Photo Gallery
Photos by Gary Rosenberg
We begin with a visit to Batan Grande near Chiclayo, where we’ll search for our first Peruvian endemics, including this Rufous Flycatcher, one of the most attractive of the Myiarchus flycatchers.
Other “Tumbesian” specilties are found here, including this Tumbes Sparrow…
…and this Cinereous Finch …
…but perhaps the snappiest of birds found here is the White-tailed Jay, another regional specialty.
We have our first camping night at the mouth of a canyon that maximizes our chances of seeing one of the sensational target birds for this tour, White-winged Guan, a species previously thought to be extinct before its recent rediscovery in these remote canyons in the western Andes of northern Peru.
The guan is always exciting, but other superb endemics are also found here, including this Tumbes Tyrant, a flycatcher with a very restriced range.
At night the Peruvian Screech-Owl is a frequent visitor to our camp site.
Dropping down into the Marañon drainage we’ll search for a number of endemics and near endemics, which often respond to the calls of a Peruvian Pygmy-Owl.
The small parrotlet of this portion of the Marañon is the Pacific Parrotlet, a species that also gets into southern Ecuador.
One of our main destinations is Abra Patricia and the paved highway that crosses over the Andes and drops down into the Amazonia Lowlands - one of the most exciting birding roads in South America.
Many new birds to science have been described from this road, including this very attractive flycatcher, the Lulu’s Tody-Tyrant (recently changed to Johnson’s Tody-Tyrant in honor of the scientist who discovered the bird!).
This is the best road we have ever birded for tanagers, with more than 15 species of gaudy Tangara tanagers possible in a single day! This Hooded Mountain-Tanager is found near the highest part of the pass at Abra Patricia.
Perhaps the most-beautiful of the tanagers found along this road, and one that is surprisingly easy to see, is the stunning White-capped Tanager.
Hummingbirds are always crowd-pleasers, and one of the real specialties of Northern Peru is this Royal Sunangel, Abra Patricia being its only reliable site.
The real gem of this trip is the Marvelous Spatuletail, simply put, the most spectacular hummingbird in the world, and our hotel is only five minutes from the best location to see this incredible bird!
Continuing on we’ll descend down into one of the most scenic areas in Peru, the magnificent Rio Marañon Valley.
At the river below we’ll likely see a number of endemics, such as this Marañon Thrush.
One of the groups of birds that define the Marañon Valley specialization is the genus Incaspiza, the Inca-finches, and this Buff-bridled Inca-Finch is common in the cactus-laden desert at the bottom of the valley.
One of the best Marañon endemics is the cute Yellow-faced Parrotlet, one of the more-endangered species along the route…
… and the Black-necked Woodpecker frequents the cacti and rocky cliffs in this region of Peru.
The Rio Marañon is both incredibly scenic and rich with Peruvian endemics.