Machu Picchu is a historical treasure and a prime site for birds. Photo: Gary Rosenberg
There are few places on Earth that invoke a greater sense of awe and inspiration than the Incan ruins at Machu Picchu. Hidden atop a mountain that guards the stunning Urubamba Valley, the Lost City of the Incas not only is a spectacular cultural attraction but also offers excellent birdwatching along the Urubamba River. After leaving Machu Picchu we’ll spend the better part of two days birding marvelous Abra Malaga, where surrounded by magnificent snow-capped peaks we’ll visit high-elevation Polylepis and temperate forests that are home to a wide variety of Andean species. A leisurely day’s birding at the lakes outside Cuzco, ample time for shopping in town and an excursion along the coast south of Lima round out this remarkably varied short tour.
This tour can be taken in conjunction with our tour Peru: Mishana Reserve, Explornapo Lodge, and the Canopy Walkway.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6 p.m. in Lima. Night in Lima.
Day 2: We’ll fly early this morning to Cuzco and drive south of town to the Huacarpay lakes, where a variety of high Andean waterfowl and wetland-associated birds such as Wren-like Rushbird, Puna Ibis, Andean Negrito, Many-colored Rush-Tyrant and several raptors await us. We’ll look in the arid scrub around the lake for Rufous-fronted Canastero and Streak-fronted Thornbird, and we should find the pretty Bearded Mountaineer feeding in the tree tobacco with Giant Hummingbird. The lake itself will have a fine variety of ducks and shorebirds, including Puna and Speckled Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Lapwing and possibly White-backed Stilt. In the late afternoon we’ll return to Cuzco in time for a look around town before dinner. Night in Cuzco.
Day 3: We’ll leave Cuzco early in the morning for the three-and-a-half-hour train journey to Machu Picchu. The train descends through the spectacular Urubamba River Valley, and as we travel from the semiarid agricultural portion of the upper valley to the lush tropical surroundings at Machu Picchu we’ll certainly see Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper as well as dramatic snow-capped peaks. At the ruins birding takes a back seat for a while as we are given a guided tour of this mystical archaeological complex, although we’ll certainly glance, at least, at the White-tipped Swifts flying overhead. After lunch we’ll look in the bamboo around the ruins for Inca Wren and then descend into the Urubamba Gorge for a late-afternoon search for Sclater’s and Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulets, Variable Antshrike, Silver-backed Tanager and Ocellated Piculet among many others. Night in Aguas Calientes.
Day 4: After a leisurely morning of birding along the Urubamba River looking for any of the Machu Picchu specialties we may have missed the previous afternoon, we’ll have a delicious lunch and then board our train back to Urubamba, arriving in time to look around our hotel for Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle and Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch. Night in Urubamba.
Day 5: One of the most productive Andean birding areas is at Abra Malaga along the road from Cuzco to Quillabamba. We’ll leave early and climb through a breathtaking valley to the pass at Abra Malaga, where surrounded by majestic snow-capped peaks we’ll bird an isolated patch of Polylepis forest. This remnant is home to several rare specialties, including Royal, Bar-winged and White-winged Cinclodes, White-browed and Tawny Tit-Spinetails, Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant, Stripe-headed Antpitta and Giant Conebill. The list of species found on the far side of the pass is impressive too, and we’ll have most of the day to look for Andean Guan, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Coppery-naped Puffleg, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Marcapata Spinetail, Pearled Treerunner, Red-crested Cotinga, Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, Inca Wren, Pale-legged Warbler, White-browed Conebill, Parodi’s and Drab Hemispingus, Scarlet-bellied and Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Tanagers, Tit-like Dacnis, Moustached Flower-Piercer and Cusco Brush-Finch. The birding here can be fantastic! In the late afternoon we’ll descend back through the spectacular scenery to Urubamba. Night in Urubamba.
Gary amazed us by tracking down some exceptionally challenging birds: a well-hidden and ventriloquial Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, or a silent and completely immobile puffbird in dense rainforest. He is the consummate professional, with a wonderful sense of humor when we all weren’t being serious—and he has the fastest draw on an i-pod of any birder I’ve come across. Our local drivers and agents all liked him, and this showed well in the outstanding support and service we were offered throughout the tour.
Ken Archambault, Birmingham, Alabama
Day 6: This morning we’ll head back toward Abra Malaga, this time birding the drier habitats along lower portions of the road. Our main target species are two local endemics, White-tufted Sunbeam and Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch. Other possible species include Andean Hillstar, Great Sapphirewing, Andean Swallow, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch and Black-backed Grosbeak. After lunch we’ll bird our way back up the Sacred Valley of the Incas, stopping at a large lake where there will be a wide variety of waterbirds, including Silvery Grebes, and then arriving in Cuzco in time for dinner. Night in Cuzco.
Day 7: We’ll fly this morning from Cuzco back to Lima and then travel south along the coast. Our main destinations will be Playa San Pedro and Villa, home to a number of coastal specialties: Peruvian Booby, Guanay and Red-legged Cormorants, Humboldt Penguin, Peruvian Thick-knee, Gray, Kelp and Belcher’s Gulls, Wrenlike Rushbird, Yellowish Pipit and Peruvian Meadowlark. In addition we can hope to see a wide selection of migrating shorebirds. In the late afternoon we’ll return to Lima for dinner at our hotel and flights home.
Updated: 27 August 2008
Prices
- 2009 price about $3,670
- Single Occupancy Supplement $360
Notes
Maximum group size eight participants and one leader