Ecuador: Eastern Slope of the Andes: Jan 22—30, 2009

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Price: $2,895
combined tour discount with Ecuador: Amazonia at Napo Wildlife Center of $100 per person in double occupancy and $125 per person in single occupancy
Departs: Quito
Tour Limit: 6
Operations Manager: Edna Murray
Download Itinerary: PDF (92.5 KB)

Tour Leaders

David-wolf

David Wolf

David Wolf is a senior member of the VENT staff and one of our most experienced tour leaders. After birding the U.S. and Mexico...


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Register for this Tour

You can register for this tour by phone (800-328-VENT or 512-328-5221) or by downloading a printable file of our full tour registration form. Signed and completed forms can be faxed to 512-328-2919 or mailed to our office.

  
 
Crested Quetzal

Crested Quetzal— Photo: David Wolf

 
Fabulous transect from Quito over the Andean páramo and down to the upper tropical foothills, with new birds in each zone, including many of the most spectacular in the Andes.

"Ecuador: Eastern Slope of the Andes" is the second of a two-part tour (preceded by "Amazonia at Napo Wildlife Center") designed to sample the magnificent avifauna of this country at two choice locations, representing very different regions. Between them they offer a full range of birding possibilities. San Isidro Labrador, our base for most of this tour, is in the heart of the magnificent Ecuador Andes in the beautiful subtropical zone. Within easy reach is an incredible transect of habitats, from lush upper tropical forest in the foothills to temperate cloud forests, stunted alpine scrub, and treeless páramo. Without a doubt, the Andes offer the world's most spectacular mountain birding.

The scenic Andes Mountains are just as complex as the lowlands, and the cloud forests of these slopes harbor the richest montane avifauna found anywhere. There are few places where birders have access to a good cross section of these slopes, and Northern Ecuador is perhaps foremost among them. Zonation is complex in the Andes, and many birds are restricted to narrow elevational bands, not occurring above or below, so we'll bird these mountains from the foothills to the páramo. Several roads traverse various elevations offering a fantastic assortment of little-known birds, while trails at San Isidro give us access to the lush forest interior. Outstanding in the Andes are the tanagers and hummingbirds, two of the most colorful and entertaining families of birds in the Neotropics. Among the long list of other possibilities are such fabulous birds as Torrent Duck, Andean Condor, Black-and-chestnut Eagle, Crested and Golden-headed quetzals, Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, antpittas, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, and mountain-tanagers.

Simple accommodations on a private forest reserve most of the trip, with excellent food; full days afield birding from roads and some trails; moderate terrain; parts of two days at high elevations (to 13,000 feet).