are extremely helpful with such detailed information.
For Peter, can you recommend a birding tour company for Ecuador?
Ah, just catching up with this....
...not really. For the portion of our trip that was in the Andes, we drove ourselves around, on this occasion.
We rented a Hyundai Tuscon in Quito, and drove it over to "Las Gralarias" (just above Mindo on the Pacific slope). We then drove back through Quito over the Papallacta Pass to Termas de Papallacta (tried to skirt the northern end of the city - big mistake! Was very difficult to find our way to the highway we needed - we went miles out of the way. Mind you, on the upside, got great views of Volcán Cayambe while we were "lost" [a guy is never truly lost - he just can't help it if the roads are wrong!!!])
Then, returned to Quito after a couple of days (that was easy, actually - staying on major roads isn't bad), to join a birding tour that was heading to the Napo River. It was one of the big deal American companies running that, rather than an Ecuadorian agency. This company only does pre-arranged, scheduled tours, so I don't think they're what you are looking for.
However, on a previous trip to Ecuador, we had some help from Carmen Bustamente, arranging for drivers to various places. You might try reaching her through the Cabanas San Isidro site: http://cabanasanisidro.com/pages/tours.htm.
Peter C.