Ecuador: The Southern Andes Jul 16—27, 2008
Posted by Paul Greenfield
Paul Greenfield
Paul Greenfield grew up near New York City and became interested in birds as a child. He received his B.F.A. from Temple University where he was an art major at the Tyler S...Related Trips
Our July Ecuador's Southern Andes tour brought us diversity in all its splendor, where habitats, life-zones, ecosystems, and the birds changed from day-to-day, and even minute-by-minute! As is the norm in tropical America as a whole, the unexpected became the expected—and seeing that "unexpected" was often thrilling! We saw 40 species of hummingbirds (!!!) from the species with the world's longest beak—the bizarre Sword-billed Hummingbird—to that with the shortest—the Purple-backed Thornbill. The 46 species of fabulous tanagers were also hard to ignore, and it was even harder to choose a favorite from the delectable selection we enjoyed: Golden-eared, Orange-eared, Paradise, Blue-necked, Green-and-gold, Silver-backed, Metallic-green, Beryl-spangled, and Flame-faced tanagers, or Scarlet-bellied, Blue-winged, and Hooded mountain-tanagers…and what about that Golden-crowned Tanager?
Our morning at El Cajas National Recreation Area was memorable indeed—it seemed that all the key páramo species fell into place, one by one. We started out with great looks at Bar-winged Cinclodes and Red-rumped Bush-Tanager, and, shortly after, the very local Ecuadorian endemic Violet-throated Metaltail called in right up close. As we made selected stops, we added fine views of species after species: the very localized Tit-like Dacnis, Blue-mantled Thornbill, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Many-striped Canastero, and Tawny Antpitta. A pair of Giant Conebills were called in and reacted strongly, singing away from as close as two feet from David's tape recorder! We continued along: Mouse-colored Thistletail, Andean Tit-Spinetail, and then, as we were returning over the pass to head out of the páramo, Kevin called out, "…raptors overhead!" We leaned out the windows of our bus…"Andean Condor!" We jumped out and watched two of these magnificent birds glide out over the valley; an adult male and a juvenile turned and banked…oh, what a show—from below, from above, from the side! And it turns out that El Cajas isn't even the best place to find this species.
We continued southward and to the eastern foothills of the Andes where we visited the Bombuscaro entrance to Podocarpus National Park. From Copalinga Lodge, we birded forest trails, gardens, and along the lower "old" Zamora Road, compiling quite a sample of east slope specialties. Here, the tanagers were especially mind-boggling, of course, but we also enjoyed great looks at Coppery-chested Jacamar, four Black-streaked Puffbirds, a close Amazonian Umbrellabird, the recently described Foothill Elaenia (it was great to enjoy this difficult-to-ID species with one of its discoverers—David Wolf!), a pair of nest-building Equatorial Graytails, Lemon-browed Flycatcher, and a female Spangled Coquette feeding with a wonderful pair of Wire-crested Thorntails at a flowering Verbena shrub.
On a trip that highlighted so many special experiences and splendid bird species, including Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan and the threatened endemic Bearded Guan at Cajanuma near Loja, Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Collared Antshrike and Tumbes Sparrow in the Catamayo Valley, Black-faced Tanager, Silver-backed Tanager, Marañon Thrush, and the rare vagrant Little Ground-Tyrant in the Valladolid area, or even the pair of Barred Fruiteaters and the unbeatable views of Sword-billed Hummingbird at Yanacocha, nothing could prepare us for the unforgettable event we would experience at Tapichalaca Reserve.
We had hiked up a mountain trail in early morning rain and fog to a makeshift lean-to with crude wooden benches. It was cool as we waited for the reserve guard to show up at this spot where we were anticipating, with great expectation, the opportunity to see the recently discovered (and spectacular at that!) Jocotoco Antpitta. Being a true skulker, and a difficult-to-see species, the Jocotoco Foundation decided to ease the pressure on this endangered bird by prohibiting the use of tape playback and instead adapting a few birds to a feeding routine within their natural habitat. Four of Tapichalaca Reserve’s guards were trained by Sr. Angel Paz, an amazing "campesino" who devised his own techniques to feed a handful of extremely cryptic and furtive understory species in the Mindo region in northwestern Ecuador, and now we were poised to witness a truly unbelievable show. Our guard, Vicente, finally arrived with a plastic container which was filled with one huge earthworm; he proceeded to clean it and cut it into one-inch pieces while he whistled and called out, "Pancho! Panchito!" We were all well-positioned on the benches; the trail we came up on wound around us and another branched out and sloped down away from us. Some time passed; anticipation was building!
Suddenly I caught a glimpse of our prize, sneaking up from the thick undergrowth along the trail behind us. As I quietly drew everyone's attention to "Panchito," he came out in plain view. Expressions of joyous disbelief were evident! Two morsels were tossed over to him; he gobbled them up and took off in a shot. Then "Bibí," one teenaged offspring, showed up, grabbed her stash, and was gone. Some time passed; Vicente informed us that they would probably be back, but had headed off to feed a baby that they were caring for. A short time later, it got pretty crazy. First, two Jocotocos came out of the forest on one side of us, then two more came out on the other. They would feed, duck back into the vegetation, and return a few moments later. "Bibí" and "Pancho" uttered soft cooing whistles which I was able to imitate, and with each call they moved closer and closer. At one point, the two of them scampered right behind us and climbed a thick close-by limb where they proceeded to preen and perch in full view, allowing for superb natural photo ops. It is so difficult to convey just how an experience like this one can touch you—seeing such a rare and localized species so intimately, one that only twelve years ago was totally unknown to science! It is just so wonderful!