A Masked Flowerpiercer responds to “spishing”. Photo: Gary Rosenberg
The Manu Biosphere Reserve is without question one of the most exciting birding destinations in the world. We’ll visit protected habitats ranging from orchid-laden cloud forest, where Andean Cocks-of-the-Rock perform their mating displays right along the road, to untouched Amazonian rainforest, where as many as ten species of monkeys abound and Giant Otters still patrol the gorgeous oxbow lakes. Few accessible Amazonian locations remain as wild and undisturbed as Manu, with its stunning vistas of intact forest, five species of macaws seen daily, Brazilian Tapirs wallowing in mud holes and a birdlist of nearly 1000 species. Very comfortable accommodations, great food, non-strenuous birding on flat trails and easily accessible canopy platforms make a visit to Manu even more appealing. Another highlight of the trip will be a guided tour of the awe-inspiring Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6 p.m. in Lima. Night in Miraflores.
Day 2: We’ll fly early this morning to Cusco and drive south of town to the Huacarpay lakes. Here we’ll see a variety of high Andean waterfowl and wetland-associated birds including such species as the cryptic Wren-like Rushbird, Puna Ibis, Andean Negrito, the eye-popping Many-colored Rush-Tyrant and several raptors. We’ll look in the arid scrub around the lake for Rufous-fronted Canastero and Streak-fronted Thornbird, and we should find the endemic 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 Teals, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Lapwing and possibly White-backed Stilt. In the late afternoon we’ll descend to the historic Urubamba River Valley. Night in Urubamba.
Day 3: We’ll leave Urubamba early in the morning for the two-and-a-half-hour train journey to the famous Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. From the train we’ll see Torrent Duck and possibly White-capped Dipper on the Urubamba River and we’ll get even closer looks below Machu Picchu. At the ruins, birding will take a back seat as we enjoy a guided tour of this mystical archaeological complex, although we’ll be on the lookout for White-tipped Swifts flying overhead and Inca Wrens duetting from the bamboo hillsides. After lunch we’ll descend into the Urubamba Gorge for late afternoon birding in the subtropical forest along the river near Aguas Calientes. Some of the specialty birds here include Sclater’s and Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulets, Variable Antshrike, Silver-backed Tanager and Ocellated Piculet. 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, we’ll have lunch, leave a bit of time for gift shopping and then board our train back to Cusco, arriving in time for dinner. Night in Cusco.
“Just a note to WINGS to let you know how much I enjoyed the 2007 Peru (Machu Picchu to Manu) birding tour with Gary Rosenberg. It fulfilled all of my expectations and much more. Not only did I see many new species, I learned some interesting things I hadn’t known about the geography of Peru. Boating on the Rio Madre de Dios was a special treat. Gary’s ability to hear and identify all the birds, many that sound and look so similar, was amazing. And his rapport with the people at our accommodations and the Manu Expeditions folks made things go along very smoothly.”
Rich Ridenhour, Mckinley, CA
Day 5: We’ll leave Cusco before dawn and make several stops in the intermontane valleys before arriving at the last Andean pass, Ajcanacu. Some of the target birds for the morning are Andean Condor, the endemic Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, Mourning, Peruvian, Band-tailed and Ash-breasted Sierra-Finches, Slender-billed Miner, Aplomado Falcon, Andean Flicker, and Creamy-crested Spinetail. Near the pass we’ll look for flocks in the patches of tree-line forest in hopes of encountering Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Yellow-collared Tanager, White-browed Conebill, and both Black-throated and Moustached Flowerpiercers. We’ll look particularly for both Line-fronted and Scribble-tailed Spinetails, local species found only at high elevation. As we descend the eastern slope of the Andes to our safari camp at 8,400 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-species flocks of tanagers, flycatchers, and furnariids. In the evening we’ll go to a favorite spot where we have had luck finding Swallow-tailed Nightjar. Night in safari camp at Pillahuata.
Day 6: At breakfast we’ll be greeted by a varied dawn chorus of Great Thrushes, Black-faced Brush-Finches and Puna Thistletails. With luck we’ll also hear Red-and-white Antpitta. We’ll spend all day birding from our camp to our next stop at 4800 feet, mainly walking slowly down sections of the road. In the pristine forest along this little-traveled route we’ll look for Shining Sunbeam, Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Masked Trogon, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Marcapata Spinetail, Barred Fruiteater, Chestnut-belted Chat-Tyrant, White-winged Black-Tyrant, Inca Flycatcher, Blue-banded Toucanet, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager and a wide variety of other hummingbirds, flycatchers and tanagers. The birding will, of course, be fantastic, but perhaps equally exciting will be the fabulous vistas of undisturbed cloud forest as the road descends to Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. The name of the lodge says it all: we know of no Cock-of-the-Rock lek as accessible as the one at this lodge. Night at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Days 7-8: We’ll spend two full days exploring the forest around Union and San Pedro, one day in the 7500-foot altitude zone and one day in the 4800-foot zone. Birding in the Andes at middle elevations is like visiting a bird buffet, with fancy quetzals and cotingas and mixed-species flocks of dazzling tanagers. Among the many possibilities are both Crested and Golden-headed Quetzals, Blue-banded Toucanet, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Stripe-chested Antwren, Slaty Gnateater, Yungas Manakin, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Andean and White-eared Solitaires, Golden, Paradise, Blue-necked, Golden-eared and Orange-eared Tanagers and Deep-blue Flowerpiercer. We’ll visit one of the two nearby Andean Cock-of-the-Rock leks to watch up to 10 males engaging in their strange mating dance, from as close as we can focus our binoculars! Hummingbirds we have seen on the grounds of the lodge include Violet-fronted Brilliant, Many-spotted Hummingbird, Booted Racket-tail, Wedge-billed Hummingbird and White-bellied Woodstar, all coming to the newly planted hummingbird bushes. We’ll also do some night birding here; Rufescent Screech-Owl is possible, 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! Nights at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Day 9: After a pre-dawn breakfast we’ll leave San Pedro and spend the day birding slowly down to Amazonia Lodge at 1500 feet. We’ll pay particular attention to the stretch between 4500 and 2500 feet, a zone in which forest has disappeared on much of the Andean slopes because of its suitability for cash crops such as tea, coffee and coca. In this part of Peru, however, the forest remains relatively untouched, and in the past we’ve seen many species restricted to the “upper tropical” zone including Peruvian Piedtail, Versicolored Barbet, Ornate Antwren, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher and Chestnut-breasted Wren. On one stretch of the road we’ll search for a yet-to-be-described new species of “tanager” that the WINGS tour discovered in 2000 and 2003. Along another section of the road is a large stand of “Guadua” Bamboo, and we’ll look for specialties such as Manu Antbird and Bamboo Antshrike. At lower elevations close to Pilcopata (the last town we’ll see for the next ten days) we’ll bird along the road in search of such species as Yellow-billed Nunbird, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Red-billed and Slender-footed Tyrannulets and Golden-bellied Warbler, just to name a few. We plan to cross the Madre de Dios River and reach Amazonia Lodge before dusk. Night at Amazonia Lodge.
Days 10-11: We’ll spend two full days at Amazonia Lodge. This family-run converted tea hacienda has a birdlist of over 500, and incredibly, species are being added every year. The lodge is situated in the transitional zone at 1500 feet where the last low foothills of the Andes begin to flatten out into the lowland Amazon Basin proper. The possibilities here are endless and include Blackish Rail, Uniform Crake, Buckley’s Forest-Falcon, Razor-billed Currasow, Hoatzin, Blue-headed and Chestnut-fronted Macaws, Koepcke’s Hermit, Rufous-crested Coquette, Wire-crested Thorntail, Bamboo Antshrike, Southern Chestnut-tailed and Black-throated Antbirds, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Ringed Antpipit, Red-billed Tyrannulet, Johannes’s Tody-Tyrant, Band-tailed, Round-tailed and Fiery-capped Manakins, Hauxwell’s Thrush, Black-capped Donacobius and, generally, tons of birds. We’ll have the chance to go night birding here as well and in the past we’ve seen Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl and Great, Long-tailed and Common Potoos. The lodge itself is very comfortable and we’ll enjoy lounging on the porch sipping lemonade while watching hummingbirds at the flowers or horneros walking around the garden. We’ll be reluctant to leave this very birdy place, but even more awaits us in the Amazon lowlands. Nights at Amazonia Lodge.
Day 12: We’ll spend the early morning birding at Amazonia Lodge, but as the day begins to warm we’ll board our motorized canoes for the four-hour trip down the Alto Madre de Dios River to its confluence with the Manu River, and then on for another two hours to Manu Wildlife Centre. This lodge facility, jointly owned by Manu Expeditions and a local conservation group, is perhaps the nicest Amazonian lodge we have visited, with excellent accommodations and remarkable access to a wide variety of habitats. On the river journey we’ll be able to see typical riverside species such as Pied Lapwing, Fasciated Tiger-Heron and Large-billed Tern. Flyovers will include many species of macaws and parrots as well as raptors: we have seen flocks of Swallow-tailed Kites migrating and such memorable species as Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Great Black-Hawk and King Vulture. Traveling down the Madre de Dios is always exciting and one never knows what will be around the next curve”a Bat Falcon on a dead snag, Swallow-winged Puffbirds sallying out from the tops of trees, flocks of migrating Eastern Kingbirds, a group of Horned Screamers on a sandbar, dozens of Sand-colored Nighthawks covering a dead log. The river trip will not be boring! Night at Manu Wildlife Centre.
Days 13-17: We’ll spend five full days based at the Manu Wildlife Centre, situated just upriver from the Blanquillo Macaw Lick. One morning we’ll visit the lick and from our blind observe the spectacle of hundreds of parrots and macaws at close quarters. Here we’ll see the beautiful Orange-cheeked Parrot and perhaps the recently described Amazonian Parrotlet. We’ll spend the rest of the time birding the extensive trail system. The area around the lodge has the greatest variety of forest types anywhere in the Manu region and thus the highest biodiversity and greatest number of bird species. Large stands of bamboo coupled with the extensive varzea, terra firma and mature transitional floodplain forest ensure a mind-boggling variety of birdlife. Although investigation of birds here is in its early stages, we expect the lodge area to hold more species than any area of its size in the world—the birdlist is already well over 500. Some of the more interesting and unusual species in the bamboo are Rufous-headed Woodpecker, Manu Antbird, White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher, Peruvian Recurvebill and various foliage-gleaners and antbirds. We’ll certainly look for the rare and local Rufous-fronted Antthrush, here located on song-advertised territories. Some of the scarcer species here include Bartlett’s Tinamou, Razor-billed Currasow, Pale-winged Trumpeter, Sunbittern, Pavonine Quetzal, Purus Jacamar, Cream-colored Woodpecker, Banded Antbird, Royal Flycatcher, Musician Wren, Pale-eyed Blackbird and Yellow-shouldered Grosbeak to name but a few. We’ll also visit oxbow lakes where we’ll see Hoatzin and Sungrebe, and with luck we’ll spot one of the two Giant Otter families that live in the area. Night birding may produce potoos, Amazonian Pygmy-Owl, Spectacled Owl and Ocellated Poorwill among others. The large mammal lick here, apart from attracting tapirs, peccaries, and very occasionally a Jaguar, also lures guans and curassows during the day. Nights at Manu Wildlife Centre.
Day 18: Because of concerns about the reliability of flights out of Manu on small aircraft, we have decided to travel down the Madre de Dios River to Puerto Maldonado and then return to Cusco and Lima by jet. We’ll leave very early for our 6-7-hour boat trip (on our comfortable boat with cushioned seats) down the Madre de Dios. Once again we’ll be treated to a journey of the unexpected. Early morning on the river is always the best time for activity on the sandbars”we have seen interesting species such as Jabiru and Orinoco Goose on this section of the river”and there is always the possibility of a large spotted cat! We’ll arrive in Puerto Maldonado with time to bird in the late afternoon on our way to our pleasant hotel. Here we are likely to see a variety of species not normally found on a Manu tour including White-tailed Kite, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Sulphury Flycatcher, Red-breasted Blackbird and Grassland Sparrow. Night at Puerto Maldonado.
Day 19: After nearly a full morning of birding in the open country outside Puerto Maldonado, we’ll depart for Lima, arriving in the afternoon. Assuming our homeward flights leave in the late evening, we’ll offer optional birding to marshes near the town of Villa, where we’ll look for Gray-headedl, Band-tailed and Kelp Gulls and Inca Tern. We may also have time to explore the habitats around Lurin, where the beaches and fields often hold Peruvian Booby, Guanay Cormorant, Peruvian Thick-knee and Peruvian Red-breasted Meadowlark, all species we will not have encountered previously. We’ll return to Lima in time to enjoy a farewell dinner and prepare for our international flights home.
Updated: 13 February 2008
Prices
- 2008 price about $6,590
- Single Occupancy Supplement $890
- 2009 price not yet available
Notes
This tour is limited to eight participants with one leader; 14 with two leaders.
The Single Occupancy Supplement for accommodation excluding the Amazon Lodges (Amazonia and Manu Wildlife Centre) is $475.