Ecuador
Introduction:
My friend David went to Ecuador in December, 2023 for the Tropical Birding Andes Introtour. Prior to that tour he stayed with Mercedes Rivadeneira at Puembo Birding Garden and birded for two days before with a guide Mercedes set him up with. I replicated that tour and added on the Tropical Birding Amazing Amazon tour prior to the Andes tour. These are my notes from my birding in Ecuador.
November 30, 2025
Mercedes had breakfast ready for me early and I was awake even earlier full of excitement and anticipation. Edwin Perez my guide met me at 6:00 and we were off for an adventure. First stop was a five minute visit to a pond by the airport for a surprisingly large group of species including Southern Lapwings. Next stop was a pair of roads in the middle of nowhere that again yielded some really great birds including Band-tailed Seedeaters and a brief but good view of a black-chested buzzard eagle. Lunch was at the restaurant owned by the owner of the lodge we would stay at that night. The feeders yielded a great haul of tanagers and hummingbirds. Hummingbirds included fawn-breasted brilliant, green-crowned brilliant, purple-throated woodstar, crowned woodnymph and Andean emerald. (pictured), Flame-rumped tanager, blue-gray tanager, palm tanager, golden-naped tanager (pictured), black-capped tanager, golden tanager, silver-throated tanager as well as an old friend, summer tanager were part of the parade of tanagers we saw. Great views of orange-bellied euphonia were also part of the spectacle. The lunch featured delicious, tender beef and a big glass of juice made from a yellow tomato juice that Edwin showed me to add sugar to. By lunchtime we had been on many high Andes roads and for the most part I felt no fear of heights.
After lunch we had a long drive on a very rough road. And for some reason my camera was acting up. (Turns out the exposure knob had been moved from zero to three, an issue I didn't fix for two critical birds.) All it this was so worth it though. We picked up the owner of the spot we were headed and after eating the yummy bananas he gave us we walked up a short path to see the unusual and beautiful oilbirds (pictured) on their darkened perch in a cave like area. On the drive in and out of the oilbird cave we saw white-collared swifts, Pacific hornero, shiny cowbird and blue-black grassquit.
Another long drive and a wait of half an hour yielded us wonderful views of Andean cock-of-the rock at their lek. We got great views of one male and obscured but good views of another male and a female that I am proud to say I found.
We then headed towards Guaycapi lodge, where we would stay for two nights. Edwin and I really hit it off. He worked really hard to put me on the birds and even though I missed a few I saw many great birds and that get even better today. At the lodge I told Edwin about him about my friend David had recommended Mercedes and he started his Ecuadorian adventure with her though it was a different guide. I said I had a picture of the guide and I wondered if Edwin knew him. When I showed him the picture he said, "Yes, I know him. He's my brother." I laughed and laughed at that one.
After a great meal at the lodge that featured a starter of broccoli soup we put popcorn in and very delicious we retired to our rooms and slept the good sleep of a very satisfying day.
80 species, 66 lifers
Yellow-collared Chlorophonia
December 1, 2025
Day two started very early because we had quite a drive to the lek of an unusual and beautiful bird. The drive would yield an even more difficult to find bird but I'm ahead of myself. We got to the lek early after Edwin got some air in one of his tires. The owner of the lek, another guide and two other birders were there and we waited and waited. The owner was calling the bird by blowing into an empty bottle to imitate its moo like call. Edwin eventually told me we'd wait another ten minutes before we left. What a ten minutes it was. A Long-wattled umbrellabird finally came out of the mist and perched on the top of a tree. It flew down some and Edwin got him in the scope where I got to see his fabled wattle. What a treat but that was only the beginning of this eventful stop. After we viewed the umbrellabird we headed down a muddy path and Edwin started calls that eventually yielded good views of an immature male club-winged manakin. We were lucky to see both these birds because it was late in the season for both of them. But our luck was just beginning.
A series of calls by Edwin yielded incredible views of a male golden-winged manakin with its black body and gorgeous golden forecrown.
We began the arduous drive out of the lek site but soon Edwin came to a screeching halt and shouted at me to get out of the car. The reason was a small group of yellow-collared chlorophonia. We saw three females and one male of this wonderful bird that is restricted to a limited stretch of the humid foothills and subtropical zone in western Columbia and Ecuador as eBird puts it. Edwin said he has only seen them a handful of times. What a treat. The stop also yielded many other wonderful birds including the near threatened crested guan, wedge-billed woodcreeper and smoke-colored pewee though we only heard the distant calls of a quetzal Edwin tried to call in. The chlorophonia could well be the best bird of the entire trip.
We stopped at the house of the owner and were treated to hot puff bread and coffee as we looked at feeders that yielded several new birds and afforded good views of other birds we called old friends. These included white-necked jacobin, brown violetear, violet-tailed sylph, brown Inca, velvet-purple coronet, white-booted racket-tail and empress brilliant. And that was just the hummingbirds. We also saw metallic-green tanager, flame faced tanager, and slate-throated redstart.
When we got to the main road a short drive brought us to a feeding station. Edwin talked to to the owner who told him there were eight people there. We made the decision to do to Sendero Fruitti feeding station instead. I'm glad we did because the next two hours there we saw an incredible array of birds including a brief view but good recording of a Peruvian Pygmy-owl, three woodpecker species, including Edwin's spark bird, a lineated woodpecker, two becard species, a masked water-tyrant that bounced along a roof and in aggregate 31 species before all was said and done. I made numerous videos of the hummingbirds at the feeders with my phone because they were so close. And I climbed up to the viewing platform after a bit of hesitation only to see that it was big and yielded wonderful views of the surrounding area and its wonderful array of birds. We had a box lunch that included a wonderful smoked pork chop and a sweet passion fruit Edwin showed me how to open and eat. It left a delightful sweetness in the palate.
We had decisions to make on our next stop and deteriorating weather helped with the decision making. We decided to go to a pair of rushing rivers. We were in search of torrent ducks, a rare and declining bird that we never found. That said we did find some really great birds including a white capped dipper, torrent tyrannulet, bronze-winged parrots, great views of gorgeous pale-mandibled aracari, two buff-rumped warblers I discovered on a look up the road and a band-tailed pigeon. At the end of this stop I told Edwin we needed to see one more species...a chicken.
He took me to a chicken spot he had talked about the day before. The chicken was only $10 and when I got up to buy sodas I gave the perplexed young woman $10 to pay. Eventually through Edwin I learned that the sodas were only $1 in total. As we ate the incredibly delicious chicken we also fed some to a dog who soon became our buddy. I'm sure we weren’t the first to feed him.
We got back to the lodge and a pre-dinner view of the hummingbird feeders yielded two more new species and great views of many old friends. Neither Edwin or I could finish our yummy supper of breaded shrimp.
We retired to our rooms and it was 7:53 PM. I decided to play poker with our crew. I played poorly but it was great entertainment as it always is.
79 species, 47 lifers
Quality not Quantity
December 2, 2025
Yesterday we started birding at the lodge right at 6:00 AM. We got a few lifers. Edwin recommended we bird the road from the lodge. I'm glad he did. Over the next few hours we didn't see a lot of birds but they were wonderful species including plate-billed mountain-toucan (pictured), toucan barbet, crimson-mantled woodpecker, cinnamon flycatcher, pearled treerunner and roadside hawk. We ate lunch at the lodge. We ended the birding for the day at a tiny birding station. There I saw three new birds including two hooded mountain tanagers (pictured). Edwin dropped me at Mercedes' and I had supper with some delightful people from England.
56 species, 26 lifers
Dusty Birding
December 3, 2025
Yesterday the birding started in Mercedes' yard. I saw three new birds including the rare for that area croaking ground dove. Then Edwin and I birded Jerusalem. It is very different than the tropical forest we birded the first three days. Arid and dusty with very few bird species but good birds. I saw purple-collared woodstar, hooded siskin, cinereous conebill and streaked saltator, all birds I probably won't see anywhere else on this trip. Edwin found us a little shack to eat at. Our lunch was $6 in total. Maybe some MSG involved but ibuprofen took care of that. Edwin dropped me at the Wyndham at 1:00 and I relaxed in the afternoon. I had dinner with the birders I will be birding with in the Amazon. Nice group of folks, none real hardcore birders. Should be fun.
32 species, 8 lifers.
Amazon Basin
December 4, 2025
A long day of much travel to a fascinating place. We all had breakfast at the Wyndham and headed to the airport where we met our guide Alex. After a long wait we boarded the flight to Capo. We then rode a fast motorized canoe for about two hours get to the place where we took a canoe paddled by staff to Sani lodge. Along the way we saw many wonderful birds including capped heron (pictured), cocoi heron, black tailed trogon and my buddy the hoatzin. After an introduction to the lodge we went to our rooms, each one a thatched hut with a mosquito net over the bed and two fans to keep things cool. My room is named shanshu which is hoatzin in the native tongue. I saw 12 species of birds from my porch including social flycatcher, piratic flycatcher, violaceous jay and red-capped cardinal as we awaited to go on a canoe trip through a bayou. We picked many more species there including rufescent tiger-heron, cream-colored woodpecker, orange-winged Amazons, Amazonian barred-woodcreeper, Amazonian plain-xenops, cinnamon attila and masked crimson tanager. A wonderful buffet was followed by a review of species. It is super hot and humid here. Temps in the 80's and 90’s and humidity about that level as well. I showered last night and still feel sticky even though I'm sleeping in only my underwear. But perhaps that's TMI. I absolutely love this.
72 species, 59 lifers
The Islands
December 5, 2025
Yesterday we birded the islands and Alex and Guillermo put us on fabulous birds all day. Before we started I heard Tropical screech owl and common potoo outside my room. Amazonian umbrellabird was a highlight for me because I'd seen the great wattled umbrellabird earlier in the trip with Edwin. We had lunch at the Sani village. I bought a bar of their 65% chocolate. It was yummy with chocolate nibs in it. I got a gorgeous picture of a pied plover on the way home. I chatted with Luda quite awhile and Irina a little. It was an early night after supper. Alex didn't send checklists last night. I surmised correctly that like all of us he was beat last night. This birding is quite the life.
95 species,41 lifers
Learning to Fly
December 6, 2025
In the early morning hours I was kept awake by the eriee beautiful call of the great tinamou. This morning we went to the canopy tower to bird. I told Alex he was going to have to hold my hand the whole way up because I wanted to bird the tower. We went up arm in arm and I kept my eyes closed for the most part. Alex was just great. And I was so glad I went up because we saw lots of really great birds. A ferruginous pygmy owl was the highlight for me after not seeing it at King Ranch and spending so much time looking for it. Other birds we saw included a perched great potoo, greater yellow-headed vulture, bicolored hawk, pied puffbird, many-banded aracari, ivory-billed aracari, golden-collared toucanet, white-throated toucan, channel-billed toucan, yellow-tufted woodpecker, cream-colored woodpecker, chestnut woodpecker, mealy Amazon, dwarf tyran-manakin, wire-tailed manakin, golden-headed manakin and golden-bellied euphonia. Alex and Guillermo found us some of these birds on the walk back to the canoe. Some we had to wait on. Guillermo also found a wild papaya. He offered one to us and I gladly accepted. Like the passion fruit early in the trip you split open the fruit and swallow the seeds without chewing them. Yummy and refreshing. I took a nap before lunch and after lunch I updated the Sibs. Then we went on a late afternoon birding trip. There were a few birds but it was relatively quiet. Dinner was yummy as always. After dinner a few of us went on a fruitless owl walk. No matter, I think we saw about 100 species today.
103 species, 43 lifers
Licks, Owls and a Wing Brush
December 7, 2025
This morning the great tamanu again kept me awake with its beautiful call. After breakfast we went by canoe to the parrot licks. One we watched from the river, the other we walked to on a concrete path. Both were incredible for the hundreds upon hundreds of birds we saw. Parrots, parakeets, macaws and an uncommon ruddy quail dove. The scarlet macaws (pictured) were particularly striking. After lunch we rested a bit and then went into the forest around the lodge. We had wonderful views of a pair of crested owls. We stalked a rufous-capped antthrush and saw two of them. One came flying towards us and I literally felt its wingbeat on my cheek. We looked for but only heard the aptly named screaming piha though I got excellent audio recordings of it. And as always after supper we went to our rooms to collapse.
80 species, 21 lifers
Birds and More Birds
December 8, 2025
Yesterday we birded along a channel and then a trail. The birding was magnificent. By the end of the session we were at 77 species. They included common squirrel-cuckoo, sungrebe, green-backed trogon, Amazonian violaceous trogon, brown nunlet, white-fronted nunbird, gold-collared toucanet, white-throated toucan, channel-billed toucan, red-bellied macaw, chestnut-fronted macaw, fasciated antshrike, dwarf tyrant-manakin, and grayish mourner. After lunch and a rest break we birded another channel and got good views of several American pygmy kingfishers. Then we walked the trail we had walked upon arrival and saw many great birds. The grand finale was a tawny-bellied screech owl (pictured).
106 species, 34 lifers
Transition
December 9, 2025
Today was a transition day. We left the lodge at 6:00 AM. At the motorized canoe we saw riparian parrotlets. A wonderful finale to a spectacular Amazon birding adventure. Ann, Lisa and I were picked up and driven to a fancy downtown hotel. I found a fantastic chicken shop. Then I birded a city park. Just finished dinner with some of the other Andes birders. Lots of serious birders. I am so happy. We should find lots of birds.
13 species, 1 lifer
1,000 Species
December 10, 2025
This morning I started the Andes Intro tour. All of the participants in our group seem to be serious birders. We had a great day of birding. We saw four species of antpittas, (chestnut-crowned, chestnut-naped, equatorial, and undulated), an amazing white-throated screech owl and condors. Wow! Elaine, one of the participants, helped me hike a high mountain trail. Glad she did because we saw some really cool birds on the walk including an incredible sword billed hummingbird (pictured) at the trail terminus. By the end of the day I was at exactly 1,000 species seen. Species number 1,000 was a black-crested warbler. Gorgeous bird. And today I missed Irina and Luda for the first time. Hmm... Talked with both tonight. We're staying at a nice lodge. The lasagna for supper tonight was amazing.
62 species, 35 lifers.
A Quiet Birdy Day
December 11, 2025
By design Jose had us bird around the lodge all day. Before breakfast we found 16 species of hummingbirds. Included were tawny-bellied hermit, white-throated daggerbill, and lesser violetear. After breakfast we birded a stretch of road and found over 30 species. And Edison found a spectacled bear (pictured) for us that was feeding high up in a tree. Lunch and a nap for me followed. Then we birded yet another stretch of road with more birding success. Highlights of the day included golden fronted quetzal, masked trogon, rufous motmot, Narino tapaculo, Spillmann’s tapaculo, spotted woodcreeper, spotted barbtail and scaled fruiteater. We ended the day's birding with a successful search for the magical lyre-tailed nightjar. The food all trip long has been remarkable. This is a good solid group of birders.
89 species, 30 lifers
Mashpi
December 12, 2025
This morning we left the lodge at 4:30. By 6:30 or so we'd gotten to the Mashpi area. We birded there all day long. At their feeders I had 30 species in the blink of an eye including glossy-black thrush on the road in. We had a box breakfast and after two hours of birding the feeders we birded the road, ate lunch, birded the road again and then headed back to the lodge. The highlight birds of the day included white-tipped sicklebill, blue-tailed trogon, collared trogon, barred puffbird, smoky-brown woodpecker, red-rumped woodpecker, rose-faced parrot, uniform antshrike, Zeledon’s antbird, slaty spinetail, cryptic becard, slaty-capped flycatcher, ornate flycatcher, greenish elaenia and ochre-breasted tanager. We're all beat but what a day of birding.
105 species, 39 lifers.
Chocolate and an Owl
December 13, 2025
We started birding at the Milpe Bird Sancuary at middle elevation. The first bird we saw was a pale-mandibled aracari. We had lunch at a cool spot overlooking a river where many raptors were soaring including a short tailed hawk. Then we went searching for and found a stygian owl in Mindo before going to a chocolate shop. I bought loads of yummy chocolate and bought everyone incredible hot chocolate. We birded the road sort of on the way home and the grand finale was three tanager finches. I collapsed into bed after supper. Other highlight birds for the day included broad-billed motmot, yellow-throated toucan, the very similar Choco toucan, chestnut-backed antbird, northern plain-xenops, western woodhaunter, white-bearded manakin, snowy-throated kingbird, gray-and-gold tanager and orange-billed sparrow.
115 species, 20 lifers
More Dusty Birding
December 14, 2025
We started birding on an unassuming dusty road. The birds came hot and fast. I got an incredible picture of a pale-mandibled aracari (pictured). After birding the dusty road and finding many species we went to the Rio Salanche bird sanctuary. We birded their trails and the road and then went up their tower. Alison and Cody helped me up and down the stairs. The highlight up top for me was finding two scarlet-rumped cacique. We then went to the Fruiti Tour. Edwin and I had gone there. It was fun to see the hummingbirds and other birds at the feeders again because they are so close. Some of the many highlight birds today included dusky pigeon, striped cuckoo, bronzy hermit, purple-crowned fairy, rufous-tailed jacamar, orange-fronted barbet, black-striped woodcreeper, red-billed scythebill, velvety manakin, ruddy-tailed flycatcher, dusky-faced tanager, tawny-crested tanager, golden-hooded tanager, scarlet-thighed dacnis, and scarlet-browed tanager.
131 species, 37 lifers
Stake outs
December 15, 2025
We started our birding at a cock of the rock hide. Their raucous call was in stark contrast with the ethereal call of the Andean solitaire. The cock of the rock (pictured) did not disappoint. Great views and a great picture. Then we got to see three antpittas (giant, moustached, and yellow-breasted),up close after the owner found them, called them in and fed them. We had a wonderful snack with great coffee. We also saw two owls, cloud-forest pygmy owl and black-and-white owl. The wait for the fourth antpitta was unsuccessful. On the way to the hotel we stopped at a spot Edwin and I had birded and we found new birds. Ecuador is amazing. Other highlights for the day included barred forest-falcon, lineated foliage-gleaner, tufted tit-tyrant, rusty flowerpiercer, ash-breasted sierra finch and band-tailed sierra finch. At supper Edwin happened to be in the restaurant and came over and said hi. I played poker and for the first time in a long time I actually cashed, third place.
69 species, 10 lifers
High Andes Day One
December 16, 2025
This morning we trekked to the high Andes. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but it was above tree line. Reminded me of the high plains of Montana but more rolling. And above 12,000 feet for much of the day. And I was surprised by how many new species of birds we saw. We had distant scope views of many waterfowl, including Andean teal and Andean duck, at a reservoir. At one stop we saw black-billed shrike-tyrant, one of my favorites. A beautiful high mountain hummingbird was the Ecuadorian hillstar, very well seen. At lunch I got my first views of a giant hummingbird. Huge bird. As we looked for and successfully found a paramo pipit we also got very good views of Andean ibis and Andean gulls. We saw many Andean condors. We ended the day at a lodge. At the lodges feeders we saw many hummingbirds, some new ones including tourmaline sunangel, long-tailed sylph, Ecuadorian hillstar and glowing puffleg. It rained heavily for a bit and then we went in search of torrent ducks. It didn’t take long to find them. I didn’t bring my camera because of the rain and in some ways I was glad I didn’t because I got to watch the ducks intently. They are small but very powerful. Diving into and out of the torrents of the fast flowing river. On the search for the torrent ducks we also saw and heard some loud turquoise jays. At dinner there was a giant bouquet of roses. They reminded me of Aunt Nancy and I learned from Edwin later that roses are one of the major exports of Ecuador.
62 species, 27 lifers
Really High Andes
December 17, 2025
Yesterday we went the super high Andes, over 14,000 feet. We were looking rufous-bellied seedsnipe (pictured). We saw two in the fog and mist. Then Edison found us five more at the corner of a building. What a treat. After lunch Jose hunted and hunted and finally got us good looks at a giant conebill. Early, before breakfast we were treated to the feeding of gray-breasted mountain toucans (pictured) after visiting the lodges feeders for other great birds. We were all beat at the end of the day, the last day of the tour. I said my good-byes and headed to bed after dinner.
68 species, 16 lifers
Hanging with Edwin
December 18, 2025
This morning I left the hotel at 6:45. Edwin was already waiting for me. We went to San Pablo Lago. It was about an hour and a half drive. It gave us time to catch up. It had been awhile since Edwin had been to San Pablo. We went to one spot and immediately saw Andean ducks and slate-colored coots. Then Edwin suggested we look for Ecuadorian rail (pictured). He played their call and immediately they started returning his call. One was moving close to us and I got a good head view. Edwin played a slightly different call and the action really started. Several rail made appearances and flew around and one was so in the open I got great pictures. At the same time a subtropical doradito was moving around in the same reeds and we got good views of that bird as well. In a matter of minutes we saw the two birds I thought it might take hours to find. We continued to bird this spot and saw many great species. Edwin had never birded this spot and we were both convinced the spot had never been birded because the birds were so confiding.
From there we went to the crafts market at Otavalo. I bought many wonderful Christmas presents. All of the vendors expected you to barter with them. It was great fun. Then we went on a mini food tour, bizcocho, sweet coffee, mangoes you suck on and delicious seafood. A wonderful day. Edwin dropped me at the Wyndham. I hope to see him again. He's a good man. I relaxed at the hotel. I'm on floor one which is basically subterranean. I have a cold coming on, one I saw passed from person to person to person over the past three weeks on the tours I was on.
22 species, 3 lifers
What a great three weeks of birding. The number of lifers far exceeded my goal for the trip.
For the trip
606 species, 561 lifers
