The charming Johnson’s (formerly Lulu’s) Tody-Tyrant, one of the recently-described bird species from northern Peru. Photo: Gary Rosenberg
There may be no place in South America that combines such magnificent Andean scenery with so many specialty birds as northern Peru, and an improved infrastructure and excellent ground agents make access relatively easy. We’ll travel from the arid coast, where Peruvian Plantcutters are found among the fog-enshrouded dunes, to rugged inland canyons that are home to the White-winged Guan, once thought extinct. Next it’s on to Abra Patricia, one of the most exciting Andean birding locations and the site of several recent additions to the world’s avifauna, and then to the spectacular Marañon Valley, home to many endemics, including the mind-blowing Marvelous Spatuletail, and most of the world’s Inca-Finches, We’ll end up in the Andean cities of Cajamarca and Trujillo.
Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Lima. Night in Lima.
Day 2: Today we’ll fly to the northern city of Chiclayo and head out on the road to Batan Grande and bird the thorn forest and thicket-covered dunes, searching for Peruvian Plantcutter and Rufous Flycatcher, two more Peruvian endemics. Other birds we are likely to see include Superciliated Wren, Necklaced Spinetail, Amazillia Hummingbird, Cinereous Conebill, Tumbes Sparrow, Sulphur-throated Finch, Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Gray-breasted Flycatcher, Gray-and-gold Warbler, Sooty-capped Flycatcher and Gray-and-white Tyrannulet. In the afternoon we’ll work our way inland to the town of Olmos and then out to Limon, a small village at the mouth of the White-winged Guan canyon, where we’ll sleep in a comfortable field camp set up by our ground agent. In the sparse desert on the way to Limon we’ll look for another endemic, the fancy Tumbes Tyrant. In the early evening we’ll have a good chance for West Peruvian Screech-Owl and Anthony’s Nightjar, both seen right from camp! Night in field camp at Limon.
Day 3: The purpose of camping at the White-winged Guan canyon is to maximize our chances of seeing this once-thought-to-be-extinct cracid. Here we’ll meet our local guide, who will have been scouting the side canyons and should have some precise information on the whereabouts of our target bird. We hope to see guans, of course, and will give them priority, but the canyon is excellent for a number of other restricted species including White-winged and White-headed Brush-Finches, Elegant Crescentchest, Tumbes Hummingbird, Red-masked Parakeet, Long-billed Starthroat, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Tumbes Tyrant, Baird’s Flycatcher, Plumbeous-backed Thrush, Cinereous Finch, Short-tailed Woodstar and Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner. After a full day of birding in the canyon we’ll return to Olmos. Night in Olmos.
Day 4: We’ll set off very early for one of the lowest passes in the Andes, Abra Porculla. Here we’ll bird along a side trail where we have seen a number of northern Peru specialties unlikely to be found elsewhere on this itinerary, in particular the rare and endemic Piura Chat-Tyrant, Black-cowled Saltator, Andean Tinamou, Elegant Crescentchest, Three-banded Warbler and Chapman’s Antshrike. Dropping over the east side of the pass for lunch, we’ll drive straight through to our hotel in Jaen, crossing the mighty Marañon River. In the late afternoon, time permitting, we’ll visit the thorn scrub outside Jaen, where we may see local endemics such as Little Inca-Finch and Marañon Crescentchest and the local endemic race of Collared Antshrike. Night in Jaen.
Day 5: The Marañon Valley is both spectacular and rich in endemics. This morning we’ll spend our time birding in the valley lowlands in search of endemics such as Marañon Crescentchest, Chinchipe Spinetail, Marañon Slaty Antshrike, Marañon Spinetail and Marañon Thrush. The distinct Marañon race of Speckle-breasted Wren is here too, as is Tataupa Tinamou. In the afternoon, as it cools down, we’ll bird our way through the arid desert to Pomacochas, our base for the next four nights and the gateway to Abra Patricia, one of the most productive birding locations in Peru. As we pass through an area of rice fields, we’ll look for Spotted Rail and Paint-billed Crake. We’ll drive during the heat of the day with a brief stop along the Marañon River, where we can see Amazonian river species such as Yellow-billed Tern and Pied Lapwing and where the riverine scrub should hold White-lined Tanager. We’ll continue up the Utcubamba River, keeping an eye out for Fasciated Tiger-Heron and Torrent Duck, before passing through Pedro Ruiz and on to Florida. In the late afternoon close to our comfortable hotel we’ll look for the rare and spectacular Marvelous Spatuletail, perhaps the classiest of all hummingbirds. Night in Florida.
Days 6-9: Abra Patricia is a pass connecting the drier Marañon drainage to the wet “Amazonian” side of the Andes. A fine paved highway traverses this pass before descending through excellent temperate, subtropical and upper tropical rainforest. We’ll spend one morning in a white-sand forest patch at the bottom of the road where we’ll search for specialties such as Dusky Spinetail, Northern Chestnut-tailed Antbird, Thrushlike Antpitta, Olive-chested Flycatcher and Burnished-buff Tanager. As we climb back toward the pass, we’ll be looking particularly for mixed-species foraging flocks in which flycatchers, tanagers and antbirds will vie for our attention and we should see Ecuadorian Piedtail, Equatorial Graytail, Rufous-rumped Antwren and Golden-collared Honeycreeper.
We’ll spend much of our time in the middle elevations in the subtropical zone of the road, concentrating on an area known by birders as “Garcia,” where Long-whiskered Owlet and Ochre-fronted Antpitta, two species described to science in the 1970s, were first found. In this atmospheric habitat of stunted forest festooned with moss and epiphytic growth, the flocks have a different makeup from those lower down and include such birds as Spotted Barbtail, Black-billed Treehunter and Vermilion and White-capped Tanagers.
The list for the Abra Patricia Road is very long and includes such remarkable specialties and endemics as Ash-throated Antwren, Bar-winged Wood-Wren, Royal Sunangel, Cinnamon-breasted Tody-Tyrant, Equatorial Graytail, Speckle-chested Piculet and Rusty-tinged Antpitta. Other arresting birds seen along this road include White-capped and Scaly-naped Parrots, Straw-backed, Metallic-green and Blue-browed Tanagers, White-capped Tanager, Wedge-billed Hummingbird, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Montane Woodcreeper, Long-tailed Antbird, Large-footed Tapaculo, Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Sulphur-bellied Tyrannulet, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, Fiery-throated and Scaled Fruiteaters, Cock-of-the-Rock, Lanceolated Monklet, Barred Becard and Sharpe’s Wren.
At dusk on one or two days we’ll make an effort for Long-whiskered Owlet, a species discovered in 1976 and still never encountered in the wild! It is known solely from this site and one other. With newly acquired tape recordings in hand, we’ll have improved the odds of seeing the owlet though it’s far from certain. Other more likely nightbirds include Cinnamon Screech-Owl, a very rare endemic, and Lyre-tailed Nightjar.
On one day we’ll leave early and venture lower down along the highway towards Tarapoto, finishing the day in the open country near the town of Rioja, where we’ll spend the night (keeping our rooms in Pomacochas and bringing only an overnight bag). Near Rioja the habitat is quite different, and we hope to see many species including interesting birds such as Russet-crowned Crake, Cinereous-breasted Spinetail, Zimmer’s Antbird (in a patch of white-sand forest), Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, Red-shouldered Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager and Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch. We’ll also be at a lower elevation where numerous “Amazonia” species are possible. In the evening well visit a local site for nightjars; Ocellated Poorwill, Rufous, Blackish and Spot-tailed Nightjars are all possible. Nights in Pomacochas.
Day 10: If we have not already seen one, we’ll give priority this morning to Marvelous Spatuletail. We’ll then retrace our route to Florida and on to Pedro Ruiz and Leymeybamba for the night. We’ll make several planned stops along the way, in particular for the endemic Buff-bellied Tanager. We plan to be in the pretty Andean town of Leymeybamba before dusk. Night in Leymeybamba.
Day 11: We’ll depart very early for Abra Barro Negro, the last pass before the Marañon Valley. We’ll look for Swallow-tailed Nightjar and Rufous-banded Owl on the way up the pass, bird in remnant patches of cloud forest and farmlands and make planned stops for certain species, such as Coppery Metaltail and Russet-mantled Softail, two more Peruvian endemics. Other birds here include White-chinned Thistletail, the obscura race of Rufous Antpitta, Large-footed Tapaculo, Gray-breasted Mountain Toucan, Shining Sunbeam and Collared Inca. Around midday we’ll drive over Barro Negro Pass and drop into the breathtaking Marañon Canyon, where we’ll look for Puna Hawk, Andean Lapwing, Andean Flicker, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Great Sapphirewing and Rufous-capped Antshrike. As we drop in elevation, near the cactus-laden bottom of the valley, we should see the pretty Buff-bridled Inca-Finch in the open Bombax forest and we’ll camp near a mango grove that holds a healthy population of Marañon Thrushes. Peruvian Pigeons assemble in large groups in the trees around camp for the evening. Night in camp at Balsas.
Day 12: We’ll spend the whole day birding the west side of Marañon Canyon. In the riverine and agricultural vegetation we should see Peruvian Pigeon, Buff-bridled Inca-Finch and the endangered Yellow-faced Parrotlet. We’ll slowly climb the west side of the valley to Limon, searching for Chestnut-backed Thornbird and Gray-winged Inca-Finch, two more Marañon endemics. Buff-bellied Tanager should be common here as well. In the afternoon we’ll travel over another rugged pass to the town of Celendin. Jelski’s Chat-Tyrant and other more widespread high Andean species will be on the agenda for this traveling afternoon. Night in Celendin.
Day 13: The drive between Celendin and Cajamarca takes us through spectacular high Andean scenery, with patches of remnant humid forest and Polylepis scrub. On this road we’ll make planned stops for some Andean species we may not have seen: Peruvian Sierra-Finch, Shining Sunbeam, Bar-winged Cinclodes, Many-striped Canastero, Paramo Pipit, Rufous-naped and Spot-billed Ground-Tyrants, Black-crested Warbler and Marañon Tit-tyrant. We’ll make a special effort for the Cajamarca race of Rufous Antpitta (likely a good species). In the Polylepis we’ll search for Black Metaltail, Southern Line-cheeked Spinetail and Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail. This stretch of road is also one of the best places to see the very rare White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant. We plan on arriving in Cajamarca by late afternoon with time to search along the Rio Chonta for another endemic, the Gray-bellied Comet. Night in Cajamarca.
Day 14: We’ll focus this morning on another Peruvian endemics, Great Spinetail, before continuing over Abra Gavilan to the more modern Andean city of Trujillo. En route we’ll likely see a few more specialties, perhaps including Piura Hemispingus and Rufous-backed Inca-Finch. Night in Trujillo.
Day 15: This morning we’ll fly from Trujillo to Lima. If time permits, we may bird around Lima. We’ll likely visit Lomas de Lachay, where we’ll search for both Thick-billed and Grayish Miner and Least Seedsnipe, and search a side canyon of Cactus Canastero. A brief stop along the coast should produce numerous costal species, including Inca Tern, Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Thick-knee, and a plethora of migrant shorebirds. The tour concludes this evening in Lima.
Updated: 18 October 2006
Prices
- 2007 price about $5,760
- Single Occupancy Supplement $280
Notes
Maximum group size seven with one leader.