Peru possesses an extraordinary ornithological diversity. New species are continually being discovered every year in its cloud-forests and Amazon jungles, as well as in its rugged mountains and inter-Andean valleys. At last count, there were 1.710 registered species (close to 20% of the world’s total), of which more than 300 are endemic. Furthermore, Peru holds the record for the most species in a single place (650 in the area surrounding the Explorer’s Inn lodge, located in the jungles of Tambopata) and the record for the highest number of species seen in a single day (361 in the area surrounding the Biological Station of Cocha Cashu, in Manu).

For birdwatchers, Peru is a true paradise. It is filled with species dwelling in unique and fragile habitats, large migratory birds arriving from the most remote parts of the world and with species that, having disappeared in other countries, flourish in unexplored corners of the country. These giant flocks are a fundamental element in the life cycles of the sea, jungle and Andean lakes.

The Birds of Peru

Imagine a country with 1,804 species of birds…. A country with more bird species than found in all of North America and Europe combined. Home to 120 endemic species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world! Imagine traveling through the land of the Incas, among locals dressed in colorful woven fabrics. Here at the birthplace of the potato, visit with the people of ancient traditions, savour tasty cuisine, mingle in lively markets and see sophisticated folk art- just to name a few of the country’s unmistakable allure.

Visualize waking up in the morning to ear-deafening noise of thousands parrots and macaws – an unforgettable cacophonic experience as they arrive each morning for their daily supplementary diet of mud. Picture yourself seeing a beautiful male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock with the backdrop of the Inca fortress of Machu Picchu, or having a close encounter with a huge Andean Condor as it soars above the majestic Colca Canyon. Experience the heart-stopping image of a male Marvelous Spatuletail hauling his coin-sized tail discs or moving thru a bog at 14,000 feet to find a smart White-bellied Cinclodes, one of only 28 individuals known to exist in the world, and all of them in Peru.

Glimpsing through the shrouds of mist in Cordillera Azul you may spot the splendid Scarlet-banded Barbet, which avoided detection for years and only recently has been discovered. Peru is “the country to explore”, a country in which no fewer than 42 new species of birds have been described to science in the last 30 years. In the white-sand forest of Allpahuayo-Mishana alone, a reserve only minutes from the City of Iquitos, three new species have been identified.

Peru is the land of vast biodiversity – of the 104 life zones known in the world, 84 occur in Peru. A complete mosaic comprises almost every type of habitat imaginable from the deserts and dry forests of the coast to the Puna grassland and snow-capped mountains of the Andes, and the multitude of types of forests within the Amazonian lowlands. Peru is blessed with an abundance of life forms, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, butterflies, trees, cacti, orchids, and the list goes on.

To ensure the preservation of this natural wealth, the country has set aside 13% of its national territory as protected areas, forming a network of 58 reserves and natural sanctuaries. A recent up-surge in environmental awareness in the country has led to the formation of grass roots conservation initiatives with encouraging results. Coastal lagoons are being reclaimed, and rivers and streams are being cleaned. The community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape has declared 34,000 hectares of its land as “Chaparri Ecological Reserve”. In this dry forest you may encounter White-winged Guan, a species long thought to be extinct but thanks to a major conservation effort is making a remarkable comeback. (PromPeru)

Why Peru?
It’s the ultimate Birding experience

Peru is the birdiest country in the world. Peru ties Colombia with over 1800 species of birds, more than 85% of which are permanent residents. Peru is second only to Brazil in the number of endemic birds and second only to Indonesia in the number of bird species with restricted geographical ranges. Several rainforest lodges in Peru offer superb birding, each with a list of over 550 species! In 1982 a team of birders in Manu in southeastern Peru established the current world record “big day” when they recorded 331 species while only walking and paddling canoes.

Peru is truly a land of superlatives: From the world’s richest oceanic current, to the world’s highest and most extensive tropical mountains, to the rainforests of the world’s largest river, Peru is a country of unparalleled diversity. With 87 of the world’s 104 climate zones, Peru encompasses both the driest desert and the second wettest locality on the planet.

The time has come to witness Peru’s unrivalled diversity of birds – from exotic hummingbirds (118 species), cotingas (33 species), and antbirds (142 species), to flocks of hundreds of macaws at clay licks, mixed species flocks of over 60 species, and rare endemics like the White-winged Guan and the flightless Junin Grebe.

“Peru is home to more than 1,800 bird species, 120 of which are found nowhere else in the world. At least five new species have also been discovered as of this year and are still waiting official scientific description.

The diversity of bird species in Peru, O’Neill said, stems from its ecological and geographical diversity. On the coast, the Pacific Ocean laps at parched desert. Inland, dry forest and scrubland rise to the snowcapped Andes. Toward the east, cloud forests spill into the Amazon Basin”
John Roach

The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker can’t match the mystique of the ivory billed woodpecker, believed extinct since the 1940s. But the elusive creature, a featured fowl of this week’s Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, still inspires awe among the scope-bearing flock. They’re a prized addition to bird lovers’ lifetime lists of species they’ve seen.

Birders will stake out trees before the first woodpecker cheeps for a chance to see this tiny attraction — always a huge hit at the nation’s largest birding event.

“The birders would be very happy to get a red-cockaded,” said Ned Steel, who runs Audubon’s Christmas Bird Counts at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. “There’s nothing spectacular about them. They just look like a little woodpecker.”

But the bird’s rarity and the crucial niche its holes carve in nature is why the red-cockaded woodpecker remains a cherished species for birders and biologists to behold. Flying squirrels, several species of reptiles and amphibians, and insects — mostly bees and wasps — take refuge in the cavities this “primary excavator” pecks into pines. Larger woodpeckers take over the cavities, sometimes enlarging the hole enough to allow screech owls, wood ducks, even raccoons to move in.

And the good news for birders: This woodpecker, considered an indicator of healthy pine forests, has been on the mend in recent years.

“It’s what we would call a keystone species for the cavity nesting species,” Reed Bowman, a research biologist with the Archbold Biological Station in Venus, Fla., who’s studied the species.

“I think in most places in Florida, the populations have been increasing,” Bowman said. “They are definitely improving in recent years on public lands. I would consider them better off than Florida scrub jays right now.”

That means more woodpeckers around to perform a welcome ecological service to man: They gobble up enormous amounts of ants, biologists say, not to mention larvae of wood-borne beetles.

Biologists estimate 4,500 groups of red-cockaded woodpeckers remain, with up to 12,000 birds. Florida’s population is estimated at 1,100 nesting pairs. The bird used to live throughout much of the eastern United States. But they’ve died out in New Jersey, Maryland, Tennessee and Missouri, prompting the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to keep them listed as endangered since 1970.

While relocation efforts and habitat restoration improved the bird’s lot in recent years, federal officials have no immediate plans to change its endangered status.

The rarity of seeing them gets birders up early and willing to pay. For $50, birders can take bus tours today and tomorrow to track down the woodpecker and others. They’ll stop first at the 22,000-acre St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, where nine families of red-cockaded woodpeckers live.

For $75, birders can join tours Friday and Saturday that start at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in the Kissimmee Prairie, one of the largest remaining expanses of dry prairie in the nation.

“It’s a difficult bird to find because of very low densities, very fragmented habitat,” said James Currie, who hosts “Nikon’s Birding Adventures” on NBC Sports and the National Geographic show “Aerial Assassins.” He’ll film a show during the festival to air on NBC. And on Saturday , he’ll lead a tour to search for the woodpecker on St. Johns River Water Management district lands along the border of Orange and Brevard counties.

“They’re not particularly shy,” he said of spying the woodpecker. “The key is to get there at dawn,” Currie said. “They kind of stick their head out of the hole in the morning, check that everything’s safe, and take their time to come out.”

The red-cockaded woodpecker’s decline followed the demise of old-growth pine forests in the Southeast. Loggers and developers cut pines down, and humans suppressed the natural fires that kept forests healthy.

This is the only woodpecker that taps its cavity into living pine trees. But the trees must be old enough — usually 80 to 100 years — to be infected with a fungus that softens the tree enough for the diminutive woodpecker to carve its cavities.

Biologists relocate the woodpeckers from fragmented habitats to healthier forests and restore natural pine forests through prescribed fires. They also drill holes in pines to help the woodpecker along. Trees are marked and the holes are reinforced so no other cavity-nesting birds can take over and forge larger holes.

“I think the prospects are good for the bird,” Currie said. “I think it’s one of those we’ve managed to save.”

Source: wikipedia.org