Tour Description

Maximum group size: 10
Guide: Morris Gevirtz

The Tandayapa valley of Ecuador is part of the Chocó bioregion, an area of astonishing biodiversity, which has been labeled a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International. The valley contains habitat types ranging from low-elevation to high-elevation cloud tropical forests and grassland as well as semi-arid regions and is home to more than 676 species of birds. Tandayapa Valley, in conjunction with the rest of the Chocó bioregion, contains more endemics than any other site in the New World.

The birding officially begins at the Yanachocha Protected Forest on the slopes of the Volcán Pichincha. This high-altitude, temperate, polylepsis forests contains the last confirmed breeding population of Black-breasted Pufflegs –a spectacular bird, I might add. Yanacocha is also home to the Curve-billed Tinamou, Carunculated Caracara, Imperial snipe, Golden-breasted Puffleg, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, Ecuadorian Hillstar and Giant Conebill among many, many others.

From here we head to Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve which will be our base of operations. Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, located in the upper region of the Tandayapa Valley on the Old Mindo-Nono Road has more than 10 km of trails and is “smack dab” in the middle of an internationally recognized Important Bird Area. This region has been in the top three for highest bird count in the Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count for the past six years. Over 300 bird species have been spotted just in the Bellavista area. Our tour doesn’t end here though. We also visit many surrounding locations such as the local Paz de las Aves Refuge owned and operated by Ángel Paz, the “antpitta whisperer.” Feeders on his property are visited by several species of otherwise rare antpittas including the Giant, Yellow-breasted and the Moustached antpittas. His property also hosts an Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek, which we will visit one morning to watch the birds displaying.

Another trip will be devoted to the Mílpe Bird Sanctuary, which has the distinction of being the easiest place to spot the Moss-backed Tanager and is home to many spectacular Chocó endemics such as Plumbeous Forest-Falcon, Glistening-green Tanager, Chocó Trogon, Club-winged Manakin, and Long-wattled Umbrellabird.

We will be sure to visit the Río Silanche Bird Sanctuary, one of the few remaining lowland forested areas, which is home to such birds as the Purple-chested Hummingbird, Chocó Trogon, Double-banded Graytail, Griscom’s Antwren, Stub-tailed Antbird, Black-tipped Cotinga, Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Scarlet-and-white Tanager and Blue-whiskered Tanager. Once we’ve thoroughly birded the lower Tandayapa, we will “mop up” by birding on the Mindo-Nono road which is famous for the birding it provides and will allow us to sample birds from habitat ranging from the subtropical Andean foothills to the high-elevation Páramo grasslands and “La Cruce” an intersection which is notorious for its excellent owling at night as well as an “out-of-this-world” collection of birds in the day.