4D Ecuador Birding: Choco Highlands & Slopes

Yanacocha, Bellavista: You will be picked up from your hotel in Quito, to be transferred to the first destiny, Yanacocha Reserve, place that boasts excellent montane cloud forest northwest of Quito with lots of montane bird life. If the flocks treat us well, they are frequented by mountain-tanagers (including Golden-crowned Tanager, Hooded, Black-chested, Scarlet-breasted MountainTanagers, fruit-eaters (Barred, Green-and-Black), Brush-Finches (Yellowbellied, White-naped), flowerpiercers (Glossy, Black, Masked, White-sided), etc. We will drive some down the Bellavista Road looking for Platebilled Mountain Toucan, Tanager Finch, Fruiteaters (Barred and Green-andBlack), mixed flocks, etc. in the afternoon.

Silanche, Rancho Suamox & Milpe: Silanche and Rancho Suamox are both lowland Chocoan sites. The first is a 60 hectare fragment of remnant forest (30 years ago there were over 20,000 connected hectares there before heart of palm plantations moved in), which is packed full to the brim with birds. The flocks, if found, may contain over 30 to 40 species easily. Rancho Suamox is very close to the Silanche Reserve, but is a bit different. The Ranch operated as a hotel and the property, like the surrounding properties, was highly manipulated / disturbed. The owners have been reforesting the property and focusing on attracting birds. While many of the birds they attract are “common”, they will be new birds for the trip and some of the birds they attract are quite rare. A walk around the property may yield some surprises as they have resident Spectacled Owls among other delights. We will have lunch in Pedro Vicente Maldonado and continue on towards Milpe. Silanche and Rancho Suamox are below 500 m.a.s.l. and Milpe is around 1000 m.a.s.l. meaning the first two are lowland Choco sites and Milpe is a foothill birding site. There will be some overlap but the differences certainly merit a visit to both! The feeders here are excellent and the hummingbirds will be all different from the morning’s location. The trails are beautiful and may provide mixed flocks, maybe even an umbrellabird, or other surprises. When the weather is nice, we can look for Black-and-White Owl, Cloudforest Pygmy-Owl, and other nocturnal birds.

Birdwatcher’s House (Santa Rosa) & Mindo: A retired guide bought a nice piece of land and made it very bird-friendly in the Birdwatcher’s House. We will get there early in order to take full advantage of the light setup which attracts insectivorous birds, which can be quite difficult to see, out into the relative open. There is also a banana feeder station and hummingbird station. Some of the main targets here are also quality views of Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Gorgeted Woodstar, and Blue-capped Tanager.

Paz de los Aves, Alambi & return to Quito:This morning is a real treat. We will be visiting one of the best cock-of-the-rock leks in the country and we don’t want to be late. Darker clothing is best today. After the show is put on by the Cocks of the Rock, we will start looking for other stars of the morning. Wild antpittas and other birds (like Blue-winged and Blackchinned Mountain-Tanagers, Toucan Barbet, Sickle-winged Guan, Crimsonrumped Toucanet) will hopefully present themselves with astonishing ease. After antpitta time, we will focus in on hummingbirds and fruit feeders while having some traditional food ourselves. We will head towards Quito, stopping at Alambi Reserve. This place has an amazingly-bustling garden and a trail giving access to a river very good for White-capped dippers. When the avocado trees are in fruit, this place attracts both species of local quetzal (Crested and Golden-headed).