The Birds of Southern Ecuador –  Jocotoco Foundation Reserves and Podocarpus National Park

Sept. 29 - Oct. 11, 2010 (sold out)

With several new lodges providing access to excellent habitat and many species unique to the region, southern Ecuador has quickly become a destination almost as popular as the north.  A short one-hour flight from Quito brings you to the southern province of Loja from where several distinct avifaunal areas can be easily reached.  In addition to birding in the dry interior valley where we may find long-tailed mockingbird, Pacific parrotlet, croaking ground dove, Peruvian meadowlark, and chestnut-throated seedeater right around the airport, we'll travel to the south, east, west, and southwest to visit several superb lodges and find some great birds and wildlife.

Our first stop is the Tapichalaca Reserve, home of the highly range-restricted Jocotoco antpitta (as well as several others including chestnut-naped, rufous, and slate-crowned).  While at Tapichalaca we'll enjoy the rich cloud forest and hopefully find many hummers (green-fronted lancebill, rufous-capped thornbill, flame-throated and amethyst-throated sunangels), flycatchers (orange-banded, smoky bush-tyrant, and black-throated tody-tyrant), chusquea tapaculo, barred fruiteater, bar-bellied woodpecker, and many more.  Crossing a nice elevational transect down to the town of Valladolid, we may find Maranon thrush, streaked saltator, and speckle-breasted wren.  With luck we'll find the spectacular white-capped tanagers and maybe rare golden-plumed parakeets.

From Tapichalaca, we'll head to the eastern slope and beautiful Copalinga Lodge.  Warmer temperatures and a rich assortment of species from both higher and lower elevations await us here.  Wire-crested thorntail and spangled coquette are hummer highlights while coppery-chested jacamar, white-crowned tapaculo, black-streaked puffbird, lanceolated monklet, golden-winged tody-flycatcher, and blue-rumped manakin are a few of the gems we've seen here.  We'll spend a morning at the Bombuscaro section of Podocarpus National Park and one along the old Loja-Zamora Road where gray-mantled wren, cerulean warbler, and scarlet-breasted fruiteater are possible.

We then journey west to Jocotoco's Buenaventura Lodge.  Buenaventura may be the birdiest place in the world's birdiest country.  Between the hummers swarming in huge numbers at the feeders, the many mixed flocks, the rare and local El Oro parakeet, and a lek of long-wattled umbrellabird, this is an unforgettable place.  We spend two full days here and hope to see many of the west slope and a few Tumbesian specialties.

We finish our trip in the far southwest with two days at the Jorupe Reserve where comfortable cabins set amidst spectacular dry tropical forest make for a perfect birding experience.  "At the lodge" birds include pale-browed tinamou, gray-backed hawk, west Peruvian screech-owl, gray-cheeked parakeet, Tumbes swift, Ecuadorian trogon, white-tailed jay, black-capped sparrow, saffron siskin, and white-edged oriole.  Deeper in the forest are blackish-headed spinetail, rufous-necked and henna-hooded foliage-gleaners, collared antshrike, Watkin's antpitta, gray-breasted and sooty-crowned flycatchers, and lots more. 

Jocotoco Antpitta and view from Tapichalaca by Karen Blumenthal   

Last updated: August 29, 2010.