Binoculars in the Backcountry: Ecuador - The West Slope (Part 2)

Content note: Since the inception of this blog in 2015, we've used the Feedburner service to deliver the blog content to those of you who have signed up for email updates. Feedburner email service is going away at the end of this month. We have transitioned our subscriber list to the MailChimp service. Hopefully this all goes smoothly and those of you who signed up previously will continue to receive post updates through MailChimp. But as with any mass mailing service, there is a possibility that the posts will be intercepted by your spam folder. So be sure to check!

In case you missed it: Ecuador - The West Slope (Part 1) [Link]

Day 3

We left our lodge near Mindo early for a morning visit to the Amagusa Reserve, a private property recovering forest that is one of the best places to see many Choco Region species. The Choco Region is high in endemism in both plants and animals, and we were keen to see as many as possible. Our morning walk in the forest produced a respectable 73 species, including many life birds.

eBird list Amagusa Reserve

Susan, Andres, and local guide Sergio

Crimson-rumped Toucanet

Flame-rumped Tanager

Green Thorntail

Purple-fronted Lancebill

Rufous-throated Tanager

Velvet-purple Coronet

In the afternoon we were in for a special treat, one of Susan's most wanted birds in the tropics - Oilbird. Oilbird is in it own genus and family, one of only a handful of birds in the world with this distinction. It is somewhat related to the nightjars, nocturnal insect eating birds. But the oilbird is a nocturnal fructivore, eating only fruit from specific plants. It roosts in caves and because it flies at night can be tough to see for a birder. When we made a request with Bird Ecuador to see them if possible, we were told it's no problem and they would add it to the itinerary. It turns out there is a private property reserve within a reasonable distance of Mindo that has roosting caves for the birds. That was our afternoon destination!

We arrived at the location, along the Rio Guayllabamba and were guided by the property owner to the cave. It really wasn't exactly a cave, but a very narrow blind canyon with a waterfall at the back. It was dark, and only minimal flashlights were allowed. And definitely no flash photography. Thank goodness for the low light capability of modern cameras. We found a number of individuals roosting in the cave, including some full size juvenile birds. Speaking of juvenile oilbirds, the species gets it's common name from the past practice of rendering the high fat containing juvenile birds for their oil.

eBird list for Cueva de las Tayos

The cave is protected from vandalism

The cave wall, if you look closely there are several individuals

Also in the area were these cuties - Pacific Parrotlet

Day 4

This was the morning for another of Susan's most wanted - Long-wattled Umbrellabird. This member of the Cotinga family is among the most peculiar birds in the world. Their black color and crest on their head suggests an umbrella, with the males having an inflatable wattle hanging from the throat that can be extended over a foot long when they are excited on a breeding lek. And that's where we were going, an active breeding lek. We did a bit of trekking to reach the lek at dawn. No birds... Our local guide didn't seem too concerned so we birded for a while. Then all of a sudden in flew one female. Then another. Then came the males, fired up with their booming voices and wattles hanging down. What a sight!

eBird list for Recinto 23 de Junio

Waiting for the umbrellabirds

Long-wattled Umbrellabird male

After the birds flew off to feed for the day, we walked a great little forest trail nearby. The highlight was a lekking Golden-winged Mankin, with lots of other great birds to see.