Birding in the East & West slopes of the Andes

At your arrival to Ecuador our guide will be waiting for you to meet and transfer you to your Hotel to overnight.

Ikala Quito hotel Boutique
Hotel Cultura Manor

Very early in the morning you will travel northwest of Quito crossing the western slopes of the Andes range heading towards Tandayapa valley. En route you will visit Yanacocha Reserve, home to the black-breasted puffleg (Eriocnemis nigrivestis), sword billed hummingbird, great saphirewing, purple backed thornbill, rufous antpitta, barred fruiteater; while you continue with your trip you will see other species such as bar bellied woodpecker, masked flowerpiercer, glossy flowerpiercer, shinning sunbeam, great saphirewing, barred fruiteater, hooded and scarlet-bellied mountain-tanagers, giant conebill, pearled treerunner etc.

Box lunch en route and then you will arrive to Alambi Cloud Forest Reserve, where you will have the opportunity to walk around the trails. Rare or special sightings recently include: White-faced Nunbird, Crested Guan, Long-billed Starthroat, Maroon-chested Ground-Dove in the garden, Undulated, Yellow-breasted and Giant Antpitta, Uniform Treehunter building a nest at 50 metres from the guesthouse, Lyre-tailed Nightjar in the parking space, Long-wattled Umbrellabird, Tamandúa Anteater; 32 hummingbirds species have been seen at Alambi, either at the feeders or in the reserve.  Late afternoon you will arrive to Sachatamia located close to Mindo where you will diner and overnight.

Sachatamia Lodge & Reserve

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After breakfast our guide will be waiting for you in order to drive you to Mashpi Reserve, this cloud forest is rich on plant species, from ferns and bromeliads to thousands of orchid species. A staggering 500 species of birds (including some 36 endemics) as well as small mammals can be seen. It is one of the best places to spot for great birds and it’s famous for its impressive collection of Choco endemic bird species.

Then you will depart to El Chontal to look for the famous Los Tayos Cave, that actually it’s a deep, dark ravine where as many as 100 Oilbirds Steatornis caripensis make their homes; on route you will enjoy of a delicious box lunch. Late afternoon you will continue to Sachatamia Lodge close to Mindo area where you will diner and overnight.

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After an early breakfast your guide will drive you to Rio Silanche a tropical lowland reserve that covers 70 hectares (175 acres) where it is possible to see incredible species diversity especially from its 15 meters high observation tower that puts you eye-to-eye with awesome mixed foraging flocks. This important site, situated in low foothills between 300-350m, is located along an all-weather road, and it is one of the last remaining accessible forest remnants found in this key area, home to many important Choco and Tumbesian endemic bird species, including Dusky Pigeon, Purple-chested Hummingbird, Little Woodstar, Choco Trogon, Double-banded Graytail, Stub-tailed Antbird, Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Scarlet-and-white Tanager, Blue-whiskered Tanager, gray and gold tanager, rose face parrot, blue headed parrot, marron tailed parakeet, white bearded manakin, scarlet thighed dacnis, chestnut mandibled toucan, black headed tody flycatcher, slaty capped shrike-vireo, among many others. You will enjoy of a box lunch surrounded by the amazing nature.

In the afternoon you will visit Milpe Bird Sanctuary, reserve that is considered by Birdlife International as ‘An Important Bird Area’, it has 62 hectares (155 acres) that covers an altitudinal range from 1020-1150 m (3350-3770 ft) and includes two small rivers that converge at the bottom of a steep, forested valley. It is located along an all-weather road that many local birders consider to be one of the finest sites in all of Ecuador.

Here 247 species were found included many of the most spectacular Choco endemic species, such as Plumbeous Forest-Falcon, Moss-backed Tanager, Glistening-green Tanager, Chocó Trogon, choco toucan, Club-winged Manakin, Indigo-crowned Quail-Dove, Double-banded Greytail, Fulvous-vented Euphonia, Emerald and Scarlet-and-white Tanagers, the near-threatened Blue-whiskered Tanager and Long-wattled Umbrellabird. Late afternoon return to Sachatamia Lodge where you will diner and overnight.

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Early in the morning you will depart to Los Bancos to spot for the incredible Umbrella bird, arrival to Luis Agila property where it is possible to find one of the few populations of this vulnerable specie, here you will have an amazing experience when you are waiting on silence and suddenly you see a group of Umbrella birds flying from one tree to another looking for insects or fruits, then in some place you heard one bird singing and when you find it you can see that the long wattle of a male gets inflate, it’s something unique.

You will enjoy of a box lunch surrounded by the amazing nature, then you will return to Sachatamia Lodge, on route you will stop at Mirador del Río Blanco, a place that offers an incredible view of the valley and where you can find different species of tanagers and some hummingbirds such as the tiny Green Thorntail and the beautiful Green-Crowned Brilliant. Arrival to Sachatamia Lodge where if you want you can have a short hike around this place to see some species like the Giant and Scaled Antpitta, Choco Toucan, Scaled Fruiteater, Tanager-Finch and Club-winged Manakin. Target birds here includes, golden headed quetzal, toucan barbet, masked trogon, golden naped tanager, beryl spangled tanager, strong billed woodcreeper, black and white owl, Wattled and Sickle-winged Guan, Bronze-winged Parrot, Sparkling Violet-ear, Andean Emerald, Booted Racket-tail and Long-tailed Sylph violet tailed sylph. Dinner and overnight.

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Early in the morning, after a cup of hot coffee, you will visit the famous Paz de las Aves Refuge where you will have the opportunity to have one of the most amazing experiences, visiting the cock of the rock lek, where, during the breeding season, the males produce a special sound and fly like real acrobats waiting for the female to choose one of them to mate. Besides here it is possible to see four species of Antpittas, the Giant Antpitta, the Moustached Antpitta, Ochre bellied, and the Yellow Breasted Antpitta. Then you will visit the feeding station to see black chinned and blue winged mountain tanagers, toucan barbet, dusky piha, sickle winged guan, crimsom rumped toucanet, etc. Return to the main house of this reserve to enjoy of a typical breakfast of this region and keep birding to find an ocellated tapaculo being fed with worms, yellow vented woodpecker, powerfull woodpecker, crimsom mantled woodpecker, orange breasted fruiteater etc.

Then you will return to Sachatamia Lodge where you will take your lunch and, in the afternoon, you will return to Quito, overnight.

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After breakfast you will travel to Antisana Ecological Reserve, where you will visit the Mica Lake in order to see Silvery Grebe, Andean Teal, Andean ruddy Duck, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Coot, and as well as many land birds such as Aplomado Falcon, Andean Gull, Andean Lapwing and Carunculated Caracara. Here you have a high probability to be in contact with the majestic Andean Condor and other species like Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle and Variable Hawk, black faced ibis, paramo ground tyrant, paramo pipit, sedge wren, bairds sandpiper, cinereous harrier, Bar-winged and Stout-billed Cinclodes, Black-faced Ibis, Shining Sunbeam, Red- rumped Bush-Tyrant, Paramo Pipit, Giant Conebill, and Spectacled Whitestart.  You will enjoy of a delicious lunch in a local restaurant and then you will depart to Guango Lodge through the Papallacta region.

This area has well conserved patches of Polylepis forest and it is an excellent place to observe high mountain bird species. The 4000-meter high paramo holds a fascinating group of high-altitude species like the Variable Hawk, Many-striped Canastero, Tawny Antpitta and Andean Condor.  Other species expected in this area are the Sword-billed Hummingbird, Great Sapphire-wing, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Torrent Duck, Torrent Tyrannulet and the superb White-capped Dipper.  Dinner and overnight in Guango Lodge.

Guango Lodge

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Early in the morning you will hike through the trails of this lodge looking for more bird species like Andean guan, plushcap, slaty finch, gray breasted mountain toucan, pale naped brush finch, gray hooded bush tanager, hooded mountain tanager, pearl treerunner, mountain avocetbill, tourmaline sunangel, torrent duck, White capped dipper etc. After lunch you will continue with your trip to San Isidro Lodge where you will seek out specialties such as Black-chested Fruiteater, Long-tailed Antbird, White belied Antpitta, San Isidro’s owl, Chestnut Breasted Coronet, long tailed sylph, Barred Antthrush and the little-known Peruvian Antpitta. In the afternoon you will walk close to the lodge discovering more bird species.

After dinner we will have a nocturnal walk looking for nightjars and owls; overnight.

San Isidro Lodge

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Full day to enjoy San Isidro lodge, some of the regular species include: Montane and Olive-backed Woodcreepers, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher, Black-billed Peppershrike, Inca Jay, Bluish Flowerpiercer and Subtropical Cacique! After about an hour of this, you can visit the Antpitta feeders, where you will likely see White-bellied Antpitta only feet away, and maybe even the very rare Peruvian.

Also you can find the Black-chested Fruiteater, Long-tailed Antbird, White belied Antpitta, San Isidro’s owl, Chestnut Breasted Coronet, long tailed sylph, Barred Antthrush and others.

At dusk you can try to spot near the lodge night birds like the Andean Potoo (rare, but sometimes staked-out) Rufous-bellied Nighthawk (almost every dawn and dusk around the cottages) and Rufous-banded and Mottled Owls. All meals included.

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After breakfast you will depart to Wildsumaco lodge, en route you stop at The Loreto Road, officially known as the Jondachi-Hollín-Loreto-Coca Road that is famous for its birding opportunities. Some notable target birds along the upper Loreto Road include: Dark – breasted Spinetail, Ash-browed Spinetail, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Lined Antshrike, Foothill Antwren, Olivaceous Greenlet, Yellow-whiskered Chlorospingus, and Bronze-green Euphonia.

Then you will visit Narupa reserve which protects a large block of eastern Andean foothill forest. Narupa has a growing list of birds that currently includes over 300 species. Five globally threatened species have been recorded, including its flagship species, the Cerulean Warbler, a long-distance migrant that breeds in eastern North America and spends the boreal winter in northwestern South America.

In the afternoon you will visit the Cordillera de Los Huacamayos where you will walk through one of the specialized birdwatching trails. Here it is possible to see many different species and you will look for the black-billed mountain-toucan, white-bellied antpitta, spillmans tapaculo, bicolored antvireo, greater scythebill and the very local white-rimmed brush-finch among others. Late afternoon you will arrive to Wildsumaco lodge, dinner and overnight.

The Wildsumaco lodge

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Wildsumaco Lodge is located on a ridge in the Andes’ Eastern Foothills close to Sumaco National Park and Napo Galeras National Park. This lodge is located at about 1400m (4600 feet), and the reserve ranges from 1200 to 1500 m (3900 to 4900 feet) with an incredible panoramic view of the Rio Pucuno Valley and to the Andes beyond.  Considering the strategic location of this place between the Andean Foothills and the Amazon, the Sumaco area holds one of the richest avifauna in the world. A wonderful mix of cloud forest species, foothill specialties, and typically Amazonian birds share Wildsumaco’s lush subtropical rainforest with a myriad of other animals.  Many of the birds here are rare, endangered, or very difficult to see elsewhere.

Some of the species include: Gray-tailed Piha, Blue-rumped Manakin, coppery chested jacamar, military macaw, buff breasted tody, blackish rail, tropical screech owl, black banded crake, and Chestnut-crowned Gnateater. Short-tailed Antthrush and Wing-banded Wren often sing, while more uncommon species like Gray-throated Leaftosser and Plain-backed Antpitta are seen occasionally. The very rare Yellow-throated Spadebill has a territory along the Piha Trail and at any time the endangered Military Macaw or rare Spot-winged Parrotlet might fly by, or Black Hawk-Eagle soar overhead.

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After breakfast you will have the last opportunity to enjoy of this amazing place, then you will return to Quito, 4 hours by car, possible stop on the way to search for Orange Breasted falcon and cliff flycatcher. Box lunch en route and late afternoon you will arrive to Quito to your hotel located close to the airport where you will overnight.

Quinta La Constanza
San José de Puembo
La Palma Polo Club

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After you have gotten a long list of birds in this unforgettable expedition in Ecuador you will be transferred to the airport to catch your international flight home.

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