SOUTHERN ECUADOR BIRDING TOUR
Tour Overview
ECUADOR
BIRDING TOUR
ANY TIME*
| Duration: | 20 days, 19 nights |
| Group Size: | 2-6 |
| Anytime Price: | $6900 |
| Group Price: | $6500 |
| Single Suppl: | $500 |
| Est #Species: | 475-525 |
| Pace: | Easy/Moderate |
| Difficulty: | Easy/Moderate |
| * This tour is available for any dates of your choosing provided guide services and accommodations are available. | |
Southern Ecuador offers numerous species not found farther north, including many specialties found only there and in northern Peru. A tour combining both the western and eastern slopes of the southern Andes typically produces around 500 species in less than 3 weeks. The best time to do this tour is November-January or in May to avoid the heaviest rains of February-April. During dry season from June-October birds tend to be less active and in more bedraggled plumage. The tour begins in Guayaquil and covers the forested reserves at Buenaventura, Jorupe, Utuana, Tapichalaca, and Cerro Toledo in the lowlands and slopes of the western Andes plus Podocarpus National Park (Cajauma section at higher elevation and Bombuscaro section at lower elevation), the less visited Cordillera del Condor near the Rio Nangaritza, Saraguro, and El Cajas National Park. It ends with a visit to the newly created Ayampe Reserve on the Pacific Coast northwest of Guayaquil. There are too many highlights of this tour to mention them all, but some notable ones are the Long-wattled Umbrellabird and endemic El Oro Parakeet at Buenaventura, the elusive Jocotoco Antpitta that visits a worm garden at Copalinga, the highly localized Neblina Metaltail at Cerro Toledo, the gorgeous Orange-throated Tanager at Cordillera del Condor, the endemic White-breasted Parakeet at Bombuscaro, the critically endangered Pale-headed Brushfinch at Yunguilla, several high elevation specialties at El Cajas, and one of the world's most endangered hummingbirds, the tiny Esmeraldas Woodstar at Ayampe. Accommodations vary from comfortable ecolodges to comfortable hotels in towns near birding sites.