Large, colourful and extraordinary birds make Ecuador a bird watcher’s paradise.
It’s a rewarding and beautiful country for nature lovers, from the cloud forests and volcanoes around high altitude capital city Quito, to the tropical rainforests of the Oriente, the Amazonian lowlands.
Birders from around the world flock to Ecuador, attracted by the chance to see more than 300 species on a one week trip. This country has more than 1550 bird species or about 10 per cent of the world total.
For most people, it doesn’t take long to acclimatise to Quito’s 2800 metres and the city is a logical starting point for any trip to Ecuador. It is, after all, at the ‘centre of the world’, and you can visit El Mitad del Mundo - the monument that marks the equatorial line just outside Quito.
Most visitors stay in the centre of Quito where they can explore the Old City on foot with a local guide. Highlights included the seven ornate cathedrals, the Presidential Palace and the many old buildings dating from around the Spanish colonial era in the 16th century.
Spanish is the local lingo and if you don’t speak it, do take a Latin American phrase book with you and have a go. The locals are friendly and helpful, and appreciate the extra effort. In the cities, many tourism operators have some English, but in the countryside, you will get further faster with a little Spanish.
Up to Pinchincha
A good starting point for bird watching is the slopes of nearby Pinchincha Volcano to the east of Quito, where many high altitude birds are found. A four-wheel drive can make easy work of the narrow winding road, climbing through open paramo grasslands towards the montane cloud forests.
On the way you might spot a Tawny Antpitta calling from low bushes on the roadside, or an American Kestral out hunting, while in the roadside scrub, an Ocellated Tapaculo may be calling, while staying hidden from view. Try to get a closeup view of this large ground bird with its spectacular bright red face and throat, and boldly white-spotted body.
At Yanacocha Cloud forest Reserve high on Pinchincha, (about an hour’s drive from Quito), you can walk part of the mostly flat, Old Inca Trail that winds around the hill at that altitude.
Tanagers and Hummingbirds at Yanacocha
As you walk, bright multi-coloured Tanagers dart among the overhanging trees, and the fast-moving Sword-billed Hummingbird can be seen among the many species that frequent the feeders in the Reserve.
The whir of tiny passing Hummingbirds in a whirling array of colours and styles is beguiling, as are their exotic names such as Pufflegs, Sunangels, Emeralds, Sapphirewings, and Brilliants.
The reserve includes montane cloud-forest with many ferns, orchids, bromeliads and epiphytes, Elfin forest, Polylepis, and paramo. Polylepis trees are endemic to the Andean páramos, and occur naturally, at higher elevations than any other angiosperm.
These forests continue to disappear at an alarming rate, partly because people follow cultural traditions of land clearance, and partly due to ever-increasing population growth and its increasing demands on the landscape.
Yanacocha is now the property of the Jocotoco Foundation which is protecting it as the Polylepis trees here are the last breeding refuge of the endemic Black-breasted Puffleg – a small rare species of Hummingbird.
The views from Yanacocha are fantastic sweeping vistas of steep sided, forested hills and deep valleys – the western foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes range.
Downhill to Mindo
After a morning in the reserve, you can head for Mindo, descending through bush and farmland, past small haciendas farming cattle and crops. In this area are all sorts of birding surprises such as Crested Cotinga and Turquoise Jay to a startled Noble Snipe that might burst out of bushes beside a stream.
Mindo is a small town on the western side of Pinchincha surrounded by dairy farms and cloud forest. It’s in a beautiful lush river valley that drains the Rio Mindo and Rio Nambillo, within the Bosque Protector Mindo-Nambillo Reserve of about 19,000 ha. More than 350 species of birds have been identified in this area alone.
Cloud forest species such as the stunning Choco Toucan, the stately Golden-headed Quetzal, and the immaculately attired Andean Cock of the Rock, are all impressive sights around Mindo.
Beautiful Bellavista
Not far from Mindo is Bellavista, a cloud forest and bird lover’s paradise. This private reserve was set up by an Englishman to create a sanctuary and protect large sections of cloud forest from clearance and development.
Bellavista now covers 300 hectares at altitudes between 1400m and 2600m. The forest here is also home to numerous species of ferns, orchids, and bromeliads, and at least 270 species of birds including specialties such as the Giant Antpitta, the Tanager Finch, the Swallow-tailed Nightjar and a huge variety of Hummingbirds. More than a dozen trails have been created offering visitors spectacular views of the area.
During visits to Bellavista, you might see a pair of the spectacular Plate-billed Mountain Toucans, hear the rhythmical hooting of Toucan Barbets, spot a Crimson-mantled Woodpecker and at dusk, experience a swooping visit from ghostly Nighthawks.
Tanagers everyway
In this region’s cloud forests there are about 100 species of Tanagers alone – each one sporting a different colour combination from the stunning Blue and yellow Mountain Tanager, to the Golden-crowned, Scarlet-bellied, Purple-mantled Tanagers, or the subtle highlights of the beautiful pale blue and silver-pink Grey and Gold Tanager.
Less colourful, but just as entrancing are families of neo-tropical birds such as the Euphonias, Flowerpiercers, Tyrants, Antpittas and Antshrikes, Conebills, Canasteros, and Manakins.
It certainly is a bird watcher’s paradise, so do be sure to put aside a few weeks just to explore this region.
