Birding Expedi
tions in Peru
White-belleid Cinclodes
Torrent Duck.
Scarled-bellied Mountain Tanager
Diademed Sandpiper-Plover
Black-throated Flower Piercer
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
Central Peru
Trip
Basics
Central Peru has a
great variety of birds in a relatively small area, and thus this trip is
an excellent value in terms of variety of endemics and total species. From
the coast we travel through the puna and down into the Amazonian
rainforests in a tour of diversity.
Days: 15
Combines With: North
Peru (22 Days), Lima
Pelagic (1 day), Southeast
Peru (15 Days)
Traveling Conditions: This trip is mostly in fairly remote areas,
and we will generally camp, using basic hotels where we can (usually one
every few days). Likewise, food is generally prepared in the field,
although we can often find small restaurants when desired. The roads vary
from fairly rough roads a few times (for one day at a time) to several
days on paved roads.
Itinerary
Day 1
An early morning start from Lima will put us at Cañete to look for Slender-billed Finch before we head back towards the Peruvian capital, birding along the way. At Puerto Viejo, we should find Peruvian Thick-knee, as well as more common scrub birds such as Chestnut-throated Seedeater, Peruvian Meadowlark and possibly the austral migrant Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant. Waterbirds should include Great and White-tufted Grebes and White-cheeked Pintail among others. We will enjoy lunch at Pucusana, where a cliff-top provides and excellent chance for Red-legged Cormorant, Humboldt Penguin, Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Pelican and Inca Tern. On the shore we will look for Blackish Oystercatcher and Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes. We will then drive up the Santa Eulalia Valley to camp for the night.
Day 2
We will begin the day looking for the difficult Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch on a scrubby hillside also holding Mourning Sierra-Finch, Peruvian Pygmy-Owl, Streaked Tit-Spinetail, Oasis Hummingbird, Peruvian Sheartail and Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch. Still in the morning, we will begin our trip up the valley, stopping for the stunning endemic Great Inca-Finch as well as Scarlet-fronted Parakeet, Spot-winged Pigeon, White-capped Dipper, White-winged Cinclodes and Torrent Duck.
|
|
As we move into the Milloc Valley in the afternoon, we will hope for Black Metaltail, Giant Hummingbird and Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail before we set up camp just above 3000 m to acclimatize to the elevation. |
Day 3
This is always an incredible day, beginning with one of western Peru's best, the White-cheeked Cotinga in a Polylepis patch, where White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant can sometimes also be seen. As we drive through the scenic puna habitat towards Marcopomacocha, we could find Striated Earthcreeper, Black Siskin, Crested Duck, White-winged Diuca-Finch, Giant Coot and Silvery Grebe. Crossing over a high pass, we will descend to a boggy area where we will search for White-bellied Cinclodes, Olivaceous Thornbill, Grey-breasted and Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe and, perhaps most especially, the enigmatic Diademed Sandpiper-Plover. Also through the day we should find the
endemic Junin Canastero, and majestic Andean Condors are regularly seen overhead. Up to nine species of ground-tyrants could be found on this day, including the very rare migrant Black-fronted Ground-Tyrant. We will drive on to the town of Junin for a night in a hotel.
Day 4
We will drive to Ondores in the morning, and from there make a boat trip to find the critically threatened Junin Grebe. Other waterbirds in the area include Chilean Flamingo, Puna Teal, Plumbeous Rail and Andean Goose. Around the lake we could find Short-billed, Correndera and Paramo Pipits, Common Miner, Cinereous Harrier and Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant. We will then drive on towards
Huánuco for the night, stopping for Rufous-backed Inca-Finch en route.
Day 5
An early start will put us at Bosque Unchog for a large part of the day birding. We will hope to get some of the commoner birds of the area in the afternoon, including Coppery-naped Puffleg, Peruvian Chat-Tyrant, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager and Three-striped Hemispingus. We will have a well-set-up campsite for our time at this remarkable site.
Day 6
In the morning we will enjoy the flight display of Andean Snipes, before concentrating on finding Bosque Unchog's "big four" on this day; Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, Rufous-browed Hemispingus, Bay-vented Cotinga and Pardusco - all endemic, local and enigmatic birds. We will have with us Reyes Rivera, the local expert on the area to help maximize our chances of finding these difficult birds.
Day 7
An additional morning at Bosque Unchog will give us a chance to find hard-to-see birds including Pale-billed and Undulated Antpittas, Large-footed and Neblina Tapaculos and of course any of the "big four" we may still be missing. In the afternoon we will head back to
Huánuco, stopping on the way for Black-crested Tit-Tyrant, Green-tailed Trainbearer and the endemics Baron's Spinetail and Brown-flanked Tanager.
Day 8
An early start will put us at the Carpish Tunnel in the morning, where we have an excellent chance of finding some good cloud forest flocks. Special birds here include Grass-green Tanager, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Mountain Velvetbreast, Peruvian Wren and Grey-breasted
Mountain-Toucan. In the afternoon we will visit the Oilbird cave at Tingo Maria, where there are also lots of White-eyed Parakeets as well as Cliff Flycatcher and the endemic Huallaga Tanager. We will spend the night in a hotel in Tingo Maria.
Day 9
We will bird the morning at the Paty Trail, where we could find excellent birds such as Plush-capped Finch, Band-tailed and Masked Fruiteaters, Inca Flycatcher, Uniform Antshrike, Long-tailed Antbird, Emerald-bellied Puffleg, Peruvian Tyrannulet, Bay and Chestnut Antpitta, and, if we're really lucky, Maroon-chested Ground-Dove. We will spend most of the day driving to Oaxapampa, where we'll spend the night. En route we could find White-tipped Swift and Dusky-green Oropendola.
Day 10
The cloud forest above Oaxapampa will provide some good morning birding, and we will hope especially for the distinctive local race of Chestnut Antpitta and Cloud-forest Screech-Owl before heading for Satipo, where we'll drive up to good habitat to camp for the night.
Day 11
We'll bird the lower section of the Satipo Road today, looking for Mottle-backed Elaenia, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Bluish-fronted Jacamar and Peruvian Piedtail. We'll hope to find some good tanager flocks, including Beryl-spangled, Paradise, Turquoise and Black-goggled Tanagers. In the evening we'll set up camp near a forest gorge where Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper is possible and the spectacular Lyre-tailed Nightjar is regularly seen at dusk.
Day 12
We'll spend the morning in the gorge, hoping for Hairy-crested Antbird and Hazel-fronted Pygmy-Tyrant and possibly Brown Tinamou if we're lucky. Moving up to mid-elevation forest will produce some excellent flocks including Montane Foliage-gleaner, Versicoloured Barbet, Grey-mantled Wren, Mottle-cheeked Bristle-Tyrant and Slaty Antwren. Highland Motmots are commonly seen in the area. We'll move up to camp in the upper elevation forest for the night.
Day 13
A full day on the upper Satipo Road should produce some exciting birding, including Blue-banded Toucanet, Band-tailed Fruiteater, Large-footed Tapaculo, Pale-footed Swallow, Collared Inca and a variety of brush-finches and tanagers. There is also an interesting unidentified antpitta in the area which we could be the first ones to pin down - this is a very interesting but little-known area! We'll camp once again,
this time near the tree line.
Day 14
We'll start out at a site for Eye-ringed Thistletail, and although this species is difficult, there are many other exciting birds to find in the area, including Fire-throated Metaltail, Millpo Tapaculo (still
undescribed), Creamy-crested Spinetail and Coppery-naped Puffleg. We'll move up into puna habitat in the afternoon, hoping for Andean Ibis, White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant, Andean Condor and a variety of ground-tyrants, sierra-finches and high-altitude furnarids as we make our way towards Punto where we will stay in the village's communal building.
Day 15
In the morning, we'll walk down towards Otuto, looking for the recently described and stunning Black-spectacled Brush-Finch on the way, among other birds including Creamy-crested Spinetail, Rust-and-yellow Tanager and Plush-capped Finch. There is a new Thryothorus wren in the area's bamboo, where Rufous Antpitta can also be found. Other birds in the area include Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Shining Sunbeam, Violet-throated Starfrontlet and Striated Earthcreeper. In the afternoon we will drive back to the main road for a night in a hotel.
Day 16
We will make our way back towards Lima on this day, birding along the way as time permits.
Hotel is not included this night.
Menu
