2008 Tour Narrative
In Brief: The Southeastern Peru tour to the Manu Biosphere Reserve has become perhaps my favorite tour of the year. There are few places on earth that produce such an incredible list of birds in a relatively short amount of time, while visiting so many pristine localities. From Machu Picchu to the Manu Road to the lowland rainforest at Manu Wildlife Center, our 2008 tour was chockfull of exciting experiences and fantastic birding. Once again we saw and heard more than 620 species in less than three weeks, including 22 species of parrots (including 7 species of macaw!), 35 species of hummingbirds, 8 species of toucans, more than 50 species of antbirds, 75 species of flycatchers, and 50 species of tanagers. The diversity in this region of Peru is just overwhelming! Add to this visiting the incredible ruins at Machu Picchu, seeing nine species of monkeys, and staying at lovely lodges such as Amazonia Lodge and Manu Wildlife Center, the Manu tour is a trip of a lifetime.
In Detail: The first portion of the tour took us from Lima to Cusco and directly out to the Huacarpay lakes, where we saw waterbirds such as Puna and Speckled Teal, Puna Ibis, Plumbeous Rail, and White-tufted Grebe. There were also a number of specialties along the edge of the lakes and on the surrounding hillsides, such as Bearded Mountaineer, Rusty-fronted Canastero, Andean Negrito, Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant, and a close fly-over Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle. On the way to the Sacred Valley we stopped along the Urubamba River for our first Torrent Ducks, White-capped Dipper, White-winged Cinclodes, and a few Andean Swifts. It was then on to Machu Picchu for an overnight stay and a tour of the magnificent ruins. Our local guide did a wonderful job, mesmerizing us with tales and legends surrounding the uncertain history of the last city of the Incas. The birding around Machu Picchu was also exciting, with highlights including more Torrent Ducks, the endemic Inca Wren, several tanagers such as Silvery and Saffron-crowned, fabulous hummingbirds such as Gould’s Inca and Booted Racket-tail, and some local specialties such as Ocellated Piculet, Sclater’s Tyrannulet, and Variable Antshrike. Our combination of cultural stimulation and excellent birding was a real highlight of a tour that was still just beginning!
After returning to Cusco, we began our sojourn along the Manu Road. The first section of the road takes us through drier high-elevation habitats, where we saw great birds such as Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, Andean Flicker, Slender-billed Miner, Mountain Caracara, and Creamy-crested Canastero. Our journey took us up over the pass and dropped down onto the eastern slope of the Andes. Near the pass we encountered some interesting birds including Puna Tapaculo, Line-fronted Canastero, and White-browed Conebill. Our camp for the night at Pillahuata was skillfully set up by our crackerjack crew. The birding at the higher elevations was quite good, and we encountered some excellent flocks that had a number of interesting species such as Swallow-tailed Nightjar, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, the rare Marcapata Spinetail, incredible tanagers such as Hooded and Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers, a stunning pair of Barred Fruiteaters, a pair of Fulvous Wrens, a close fly-over of the rare White-throated Hawk, lots of Shining Sunbeams, a small group of the scarce Pale-footed Swallows, and numbers of both Black-throated and Moustached Flowerpiercers. We continued downslope through stunning temperate forest, picking up some incredible birds such as Blue-banded Toucanet, Crested and Golden-headed Quetzals, and specialties such as Inca Flycatcher. We also had a wonderful view of Black-and-chestnut Eagle before we arrived at Cock-of-the-rock Lodge.
The San Pedro area, where both Cock-of-the-rock and Manu Paradise Lodges are located, is incredibly rich for birds. Just the name of our lodge sums it up: the big highlight is visiting the easiest Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek I know, and our visit this year coincided with the appearance of a few females on the lek, unleashing some impressive activity among the males. Above and below the lodges is some of the better Andean birding I have done, with loads of tanagers and flycatchers, many of them in large mixed-species flocks. We were lucky to find some good fruiting cecropias that had an almost constant coming-and-going of tanagers, including fancy birds such as Paradise, Golden, Blue-necked, Spotted, Golden-eared, and Orange-eared Tanagers, Blue-naped Chlorophonia, Bronze-green Euphonia, the multicolored Versicolored Barbet, and Highland Motmot. Some of the specialties of the area that we encountered included Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Rufescent Screech-Owl, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Yellow-breasted Antwren, Yungus Manakin, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher, Fulvous-breasted Flatbill, Two-banded Warbler, and Slaty Tanager. At the lodge’s flowers and hummingbird feeders we saw some great birds including Wire-crested Thorntail, Violet-fronted Brilliant, and the rare Many-spotted Hummingbird. We worked our way downslope toward the Amazonian lowlands, stopping in the foothills where we saw the local Tschudi’s Woodcreeper, the stunning Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher, several Golden-bellied Warblers, and our first bamboo specialists including Bamboo Antshrike and Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaner. A perched pair of the rare Blue-headed Macaw was a real treat! Our destination was Amazonia Lodge, one of the best birding lodges I know.
Three days is too short a time to adequately bird Amazonia Lodge: the total lodge list is well over 500 species, so one can see that the birding is going to be good there! It was our first foray into the lowlands, so many of the birds were new to us and the highlights were many. Around the small oxbow lake we saw both Sunbittern and Sungrebe, loads of the weird Hoatzins, Rufescent Tiger-Heron and Capped Heron, and a glimpse of the local Band-tailed Antbird. Among the fun experiences were finding a cooperative Collared Forest-Falcon at dusk and seeing both Common Potoo and Tawny-bellied Screech-Owls. Antbirds are an integral part of the Amazonian avifauna, and Amazonia Lodge is excellent for this diverse family, with some great birds such as Southern Chestnut-tailed, Black-throated, and Goeldi’s Antbirds present. We got great looks at some difficult species like Rusty-belted Tapaculo and Black-faced Antthrush, and on our walk to the bamboo patch, we found a stunning Scarlet-hooded Barbet. The clearing around the lodge itself is one of the best birding locations, particularly good this this year for hummers, which included a few Rufous-crested Coquettes, Gray-breasted Sabrewing, Golden-tailed Sapphire, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Gould’s Jewelfront, and Koepcke’s Hermit! Sitting on the porch and watching a constant parade of Red-capped Cardinals, Masked Crimson, and Silver-beaked Tanagers was also a lot of fun. Other highlights from the porch included a small group of Black-and-white Seedeaters, Blue-headed Parrot, Chestnut-fronted Macaw, Striolated Puffbird, Pale-legged Hornero, Speckled Spinetail, Plum-throated Cotinga, Gray-necked Woodrail, and lots of flycatchers—it was a great place to bird during a few (but expected) rain storms. Perhaps the best birds from the clearing were the stunning White Hawk that circled up carrying a snake, which was then outdone by the Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle that actually perched on the adjacent hillside to perform well in my scope!
To reach Manu Wildlife Center we traveled down the Madre de Dios River for about seven hours, past Boca Manu, and eventually to our wonderful lodge. The river trip was exciting as usual, with a number of highlights. First there were all of the expected waterbirds along the river, such as Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns, Black Skimmers, Pied Lapwings, Collared Plovers, and numbers of Cocoi Herons. Then there were the Orinoco Geese on one of the sandbars, always a crowd-pleaser, and the group of Sand-colored Nighthawks draped all over the dead branches on another sandbar. Our six night stay at Many was, in my opinion, the big highlight of the trip. This is my favorite Amazonian birding lodge: the cabins are very comfortable, and the birding is very exciting. One of the first places we visit is the Macaw Clay Lick. Sitting in the blind and watching Blue-headed and Orange-cheeked Parrots and numbers of Red-and-green Macaws come down to eat clay is quite a sight; the clay counteracts the birds’ acidic fruit diet.
The two oxbow lakes we visit by floating around on a well-constructed catamaran can’t be beat. On one lake we successfully saw target species including Purus Jacamar and Pale-eyed Blackbird, and on the larger lake we had lots of Sungrebes, Black-collared Hawk, Snail Kite, Purple Gallinule, Wattled Jacanas, real Muscovy Ducks, Horned Screamers, a Scarlet Macaw sticking its head out of a nest hole, and on and on! We also did quite well from the canopy platform, seeing a number of species difficult to see from the forest floor. Some of the better birds from the tower included White-throated and Channel-billed Toucans, Curl-crested and Ivory-billed Aracaris, White-necked Puffbird, White-bellied Parrots, eye-level views of Blue-and-yellow and Red-and-green Macaws, an ever-present pair of Double-toothed Kites, and a stunning Red-necked Woodpecker. Our venture into the bamboo produced additional bamboo specialists such as Striated and Manu Antbirds.
But the nice thing about MWC is just walking out the cabin and hitting the excellent forest trails. The highlights along the terra firme trails covered most of the tropical families, and included birds such as Red-throated Caracara, Pale-winged Trumpeter, Painted Parakeet, Dusky-billed Parrotlet, White-tailed, Blue-crowned, and Black-tailed Trogons, Scaly-breasted Woodpecker, Plain Softtail, Long-tailed, Long-billed, and Elegant Woodcreepers, Sooty, White-throated, and Hairy-crested Antbirds, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, Golden-crowned Spadebill, Band-tailed, Round-tailed, and Blue-backed Manakins, Screaming Piha, Wing-barred Piprites, Musician Wren, Green-and-gold Tanager, and Casqued and Olive Oropendolas. The list goes on and on!
Around Puerto Maldonado we saw most of the specialties encountered there in past years, such as White-tailed Kite, Grassland Sparrow, and Red-breasted Blackbird. We flew back to Lima in time for a quick trip out to Ventanilla, where we saw Peruvian Thick-knees, a scattering of shorebirds, lots of Belcher’s and Kelp Gulls, and most exciting, a group of Peruvian Diving-Petrels from shore! In all it was a fine end to a wonderful trip.
- Gary Rosenberg
Updated: November 2008