Jon Feenstra on the completion of the second half of his tour, Ecuador: The South

After the first half on the Amazon slope of the Andes, it felt like a whole new tour when we crossed the Continental Divide and got into the birds of the Pacific slope. First of all, we went from the cool, humid cloud forest of Reserva Tapichalaca to the hot, dry (even though it did rain on us a little), deciduous forest of Reserva Jorupe. Then after a couple of days birding around there, we made another transition to humid low foothill rainforest at Reserva Buenaventura. And, finally it was back into the dry country for coastal thornscrub, more dry forest, and even a little bit of scoping mudflats and the ocean to round out the bird list and sample the last zone of biodiversity. Just like the first half on the Amazon slope, this Pacific stretch had some great highlights. We started off our first day with a flock of Scarlet-fronted Parakeets, a beautiful, noisy, and little known bird in Ecuador.

A blurry image of Scarlet-fronted Parakeets; they were close...and fast

Some of the common flock birds we saw in this habitat were Collared Antshrikes, Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrants, and seemingly every Tropical Gnatcatcher in the world. At Reserva Jorupe, we saw at least two Pale-browed Tinimous as they poked out of the forest to grab some corn behind the lodge, and flashy White-tailed Jays were also there being a lot less subtle.

White-tailed Jay

In the humid forest of Buenaventura we had no problem finding the critically endangered El Oro Parakeets now that they're nesting in a box near the top of the reserve. We also saw a few Gray-backed Hawks, Broad-billed Motmots, Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Rufous-winged Tyrannulets, and marveled at the impossible tootling of Song Wrens. Last but not least, certainly not least, and a contender for Bird Of The Trip was the Long-wattled Umbrellabird displaying in the forest below the lodge. It's booming voice (somewhere between a fog horn and a cow) and seemingly impractical appendage make it a thing of superlatives and must be seen to be believed.

Long-wattled Umbrellabird

We finished the trip along the coast with Necklaced Spinetails in the bushes, Chilean Flamingos in the ponds, Peruvian Boobies flying by the bluffs over the Pacific Ocean and some spectacular aerobatics by Magnificent Frigatebirds.

 
Magnificent Frigatebird choreography