Peru: Machu Picchu and the Manu-Kosñipata Road

Day 1: The trip begins at 6 p.m. in the lobby of our Lima International Airport area hotel. Night in Lima.

Day 2: We’ll fly early this morning to Cusco and board our bus for a day of birding as we work our way to the end of the road toward Machu Picchu. We’ll stop at a lake or two where we’ll likely see Andean Gull, Puna Ibis, White-tufted Grebe, and several kinds of ducks. Some of the birds inhabiting the rushes by the lakeshores could include Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, Wren-like Rushbird, and Plumbeous Rail, while nearby drier hillsides host the local Rusty-fronted Canastero and Bearded Mountaineer. Night in Ollantaytambo.

Day 3: We’ll depart very early this morning to catch the early train for our full day trip to Machu Picchu. From the train, we’ll see Torrent Duck and possibly White-capped Dipper on the Urubamba River, and on arrival, we’ll meet our local guide and board a bus for the short ride to the ruins, situated on a high ridge with spectacular views of the Urubamba River below. Our English-speaking guide will tell us about the geological and human history of the region as we spend a few hours slowly walking through the ruins, all the while watching for White-tipped Swifts overhead, looking for Inca Wren in the bamboo on the fringes of the ruins, and keeping an eye out for Viscachas and Stenocercus lizards on the ruins themselves. After lunch, we’ll do some birding along the Urubamba River and have a brief opportunity to visit the gift shops before our late afternoon return train. Night in Ollantaytambo.

Day 4: We’ll depart by bus for the trip to the eastern slope of the Andes. We’ll make several stops as we climb over a couple of interior ridges and traverse some drier intermontane valleys before arriving at the last Andean pass, Acjanaco. Some birds we’ll likely see along the way include Mountain Caracara, Andean Flicker, Slender-billed Miner, and Mourning, Peruvian, and Ash-breasted Sierra Finches. Diversity increases as the habitats become moister and denser, with the endemic Creamy-crested Spinetail and very local Chestnut-breasted Mountain Finch possible. Near the pass, we’ll look for flocks in the patches of the humid treeline forest in hopes of encountering Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Golden-collared Tanager, White-browed Conebill, and Black-throated and Moustached Flowerpiercers. We’ll look particularly for Line-fronted and Scribble-tailed Canasteros, local species found only at high elevation or above treeline. As we descend the eastern slope of the Andes to our accommodations at 9400 feet, the forest becomes more continuous. The vast array of birds here includes White-collared Jay and Mountain Cacique, and we’ll hope to see mixed flocks of tanagers, flycatchers, and furnariids. In the evening we’ll go to a favorite spot where we’ve had good luck finding Swallow-tailed Nightjar. Night at Wayqecha Birding Lodge.

Day 5: At breakfast, we’ll be greeted by a dawn chorus of Great Thrushes, Glossy-black Thrushes, and Black-faced Brushfinches. We’ll have a full day in these uppermost elevations of the Kosñipata cloud forests, birding from the road that borders Manu National Park as well as on trails that enter the Amazon Conservation Association’s private reserve and research station. We’ll principally be birding along the road, almost certainly hearing Red-and-white Antpitta and Trilling Tapaculo, and with more than a bit of luck we’ll even see one or both. The lodge now has feeders, and possible hummingbirds here are the creatively named Shining Sunbeam and Amethyst-throated Sunangel, and other high-elevation specialties could include Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Marcapata Spinetail, and Barred Fruiteater. We may return to Acjanaco Pass a few kilometers back up the road for any high-elevation birds we might have missed the day before, such as Puna Thistletail, Undulated Antpitta, Great Sapphirewing, or Grass Wren, the last an Andean resident recently split from North American Sedge Wren. Night at Wayqecha Birding Lodge.

Day 6: We’ll spend the bulk of this day making stops along the road, starting in the high-elevation cloud forests below our lodge at 9400 feet down to our next lodge at 4600 feet. Lower down, as we walk along this little-traveled road, we’ll keep an eye out for Masked Trogon, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Maroon-belted Chat-Tyrant, Inca Flycatcher, Blue-banded Toucanet, and a wide variety of other hummingbirds, flycatchers, and tanagers. The list of possible birds is all but overwhelming, and perhaps equally exciting are the myriad butterflies that come to seeps, puddles, and flowers, and we’ll take time to photograph the more distinctive ones. Lush, cloud-forest vegetation with flowers such as wild nasturtiums, fuchsias, Pitcairnia, and Bomarea (all attractive to hummingbirds) as well as fabulous vistas of undisturbed forest will make our day’s journey down the Manu Road memorable. Night in San Pedro. 

Day 7: We’ll spend the day exploring the middle-elevation forests, concentrating on the habitats found from 6500 feet down to 4500 feet, home to many narrow-range specialties and an exceptionally comfortable climate. Birding these forests can be like visiting a bird buffet, with fancy quetzals and cotingas and mixed flocks of dazzling tanagers. Among the many possibilities are Crested and Golden-headed Quetzals, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Stripe-chested Antwren, Slaty Gnateater, Yungas Manakin, Andean and White-eared Solitaires, Deep-blue Flowerpiercer, and Golden, Paradise, Blue-necked, Golden-eared, and Orange-eared Tanagers. We sometimes get lucky with a troop of Tschud’s Woolly Monkeys in the roadside trees, and if it’s sunny, butterflies such as eighty-eights, jewels, and clearwings will continue to delight and poise for photographs. We’ll visit a nearby Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek to watch up to ten or more males engaged in their strange mating dance at surprisingly close range. Hummingbirds at feeders and porterweed hedges should include Violet-fronted Brilliant, Many-spotted Hummingbird, and Rufous-booted Racket-tail, while Geoffroy’s Daggerbill, Wire-crested Thorntail, and White-bellied Woodstar are also possible at the flowers. We’ll also do some night birding here; we could find Rufescent Screech-Owl and Band-bellied Owl, but the real treat will be the Lyre-tailed Nightjar show: watching a male Lyre-tailed swoop across the sky at dusk is truly awesome. Night in San Pedro. 

Day 8: After a pre-dawn breakfast we’ll spend the morning birding the lower foothill forests where more mixed flocks are our target. We’ll pay special attention to the stretch between 4500 and 2500 feet, which has relatively untouched forest, a rarity in the Andes as the climate is ideal for raising cash crops such as tea, coffee, and coca. In the past, we’ve seen many species restricted to this upper tropical zone, including Peruvian Piedtail, Versicolored Barbet, Ornate Stipplethroat, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher, and Chestnut-breasted Wren. We’ll arrive at our next lodge with plenty of time to settle in before some late afternoon birding close to our rooms. Night at Manu Biolodge. 

Days 9–10: We’ll spend two full days at Manu Biolodge just outside of the town of Pillocpata. This birding lodge and biological research station owned by the Amazonian Conservation Association is in the transitional zone where the last low foothills of the Andes begin to flatten out into the Amazon Basin proper; while many of the species are Amazonian in affinity, some that are limited to the outer foothills are found only here. The possibilities are almost endless and include Uniform Crake, Hoatzin, Blue-headed and Chestnut-fronted Macaws, Yellow-billed Nunbird, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Cuzco Warbler, Bamboo Antshrike, Black-throated Antbird, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Ringed Antpipit, Johannes’s Tody-Tyrant, Hauxwell’s Thrush, and Band-tailed, Round-tailed, and Fiery-capped Manakins—in a word, tons of birds. We’ll make a short drive one day to visit two hummingbird feeding stations where we may find Rufous-crested Coquette, Koepcke’s Hermit, and many other species. We’ll have the chance to go night birding here as well, and we should hear and possibly see Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Black-banded Owl, and Common Potoo. Nights at Manu Biolodge. 

Day 11: We’ll have final early morning at Manu lodge, perhaps watching a morning flight of macaws or even making an attempt at pre-dawn owling. We’ll then retrace our path back up the Kosñipata Valley with possible short stops as we spot activity that catches our eyes or ears. After a picnic lunch at Acjanaco Pass we’ll continue to Cusco. Night in Cusco.

Day 12: You’ll have the early morning on your own to see the sights of the beautiful historic center of Cusco, and perhaps do a bit of shopping before our flights back to Lima, where the tour concludes with an early farewell dinner. 

2024 Narrative

The diversity and beauty of the birds and other wildlife on our recent tour to Peru’s Machu Picchu and the Manu-Kosñipata Road was in full display. We recorded 426 species of birds in just 10 days, noting several mammals, herps, and over fifty species of butterflies. While we have seen Paradise Tanager on every tour we’ve done here, we don’t always get the perfect views we had in the garden at Cock-of-the-rock one day, nor repeated views on four days to remind us how utterly stunning this bird is. It may have been little surprise that this species got the most votes for favorite bird of the tour. A few more of the colorful tanagers garnered votes, such as the Golden-eared Tanager, the surprise White-winged Tanager (because we forgot to pay the bar bill at Cock of the Rock Lodge so had to make a quick stop on the way back), and the easily overlooked but still stunning Silver-beaked Tanager. Just for its colors, the Versicolored Barbet gets honorary tanager status and should always be among the top picks. Hummingbirds did well by us, with Gould’s Jewelfront, Rufous-booted Racket-tail, and Rufous-crested Coquette being especially memorable. Getting some votes for simply being outstanding and unusual, Capped Heron and Sunbittern were mentioned, while birds that one sees so rarely, and rarely so well also got some votes, such as the elusive Amazonian Antpitta, Leymebamba Antpitta, Urubamba Antpitta, and White-browed Antbird as well as nocturnal birds like the roadside Rufescent Screech-Owl and the day-roosting Black-banded Owl. Finally, the experience of hearing the ethereal dawn song of a Speckled Nightingale-Thrush on our mornings at Cock of the Rock Lodge was deeply charming; seeing the bird in the scant twilight through the scope added to the experience.

Our first birds were right in Cusco – Andean Gulls are often near the airport – but our first real birding was at the Lucre-Huacarpay lake and marsh. The handsome Rufous-collared Sparrows were still in their winter flocks, and while some of the marsh birds were being rather reclusive (we did get some views of the Wren-like Rushbird and Many-colored Rush-Tyrant), some were super cooperative, such as a pair of Plumbeous Rails that sang in plain sight and Andean Lapwings in good sun showing their opalescent sheen. We made a long stop at a newly opened hummingbird garden where we were instantly bowled over by Giant Hummingbirds that were as big as the feeders themselves. The Peruvian endemic Bearded Mountaineer also visited the feeders, while fruit and seed attracted the black and-yellow Black-backed Grosbeak and the local endemic Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch.

Our day to Machu Picchu started with a leisurely, rolling and rocking train ride, and as the dawn broke we were able to make out several Torrent Ducks and those with a good window view to got to see White-capped Dipper hopping on the rocks. After arriving n Machu Picchu Village, we had some time for birding before our allotted time in the ruins. We first walked to the river where a Fasciated Tiger-Heron was waiting for fish, and right in town a White-bellied Woodstar fed from an Inga tree at eye-level as we stood on a bridge over the main road. We also had time in the forested curves just below the ruins, where the must-see Inca Wren performed its fabulous duet between passing buses. Mixed flock activity here also including a cute Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet and a pair of confiding Rust-and-yellow Tanagers. Our guide Ana then led us on a comprehensive tour of the fascinating ruins. After lunch, back in town, she was happy to join us for a walk up the railroad tracks to look at birds. We had several excellent looks at Silvery Tanagers, including the unusual green female, a pair of Sclater’s Tyrannuylets, and some very confiding Streak-necked Flycatchers, while a single male Dusky-green Oropendola was preparing for the upcoming breeding season by singing persistently by a group of nests across the river.

Our travel day from Ollantaytambo to Wayqecha Lodge featured two outstanding birding areas. After a short walk around the hotel grounds, where we all caught up with Bare-faced Ground-Dove, we went to Ensifera Camp Hummingbird Sanctuary. Before long we were being wowed by the Sword-billed Hummingbird after which the place is named. Several other species of hummingbirds were outcompeted by Black-throated Flowerpiercer and Blue-and-yellow Tanager for favorite birds of the day, but the real star of the show here was the Undulated Antpitta that our host César had habituated to come to earthworms over the past couple of years. On the drive over the mountains, we saw many a Chiguanco Thrush bounding along the roadsides until we reached the highest point at nearly 13,400 feet, where at first there didn’t seem to be many birds. But upon closer inspection we saw several species of ground-tyrant, more Rufous-webbed Bush-Tyrants than usual, and two very responsive Streak-backed Canasteros. After arriving at Wayqecha, we walked back up the road at dusk, hoping for a Swallow-tailed Nightjar. None responded, but the thermal scope picked up something perched well above the road. Finally, in response to some playback, it proved to be a White-throated Screech-Owl sitting low in a bush, presumably waiting for a hapless rodent to come walking by.

We started the day at Wayqecha with a short walk down a trail to our second habituated antpitta in as many days. Wayki, the Urubamba Antpitta, hopped out onto the trail right in front of us to take advantage of the easy food. Heading up the road to the elfin forests back towards the pass, we made stops for productive flock activity, which netted us Marcapata Spinetail, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, and Golden-collared Tanager, among others.

 A stroll up into the puna grassland didn’t produce our hoped for canasteros or pipit, but we did see a lovely Andean Hillstar and then trolled in a Grass Wren. The wren first provided us with its complex and lovely song, then came in very close and demonstrated a snappy wing-flapping display that seems to be undocumented in the literature. Roadwork then prevented us from driving farther up the road, so we walked up the road and had a wonderful time with a pair of Moustached Flowerpiercers before turning around for lunch and siesta. In the afternoon we birded below the tunnels in a much taller forest, where the charming and confiding Cinnamon Flycatcher made its first of many appearances. A bit of a croak was all we needed to know that a Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan was nearby, and we ended up with great views of this stunning ramphastid. A very ventriloquial Barred Fruiteater was finally spotted perched in the open down in the gully below us, while some scurrying in the leaves upslope from the road had us curious. Playback of various tinamous had no effect, but the thermal scope came in handy once again, revealing to small blobs that turned out to be a pair of Stripe-faced Wood-Quail that eventually duetted back at us. We ventured out again before dinner, this time going farther up the road by van and finding two Swallow-tailed Nightjars. The first came in very close and perched and sang for extended views, but it had molted its namesake, while the second gave us two fabulous flyovers with the resplendent tail intact.

Day six was the time to head down the mountain to our next lodging at Cock of the Rock Lodge, but we had all day to sample the extreme change in habitats as we dropped in elevation. We started with Rufous-capped Thornbill feeding from high elevation flowers such as Andean Firebush. Our driver Omar then led us to his own little hidey spot deep in the bamboo where we proceeded to see Leymebamba Antpitta, Red-and-white Antpitta, and Trilling Tapaculo, though few us were in a spot to be able to see all three. The prize from a mixed flock a bit farther down the road was a fleeting but distinctive Plushcap. Golden-headed Quetzal was a good find as we waited for some noisy roadwork to be completed, but the continued sunny (though smoky) conditions weren’t great for mixed flock activity after lunch. Again thanks to Omar, we were able to see an Andean Potoo on its day roost, apparently present in the general area for a few months.  We managed to scrounge up a mixed flock to find our first Versicolored Barbet, had an Andean Cock-of-the-rock perch just outside the bus, and then had time at the lodge to see some incredible Paradise Tanagers come to a fruiting Miconia in the garden.

The big mixed flock that exists up the road from our lodge hadn’t yet quite congealed when we came through there in the early morning, but both Yellow-rumped Antwren and Gray-mantled Wren were present and accounted for. The latter eventually began its mimicry song and we captured it repeated doing a very good impression of Lemon-browed Flycatcher, well before we were able to catch up with that species ourselves. A pair of Golden Tanagers were caught in the act of gathering leaves for a nest, while a stunning Crested Quetzal played coy in the canopy below the road. We worked our way up to some higher elevations where a pair of Blue-banded Toucanets was a highlight before settling in at the new feeding station known as Tio Victor’s bosque. The action was nonstop, but seeing Saffron-crowned Tanager in such perfect conditions as well as having Rufous-booted Racket-tail feed from hand-held vials was just amazing. We vowed to come back, and after a fulfilling time at the Andean Cock-of-the-rock Lek, we returned for Versicolored Barbet, White-lined Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, and more up-close time with the hummingbirds. Afterward we drove up the road where the Lyre-tailed Nightjar was heard, and an amazing Rufescent Screech-Owl perched by the roadside unperturbed by passing truck traffic.

A travel day once again was on the menu, but with a relatively short drive, we had the full morning to bird the elevations between 1000 and 1400 meters. We started with the singing Speckled Nightingale-Thrush in the garden of the lodge, which had enchanted us the previous morning with its stunning song. In previous years, a Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush had occupied this very territory, but the songs are very similar. But on this morning, the thermal scope helped pinpoint its favorite song perch, and the spotting scope allowed us to watch it secretly from the effective blind of the dining room. Just outside the lodge we had a singing Hauxwell’s Thrush that uncharacteristically was singing on an exposed perch, while Streaked Flycatchers, vaguely resembling the Sulphur-bellied we know from home, perched very close by. We found some excellent mixed flock activity a bit farther down the road, and here we had Yellow-breasted Antwren, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Ash-browed Spinetail, and a heard Chestnut-breasted Wren – all birds we wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. In the afternoon we made just one stop on the way to our next lodge, hoping for some Mauritia flexuosa palm specialists, but instead we were treated to a cacophony of Red-throated Caracaras, one of the unique experiences of the Neotropics. Once at the newly named Manu Biolodge, we had time to take in the activity in the open pond area behind our rooms, where we saw recently arrived Solitary Sandpipers, glimpsed a Little Ground-Tyrant, and watched a stately Capped Heron fly in. The hummingbird feeders then beckoned, and half of our day’s highlights came in the final half-hour of birding. The once rarely seen Gould’s Jewelfront was represented by a very territorial individual, White-necked Jacobins came and went, a Long-billed Starthroat was a new addition to the master list, and the common but always stunning Golden-tailed Sapphires dominated the scene.

We spent all morning around the lodge clearing and down various trails, tallying nearly 100 species before lunch. Leonidas first took us to his first completed tinamou blind, and he scattered cracked corn. Within a half hour we had seen all four species of tinamous expected, though the Little Tinamou was a surprise for Leonidas. He then took us to a not-yet completed blind near an Amazonian Antpitta territory, but gravel truck traffic was too loud and disruptive. That wasn’t all for Leonidas, who told us repeatedly that he was more of a nature guide and didn’t really know much about birds, but then proudly showed us the Common Potoo roost he found. He was especially pleased to learn that it was actually on a nest, likely incubating an egg still. We continued down a trail loop, finding a couple small mixed flocks, White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher being the biggest prize. The rest of the day’s highlights came from feeder watching. In front of the dining hall were the ever-present but still lovely Silver-beaked Tanagers, and the Gould’s Jewelfront continued to defend its feeder. After lunch a female or immature Rufous-crested Coquette decided to visit the flowers near the feeders. Later in the afternoon we drove up the road to two additional feeding stations. The first was super busy, and a Pale-tailed Barbthroat perched was a good find. The second feeding station wasn’t as frantic, and though it had the same number of hummingbird species, Blue-fronted Lancebill and Great-billed Hermit were two species rarely seen at feeders anywhere. Fruit and seed feeders also attracted some nice species such as a Pectoral Sparrow and a stunning Lemon-throated Barbet.

On our second day at Manu Biolodge we didn’t leave the property, taking our time to wander the trails, roads, and bird the clearings. Nearly 160 species later, we declared victory. Opal-crowned Tanager, Black-eared Fairy, and White-lined Antbird were some of the highlights along the trails, but it was closer to lodge where we found Black-banded Owls on their day roost, watched Blue-throated Piping-Guan give its rattle display back and forth, and one lucky person laid eyes on a Buff-tipped Sicklebill that sat briefly near the bridge by our rooms. The Social Flycatchers nesting in the dining hall gutter were fun to watch, and an afternoon walk down to the river resulted in a bunch of new birds, including the Pale-legged Horneros that we had been hearing and the lone Sunbittern, which had been eluding some of us until now as well.

We made the most out of our last bit of time at Manu Biolodge, birding the entrance road until we had to make our way towards Cusco. Just as we started walking down the entrance road, a stunning male Rufous-crested Coquette made an appearance and fed from the Stachytarpheta flowers right in front of us. Then Leonidas dug up some worms and took us again to his blind, and before long we were watching the Amazonian Antpitta just a few feet away. At the same time, a White-browed Antbird sang from an open perch in the understory. Farther down the road we found a pair of Riparian Antbirds, a pair of lovely Black-backed Tody-Flycatchers, and a singing Buff-rumped Warbler below the road on a steep bank to the river. Far from the main bamboo thickets, a Bamboo Antshrike was a bit of a surprise, and this one we managed to see fairly well. We made a quick stop at Cock of the Rock Lodge finding a super red White-winged Tanager as part of a busy mixed flock right over the lodge. Lunch at Acjanaco pass added Plain-colored Seedeaters, while a stop at Ninamarca was more of cultural interest. A final cultural highlight was rather unexpected, and though it delayed our arrival at the hotel by more than an hour, the fiesta of Señora da la Natividad with bands and dance troupes in elaborate costumes was a fun way to arrive at our last night’s hotel.

Rich Hoyer, October 2024

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