It’s All About Antpittas (well, mostly)<br>A birding trip to Southern Ecuador, Feb., 2010


	Let me introduce Panchito, a Jocotoco Antpitta who lives in the Tapichalaca Reserve in southern Ecuador. He is one of the main reasons I decided to go on this trip, as his species was only “discovered” in 1997 and described to science in 1999. Of course, the local people living in its tiny range knew about the bird, but it had never been seen by birders before then. At 9" it is larger than most of the other antpittas (there are more than 50 species of them) and its plumage is strikingly different than all the others. Its habitat is montane cloud forest with a thick bamboo under story in which it is extremely difficult to see the bird. That, perhaps, is one of the great appeals of antpittas: they are shy, ground-dwelling birds which, by the way, do NOT eat ants! Their favored diet is worms, with which this bird has been slowly coached to come each morning for a free hand-out, deep in the forest at the reserve established to protect it. At any rate, my life list of antpittas was (ahem) pitifully small, and I hoped to improve that number and see this bird while on my trip. More about Panchito in a while.	Here's Panchito!
	Winter scene at home on the day I left	This is how it looked the morning I left for my flight from Atlanta to Quito. Needless to say, I was looking forward to a wee change in climate!
	And here it was, a gorgeous day in Quito, lots of time to stroll around one of their large parks and to enjoy a bit of orchid-gazing and birding in the small but lovely botanical gardens there.	Parque la Carolina, Quito Botanical Gardens
	Orchid 1 Orchid 2 Orchid 3 Orchid 4
	At last, time to head off for some real birding. A flight to Loja was first up, as I had planned a small pre-trip adventure specifically targeting another very range-restricted bird, the Orange-throated Tanager. Though this bird was first discovered in 1963, it was not until 1990 that it was found in the Nangaritza River Valley of SE Ecuador. Its remote locations in N Peru had made it extremely difficult to access, but having heard from a birding friend that there was now a small lodge in Ecuador from which one might venture to see the bird, I decided that since I would be “in the neighborhood” (sorta), I should give it a try. We spent the better part of the day driving to Yankuam Lodge, arriving in time for a downpour and to settle into our simple accommodations.	Welcome to Yankuam Lodge and the Nangaritza River My room was one of 8 in this cabin One of the cooks in the kitchen at Yankuam
	Naranguilla fruit makes great juice Orange-throated Tanager*	The next morning, after consulting with our local Shuar guide, we headed straight for a relatively new location for this bird, just a 20 minute ride down the river to a newly cut dirt track where, within 10 mins. of walking, we easily found two birds feeding in the treetops. As you can see from this photo, it is a striking bird whose orange throat glows stunningly along with the blues on its wings and tail. Considering that the only previous site in SE Ecuador where this bird could be seen involved a two hour slog uphill through calf-high mud, we were extremely fortunate and very happy birders! This area is threatened, however, as roads are being cut through the forest, allowing easy access for slash and burn agriculture for such crops as the Naranguilla, a fruit which is used primarily for its delicious juice. It looks like an orange, but is an entirely different animal. Bananas and plantains are also grown, of course, and are staples of the local diet.
	There was a wealth of other fine species to be seen in addition to a fantastic boat ride through narrow river gorges dripping with lush tropical vegetation and endless waterfalls.	Beautiful gorges on the Narangitza Dugout canoes along the river Lots of waterfalls Double-toothed Kite Purplish Jacamar
	Waiting for the ferry to cross Ferry across the Nangaritza, powered only by river current Dramatic scenery in extreme SE Ecuador	This ferry across the river was right by our lodge. For those living on the other side, this clever arrangement provides a means of access to the only road leading to the “outside”, and operates solely on the power of the river.
	En route back to Guayaquil by road, we made a two night stop at a lovely lodge called Copalinga, which offered wonderful food, hot showers and extremely clean accommodations, a very welcome change!	My cabin and deck at Copalinga Heliconia flowers, the favorite of White-tipped Sicklebill White-tipped Sicklebill*
	Podocarpus National Park scene	Right outside my cabin was a large stand of Heliconia, the favored flower of the White-tipped Sicklebill Hummingbird. Its bill, as you can see, is perfectly adapted to feed on this flower, and we did find one doing so later on in the trip. Copalinga is located just down the track from one of the entrances to the huge Podocarpus National Park.
	This male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock gave us some good views, but was difficult to photograph.	Andean Cock-of-the-Rock male (C. Pomarius)
	Llamas and Alpaca at Cajas National Park Tawny Antpitta (C. Pomarius) Stout-billed Cinclodes	On the final day of our pre-trip, we stopped at Cajas National Park, and were greeted at the entrance by a frisky group of Llamas and one Alpaca. The birds of this park were terrific, and included some I had seen before, such as the Stout-billed Cinclodes and Tawny Antpitta. (See? He’s nothing like Panchito!)
	The real stars here at 12,000+ feet, however, were this gorgeous Tit-like Dacnis, which thrives in a very special forest of Polylepis, a tree which actually grows above the tree-line. This was the most gorgeous stand of Polylepis I have ever seen. It is usually victim to harvesting for firewood by the local people who live at these elevations and there are few such stands of these trees left in the Andes.	Tit-like Dacnis* Polylepis Forest
	Our picnic spot at Cajas Natl. Park Chuqueragua Flower, food for the Ecuadorian Hillstar Ecuadorean Hillstar* Alpine plants at 12,000'+	Our picnic stop was by a small lake and overlooked a hillside full of blooming Chuqueragua flowers, upon which the Ecuadorian Hillstar likes to feed. At this altitude these birds would have to expend a lot of energy to hover while feeding, so they are often seen clinging to the flowers or even on the ground.
	We met up with our Field Guides leader, Mitch Lysinger, and the rest of our group in Guayaquil, and did a bit of lowland forest birding from there. The Ecuadorian Ground Dove, Ecuadorian Trogon, and other species kept us busy for a day or two before heading up into the foothills.	Ecuadorian Ground-dove Tastes like chicken! Unusual blossom, ginger family? Ecuadorian (Black-tailed) Trogon, male
	My lower bunk at Umbrellabird Lodge, Buenaventura Reserve Open-air dining was delightful! Upper Buenaventura Reserve scene	Umbrellabird Lodge, in the Buenaventura Reserve (a Jocotoco Foundation project), offers comfortable rooms and good food and lots of special birds in beautiful and varied habitat.
	The lodge’s namesake and the bird for which most people come is the Long-wattled Umbrellabird. There is a lek (breeding display ground) just down the track from the lodge and it was a treat to see this bizarre bird as it produced its fog-horn-like call. This bird is about 16" long and its wattle is 10" or more. It’s amazing how difficult it can be to spot the bird in the dense foliage, thus I wasn’t able to get a photo of my own.	Long-wattled Umbrellabird* Long-wattled Umbrellabird from below (C. Pomarius)
	El Oro Parakeets are endangered	The Buenaventura reserve also protects another special bird, the El Oro Parakeet. With protection of its habitat and the encouragement of properly placed nest boxes, these little Ecuadorian endemics are holding their own in the reserve, though probably decreasing due to habitat loss if they occur elsewhere. There are estimated to be less than 1000 left.
	The railings along the open dining area are lined with hummingbird feeders which are cleaned and refilled each day, and are busy from dawn to dusk!	White-necked Jacobins arrive early The lodge's feeders are very, very busy! Violet-bellied Hummingbird Brown Violet-ear and Green Thorntail Green Thorntail, male and female Green-crowned Brilliant, male
	Gray-backed Hawk Green Honeycreeper pair, in the rain Butterfly on my backpack Bronze-winged Parrots Violet-bellied Hummingbird glows even in the rain Black-mandibled Toucan Tarantula! Neat caterpillar	The following photos illustrate a few more of the birds and critters we observed while at Buenaventura.
	Next stop was the newly opened lodge at the Jocotoco Foundation’s Jorupe Reserve. As you may have gathered by now, the Foundation has done a lot of good, hard work in preserving Ecuador’s birds and in encouraging eco-tourism with its lodges, which benefits the local economy and encourages protection of the avifauna. Urraca Lodge is the newest such lodge, and as you can see, is very comfortable. It sits amidst a habitat featuring huge Bombax trees, such as the one in the photo below. Birds on the grounds included nesting Watkins’ Antpittas, Plain-backed Antpitta (my list was growing nicely!), Rufous-necked Woodrail on its nest, and at least 3 different owl species.	Jorupe Reserve My comfortable cabin at Urraca Lodge Beautiful Bombax tree from the lodge (C. Pomarius)
	Utuana Reserve scene	Yet another Jocotoco Reserve which we visited just for a day was the Utuana Reserve, set high above some stunning scenery.
	Along the way to our next 3 night stop, we passed through the charming town of Vilcabamba. Local transport seemed largely to be via open trucks, such as this one.	Local transport Vilcabamba Town Square
	Our home at Tapichalaca Reserve View from my room at Casa Simpson Room at Casa Simpson	The final major stop of the trip was Tapichalaca Reserve, which offered us another very comfortable lodging in the midst of great habitat.
	At long last, I was to meet Panchito and his (or possibly her - it’s hard to know for sure) family. It was a privilege to sit quietly while this bird and two others fed on freshly dug (and hand washed) earthworms which were tossed to them by the local guide, right at our feet! While some might think this artificial, the birds are completely wild and free, and seeing them this way prevents undue pressure on others from birders anxious to see them and potentially disturbing their habitat and breeding. Here's a short video of Panchito in action. (Be sure to watch full screen and in HD for best results.)
	Collared Inca Chestnut-breasted Coronet Amethyst-throated Sunangel	This lodge too has busy hummer feeders, which bring in droves, rain or shine (and there was a good bit of rain!). I think the Amethyst-throated Sunangel was my favorite.
	Other birds which showed up at the feeders included this Masked Flowerpiercer, which extracts nectar from the base of flowers by piercing them with its bill, thus robbing the nectar and cheating the plant by not pollinating it.	Masked Flowerpiercer (C. Pomarius)
	White-necked Parakeets Tapichalaca scenery	We traveled downslope on one afternoon to find these White-necked Parakeets, which are found in S. Ecuador and barely get into N. Peru. As you can see, the scenery throughout this area was spectacular!
	I can’t resist throwing in a few more photos of birds from Tapichalaca!	Bar-bellied Woodpecker (fem.) Violet-tailed Sylph Flame-throated Sunangel
	Acacana Reserve scene Saraguro woman moving her cattle down hill Ocellated Tapaculo*	One next to last stop before flying back to Quito was at the Acacana Reserve, another high altitude patch, which offered great views of Ocellated Tapaculo and a shot at Crescent-faced Antpitta, which unfortunately didn’t show up on cue. It’s always worth a try however! And as always I enjoyed the chance to observe the local scene.
	Last, but not least, we spent the morning at a Jocotoco Reserve which protects the only remaining population of the Pale-headed Brush-finch. Estimates put the total world population at around 250 of these little, unspectacular birds, which live in brushy, overgrown habitat. Their number is believed to be increasing, though the reserve is tiny and habitat is being gobbled up for agriculture all around, as is the case throughout S. Ecuador. Another threat to this species comes from the Cowbirds, which parasitize their nests by laying their eggs in them, with the result that the larger chick overwhelms the brush finch chicks and ends up being the sole survivor, well fed by frantic parents smaller than it.	White-headed Brushfinch*
	Golden-bellied Grosbeak Fern-draped tree
	Passing through the city of Cuenca, we stopped briefly to enjoy its cathedral and square, before heading for our flight back to Quito.	Cuenca Cathedral Cuenca town square
	Angel Paz Toucan Barbet Down the hatch! Crimson-rumped Toucanet Black-chinned Mountain-tanagers	While the trip ended in Quito the following morning, I had to wait for my flight home until quite late at night, and thus took advantage of the time to make a day trip to a small, private reserve established by a farmer named Angel Paz. Instead of simply cutting down his patch of east slope rainforest, he has established a small business by welcoming birders who pay to come see, you guessed it, antpittas! He too has worked to habituate the birds to come feed on earthworms, and there are 3 species which are usually easy to see here. Of course, not on the day I was there, though I did get great views of the little Ochre-breasted Antpitta, which is perhaps the most difficult one to see in any case. As well, Angel has built fruit feeders which he stocks for such birds as the Toucan Barbet, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, and these greedy Black-chinned Mountain-tanagers. Here's a video of Black-chinned Tanagers.
	Angel’s hummingbird feeders provided more opportunities to snap photographs, resulting in these two further species to share with you. One is the Buff-tailed Coronet and the other the Velvet-purple. They are both Coronets, but you won’t have any trouble telling which is which!	Buff-tailed Coronet Velvet-purple Coronet
		Here ended yet another great trip to Ecuador. In all, I enjoyed 73 new life birds, out of a total of 500+ species. Yet, this was my fourth trip to Ecuador! Such is the richness of species in this inviting country. My antpitta count increased by 5, and I added several vulnerable to critically endangered, seldom-seen birds to my life list. In the end it wasn’t truly only about the antpittas. It never is about only one species because as long as you are out in the country and looking, you see so much, much more! In closing, I’ll tack on just a few more photos to illustrate... NOTE: All photos are mine except those marked with an asterisk* or otherwise credited (thank you Carolyn Pomarius!)
	Opalescent Morpho butterfly species Yellow-crowned Parrot Blue-fronted Parrot Blue and Yellow Macaw Unusual Orchid Roadside Hawk	Rain-drenched Orchid Butterfly Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (C. Pomarius) Amethyst-throated Sunangel (C. Pomarius) Flame-throated Sunangel (C. Pomarius) Now hear this! (C. Pomarius)