andes

The colours on this tanager really do have to be seen to be believed.

Preening before take-off.

A different view of the same bird soaring.

Only seen at Yanacochca Reserve on the trip.

Classic male.

But the male was a different matter!

Another view of the female Green Thorntail fighting to get on the feeders at Mirador (viewpoint) Rio Blanco in the West slope of the Ecuadorian Andes.

This is a male Andean Condor I had the chance to see in Peru, and it's the picture I chose to start a new website that is replacing "Light as Feathers", where I will upload pictures and talk about birds among other things: www.yerayseminario.com Also, there's another website we've been...

in the thick cloud forests sometimes it is just easier to walk up the river ways. the night this was taken I remained exposed to the worst storm in recent history according to people I talked to later at a biological station. 4 mist netters experiences lightning first hand working on the ridge...

Peruvian National Bird

Rufous antpita foraging for nestlings, link to video of nesting behavior in the comments

This bird was drinking from a small, temporary pond by a grazed meadow near a shepherds cabin at ~2500 m asl in an Andean valley.

This bird was foraging in a gravel covered patch of a grazed meadow at ~2500 m asl in an Andean valley.

This bird was foraging by small, temporary ponds in a grazed meadow near a shepherds cabin at ~2500 m asl in an Andean valley.

This bird was foraging at ~2800 m asl along a rocky alpine slope. It kept returning to the same locale, and may have been bringing its catch to its brood in an underground nest.

This bird was foraging at ~2500 m asl along a rocky alpine slope.

This bird showed itself only briefly as it foraged among boulders at the foot of a cliff at ~1800 m asl in Andean "foothills" east of Santiago.

Yellow-flowered Cactus (Tephrocactus floccosus: Cactaceae) Photographed in the High Eastern Andes, eastern-slope between Cusco and Paucartambo, Cuzco Department, west of Ajacanaco Pass, along Peru 26. Puna Life Zone in semidry grasslands and bogs at ca. 3,400 m elevation (11,155 ft) elevation.

Marcopomacocha Area situated about 90 km northeast of Lima, Peru in the high Andes, western-slope, at ca. 4,500 m (14,763 ft) elevation. Puna Life Zone; bogs and high altitude grasslands with diminutive herbs. Sony point-and-shoot DSC-W300 with a Carl Zeiss Tesser lens 3x optical zoom, focal...

Torrent Duck series #3: female resting on flow-covered rock prior to jumping into torrent to feed by diving to bottom to capture invertebrates. Taken 3 Nov 09 in northern Ecuador at Rio Papallacta, east slope of Andes, near Guango Lodge, ~8700 ft asl.

Torrent Duck series #2: after jumping into torrent, and before diving the male duck swam against the strong current. Taken 3 Nov 09 in northern Ecuador at Rio Papallacta, east slope of Andes, near Guango Lodge, ~8700 ft asl.

Torrent Duck series #1: male resting on flow-covered rock prior to jumping into torrent to feed by diving to bottom to capture invertebrates. Taken 3 Nov 09 in northern Ecuador at Rio Papallacta, east slope of Andes, near Guango Lodge, ~8700 ft asl.

Endemic hummingbird of the highlands of Peru

Before ascending into the Andes on our drive eastward from Quito to the Papallacta Pass, we pulled off the main highway to do some birding along a short section of dirt road. There in the scrub of that scenic valley we found this beautiful long-tailed hummingbird (probably female). Note: I...

This picture was taken in Colca Valley in Peru. This Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle is domesticated and belongs to a Colca's native.