Ecuador - Days 1-2

Last July I spent two weeks birding in Ecuador with Brad, John and Judy Wilkinson. We were on a tour through Tropical Birding spending a week in the northwest and another in the eastern lowlands.

We arrived in Quito on the 16th and stayed the night at Hotel Sebastian. Since it was practically in the middle of the night, it was easy to fall asleep knowing we weren’t missing any birds.

The following morning came early and we were met by our guide – Nick Athanas and local driver Vladimir. We were soon on our way to Yanacocha Reserve on the slopes of Volcan Pichincha. Our first bird came before light – a Great Thrush walking down a sidewalk, which was soon followed by multiple Rufous-collared Sparrows. Both of these birds are considered ‘trash’ birds to most.

We spent the whole morning walking down the road at Yanacocha getting a taste of our first South American birds Including Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Superciliaried Hemispingus, Blue-backed and Cinereous Conebills, Smoky-bush Tyrant and this Tawny Antpitta.


As we approached the hummingbird feeders, it became apparent that feeders in Ecuador are fantastic. We had ten species including:

Buff-winged Starfrontlet

Great Sapphirewing

Shining Sunbeam

And this Sword-billed Hummingbird

Besides hummingbirds, the area around the feeders were also great for other birds including Ocellated Tapaculo, Streaked Tuftedcheak, Rufous-naped and Stripe-headed Brush-Finches, Bar-bellied Woodpecker and this Barred Fruiteater.

After a quick lunch we headed off to Tandayapa Bird Lodge, our lodging for the next few nights. Along the way we continued adding birds to our list including Turquoise Jay, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Sickle-winged Guan, Western Hemispingus and lekking Andean Cock-of-the Rocks.
We eventually arrived and were automatically glued to the feeders. Tandayapa Bird Lodge probably has the world’s greatest hummingbird feeders, but that will be another blog post…

Here was our list for the day:

Tawny-breasted Tinamou
Curve-billed Tinamou
Turkey Vulture
Variable Hawk
Sickle-winged Guan
Band-tailed Pigeon
White-tipped Dove
White-capped Parrot
White-necked Jacobin
Brown Violet-ear
Green Violet-ear
Sparkling Violet-ear
Western Emerald
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Andean Emerald
Fawn-breasted Brilliant
Shining Sunbeam
Mountain Velvetbreast
Great Sapphirewing
Collared Inca
Buff-winged Starfrontlet
Sword-billed Hummingbird
Buff-tailed Coronet
Sapphire-vented Puffleg
Golden-breasted Puffleg
Booted Racket-tail
Black-tailed Trainbearer
Tyrian Metaltail
Violet-tailed SylphPurple-throated Woodstar
Rainbow-bearded Thornbill
Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan
Crimson-mantled Woodpecker
Bar-bellied Woodpecker
Powerful Woodpecker
Azara’s Spinetail
White-browed Spinetail
Streaked Tuftedcheak
Rufous Antpitta
Tawny Antpitta
Unicolored Tapaculo
Ocellated Tapaculo
White-throated Tyrannulet
White-banded Tyrannulet
Tufted Tit-tyrant
Black Phoebe
Rufous-breasted Chat-tyrant
Smoky Bush-tyrant
Golden-crowned Flycatcher
Red-crested Cotinga
Barred Fruiteater
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Turquoise Jay
Great Thrush
Brown-bellied Swallow
Blue-and-white Swallow
Rufous Wren
Plain-tailed Wren
Gray-breasted Wood-wren
Spectacled Whitestart
Cinereous Conebill
Blue-backed Conebill
Masked Flowerpiercer
Glossy Flowerpiercer
Black Flowerpiercer
Blue-and-black Tanager
Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager
Hooded Mountain-Tanager
Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager
Superciliaried Hemispingus
Western Hemispingus
Southern Yellow-Grosbeak
Plain-colored Seedeater
Rufous-naped Brush-Finch
Stripe-headed Brush-Finch
Rufous-collared Sparrow