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Ecuador (1 Viewer)

Chris D

Well-known member
BIRDFORUM.net has been quite fun to read and very informative. I appreciate everyone's efforts. I've learned much. I just wanted to write a few thoughts about Ecuador. My wife and I spent 3 weeks there in Dec of 2002. Without trying to hard we saw 522 species of birds. If you haven't been, it's everything and more. 57 hummers, 71 tanagers, 12 toucans, etc etc. What we witnessed was amazing. Flocks with perhaps 50 species within. Orchids, pink dolphins, monkeys. Rich cultures, very friendly people. My true purpose for writing is to say that when we were guided, it was by Ecuadorians. In fact, I planned my trip with Ecuadorians I met via the Internet. To say they were professional and expert would be an understatement. But what was best was that we were brought into families. Our personal experiences were equal if not greater to the birds. Also, by doing this trip they way I did..........we actually could afford it. Costa Rica gets 4 times the tourists of Ecuador. And the latter is Condors, Galapagos, Amazon, over 1630 species of birds! Go figure. I know there's plenty of excellent trip reports on the Web describing areas we were (east and west of Quito, and Kapawi on the Rio Pastaza). I'd go nuts just writing down the different Quetzals, trogons, motmots, jacamars, yada yada....... I just wanted to say that supporting this sort of sustainable enterprise not only made us feel good, but really made a difference in what we saw and experienced. If anyone would like more detail on things, feel free to Email me. With the way the world is getting today I know there's some who'd like to go to a country like Ecuador but are cautious. If I can be of any help and also be of assistance to a small bio-diverse dream like Ecuador, it would be my pleasure............Chris
 
Hey, well put Chris

places like Ecuador are now on the map for most people to visit. Fears of foreign parts are greatly misplaced on the whole and it's as safe as most places to go birding. Plus Spanish is quickly learnt to a reasonable level. You can visit countries like this with little (or no) forward planning these days and a small amount of cash goes a long way. When i've been away over my six weeks hols in the summer I've managed to actually save a bit of cash. The flight is the only real expense....

let's hope this persuades a few people to get over there and experience hummers, jacamars and motmots etc.....

thanks for the inspiration Chris
 
I've birded way more in the Neotropic's than most, and would - anytime - recommend Ecuador as a first trip to the Neotropics. Why? Well, the crime rate is acceptable (not much higher than in the US), the infrastructure is generally fairly good, the distances are relatively short (compared to i.e. Peru or Brazil) and the birding is... amazing! Ecuador contains the Choco (a special type of wet forest only shared with Colombia), the Amazon, east-slope rainforest, Polylepis (an endagered type of woodland normally found above ~3600 masl in Ecuador), Paramo (a type of open habitat in the highlands), Pacific dry forest (only shared with Peru) and of course the Galapagos. They even started discovering that several of the (previous) endemics from Peru are actually found in Ecuador aswell, incl. such amazing species as the Orange-throated Mountain-tanager! Ecuador has more than 1500 different species of birds, far surpassing the otherwise famed Costa Rica...

So folks, Ecuador...
 
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Rasmus Boegh said:
Ecuador has more than 1500 different species of birds, far surpassing the otherwise famed Costa Rica...

Ecuador may have far more species than Costa Rica but they were in hiding when I was there in Sept 2002. I did much better in Costa Rica in Feb 2003. So where next? Ecuador in September to try again :) The rainforest area was extremely difficult birding. The Andes, easy, open spaces. West slope very productive. I'm planning to visit Podocarpus Nat Pk for the majority of the trip, supposedly excellent, up to 800 species thought to be in the area. So many still not been found yet.

Ticket price on KLM to Guayaquil from UK via Amsterdam is c£612
 
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Dipper said:
I'm planning to visit Podocarpus Nat Pk for the majority of the trip, supposedly excellent

I can truly recommend Parque Nacional Podocarpus in southern Ecuador. I would recommend you visiting both the lower and the higher parts. Except for the areas mentioned in the following, most of the reserve is remote and can't be visited unless going on a week long expedition. This may be the main reason why such mammalian rarities as Mountain Tapir & Spectacled Bear still survives there.

The site for visiting the higher parts is located south of Loja, and is known as Cajanuma. It is located in the north-western part of the national park. You basically get on the main road heading south from Loja towards Vilcabamba. Some 10-15 km. from Loja, there is a gravel road to the left (easy to find, there's a sign) leaving the main road. There is also a house where they collect the small entrance fee. From here it is ca. 9 km. slowly uphill to the headquarters. Even though this final part can be rough it should be possible in an ordinary car (no need for 4x4) or you can walk, which takes 2-3 hours. The habitat along this access road is poor (mostly being farmland), but still fairly good for several hummingbirds. You can stay in Loja (where there are plenty of hotels) and from there get a cab, or, if you don't mind the cold, it is possible to use the HQ for a few US$ per night. The HQ is quite basic and not much more than a few bunk beds (you need to bring your own sleeping bag) and a bathroom with a shower with cold (very, very cold!!!) water. The HQ does have electricity. It is also important to remember to bring your own food and bottled water (unless you drink the tap-water) as none is available at the HQ. The trails near the HQ are generally good, though often slippery due to mud. This means that they sometimes (rarely) have to close some of the longer trails. This area range from ca. 2.600 to 3.200 meters asl. The habitat range from wet temperate forest with a dense undergrowth of bamboo to low elfin forest close at the treeline. It is important to note that the weather can be quite rough with lots of rain and cold (sometimes only a few degrees above freezing). Remember a warm and rain-proof jacket, and, preferably, rubber boots.
Some of my highlights at this site were Bearded Guan, Imperial Snipe (require luck; at late dusk or early dawn), Grey-breasted Mountain-toucan, Great Sapphirewing, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Rainbow Starfrontlet, Flame-throated Sunangel, Chusquea Tapaculo (only recently described, but common at this site), Ocellated Tapaculo (as with all tapaculos, almost impossible without a tape) Plushcap & Masked Mountain-tanager (near the "Mirador"). I haven't seen it, and you would certainly need a lot of luck to do so, but the very rare and only recently discovered Chestnut-bellied Cotinga has been recorded in the elfin forest near the "Mirador".

The second area you certainly shouldn't miss is located near Zamora, and is known by the name of (Rio) Bombuscaro. This site is at a much lower altitude, being in the north-eastern part of the national park. This entrance is located 15-25 minutes (you don't need a 4x4) from Zamora by cab, followed by an easy 30 minute walk to the headquarters. It should be noted, that the ticket is valid for both entrances (Bombuscaro and Cajanuma), though only for a limited period (5 days when I was there). You can either choose to stay in the nearby town of Zamora, or camp in front of the HQ. There is a nice and flat area for camping. If you are lucky, they may allow you to sleep in the HQ. Again, remember food & water for drinking. There is a toilet with cold showers (though you may prefer one of the small and pristine waterfalls in the vicinity - I did!). Again, there are some nice trails around the HQ. This area range from ca. 800 to 1.200 meters asl, meaning that the weather is generally much more pleasant than at Cajanuma. Of course it can still be quite rainy. The habitat range from upper tropical ("foothill") to subtropical rainforest ("cloud forest").
Some of my highlights at this site were Fasciated Tiger-heron (along the river), White-necked Parakeet (daily, but usually distant), Wire-crested Thorntail, White-tipped Sicklebill, Coppery-chested Jacamar (daily), Lanceolated Monklet, Equatorial Greytail, Blue-rumped Manakin, Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Grey-mantled Wren, Olive Finch & of course loads of beautiful tanagers; the aptly named Paradise Tanager being one of the commonest.

The road between Zamora and Loja has long been known as a road with many great possibilities (especially near the villlage of Sabanilla), though the only noteworthy species I saw was White-capped Tanager.
There are two other regularly used entrances to the national park, but both are somewhat harder to reach than the above. The first of these being near the village of Romerillos. Romerillos is situated ca. 2½ hours by car/bus south of Zamora. The second is east of the town of Vilcabamba, but the birds found at this specific altitude (slightly lower than Cajanuma part in Podocarpus), are probably easier in another nearby reserve: Quebrada Honda/Tapichalaca. Today it may be better known as the "Jocotoco Reserve"; the place where the Jocotoco Antpitta was discovered in 1997. This private reserve is located just south of the national park Podocarpus, ca. 2½-3 hours south of Vilcabamba by car, it being fairly close (ca. 30 minutes by car/bus) to the town of Valladolid.
Of course the amazing Jocotoco Antpitta is the prime species, but there are many other significant highlights as Tyrannine Woodcreeper, Masked Saltator, Grey-breasted Mountain-toucan, Bearded Guan & Golden-plumed Parakeet.
Before visiting this reserve, please contact Fundación Jocotoco that owns and runs the reserve:

http://www.fjocotoco.org/
http://www.fjocotoco.org/reserves-tap.html

Fundación Jocotoco was founded by, among others, Robert Ridgeley. It is possible to visit the above reserve, they have just had problems with birders just wandering in not paying the fee. This foundation is doing a GREAT job (and have several other important reserves in Ecuador), so it is certainly worth helping a bit by paying the very fair fees involved in using their facilities. If you don't want to pay the fee, don't go there!!!

Hopefully the above will get more birders to visit these important reserves, as especially the national park of Podocarpus still is at risk from forest clearance, mining and poaching. Your economy isn't an excuse; the above can be visited cheaply, as public transportation serve Loja, Zamora, Vilcabamba & Valladolid. The only significant expense is the plane-ticket to Ecuador! This region certainly is amazing - do remember that the species mentioned above are nothing but a very small sample with a few of the highlights!!!

OBS! Birding in the Neotropics can be very hard. The above sites are no exception. Many birds heard, relatively few seen. Unless being on a completely guided birding tour, do remember to make habitat specific (i.e. high altitude east slope forest, the Amazon etc.) tapes before the trip. We are lucky as there are several good CD's on Ecuadorian birds available today. Also, try to practice with these CD's/tapes before you actually go there, then you know at least some of the bird voices of the region; your experiance will be much more satisfactory then...
 
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Now that's what I call a reply. Many thanks. I've learned to expect short lists on my neotropical trips especially as I travel alone without guides and only count those birds I see. So frustrating but challenging and fun!
 
Dipper,
Hope you have a great trip. Two suggestions I would make are:
1. Consider a local guide for one or two days. It really isn't that expensive (especially after you bought the plane ticket) and can really add not only additional birds, but lots of info on the country and customs. And you can always learn something extra about the birds that your field guide doesn't mention. Although we (wife and myself) do most of our birding on our own, we frequently try to get a guide for 1 day when we're in a new area.
2. For Neotropic birds, I always have the best luck when I find the food source and spend some time there. Fruiting trees, berry bushes, etc.; it's not uncommon to find 10 or more species feeding in the same tree.
Good luck,
 
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Dipper said:
I've learned to expect short lists on my neotropical trips especially as I travel alone without guides and only count those birds I see. So frustrating but challenging and fun!

I have done most of my Neotropical journeys alone (incl. all the spot mentioned above), and I only count seen species aswell. My last journey through South America yielded ca. 50% of the species found on this continent seen - this was obviously a long journey. Even without a guide many great species are possible, as long as you go prepared. Of course I can't really be called a novice anymore, which obviously helps quite a bit. So, even though a guide certainly is recommendable, it isn't a must. A guide can be great, but I mostly see it as a possibility of saving the time and hassel of planning and/or learning the many bird voices...
Unless experiances in this regions birds, I will join Dave in recommending you getting a guide for a few days. Of course there are a few spots where you really shouldn't go (no matter if you are experianced or not) without a guide, Bosque Unchog (Golden-backed Mountain-tanager - WOW!) in central Peru being one of them.
 
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Thanks folks for all the info and tips. I'm sure other readers are encouraged to make the trip. This will be my 5th neotropical birding trip, 2x Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador. I've barely scraped the surface!! I do them on the cheap, local buses, walking etc.

Guides can be very useful but I fall asleep. My brain needs to be pushed, made to work, guides just make life too easy. The challenge of finding and identifying species is important to me. I hopefully will have a few more trips to the region to get a better grasp of the huge list but I'm in no hurry. Whatever I see is great and I come home refreshed not exhausted from trying to do too many sites. This gives me time to savour the area, meet a few locals, collect a few memories and take plenty of photos for my trip report websites. (Mexico under construction).

You are certainly correct about finding fruiting trees and hitting the jackpot with feeding flocks, mostly tanagers, but other goodies thrown in.

I've been checking the jocotoco website. Some very useful info. I had planned on visiting the Buenaventura reserve also, just to break the long journey to Loja.
 
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Buenaventura is quite good aswell, though the El Oro Parakeet can be tricky to get good looks at. This is a place where a scope certainly can be of good use. A few of the other highlights at this spot are Club-winged Manakins, El Oro Tapaculo (again, playback), Grey-backed Hawk & Long-wattled Umbrellabird (quite rare here; THE spot in Ecuador is certainly Bilsa in the NW, where the leks virtually guarantee you this species). Many other great species have been recorded from this area in the past, but several of them are probably not present anymore. Unless having a private car at disposal it is best to stay in the nearby town of Piñas. From here it is easy and fast to get to the wellknown Virgin Shrine, which is near the forest patches. In southern Ecuador, there are a few other places that are highly recommendable:

Las Cajas. This national park is much easier to visit today than it was just a few years ago. The reason is that the new main road between Cuenca and Guayaquil runs just past the headquarter in the highland part. This means that there are quite a few busses passing every day. Quite amazingly, it seems that they have been able to protect the woodlands anyway! This HQ is known as Laguna Toreadora, after the lake just in front of it. You can either use the basic facilities at the HQ or camp. Again you need to bring your own food, drinking water and a sleeping bag. The habitat is open (paramo) with numerous patches of Polylepis woodlands. Some of the commener birds are Carunculated Caracara, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Blue-mantled Thornbill (check the open grassland in front of the lake; they often feed on the ground there), Stout-billed Cinclodes (in the vicinity of the lake), Mouse-coloured Thistletail, Tawny Antpitta (aka "the worlds easiest antpitta"; curious and often standing in the open!), Red-rumped Bush-tyrant, Tit-like Dacnis & Giant Conebill. The endemic and highly localized Violet-backed Metaltail can be tricky, but is actually fairly common there. There is another entrance to this reserve some 10-15 km. from Laguna Toreadora towards Cuenca. It is somewhat hard to find, but is on the left side of the road if comming from Cuenca. From the main road it is a ca. 8 km. walk to the lake called Laguna Llaviuco (it has several different names). The habitat here is comparable to the lower areas of Cajanuma in Podocarpus, hence the species are also rather similar. It is possible to camp near the lake where Andean Ruddy-duck is common. Careful: The altitude around Laguna Toreadora is around 4.000 meters asl. Don't think that scares away the small biting flies, there are loads inside the Polylepis patcher - remember insect spray. You will quite probably have a bit of headache the first hours after arriving from Cuenca. If you arrive from Guayaqul (or another place in the lowlands), DO TAKE CARE; THERE IS A VERY REAL RISK OF GETTING ALTITUDE SICKNESS.

Gualaceo-Limón Road. Great birding, but very few (if any) species that can't be seen in or near Podocarpus. Do note that it is road-side birding, meaning that the chance of seeing a real rarity is quite small.

Cerro Blanco. This wellknown reserve is no more than 30 minutes by bus from Guyaquil. There is a small flat area assigned for camping, it being equipped with toilets and cold showers. Remember drinking water (the area can be very hot and dry) and food. Highlights here are Pale-browed Tinamou (fairly common, but hard to see), Grey-backed Hawk (uncommon, but often conspicious), Ochre-bellied Dove (uncommon), Grey-cheeked Parakeet (common), Red-masked Parakeet (fairly common), Ecuadorian Trogon (common), Ecuadorian Piculet (common), Scarlet-backed Woodpecker (fairly common), Collared Antshrike (common), Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner (uncommon), Pacific Royal Flycatcher (quite rare), White-tailed Jay (common) & Saffron Finch (uncommon), To see the very rare Great Green Macaw, you need a special permission to launch a small expedition to the other side of the "Cerro". Further (north-)west you find the Santa Elena Peninsula and the national park Machalilla (with "poor mans Galapagos"; Isla de la Plata).

Cotacocha. Located roughly in between Loja and Macará (on the border with Peru). There are a few hotels in Cotacocha, but the selection is quite limited. The best spot is on an obvious hill located ca. 5-10 km. from the town of Cotacocha on the right hand side of the road towards Macará. This is generally a spot that very few visit. - And what a shame! Many of the species from Cerro Blaco are also possible here. Notewhorthy things that are either not present or rare at Cerro Blanco, but fairly common here are Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner, Watkin's Antpitta, Loja (Amazilia) Hummingbird, Bay-crowned Brush-finch & Elegant Crescent-chest.

Even further south there are several wellknown localities that are certainly worth a visit if you have the time. These include Alamor, Celica, Tambo Negro (near Macará), Sozoranga & Utuana (with another recommendable reserve run and owned by the Jocotoco Foundation; prime sites for Piura Hemispingus & Grey-headed Antbird). Most of these sites support species that are quite similar to Cotacocha. Do note that Macará & Sozoranga are at or very close to the Peruvian border. Generally this is a fairly relaxed place (much more so than the commonly used border-town of Huaquillas near the coast), but you should still think an extra time before entering an area or pointing your binoculars... Another spot is Puyango. It is easily reached via bus from Machala. I haven't really birded here (much overlap with the other spots mentioned here), and mostly visited due to the "stone forest". There are no hotels or similar in the small village, so you would need a tent or ask the locals if they could provide a room for a few $. If more specific info is needed about the above sites, drop me a PM and I may be able to supply it...

All of the sites mentioned above can be reached quite easily by a combination of public transportation, short taxi-rides and walking.
 
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Nice to see that lots of people have checked out the posts. Our next time to Ecuador will be to the south, so the previous info by Rasmus is much appreciated. My wife and I are off to Malaysia in 10 days. We'll see what that's like. Crossing Wallace's line to the land of Hornbills and such. I'm in no way a pro, but for those who might be planning their first trip to a tropical local--------some advice. The first time I stepped into a tropical forest, I sat down and listened and watched. Granted, there are some crawly nasties to be aware of, especially tropical ants. But by being patient and staying in one place (at least for a while) things came to me. And also all those mammals and reptiles and butterflies.................you get the picture. I know there are experts who read and contribute to these forums and whose expertise teaches me much. I also know there are folks who dream of scented forests and exotic sounds. Neo Tropical avifauna can be a bit of a challenge, but the first calls of an immense mixed flock coming towards you in some ways equals the great lists compiled. Watching things happen, then pass and those calls fading away to silence. I can see why some study behaviors and population dynamics.
 
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