8 May – 1 June 2000

by Garry George
 

References:

Handbook of Birds of the World (some plates only), Lynx Edicions

Birds of South America Vol. I and II, Ridgely & Tudor, University of Texas Press

Birds of Columbia, Hilty, Brown and Tudor, Princeton University Press

Itinerary:

• Day 1-LA-LIMA
• Day 2-LIMA-Cusco, Huacarpay Lakes (3020m) surface to Sacred Valley
• Day 3,4-Abra Malaga–(4000m+) and Quillabamba Road(to 3200m)
• Day 5-Cusco to Manu Road to Pillahuata (2600m) with stops in Huancarani, Paucartambo, Tres Cruces, upper Mirador on Manu Road, overnight camping in Pillahuata
• Day 6-Manu Road from Pillahuata to San Pedro y Union Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge (1500m)
• Day 7,8-San Pedro y Union Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge area (1500m)
• Day 9–San Pedo y Union to Atalya w/ stops at Patria, Pilcopata, boat to Amazonia Lodge
• Day 10–Boat to Atalaya, birding on road to Pilcopata (550m-900m)
• Day 11,12-Amanazonia Lodge
• Day 13-Boat ride on Madre de Dios River to Manu Wildlife Center (7 hours)
• Day 14–9–Manu Wildlife Center area
• Day 20–afternoon flight from Boca Manu to Cusco

• Day 21–flight to Lima, Lomas de Lanchay (300m)
• Day 22–Santa Eulalia Road above Huanico (2,500-3,000m)
• Day 23–Marcopomacocha (4500m+)
• Day 24–Lima to Pucusana with stops at Villa Marshes, San Pedro (sea level)
• Day 25–Lima-LA

There are six habitat zones in Andean South America:

• Polylepis forest  above 3500m with polylepis trees
• Puna    from 3500m up
• Temperate   2500-3500m
• Subtropical   1500-2500m
• Upper Tropical  500-1500m
• Tropical   0-500m

We spent one morning at Abra Malaga pass outside Cusco in Polylepis forest.  This is the most critically endangered habitat in South America.  There is a program of reforestation of this area initiated by Gunnar Engblom, Gregorio Ferro Meza and Constantino Aucca Chutas detailed on Mr. Engblom’s website for his tour company Kolibri Expeditions.  (http://netaccessperu.net/kolibri/ then select “Abra Malaga” from the bottom of the left frame).  A donation to this valuable program would surely be welcome.

Three incredible days in the stunted growth of the high Andes puna were spent.  Two mornings were below and between the polylepis forest patches at Abra Malaga near Cusco and a day at Marcopomachocha, the highest altitude at over 4600 meters (just over 15,000 ft) five hours drive north from Lima where we hiked in bogs and ponds just below the snow line.  Both expeditions yielded the rarest species.

The Temperate zone encompassing the treeline of both slopes were reached in drives from Cusco or Lima.  The initial portion of the drive down Manu Road was especially interesting as the dry brown high altitude Puna and Temperate zones gave way to cloud forest.  This was the most dramatic change in species of plants, mammals and birds.  We began to see the first wild mammals here.  Almost all the observations in this zone were made from the road which thankfully was not well travelled, but the trail behind Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge right on the transition between Subtropical and Upper Tropical zones was very productive and interesting.  I would have liked to have penetrated the forest more in that area.

Diversity of bird, mammal, insect and plant species was greatest in the Tropical lowland humid forest at the base of the east slope on the western edge of the Amazon basin along the Madre de Dios River where we spent the most time just outside of Manu National Park, the largest park in South America.  The environment is absolutely incredible.  Memorable were the sunsets over the river, the flights of hundreds of Sand-colored Nightjars in the sunset light taking off from their roost on the river island, the towering saba trees with strangler figs and lianas, the sounds of the forest and the dreams while sleeping in it, the night at the tapir lick, the long boat rides at the end of the day.  It was great to wake up in the forest instead of travelling to it and it was great to be free of vehicles.

But the pressure of human settlers is taking it's toll on this habitat around Manu Wildlife Center.  There used to be four Giant Otters at Cocha Blanco in the oxbow lake but now there are three.  One female was killed and her two pups stolen by poachers who then sold them at the market in Puerto Maldonaldo.  Luckily, the pups were bought by members of SelvaSur who are trying to conserve the area.  They reintroduced the two pups successfully to another female in another lake.  We fell in love with an orphaned four-month old red howler monkey named Arturo who was in residence at Manu Wildlife Center.  His mother was shot for food.  Cocha Nuevo and Cocha Comungo near Manu Wildlife Center are currently being developed for eco-tourism and the trails have been cleared and camping platforms built.  There is pressure inside Manu National Park from settlers as well.

On the west slope at the end of the trip, we spent two days in coastal habitat around the arid desert of Lima.  The arid lomas with cactus and rock that are moistened by the fog from the ocean were particularly interesting.  We spent a few hours on the Pacific Ocean itself looking for pelagic and coastal species.

We chose Manu Expeditions and booked a private tour for three of us, costing just over $200/day each for everything except drinks including guide, internal flights, ground transportation and airport transfers, drivers, meals, boat rides and accommodations including tents and cook in one location.  Colin Bushell was provided as our guide and he knew his locations and birds well and was great fun to be with.  We joined friends in Lima for an extension to Santa Eulalia road and Marcopomacocha north of Lima with Barry Walker as guide.  Airfare from LA on Continental with a stop in Houston cost around $600/person round trip.  Outfitting throughout was exceptional.  We had a six passenger van or ten passenger luxury bus with plenty of space for luggage in the back and competent, helpful, polite drivers and boat men.  Tipping was genuinely given and appreciated.  The flight from Boca Manu back to Cusco was a white knuckler but only 45 minutes in duration.  The accommodations were exceptional as was the food, even better because in most places we were the only ones there.

This was our sixth trip to South America and our fifth to Amazonia.

Results:

550 species of birds with almost 200 new.  Outstanding looks at 4 species of Tinamou, rare Humboldt Penguin, Crested Duck, Razor-billed Currasow, Pale-winged Trumpeter and Diademed Sandpiper-plover, 3 species of Pygmy-owl, 43 species of hummingbird (5 endemic), 49 species of Furnarid (14 endemic) and critically endangered Royal Cinclodes (photographed), 37 species of Antbird (2 endemic), 74 species of flycatcher (2 endemic), 1 endemic wren, 48 species of Tanager, 35 species of finch (1 endemic) and 5 species of Oropendola.

8 species of primates including rare Emperor Tamarin, Woolley Monkey, Night Monkey.

4 species of other wild mammals including Brazilian tapir, Giant Otter, Tamandaua (anteater) and red Brocket Deer.

Hindsight:

September through November are the popular months for this route.  May was not the best time for the Subtropical and Tropical locations.  It was the end of the rainy season and many birds were in post-breeding moult and not very active or vocal.  Tapes were not that productive for some species.  Juvenile birds were numerous.  As a joke, we thought SE Peru in May might make a good workshop for tape dependent guides or a great fundraiser called the May Challenge.

The weather was weird.  We hit a friaje (cold front) for a week that extended from San Pedro area on the Manu Road down through the first day at Manu Wildlife Center.  During this time it was cold and rainy, and neither insects nor birds were moving.  Sometimes four or five hours would go by with only one or two species seen.  Our seven hour boat ride down the Madre de Dios River was freezing, and we wore knit caps, wool gloves and three layers of clothing.  We lost a morning on the mirador just above Atalaya to rain and cold so we missed the streams of macaws coming from their roosts in the morning especially the endemic Blue-headed Macaw usually seen at that site.  Flycatchers and antbirds were in particularly worn plumage.  We theorized that during moult birds must be particularly vulnerable to energy loss as well as predators and therefore pretty much stayed put, but we have no scientific evidence to support our theory.  I would be interested in any studies of behavior of neo-tropical birds during post-breeding moult if there are any.

There were no medical emergencies.  Altitude sickness in Cusco, Abra Malaga and Marcopomacocha was a problem for some who couldn’t take prophylaxis medication due to allergic reactions.  We didn’t take any anti-malarial drugs and so far have no botflies or leishmaniasis lesions although we talked about both whenever we had the opportunity.  Barry Walker, who has the flesh-eating leishmaniasis and the scar to prove it believes it is carried by a transparent fly with red eyes that dances on the skin before biting.  He believes the fly is crepuscular in the forest canopy and most easily contracted in a canopy tower at sunrise or sunset.  There was some discussion as to whether repeated exposure might be a factor.  Covering skin with fabric and repellent is the best preventative it seems.  The food was amazing at all locations and we experienced no intestinal distress.  Few snakes were seen although we asked questions and told stories about bushmaster and fer-de-lance encounters.  We were told that both Amazonia Lodge and Manu Wildlife Center now have anti-venom.  It would definitely pay to research snakebite emergency procedures in advance of a trip here with a qualified doctor including a rehearsal of an allergy test of the antivenom and intravenous injection procedures.  A clean hypodermic needle might also be handy as well as knowledge of the quickest evacuation procedure to a clean hospital in Cusco, Lima,Miami or Houston.

In hindsight, I would have booked two or three nights in Manu National Park Lodge inside the park and three or four nights at Manu Wildlife Center outside the park instead of seven nights at Manu Wildlife Center.  There is a better chance to see Jaguar drinking at the river or sunning on a log hanging over the river during the long boat ride into and out of the park, and Black-faced Cotinga and Rufous-fronted Antthrush are fairly common around Manu Lodge but rare and difficult near Manu Wildlife Center.  Rufous-vented Ground-cuckoo is only possible at Pakitza which requires camping and an expedition from Manu Lodge.  The cuckoo seen on the Jeep track at Amazonia Lodge in 1997 hasn't been seen since, and there are no records of the cuckoo from Manu Wildlife Center.  When visiting Abra Malaga we stayed in Yucay in the Sacred Valley and drove long trips in the morning and evening.  The Sacred Valley was interesting and the cliff carvings were amazing, but the drives were almost three hours to and from Quillabamba Road and Abra Malaga and I would have preferred camping at least one night.

The most unexpected surprise of the entire trip for me was the diversity of Furnarids in this area.  Austral migrant terrestrial species were just arriving so Ground-Tryants were tough to sort out in the high altitudes and the variety of rare and endemic Miners, Cinclodes, Canasteros and Earthcreepers at the higher altitudes and Peruvian Recurvebill, Spinetails, Foliage-gleaners and Xenops’ in the subtropical and tropical forest mid-canopy and canopy were a lot more fascinating than I had predicted from my study of these mostly brown birds prior to the trip.  Painted plates can't really communicate sounds and behaviors and Furnarids seemed unaffected by the season or weather and firmly established in all habitat.  Each genus and species seemed to have some distinctive behavior or field mark that really set it apart.  This trip opened my eyes to Furnarids and took my attention away from my usual obssession with Antbirds.
 

PART 1 -- HIGH ALT NEAR CUSCO

Locations and Sightings:

*specialty of that location
+endemic
**rare and endangered
H heard only

HUACARPAY LAKES  (3020m)

A short drive from and a lower altitude than Cusco, Huacarpay Lakes is an easy first day of birding and a great way to acclimate especially to the altitude after the flights to Lima and Cusco.  We drove east on Urcos Road to the puna habitat of rocky sandy brown hills dotted with cactus and flowering nicotina,lakes bordered by reeds and grasses,dry fields with small patches of agriculture here and there tended by old women with dry,wrinkled faces and red-purple ponchos.  Did the hummers mistake them for huge flowers?  Endemic Rusty-fronted Canastero stayed close to the ground running between clumps of grasse on the hillside where Bearded Helmetcrests feed on the nicotina blooms.  Our first Ground-tyrants of the trip were spotted in the open dried dirt edges between the reeds and the road.  Cinereous Harrier started hunting the grasses just before dusk.  We missed Streak-fronted Thornbird, only hearing it once up the hillside but we did get to investigate an abandoned nest.  We had poor looks at Many-colored Rush-Tyrant here but caught up with it at Villa Marshes near Lima for great looks later in the trip.  Plumbeous Rail were numerous and easy to see when they feed near the reeds or preened at the water’s edge.  They were certainly easy to hear.  Near the lake were small ponds here and there with Grebe, Teal and Ibis.

White-tufted Grebe                    Rollandia rolland
Snowy Egret                           Egretta thula
Black-crowned Night-Heron             Nycticorax nycticorax
Puna Ibis                             Plegadis ridgwayi
Speckled Teal                         Anas flavirostris
(the yellow-billed,light breasted ssp.oxyptera and not the dark-billed, dark breasted ssp.andium sometimes called Andean Teal that we were used to in Ecuador)
Yellow-billed Pintail                 Anas georgica
Puna Teal                             Anas puna
Cinnamon Teal                         Anas cyanoptera
Cinereous Harrier                     Circus cinereus
American Kestrel                      Falco sparverius
Plumbeous Rail                        Pardirallus sanguinolentus
Common Moorhen                        Gallinula chloropus
Slate-colored Coot                    Fulica ardesiaca
Andean Lapwing                        Vanellus resplendens
Greater Yellowlegs                    Tringa melanoleuca
Andean Gull                           Larus serranus
Spot-winged Pigeon                    Columba maculosa
Eared Dove                            Zenaida auriculata
Bare-faced Ground-Dove                Metriopelia ceciliae
Black-winged Ground-Dove              Metriopelia melanoptera
Sparkling Violet-ear                  Colibri coruscans
White-bellied Hummingbird             Leucippus chionogaster
Giant Hummingbird                     Patagona gigas
*Bearded Mountaineer                  Oreonympha nobilis
Andean Flicker                        Colaptes rupicola
Wren-like Rushbird                    Phleocryptes melanops
+*Rusty-fronted Canastero             Asthenes ottonis
H-Streak-fronted Thornbird            Phacellodomus striaticeps
White-crested Elaenia                 Elaenia albiceps
Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant              Anairetes flavirostris
Many-colored Rush-Tyrant              Tachuris rubrigastra
White-browed Chat-Tyrant              Ochthoeca leucophrys
Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant             Muscisaxicola maculirostris
Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant            Muscisaxicola rufivertex
Andean Negrito                        Lessonia oreas
House Wren                            Troglodytes aedon
Chiguanco Thrush                      Turdus chiguanco
Hooded Siskin                        Carduelis magellanica
Cinereous Conebill                    Conirostrum cinereum
Blue-and-yellow Tanager               Thraupis bonariensis
Peruvian Sierra-Finch                 Phrygilus punensis
Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch             Phrygilus plebejus
Band-tailed Seedeater                 Catamenia analis
Grassland Yellow-Finch                Sicalis luteola
Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch            Sicalis uropygialis
Greenish Yellow-Finch                 Sicalis olivascens
Rufous-collared Sparrow               Zonotrichia capensis
Golden-billed Saltator                Saltator aurantiirostris
Yellow-winged Blackbird               Agelaius thilius

ABRA MALAGA (3800M+)

We stayed in Yucay in the Sacred Valley but it would have been more convenient to camp on the Quillabamba Road and avoid the three hour drive back and forth at least one night.  Abra Malaga was the only location with accessible polylepis forest on the trip,and with the rare and endangered species that live in it.  There is a house right on the road at the top of the pass with a large pile of polylepis firewood outside.  My hope was that someday they would find eucalyptus just as good or better.  Our first assault up the ridge to the right of the road was aborted when Colin hit the crest and found that there was no inhabitable forest left in that location.  It had changed that much in one year.

The next morning we started up the ridge before the house and to the left of the road as you ascend.  It was around 8 a.m.  We crested the ridge after 30 minutes of breathless hiking and decided to try the patch of polylepis to our right and up the valley away from the road, a further hike of about 45 more minutes and the highest patch of polylepis that we could see in the pass.  It would limit our energy to explore the top of the second patch of polylepis further down the valley to the road, but it would be our only chance to see the rare and critically endangered (and formerly endemic until a recent sighting in Bolivia) Royal Cinclodes.  Colin hadn’t seen the bird in his previous attempts over the last two years.  Gunnar Engblom, who lives in Peru and operates Kolibri Expeditions has written a excellent paper and proposal to study Royal Cinclodes and published it on his website http://netaccessperu.net/kolibri/ (choose “Royal Cinclodes” under Research at the bottom of the left frame).

As we made our way into the patch we saw that many of the limbs of the polylepis trees had been cut as if pruned, allowing a lot of light on to the moss cover below.  It wouldn’t be long before the moss-cover would dry up.  Just above the cut-over patch Colin played a tape of the Cinclodes, and we couldn’t believe our amazing fortune as we saw this rare bird perched thirty feet above us in a polylepis tree, allowing me to crawl slowly up the rocks and moss to get a photograph.  The bird flew higher and back into the forest.  We found it again on the side of the trail on the ground tossing moss-cover in search of invertebrates.  Other than the common Bar- winged Cinclodes it was the only bird we saw for the hour or so that we explored this patch of polylepis.

We hiked over an hour parallel to but lower than the crest of the ridge to the next patch of polylepis, some replanted as part of a valuable program started by Gunnar Engblom, Gregorio Ferro Meza and Constantino Aucca Chutas and funded in part by donations from birders.  Read more on this program at http://netaccessperu.net/kolibri/ click “Abra Malaga” under Research at the bottom of the left frame.

We spent two hours hiking down and towards the road in this patch of polylepis, getting good looks at the rare, endemic White-browed Tit- spinetail, and several looks at a pair of Tawny Tit-Spinetails.  We just missed an Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant seen by Colin.  A big miss was Stripe- headed Antpitta which we never heard nor saw although we combed the scree and polylepis treeline for the two hours we were there.

In the polylepis:

Andean Hillstar                       Oreotrochilus estella
Bar-winged Cinclodes                  Cinclodes fuscus
***Royal Cinclodes                    Cinclodes aricomae
+***White-browed Tit-Spinetail        Leptasthenura xenothorax
*Tawny Tit-Spinetail                  Leptasthenura yanacensis
*Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant              Anairetes alpinus
*D'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant              Ochthoeca oenanthoides
Thick-billed Siskin                   Carduelis crassirostris
Tit-like Dacnis                       Xenodacnis parina
Slaty Finch                           Haplospiza rustica

In the puna around and below the polylepis and above Quillabamba Road:

Speckled Teal                         Anas flavirostris
Variable Hawk                         Buteo polyosoma
+White-tufted Sunbeam                 Aglaeactis castelnaudii
Slender-billed Miner                  Geositta tenuirostris
+Creamy-crested Spinetail             Cranioleuca albicapilla
Rufous-webbed Tyrant                  Polioxolmis rufipennis
Puna Ground-Tyrant                    Muscisaxicola juninensis
Cinereous Ground-Tyrant               Muscisaxicola cinerea
Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant             Muscisaxicola flavinucha
H-Puna Tapaculo                       Scytalopus simonsi
Paramo Pipit                          Anthus bogotensis
Thick-billed Siskin                   Carduelis crassirostris
Tit-like Dacnis                       Xenodacnis parina
Peruvian Sierra-Finch                 Phrygilus punensis
Plumbeous Sierra-Finch                Phrygilus unicolor
Bright-rumped Yellow-finch            Sicalis uropygialis

QUILLABAMBA ROAD (CLOUD FOREST) (3800-3200M)

The cloud forest of Quillabamba Road and the lower altitude was a relief after the long morning at Abra Malaga. Species that were usually common and vocal during September to November were quiet and hard to find in May. We missed +Parodi’s Hemispingus entirely, not seeing or hearing it. Patches of cloud forest could be explored from the road but there were big areas where it looked like there had been fires. We found one entire hillside of one species of cycad palm. The tanagers and the epiphyte and moss-covered trees reminded us that we were back in the cloud forest of South America.

White-throated Hawk                   Buteo albigula
Mountain Caracara                     Phalcoboenus megalopterus
Band-tailed Pigeon                    Columba fasciata
Andean Parakeet                       Bolborhynchus orbygnesius
Band-winged Nightjar                  Caprimulgus longirostris
Sparkling Violet-ear                  Colibri coruscans
Giant Hummingbird                     Patagona gigas
Sapphire-vented Puffleg               Eriocnemis luciani
Tyrian Metaltail                      Metallura tyrianthina
Scaled Metaltail                      Metallura aeneocauda
Blue-mantled Thornbill                Chalcostigma stanleyi
+Marcapata Spinetail                  Cranioleuca marcapatae
+Puna Thistletail                     Schizoeaca helleri
Cordilleran Canastero                 Asthenes modesta
Streak-throated Canastero             Asthenes humilis
Line-fronted Canastero                Asthenes urubambensis
Pearled Treerunner                    Margarornis squamiger
H-Diademed Tapaculo                   Scytalopus schulenbergi
Red-crested Cotinga                   Ampelion rubrocristata
White-throated Tyrannulet             Mecocerculus leucophrys
White-banded Tyrannulet               Mecocerculus stictopterus
Ochraceous-breasted Flycatcher        Myiophobus ochraceiventris
Cinnamon Flycatcher                   Pyrrhomyias cinnamomea
Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant           Ochthoeca rufipectoralis
Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant              Ochthoeca fumicolor
Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant                Cnemarchus erythropygius
Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant            Agriornis montana
Brown-bellied Swallow                 Notiochelidon murina
+Inca Wren                            Thryothorus eisenmanni
House Wren                            Troglodytes aedon
Mountain Wren                         Troglodytes solstitialis
Great Thrush                          Turdus fuscater
Spectacled Redstart                   Myioborus melanocephalus
White-browed Conebill                 Conirostrum ferrugineiventre
Three-striped Hemispingus             Hemispingus trifasciatus
Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager      Anisognathus igniventris
*Golden-collared Tanager              Iridosornis jelskii
*Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager    Delothraupis castaneoventris
Plain-colored Seedeater               Catamenia inornata
Moustached Flowerpiercer              Diglossa mystacalis
Black-throated Flowerpiercer          Diglossa brunneiventris
Masked Flowerpiercer                  Diglossopis cyanea
Rufous-collared Sparrow               Zonotrichia capensis

MANU ROAD FROM CUSCO TO PILLAHUATA (3300M-2600M)

We took off from Cusco in the dark and saw sunrise in the Andes just as we began our descent into the agricultural valley between Cusco and Tres Cruces.  Not much habitat left in the valley which made spotting birds from the bus fairly easy.  We stopped and made breakfast near the small village of Huancarani and found a cooperative male +Chestnut-breasted Mountain- Finch.  Two Andean Lapwing foraged on the ground next to our breakfast site.  Agricultural fields in this area were filled with amaranth which produces the grain quinoa,and a lot of blue lupine.  I remembered that I had eaten a dish of beans called “cho cho” at San Isidro ranch in Ecuador, and Carmen had explained to me that they were the beans of a certain species of lupine which had to be soaked for two days to leech out the toxins.  I wondered if these fields produced beans not cut flowers.

There was one small valley of native habitat and trees after the agricutural fields in a curve in the road and we stopped there.  Colin found a pair of +Creamy-crested Spinetail and soon the entire hillside of them were calling.  A small stream and waterfall went beneath the road and we looked down on the trees below.  I spotted an interesting bird in a large leaf light bark mature tree kind of like an alder in the shade below us and soon we had identified a female Crested Becard, a first sighting for this area.  We stopped in the river town of Paucartambo to have a walk and watch Brown-bellied Swallows over the river.  Tres Cruces is on the peak of the ridge and the exact spot where Manu National Park begins.  It is also the beginning of unbroken forest which is contiguous down to the Madre de Dios River.

We walked the road near a Tunnel in cloud forest and were delighted by a long flyover of eight Golden-plumed Parakeet.  We stopped at a mirador that overlooked the entire east slope and marvelled at the view of the road that would take us to Amazonia.  At dusk, we found two female Swallow-tailed Nightjars with our spotlights for close looks.  We heard that an Andean Potoo had been seen here, but no luck for us.  We ended the day at Pillahuata and camped overnight in a building beside the road.

Locations and Sightings

*specialty of that location
+endemic
**rare and endangered
H heard only

Variable Hawk                         Buteo polyosoma
Mountain Caracara                     Phalcoboenus megalopterus
American Kestrel                      Falco sparverius
Andean Guan                           Penelope montagnii
Andean Lapwing                        Vanellus resplendens
Band-tailed Pigeon                    Columba fasciata
Golden-plumed Parakeet                Leptosittaca branickii
Swallow-tailed Nightjar               Uropsalis segmentata
White-collared Swift                  Streptoprocne zonaris
Violet-throated Starfrontlet          Coeligena violifer
Amethyst-throated Sunangel            Heliangelus amethysticollis
Tyrian Metaltail                      Metallura tyrianthina
Rufous-capped Thornbill               Chalcostigma ruficeps
Long-tailed Sylph                     Aglaiocercus kingi
Golden-headed Quetzal                 Pharomachrus auriceps
Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan         Andigena hypoglauca
Crimson-mantled Woodpecker            Piculus rivolii
Common Miner                          Geositta cunicularia
Bar-winged Cinclodes                  Cinclodes fuscus
+*Creamy-crested Spinetail            Cranioleuca albicapilla
Red-crested Cotinga                   Ampelion rubrocristat
Barred Fruiteater                     Pipreola arcuata
Yellow-bellied Elaenia                Elaenia flavogaster
Sierran Elaenia                       Elaenia pallatangae
Torrent Tyrannulet                    Serpophaga cinerea
+Inca Flycatcher                      Leptopogon taczanowskii
White-throated Tyrannulet             Mecocerculus leucophrys
Black-throated Tody-Tyrant            Hemitriccus granadensis
Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant              Ochthoeca fumicolor
Puna Ground-Tyrant                    Muscisaxicola juninensis
Crested Becard                        Pachyramphus validus
Brown-bellied Swallow                 Notiochelidon murina
Fulvous Wren                          Cinnycerthia fulva
Mountain Wren                         Troglodytes solstitialis
Chiguanco Thrush                      Turdus chiguanco
Great Thrush                          Turdus fuscater
Hooded Siskin                         Carduelis magellanica
Spectacled Redstart                   Myioborus melanocephalus
Citrine Warbler                       Basileuterus luteoviridis
Cinereous Conebill                    Conirostrum cinereum
Blue-capped Tanager                   Thraupis cyanocephala
Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager      Anisognathus igniventris
Golden-collared Tanager               Iridosornis jelskii
Blue-and-black Tanager                Tangara vassorii
Peruvian Sierra-Finch                 Phrygilus punensis
Plumbeous Sierra-Finch                Phrygilus unicolor
+***Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch  Poospiza caesar
Band-tailed Seedeater                 Catamenia analis
Moustached Flowerpiercer              Diglossa mystacalis
Masked Flowerpiercer                  Diglossopis cyanea
Black-faced Brush-Finch               Atlapetes melanolaemus
(an anticipated split from Rufous-naped Brush-Finch)
Rufous-collared Sparrow               Zonotrichia capensis

MANU ROAD FROM PILLAHUATA TO SAN PEDRO 2600-1500M

I felt guilty for waking everyone while trying to get outside in the middle of the night to answer nature’s call.  But once outside I stood in awe of black sky with a full moon and shooting stars.  The crisp cool air was invigorating and I relished the time I spent by myself.  Nature was calling in a different way.  A few hours later after breakfast we looked for Red-and-white Antpitta just behind the latrines.  We stood on the hill looking down at the creek below and played the tape.  Edward saw the bird run across the opening like a thrush on a mission but no one else got even a glimpse.  Colin played the tape again.  While we were looking down for the bird I looked to the right and left as I usually do and spotted the white breast and the red shoulder and wing.  The bird was perched about twelve feet to our right about six inches off the ground on a limb, facing the same direction as we were as if to say “what the hell are you looking at?” It flushed before anyone else got on it.  We spent twenty minutes listening to a bird which never became visible and finally saw a pair run across the trail a little further down the road behind the building.  There seemed to be three or four pair calling along the stream in the valley.

As we worked out way down the road in the cloud forest, we heard a Yungas Pygmy-owl calling.  It was close.  We tried to find it in the epiphyte loaded trees by focusing on the clump of foliage in the middle of a tree where the hummingbirds were mobbing.  No luck.  I stepped away about twenty feet up the road for a better view and found the owl sitting in the open on a limb not even close to the mobbing activity.  Were the hummingbirds guessing?  Was it some kind of diversionary tactic?  Were they wisely keeping their distance?  I made a note for the future to not always rely on mobbing hummingbirds for location of an owl.

As we descended into the valley of the San Pedro area and the Cock-of- the-Rock lodge the cloud forest became a lot more moist.  It was almost as if we had rounded a bend into another world.  We were looking for White- eared Solitaire, which we never heard or saw, and happened upon Blue-banded Toucanet.  Violent movement in the trees behind turned out not to be a wind storm but a troop of rare Common Wooly Monkey, our first wild mammal.  We heard Cocks-of-the-Rock displaying as we passed two leks between Cloud Forest Lodge and Cock-of-the-Rock lodge, and saw a female flying over the road.  We were to stay three nights in this area.

White Hawk                            Leucopternis albicollis
White-rumped Hawk                     Buteo leucorrhous
Black-and-chestnut Eagle              Oroaetus isidori
Andean Guan                           Penelope montagnii
Scaly-naped Parrot                    Amazona mercenaria
Squirrel Cuckoo                       Piaya cayana
*Yungas Pygmy-Owl                     Glaucidium bolivianum
Chestnut-collared Swift               Streptoprocne rutila
Green Violet-ear                      Colibri thalassinus
Golden-tailed Sapphire                Chrysuronia oenone
Speckled Hummingbird                  Adelomyia melanogenys
Gould's Inca                          Coeligena inca
Long-tailed Sylph                     Aglaiocercus kingi
Masked Trogon                         Trogon personatus
*Blue-banded Toucanet                 Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis
Azara's Spinetail                     Synallaxis azarae
Spotted Barbtail                      Premnoplex brunnescens
Pearled Treerunner                    Margarornis squamiger
Streaked Tuftedcheek                  Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii
Striped Treehunter                    Thripadectes holostictus
Montane Woodcreeper                   Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger
+*Red-and-white Antpitta              Grallaria erythroleuca
*Andean Cock-of-the-rock              Rupicola peruviana
White-throated Tyrannulet             Mecocerculus leucophrys
White-banded Tyrannulet               Mecocerculus stictopterus
Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher           Todirostrum plumbeiceps
Fulvous-breasted Flatbill             Rhynchocyclus fulvipectus
Handsome Flycatcher                   Myiophobus pulcher
Cinnamon Flycatcher                   Pyrrhomyias cinnamomea
Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant              Ochthoeca cinnamomeiventris
Dusky-capped Flycatcher               Myiarchus tuberculifer
Barred Becard                         Pachyramphus versicolor
Blue-and-white Swallow                Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
White-capped Dipper                   Cinclus leucocephalus
Fulvous Wren                          Cinnycerthia fulva
Mountain Wren                         Troglodytes solstitialis
Great Thrush                          Turdus fuscater
Green Jay                             Cyanocorax yncas
*White-collared Jay                   Cyanolyca viridicyana
Slate-throated Redstart               Myioborus miniatus
Spectacled Redstart                   Myioborus melanocephalus
Pale-legged Warbler                   Basileuterus signatus
Citrine Warbler                       Basileuterus luteoviridis
Capped Conebill                       Conirostrum albifrons
Grass-green Tanager                   Chlorornis riefferii
Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager          Chlorospingus flavigularis
Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager              Cnemoscopus rubrirostris
Black-capped Hemispingus              Hemispingus atropileus
Superciliaried Hemispingus            Hemispingus superciliaris
Black-eared Hemispingus               Hemispingus melanotis
*Rust-and-yellow Tanager              Thlypopsis ruficeps
Blue-capped Tanager                   Thraupis cyanocephala
Hooded Mountain-Tanager               Buthraupis montana
Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager      Anisognathus igniventris
Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager          Anisognathus somptuosus
Golden-collared Tanager               Iridosornis jelskii
Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager     Delothraupis castaneoventris
Orange-bellied Euphonia               Euphonia xanthogaster
Blue-and-black Tanager                Tangara vassorii
Deep-blue Flowerpiercer               Diglossopis glauca
Masked Flowerpiercer                  Diglossopis cyanea
Black-faced Brush-Finch               Atlapetes melanolaemus
Rufous-collared Sparrow               Zonotrichia capensis
Black-backed Grosbeak                 Pheucticus aureoventris
Mountain Cacique                      Cacicus chrysonotus
Dusky-green Oropendola                Psarocolius atrovirens

MANU ROAD AND SAN PEDRO AREA (COCK OF THE ROCK LODGE) 1500M

Up and down the road we walked stopping for feeding flocks and scouring the river for Torrent Ducks.  The Cock-of-the-Rock lodge www.inkanatura.com had hummingbird feeders which were productive for Violet-fronted Brilliants at close range and a feeding platform in the clearing which brought Silver-beak Tanagers and Brown Capuchin Monkey for close viewing.  Blooming trees in the clearing brought other hummers and an occasional feeding flock.  One flock had a male and female Versicolored Barbet and was the only time we saw the bird.  Especially productive was the new trail behind the lodge which winds around and down to and along the river.  We found Slaty Gnateater here, the female visible with the long rufous eye stripe, and spent an hour with a Chestnut-breasted Wren which zipped from spot to spot allowing brief looks here and there.  The song of this wren may be better than the song of Musician Wren.  Magnificent.  We found a lek of Yungas Manakin and got good looks at the displaying males.  Later we were told by one of the volunteers studying primates at Manu Wildlife Center that he had seen a flock of five Olive Finches on this trail for several days in a row!

We watched in the valley after 10 a.m.  for a Solitary Eagle that is frequently seen soaring here but found a pair of Black Hawk-Eagle.  We spent one morning at the Cock-of-the-Rock lek and even though we’ve seen these birds a few times the display behaviour and sounds never fail to impress.

It was here that a cold front from Patagonia called a friaje came into the entire area and put a damper on the birds.  We lost a morning to rain and had showers on and off, and the temperature dropped considerably.  It would stay with us for six days making birding challenging.  One day we spent three hours seeing only Yellow-throated Bush-Tanagers.

Feeding flocks especially in the morning were very productive, even yielding a migrant Andean Slaty-thrush.  Common in the flocks were birds like Paradise Tanager, Marble-faced Bristle-tyrant, Blue Dacnis, Red-eyed Vireo, Three-striped Warbler, Slate-throated Redstart and Pearled Treerunner, the possible leader.  We had a Dusky-capped Greenlet at eye level, a blessing from this bird of the high canopy.  We walked the road below the lodge seeing our first Oropendolas of the trip, a sure sign that we were heading into the Tropical zone.  Cerulean-capped Manakin, a specialty of this area, was heard only once by Colin.

Fasciated Tiger-Heron                 Tigrisoma fasciatum
Torrent Duck                          Merganetta armata
Roadside Hawk                         Buteo magnirostris
Black Hawk-Eagle                      Spizaetus tyrannus
Speckled Chachalaca                   Ortalis guttata
Scaly-naped Parrot                    Amazona mercenaria
Lyre-tailed Nightjar                  Uropsalis lyra
Violet-fronted Brilliant              Heliodoxa leadbeateri
Booted Racket-tail                    Ocreatus underwoodii
Long-tailed Sylph                     Aglaiocercus kingi
*Bluish-fronted Jacamar               Galbula cyanescens
Versicolored Barbet                   Eubucco versicolor
Line-cheeked Spinetail                Cranioleuca antisiensis
Spotted Barbtail                      Premnoplex brunnescens
Pearled Treerunner                    Margarornis squamiger
Montane Foliage-gleaner               Anabacerthia striaticollis
Black-billed Treehunter               Thripadectes melanorhynchus
Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner          Philydor rufus
Black-banded Woodcreeper              Dendrocolaptes picumnus
Buff-throated Woodcreeper             Xiphorhynchus guttatus
Olive-backed Woodcreeper              Xiphorhynchus triangularis
Montane Woodcreeper                   Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger
Red-billed Scythebill                 Campylorhamphus trochilirostris
Stripe-chested Antwren                Myrmotherula longicauda
Yellow-breasted Antwren               Herpsilochmus axillaris
Black Antbird                         Cercomacra serva
Slaty Gnateater                       Conopophaga ardesiaca
White-crowned Tapaculo                    Scytalopus atratus
*Andean Cock-of-the-rock              Rupicola peruviana
*Yungas Manakin                       Chiroxiphia boliviana
Yellow-bellied Elaenia                Elaenia flavogaster
Slaty-capped Flycatcher               Leptopogon superciliaris
Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant           Phylloscartes ophthalmicus
Bolivian Tyrannulet                   Zimmerius bolivianus
White-throated Tyrannulet             Mecocerculus leucophrys
Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant            Lophotriccus pileatus
Fulvous-breasted Flatbill             Rhynchocyclus fulvipectus
Smoke-colored Pewee                   Contopus fumigatus
Dusky-capped Flycatcher               Myiarchus tuberculifer
Social Flycatcher                     Myiozetetes similis
Blue-and-white Swallow                Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
Southern Rough-winged Swallow         Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
White-capped Dipper                   Cinclus leucocephalus
Chestnut-breasted Wren                Cyphorhinus thoracicus
Andean Slaty-Thrush                   Turdus nigriceps
Brown-capped Vireo                    Vireo leucophrys
Dusky-capped Greenlet                 Hylophilus hypoxanthus
Tropical Parula                       Parula pitiayumi
Slate-throated Redstart               Myioborus miniatus
Two-banded Warbler                    Basileuterus bivittatus
Russet-crowned Warbler                Basileuterus coronatus
Three-striped Warbler                 Basileuterus tristriatus
Grass-green Tanager                   Chlorornis riefferii
Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager          Chlorospingus flavigularis
Black-eared Hemispingus               Hemispingus melanotis
Silver-beaked Tanager                 Ramphocelus carbo
Blue-gray Tanager                     Thraupis episcopus
Yellow-throated Tanager               Iridosornis analis
Orange-bellied Euphonia               Euphonia xanthogaster
Blue-naped Chlorophonia               Chlorophonia cyanea
Orange-eared Tanager                  Chlorochrysa calliparaea
Paradise Tanager                      Tangara chilensis
Golden Tanager                        Tangara arthus
Saffron-crowned Tanager               Tangara xanthocephala
Spotted Tanager                       Tangara punctata
Bay-headed Tanager                    Tangara gyrola
Blue-necked Tanager                   Tangara cyanicollis
Blue-and-black Tanager                Tangara vassorii
Blue Dacnis                           Dacnis cayana
Purple Honeycreeper                   Cyanerpes caeruleus
Deep-blue Flowerpiercer               Diglossopis glauca
Black-faced Brush-Finch               Atlapetes melanolaemus
Yellow-browed Sparrow                 Ammodramus aurifrons
Buff-throated Saltator                Saltator maximus
Dusky-green Oropendola                Psarocolius atrovirens
Russet-backed Oropendola              Psarocolius angustifrons

MAMMALS

Brown Capuchin Monkey – several came to feeders at the lodge
Common Wooly Monkey
Bolivian Squirrel

Locations and Sightings:

*specialty of that location
+endemic
**rare and endangered
H heard only

MANU ROAD FROM SAN PEDRO TO ATALAYA (1500M-550M)

We reluctantly left the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge heading further into denser and denser vegetation to the Atalaya on the Madre de Dios River where we would catch a boat to Amazonia Lodge across the river.

We began to see macaws and more parrots, more antbirds and furnarids.

But our stops in bamboo were frustrating.  We would only occasionally hear Chestnut-backed Antshrike call and we never saw it.  Bamboo Antshrike would call occasionally but we never could get a response.  Black-backed Tody-flycatcher wouldn’t answer.  The bamboo was absolutely dead and we couldn’t believe it, although one afternoon we surprised a pair of Night Monkey and got really close views as they stared back at us.

We stopped at the mirador and walked in that area.  We returned to the mirador from Amazonia lodge for the macaw display but the friaje and the rain kept macaws from streaming across the river.  They either didn’t leave their roost or flew low through the forest.  We never saw Blue-headed Macaw.  Black-capped Tinamou were calling frequently and Colin thought as a joke he’d tape one and play it back while he was by himself.  Of course, the bird poked it’s head out of the trail and only Colin, in amazement, saw it.  We found a tree in bloom with lots of new hummers including Gray-breasted Sabrewing, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Rufous-throated Sapphire, Many Spotted Hummingbird, Sapphire-spangled Emerald.  At one stop we had a pair of very vocal Moustached Wrens, Great Antshrike, a pair of White-browed Antbirds and Purplish Jays.  Another spot yeilded a cooperative Cabanis’ Spinetail.  The calling of a Forest-falcon brought our attention to a dead snag in a clearing.  Let’s get the scope on it.  Wait.  What’s behind it?  A pair of Scarlet-hooded Barbets!  Get on them!  Get on them!  By the time we went back to the Forest-falcon it was gone.  That would be the story with Forest- falcons on this trip.  Never actually saw one well enough to identify it.

There was more activity along this road and we were encouraged that perhaps the friaje had lifted.  It had for a few hours only.  It would be back for the next few days.

Black-capped Tinamou                  Crypturellus atrocapillus
Little Blue Heron                     Egretta caerulea
Snowy Egret                           Egretta thula
Fasciated Tiger-Heron                 Tigrisoma fasciatum
Black Vulture                         Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture                        Cathartes aura
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture         Cathartes melambrotus
Hook-billed Kite                      Chondrohierax uncinatus
Roadside Hawk                         Buteo magnirostris
Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle            Spizastur melanoleucus
Laughing Falcon                       Herpetotheres cachinnans
Speckled Chachalaca                   Ortalis guttata
Military Macaw                        Ara militaris
Red-and-green Macaw                   Ara chloroptera
Chestnut-fronted Macaw                Ara severa
White-eyed Parakeet                   Aratinga leucophthalmus
Dusky-headed Parakeet                 Aratinga weddellii
Blue-headed Parrot                    Pionus menstruus
Smooth-billed Ani                     Crotophaga ani
White-collared Swift                  Streptoprocne zonaris
Western Long-tailed Hermit            Phaethornis longirostris
Reddish Hermit                        Phaethornis ruber
Gray-breasted Sabrewing               Campylopterus largipennis
Violet-headed Hummingbird             Klais guimeti
Fork-tailed Woodnymph                 Thalurania furcata
Rufous-throated Sapphire              Hylocharis sapphirina
Many-spotted Hummingbird              Leucippus hypostictus
Sapphire-spangled Emerald             Polyerata lactea
Speckled Hummingbird                  Adelomyia melanogenys
Violet-fronted Brilliant              Heliodoxa leadbeateri
Blue-crowned Trogon                   Trogon curucui
Bluish-fronted Jacamar                Galbula cyanescens
Swallow-wing                          Chelidoptera tenebrosa
Scarlet-hooded Barbet                 Eubucco tucinkae
Chestnut-eared Aracari                Pteroglossus castanotis
Crimson-crested Woodpecker            Campephilus melanoleucos
Dark-breasted Spinetail               Synallaxis albigularis
Cabanis' Spinetail                    Synallaxis cabanisi
Plain-crowned Spinetail               Synallaxis gujanensis
Montane Foliage-gleaner               Anabacerthia striaticollis
Rufous-rumped Foliage-gleaner         Philydor erythrocercus
Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner         Philydor ruficaudatus
Black-banded Woodcreeper              Dendrocolaptes picumnus
Buff-throated Woodcreeper             Xiphorhynchus guttatus
H-Bamboo Antshrike                    Cymbilaimus sannctaemariae
Great Antshrike                       Taraba major
Barred Antshrike                      Thamnophilus doliatus
H-Chestnut-backed Antshrike           Thamnophilus palliatus
Plain-winged Antshrike                Thamnophilus schistaceus
Stripe-chested Antwren                Myrmotherula longicauda
Slaty Antwren                         Myrmotherula schisticolor
Dot-winged Antwren                    Microrhopias quixensis
White-browed Antbird                  Myrmoborus leucophrys
Spot-winged Antbird                   Percnostola leucostigma
White-lined Antbird                   Percnostola lophotes
Black-throated Antbird                Myrmeciza atrothorax
Yellow-bellied Elaenia                Elaenia flavogaster
Small-billed Elaenia                  Elaenia parvirostris
Olive-striped Flycatcher              Mionectes olivaceus
Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant           Phylloscartes ophthalmicus
Slender-footed Tyrannulet             Zimmerius gracilipes
Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant            Lophotriccus pileatus
Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher         Todirostrum latirostre
Yellow-margined Flycatcher            Tolmomyias assimilis
Euler's Flycatcher                    Lathrotriccus euleri
Vermilion Flycatcher                  Pyrocephalus rubinus
Long-tailed Tyrant                    Colonia colonus
Short-crested Flycatcher              Myiarchus ferox
Social Flycatcher                     Myiozetetes similis
Gray-capped Flycatcher                Myiozetetes granadensis
Tropical Kingbird                     Tyrannus melancholicus
Masked Tityra                         Tityra semifasciata
Southern Rough-winged Swallow         Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
Moustached Wren                       Thryothorus genibarbis
Black-billed Thrush                   Turdus ignobilis
Purplish Jay                          Cyanocorax cyanomelas
Violaceous Jay                        Cyanocorax violaceus
Red-eyed Vireo                        Vireo olivaceus
Slate-throated Redstart               Myioborus miniatus
+*Golden-bellied Warbler              Basileuterus chrysogaster
Buff-rumped Warbler                   Basileuterus fulvicauda
Bananaquit                            Coereba flaveola
Magpie Tanager                        Cissopis leveriana
Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager          Chlorospingus flavigularis
*Black-goggled Tanager                Trichothraupis melanops
Silver-beaked Tanager                 Ramphocelus carbo
Blue-gray Tanager                     Thraupis episcopus
Palm Tanager                          Thraupis palmarum
Bronze-green Euphonia                 Euphonia mesochrysa
Orange-bellied Euphonia               Euphonia xanthogaster
Blue-naped Chlorophonia               Chlorophonia cyanea
Orange-eared Tanager                  Chlorochrysa calliparaea
Turquoise Tanager                     Tangara mexicana
Paradise Tanager                      Tangara chilensis
Green-and-gold Tanager                Tangara schrankii
Golden Tanager                        Tangara arthus
Bay-headed Tanager                    Tangara gyrola
Blue-necked Tanager                   Tangara cyanicollis
Beryl-spangled Tanager                Tangara nigroviridis
Black-faced Dacnis                    Dacnis lineata
Blue Dacnis                           Dacnis cayana
Green Honeycreeper                    Chlorophanes spiza
Purple Honeycreeper                   Cyanerpes caeruleus
Chestnut-bellied Seedeater            Sporophila castaneiventris
Black-billed Seed-Finch               Oryzoborus atrirostris
Yellow-browed Sparrow                 Ammodramus aurifrons
Buff-throated Saltator                Saltator maximus
Giant Cowbird                         Scaphidura oryzivora
Yellow-rumped Cacique                 Cacicus cela
Dusky-green Oropendola                Psarocolius atrovirens
Russet-backed Oropendola              Psarocolius angustifrons

MAMMALS

Night Monkey
Common Squirrel Monkey
Brown Capucin Monkey
Common Wooley Monkey

AMAZONIA LODGE (250M)

Here we were at the fabled Amazonia Lodge where Gail MacKiernan had seen her jaguar, many had seen Rufuos-vented Ground-cuckoo on the Jeep Track and the site of legendary snake attacks by Bushmaster and fer-de- lance.  Alas, it turns out the Cuckoo hasn’t been seen since that one season in 1997 and most of the workers have never seen Jaguar.  Luckily, we never saw poisonous snakes.  Unluckily we never saw a cat, although we found fresh puma tracks.  The Jeep Track was great but very muddy, and the Blackish Rails wouldn’t come out even though we tried every day.  A Uniform Crake did however walk along the track right in front of us.  Johanes’ Tody-flycatcher proved elusive in the rain and cold and we never saw it.  No antswarms either even up on the ridge, so no Hairy-crested Antbird which is rumored to be there.  We consoled ourselves with the amazing food and with stories of the famous snake bites that have occurred at the lodge – even visited the corner where a Bushmaster struck a Field Guides participant with a five foot strike and hit him above the rubber boot!  We heard a Long-tailed Potoo behind the workers’ cabins and could have seen it but we spent too much time on a pair of Tawny-bellied Screech-owl for a possible split to S.T-b S-o.  What were we thinking?  We saw two potoos fly away and one could easily have been the Long-tailed but too late we missed it.

We spent three hours crawling on our stomachs through helliconia and mud to get a bad glimpse of a singing Amazonian Antpitta which we never re-found, and even gave up a calling Buckley’s Forest-falcon to stay with the Antpitta the first time when we didn’t even see it.  Later we would get incredible, easy looks on an island in the Madre de Dios River, but that’s birding!  We could easily have spent three more days at this amazing place even though it rained every night.

Undulated Tinamou                     Crypturellus undulatus
Turkey Vulture                        Cathartes aura
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture         Cathartes melambrotus
Roadside Hawk                         Buteo magnirostris
Red-throated Caracara                 Daptrius americanus
Peregrine Falcon                      Falco peregrinus
H-Barred Forest-Falcon                Micrastur ruficollis
H-Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon          Micrastur mirandollei
H-Buckley's Forest-Falcon             Micrastur buckleyi
H-Wattled Guan                        Aburria aburri
Spix's Guan                           Penelope jacquacu
Hoatzin                               Opisthocomus hoazin
Gray-necked Wood-Rail                 Aramides cajanea
Uniform Crake                         Amaurolimnas concolor
H-Blackish Rail                       Pardirallus nigricans
Purple Gallinule                      Porphyrula martinica
Sungrebe                              Heliornis fulica
Sunbittern                            Eurypyga helias
Gray-fronted Dove                     Leptotila rufaxilla
Military Macaw                        Ara militaris
Scarlet Macaw                         Ara macao
Red-and-green Macaw                   Ara chloroptera
Chestnut-fronted Macaw                Ara severa
White-eyed Parakeet                   Aratinga leucophthalmus
Cobalt-winged Parakeet                Brotogeris cyanoptera
Blue-headed Parrot                    Pionus menstruus
Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl             Otus watsonii
(possible split to S.Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl)
H-Long-tailed Potoo                   Nyctibius aethereus
Common Potoo                          Nyctibius griseus
White-collared Swift                  Streptoprocne zonaris
Pale-rumped Swift                     Chaetura egregia
Short-tailed Swift                    Chaetura brachyura
Pale-tailed Barbthroat                Threnetes niger
Western Long-tailed Hermit            Phaethornis longirostris
+*Koepcke's Hermit                     Phaethornis koepckeae
Green-fronted Lancebill               Doryfera ludovicae
(on the hibiscus in the garden in front of the cabins!)
Rufous-crested Coquette               Lophornis delattrei
Wire-crested Thorntail                Popelairia popelairii
Blue-tailed Emerald                   Chlorostilbon mellisugus
Fork-tailed Woodnymph                 Thalurania furcata
Golden-tailed Sapphire                Chrysuronia oenone
Black-eared Fairy                     Heliothryx aurita
White-tailed Trogon                   Trogon viridis
Collared Trogon                       Trogon collaris
Blue-crowned Trogon                   Trogon curucui
Black-tailed Trogon                   Trogon melanurus
Bluish-fronted Jacamar                Galbula cyanescens
Black-fronted Nunbird                 Monasa nigrifrons
H-Golden-collared Toucanet            Selenidera reinwardtii
H-Yellow-ridged Toucan                Ramphastos culminatus
H-Cuvier's Toucan                     Ramphastos cuvieri
Cream-colored Woodpecker              Celeus flavus
Crimson-crested Woodpecker            Campephilus melanoleucos
Pale-legged Hornero                   Furnarius leucopus
Crested Foliage-gleaner               Anabazenops dorsalis
Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner      Automolus rufipileatus
Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner         Automolus ochrolaemus
Plain-brown Woodcreeper               Dendrocincla fuliginosa
Buff-throated Woodcreeper             Xiphorhynchus guttatus
Lineated Woodcreeper                  Lepidocolaptes albolineatus
Plain Antvireo                        Dysithamnus mentalis
Bluish-slate Antshrike                Thamnomanes schistogynus
Pygmy Antwren                         Myrmotherula brachyura
White-browed Antbird                  Myrmoborus leucophrys
Warbling Antbird                      Hypocnemis cantator
Chestnut-tailed Antbird               Myrmeciza hemimelaena
Goeldi's Antbird                      Myrmeciza goeldii
Sooty Antbird                         Myrmeciza fortis
Spot-backed Antbird                   Hylophylax naevia
Black-faced Antthrush                 Formicarius analis
Amazonian Antpitta                    Hylopezus berlepschi
Band-tailed Manakin                   Pipra fasciicauda
Fiery-capped Manakin                  Machaeropterus pyrocephalus
MacConnell's Flycatcher               Mionectes macconnelli
Spectacled Bristle-Tyrant             Phylloscartes orbitalis
Bran-colored Flycatcher               Myiophobus fasciatus
Short-crested Flycatcher              Myiarchus ferox
Boat-billed Flycatcher                Megarynchus pitangua
Social Flycatcher                     Myiozetetes similis
Gray-capped Flycatcher                Myiozetetes granadensis
Tropical Kingbird                     Tyrannus melancholicus
White-thighed Swallow                 Neochelidon tibialis
Southern Rough-winged Swallow         Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
Black-capped Donacobius               Donacobius atricapillus
House Wren                            Troglodytes aedon
Black-billed Thrush                   Turdus ignobilis
Violaceous Jay                        Cyanocorax violaceus
Red-eyed Vireo                        Vireo olivaceus
Golden-bellied Warbler                Basileuterus chrysogaster
Olive Tanager                         Chlorothraupis carmioli
Masked Crimson Tanager                Ramphocelus nigrogularis
Silver-beaked Tanager                 Ramphocelus carbo
Blue-gray Tanager                     Thraupis episcopus
Paradise Tanager                      Tangara chilensis
Green-and-gold Tanager                Tangara schrankii
Opal-crowned Tanager                  Tangara callophrys
Black-faced Dacnis                    Dacnis lineata
Blue Dacnis                           Dacnis cayana
Green Honeycreeper                    Chlorophanes spiza
Purple Honeycreeper                   Cyanerpes caeruleus
Yellow-browed Sparrow                 Ammodramus aurifrons
Troupial                              Icterus icterus
Yellow-rumped Cacique                 Cacicus cela
Russet-backed Oropendola              Psarocolius angustifrons
Amazonian Oropendola                  Gymnostinops bifasciatus

Boat Rides on the Madre de Dios River

A highlight of the trip in the Tropical lowland forest were the boat rides every day and the birds we saw. Our first boat ride was the short one from Atalaya to Amazonia Lodge. The seven hour trip to Manu Wildlife Center was freezing because of the friaje and we wore wool gloves and knit caps. We took daily boat rides from MWC to locations up and down the river and alwasy found interesting sightings along the river.

Capped Heron                          Pilherodius pileatus
Cocoi Heron                           Ardea cocoi
Great Egret                           Ardea alba
Snowy Egret                           Egretta thula
Fasciated Tiger-Heron                 Tigrisoma fasciatum
Wood Stork                            Mycteria americana
Horned Screamer                       Anhima cornuta
Black Vulture                         Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture                        Cathartes aura
Osprey                                Pandion haliaetus
Crane Hawk                            Geranospiza caerulescens
Great Black-Hawk                      Buteogallus urubitinga
Roadside Hawk                         Buteo magnirostris
Short-tailed Hawk                     Buteo brachyurus
Red-throated Caracara                 Daptrius americanus
Bat Falcon                            Falco rufigularis
Orange-breasted Falcon                Falco deiroleucus
Pied Lapwing                          Vanellus cayanus
Collared Plover                       Charadrius collaris
Yellow-billed Tern                    Sterna superciliaris
Large-billed Tern                     Phaetusa simplex
Black Skimmer                         Rynchops niger
Pale-vented Pigeon                    Columba cayennensis
Red-and-green Macaw                   Ara chloroptera
Chestnut-fronted Macaw                Ara severa
White-eyed Parakeet                   Aratinga leucophthalmus
Cobalt-winged Parakeet                Brotogeris cyanoptera
White-bellied Parrot                  Pionites leucogaster
Sand-colored Nighthawk                Chordeiles rupestris
(100s flew from their roost on the rocks on the river islands at sunset)
White-collared Swift                  Streptoprocne zonaris
Fork-tailed Palm-Swift                Tachornis squamata
Amazon Kingfisher                     Chloroceryle amazona
Swallow-wing                          Chelidoptera tenebrosa
Drab Water-Tyrant                     Ochthornis littoralis
Little Ground-Tyrant                  Muscisaxicola fluviatilis
White-winged Swallow                  Tachycineta albiventer
Blue-and-white Swallow                Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
White-banded Swallow                  Atticora fasciata
Red-capped Cardinal                   Paroaria gularis
Giant Cowbird                         Scaphidura oryzivora
Russet-backed Oropendola              Psarocolius angustifrons
Amazonian Oropendola                  Gymnostinops bifasciatus

MANU WILDLIFE CENTER

A seven hour boat ride in a covered boat brought us to the Manu Wildlife Center just outside Manu National Park and our home for seven nights.  Here there’s plenty to explore by foot with a canopy tower, a grid of riverside and terra firma trails, a tapir lick with viewing platform and short boat rides are possible to oxbow lakes for Giant Otter, a mineral lick where parrots and macaws gather every day, river islands and bamboo habitat.  No more roads, no more vehicles, no more mountains and altitude.  Just river and forest and the incredible diversity and wealth of species in the tropical forest.  Like Africa, Manu is a paradise for wild life viewing.

And for birdwatchers, Manu is mind boggling.  John Terborgh, Professor at Duke University Center for Tropical Conservation contrasts the same size patch of forest in Manu and in New Hampshire: “……both harbor about 1,000 pairs of breeding birds per square kilometer, but the former contains over 330 species while the latter supports only 35.”

The fascinating history of the Manu area through booms and busts in rubber, lumber, animal skins and oil including fascinating characters such as Fitzcarraldo (who died there), the coincidental meeting which formed the largest park in South America and photographs of the flora and fauna of the area are presented in a special edition of 250 of the book Peru’s Amazonian Eden:Manu National Park and Biosphere to benefit the conservationist organization La Selva Sur.  A few are available only in the offices of Peru Verde in Cusco, Urb.  Santa Monica, Jr.  Ricardo Palma J-1 (fax #(084) 22- 6392) for approxiamately $90US.  We went to the offices of Peru Verde in Cusco after we returned from Manu and had the good fortune to run into David G.  Ricalde who had just returned from three years at Madidi National Park in Bolivia working to create eco-tourism and conservation programs based on Manu.  New local owned and operated eco-tourism lodges will be opening soon in Madidi as well as in the western end of Manu under the auspices of partnerships like Inkanatura which owns and operates Cock-of- the-Rock Lodge and Manu Wildlife Center (www.inkanatura.com).  Copies of the book are at both lodges for those mornings or birding breaks.

Booms and busts leave human residue, and settlers are encroaching on this paradise, particularly visible in the area of Manu Wildlife Center.  We fell in love with Arturo, a four-month old orphaned red howler monkey who’s mother had been shot for food.  He is cared for by one of the staff of the Center and we spent time with him at the end of every day.  Arturo ran to us as we left the boat, or dropped on our heads from the rafters of the walkways, clutching to the back of our necks as if we were members of his troop, tail wrapped around throat.  Or he would play, reaching his long arm out to grab a finger or an ear.  Giant otter pups had been stolen by poachers who shot the mother, only to be bought by SelvaSur conservationists for $30 each in the market at Puerto Maldonaldo and reintroduced into the wild.  Two of the locations we visited by boat were being developed for eco-tourism by Manu Safaris, another ecotourism company, the trails widened and clearings cut for tented platforms.

I don’t think Manu can be experienced in one visit.  When I go back, I’ll spend time at Manu Park Lodge inside the park, and hopefully in the new lodge on the western end when it opens.  But there is no question that I will go back to this natural paradise.

Undulated Tinamou                     Crypturellus undulatus
Black Vulture                         Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture                        Cathartes aura
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture         Cathartes melambrotus
Slate-colored Hawk                    Leucopternis schistacea
Roadside Hawk                         Buteo magnirostris
Black Caracara                        Daptrius ater
Lined Forest-Falcon                   Micrastur gilvicollis
Speckled Chachalaca                   Ortalis guttata
Spix's Guan                           Penelope jacquacu
Starred Wood-Quail                    Odontophorus stellatus
*Pale-winged Trumpeter                Psophia leucoptera
(Ed spent an hour with a flock of Trumpeters on a trail on the grid watching them perform a wing display, dance, and feed on the floor of the forest)
Ruddy Quail-Dove                      Geotrygon montana
Blue-and-yellow Macaw                 Ara ararauna
Scarlet Macaw                         Ara macao
Red-and-green Macaw                   Ara chloroptera
Chestnut-fronted Macaw                Ara severa
Red-bellied Macaw                     Orthopsittaca manilata
White-eyed Parakeet                   Aratinga leucophthalmus
Cobalt-winged Parakeet                Brotogeris cyanoptera
White-bellied Parrot                  Pionites leucogaster
Mealy Parrot                          Amazona farinosa
Squirrel Cuckoo                       Piaya cayana
Amazonian Pygmy-Owl                   Glaucidium hardyi
Pauraque                              Nyctidromus albicollis
Rufous-breasted Hermit                Glaucis hirsuta
White-bearded Hermit                  Phaethornis hispidus
Needle-billed Hermit                  Phaethornis philippii
Pavonine Quetzal                      Pharomachrus pavoninus
Blue-crowned Motmot                   Momotus momota
Bluish-fronted Jacamar                Galbula cyanescens
Paradise Jacamar                      Galbula dea
Collared Puffbird                     Bucco capensis
Striolated Puffbird                   Nystalus striolatus
Black-fronted Nunbird                 Monasa nigrifrons
White-fronted Nunbird                 Monasa morphoeus
Swallow-wing                          Chelidoptera tenebrosa
Brown-mandibled Aracari               Pteroglossus mariae
Curl-crested Aracari                  Pteroglossus beauharnaesii
Golden-collared Toucanet              Selenidera reinwardtii
Cuvier's Toucan                       Ramphastos cuvieri
Yellow-tufted Woodpecker              Melanerpes cruentatus
Red-stained Woodpecker                Veniliornis affinis
Red-necked Woodpecker                 Campephilus rubricollis
Rufous-tailed Xenops                  Xenops milleri
Slender-billed Xenops                 Xenops tenuirostris
Chestnut-winged Hookbill              Ancistrops strigilatus
Black-tailed Leaftosser               Sclerurus caudacutus
Plain-brown Woodcreeper               Dendrocincla fuliginosa
Long-tailed Woodcreeper               Deconychura longicauda
Olivaceous Woodcreeper                Sittasomus griseicapillus
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper              Glyphorynchus spirurus
Straight-billed Woodcreeper           Xiphorhynchus picus
Spix's Woodcreeper                    Xiphorhynchus spixii
Buff-throated Woodcreeper             Xiphorhynchus guttatus
Red-billed Scythebill                 Campylorhamphus trochilirostris
Mouse-colored Antshrike               Thamnophilus murinus
Spot-winged Antshrike                 Pygiptila stellaris
Bluish-slate Antshrike                Thamnomanes schistogynus
(Flock leader here acting like Cinereous Antshrike in Ecuador)
White-flanked Antwren                 Myrmotherula axillaris
Long-winged Antwren                   Myrmotherula longipennis
Gray Antwren                          Myrmotherula menetriesii
Striated Antbird                      Drymophila devillei
Gray Antbird                          Cercomacra cinerascens
White-browed Antbird                  Myrmoborus leucophrys
White-lined Antbird                   Percnostola lophotes
Black-faced Antthrush                 Formicarius analis
Band-tailed Manakin                   Pipra fasciicauda
Round-tailed Manakin                  Pipra chloromeros
Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin                  Tyranneutes stolzmanni
Sepia-capped Flycatcher               Leptopogon amaurocephalus
Ringed Antpipit                       Corythopis torquata
Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher               Terenotriccus erythrurus
Sirystes                              Sirystes sibilator
Moustached Wren                       Thryothorus genibarbis
Violaceous Jay                        Cyanocorax violaceus
Red-eyed Vireo                        Vireo olivaceus
Buff-rumped Warbler                   Basileuterus fulvicauda
Yellow-backed Tanager                 Hemithraupis flavicollis
White-winged Shrike-Tanager           Lanio versicolor
(eye level close views of this canopy species)
Flame-crested Tanager                 Tachyphonus cristatus
White-shouldered Tanager              Tachyphonus luctuosus
Red-crowned Ant-Tanager               Habia rubica
Silver-beaked Tanager                 Ramphocelus carbo
White-lored Euphonia                  Euphonia chrysopasta
Orange-bellied Euphonia               Euphonia xanthogaster
Turquoise Tanager                     Tangara mexicana
Paradise Tanager                      Tangara chilensis
Green-and-gold Tanager                Tangara schrankii
Bay-headed Tanager                    Tangara gyrola
Black-faced Dacnis                    Dacnis lineata
Slate-colored Grosbeak                Saltator grossus
Yellow-rumped Cacique                 Cacicus cela
Casqued Oropendola                    Psarocolius oseryi
Crested Oropendola                    Psarocolius decumanus
Amazonian Oropendola                  Gymnostinops bifasciatus

MAMMALS

Saddleback Tamarin
Emperor Tamarin
Dusky Titi Monkey
Common Squirrel Monkey
Red Howler Monkey
South American Coati
Brazilian Tapir – one every hour from 8:30 p.m. as we slept on platform
Southern Amazon Red Squirrel
Squirrel

OLD BAMBOO TRAIL ON MADRE DE DIOS RIVER

The only location for Rufous-fronted Antthrush in the area, which should be easier at Manu Lodge inside the park.

Blue-and-yellow Macaw                 Ara ararauna
Rufous-breasted Piculet               Picumnus rufiventris
White-throated Woodpecker             Piculus leucolaemus
Crested Foliage-gleaner               Anabazenops dorsalis
*Manu Antbird                         Cercomacra manu
White-browed Antbird                  Myrmoborus leucophrys
Warbling Antbird                      Hypocnemis cantator
*Goeldi's Antbird                     Myrmeciza goeldii
Black-faced Antthrush                 Formicarius analis
*Rufous-fronted Antthrush             Formicarius rufifrons
(very difficult in this location as bird is wary of tape. Took us two trips about three hours per trip to finally see it well as it walked across the trail).
Amazonian Antpitta                    Hylopezus berlepschi
(great views just beside the trail)
Thrush-like Wren                      Campylorhynchus turdinus
Amazonian Oropendola                  Gymnostinops bifasciatus

MAMMALS

White-lipped Peccary

BAMBOO ISLAND ACROSS THE RIVER FROM MANU WILDLIFE CENTER

We returned here three times that we could have been on the trails at MWC because the bamboo specialists were so difficult.  We finally saw Bamboo Antshrike here which would be easy August-November.  And Ihering's Antwren was difficult.  I particularly was obssessed with the Peruvian Recurvebill, which I saw two of the three times we were here.  This bird was the most fascinating of the trip and I would gladly go back and watch it some more.  The first time we heard the loud raucous call in some new bamboo.  Colin played tape and the bird came right in, perching sideways very low on a palm tree trunk, but with it's head turned away from us so the bill wasn't in clear view.  It only perched for a second then disappeared.  The second time we saw it was on a minor antswarm with Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaners and White-browed Antibirds.  The Recurvebill seemed to be dominating the flock at the swarm, not only in size but also in voice.  We watched it flying down to the ground and then back up, but poor views through palm fronds and foliage.  I wish we had been closer.  The bird is a monster and I left wanting to observe this bird more and with a greater appreciation for furnarids.

Cobalt-winged Parakeet                Brotogeris cyanoptera
White-bearded Hermit                  Phaethornis hispidus
*Peruvian Recurvebill                 Simoxenops ucayalae
Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner      Automolus rufipileatus
*Bamboo Antshrike                     Cymbilaimus sanctaemariae
*Ihering's Antwren                    Myrmotherula iheringi
*Manu Antbird                         Cercomacra manu
White-browed Antbird                  Myrmoborus leucophrys
Dusky-tailed Flatbill                 Ramphotrigon fuscicauda
Red-capped Cardinal                   Paroaria gularis
Amazonian Oropendola                  Gymnostinops bifasciatus

COCHA BLANCO OXBOW LAKE

We came here for the Giant Otters.  Security has been tightened since a female was killed and her two cubs stolen for sale in Puerto Maldonaldo.  Luckily they were purchased by SelvaSur conservationists and reintroduced to another oxbow, but a full-time manager does what he can to guard the lake and the remaining three otters.  We came in the morning and set up our portable chairs on the moving platform hoping that our journey to the left end of the oxbow and back would yield otters.  Your boatmen are not allowed to chase them and there is only one route.  Luckily the otter guard spotted them behind us and we watched them swim across the lake, and they became more curious when we returned, one swimming up to the platform for a closer look.  Perhaps the male defending his territory?  We were glad we brought the scope so we could get great looks at them.  Luckily a Blue- throated Piping-guan flew over the lake and perched in a bare tree.  Antbirds along the banks were very cooperative, and we had a much desired flyover of Orange-cheeked Parrot, which meant we could skip the trip to the Macaw lick the next morning.  We had seen all the species that might come to the lick and didn't want to spend the hours in the boat and hours in the hide that we could spend looking for other species.

Anhinga                               Anhinga anhinga
Cocoi Heron                           Ardea cocoi
Striated Heron                        Butorides striatus
Horned Screamer                       Anhima cornuta
Blue-throated Piping-Guan             Pipile cumanensis
Hoatzin                               Opisthocomus hoazin
Pale-vented Pigeon                    Columba cayennensis
Blue-and-yellow Macaw                 Ara ararauna
Scarlet Macaw                         Ara macao
Red-and-green Macaw                   Ara chloroptera
Chestnut-fronted Macaw                Ara severa
White-eyed Parakeet                   Aratinga leucophthalmus
Cobalt-winged Parakeet                Brotogeris cyanoptera
Orange-cheeked Parrot                 Pionopsitta barrabandi
Mealy Parrot                          Amazona farinosa
Amazon Kingfisher                     Chloroceryle amazona
Green Kingfisher                      Chloroceryle americana
Swallow-wing                          Chelidoptera tenebrosa
Amazonian Streaked-Antwren            Myrmotherula multostriata
*Band-tailed Antbird                  Hypocnemoides maculicauda
*Silvered Antbird                     Sclateria naevia
Vermilion Flycatcher                  Pyrocephalus rubinus
Lesser Kiskadee                       Philohydor lictor

MAMMALS

Saddleback Tamarin
Giant Otter

COCHA NUEVO (BAMBOO HABITAT)

Manu Safaris has developed this bamboo habitat as a platform camping eco-tourist site. The bamboo trails have been widened to around eight feet and the birds seemed to stay far back. But we still saw a few good ones. There were a lot of people camping here. They were bathing from a log in the river that Arrico the boat man told us has electric eels and there were bites on their legs from mosquitos. We were glad we were staying at MWC.

Undulated Tinamou                     Crypturellus undulatus
Black Caracara                        Daptrius ater
Scaly-naped Parrot                    Amazona mercenaria
White-bearded Hermit                  Phaethornis hispidus
Blue-crowned Trogon                   Trogon curucui
Broad-billed Motmot                   Electron platyrhynchum
Bluish-fronted Jacamar                Galbula cyanescens
Black-fronted Nunbird                 Monasa nigrifrons
Slender-billed Xenops                 Xenops tenuirostris
Long-winged Antwren                   Myrmotherula longipennis
Gray Antwren                          Myrmotherula menetriesii
+**White-cheeked Tody-Tyrant          Poecilotriccus albifacies
Large-headed Flatbill                 Ramphotrigon megacephala
Dull-capped Attila                    Attila bolivianus
Violaceous Jay                        Cyanocorax violaceus
Slate-colored Grosbeak                Saltator grossus
Yellow-rumped Cacique                 Cacicus cela
Crested Oropendola                    Psarocolius decumanus

COCHA COMUNGO

Manu Safaris has developed this bamboo habitat as a platform camping eco-tourist site. The bamboo trails have been widened to around eight feet and the birds seemed to stay far back. But we still saw a few good ones. There were a lot of people camping here. They were bathing from a log in the river that Arrico the boat man told us has electric eels and there were bites on their legs from mosquitos. We were glad we were staying at MWC.

Cinereous Tinamou                     Crypturellus cinereus
Undulated Tinamou                     Crypturellus undulatus
Black Vulture                         Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture                        Cathartes aura
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture         Cathartes melambrotus
King Vulture                          Sarcoramphus papa
Roadside Hawk                         Buteo magnirostris
*Razor-billed Curassow                Mitu tuberosa
Hoatzin                               Opisthocomus hoazin
Gray-fronted Dove                     Leptotila rufaxilla
Scarlet Macaw                         Ara macao
Red-and-green Macaw                   Ara chloroptera
Chestnut-fronted Macaw                Ara severa
Cobalt-winged Parakeet                Brotogeris cyanoptera
Mealy Parrot                          Amazona farinosa
Gray-rumped Swift                     Chaetura cinereiventris
Pale-tailed Barbthroat                Threnetes niger
Collared Trogon                       Trogon collaris
***Chestnut Jacamar                   Galbalcyrhynchus purusianus
Bluish-fronted Jacamar                Galbula cyanescens
Black-fronted Nunbird                 Monasa nigrifrons
White-fronted Nunbird                 Monasa morphoeus
Bluish-slate Antshrike                Thamnomanes schistogynus
Rusty-belted Tapaculo                 Liosceles Thoracicus
Cinereous Mourner                     Laniocera hypopyrra
Band-tailed Manakin                   Pipra fasciicauda
Lesser Kiskadee                       Philohydor lictor
Black-tailed Tityra                   Tityra cayana
Thrush-like Wren                      Campylorhynchus turdinus
Silver-beaked Tanager                 Ramphocelus carbo
White-lored Euphonia                  Euphonia chrysopasta
Orange-bellied Euphonia               Euphonia xanthogaster
Paradise Tanager                      Tangara chilensis
Yellow-rumped Cacique                 Cacicus cela
Amazonian Oropendola                  Gymnostinops bifasciatus

BOCA MANU AIRSTRIP

The woods on either side of the trail to the airstrip from the river actually yielded an endemic and we heard and almost saw a bird we had missed at Amazonia Lodge.

Bluish-fronted Jacamar                Galbula cyanescens
+Fine-barred Piculet                  Picumnus subtilis
Short-crested Flycatcher              Myiarchus ferox
Tropical Kingbird                     Tyrannus melancholicus
Red-eyed Vireo                        Vireo olivaceus
Orange-bellied Euphonia               Euphonia xanthogaster
Blue-black Grassquit                  Volatinia jacarina
Double-collared Seedeater             Sporophila caerulescens
 

SANTA EULALIA ROAD ABOVE HUANICO (2,500-3,000M)

At Lima airport we met up with friends who had been in the North with Barry Walker and we shared stories of our trips and the unusual weather we had experienced. As we walked the higher parts of Santa Eulalia Road we were feeling the effects back in the altitude of Peru this time North of Lima. The forest was fragmented and scrubby and dry, not like the more humid forest on the East slope, but each patch was good as we headed up to the Puna zone.

+Chestnut-breasted Warbling-Finch has been seen in the upper stretches of this road but we didn’t see it. We were impressed with the Inca-Finches and the amazing hummingbirds in this habitat.

Andean Tinamou                        Nothoprocta pentlandii
Andean Condor                         Vultur gryphus
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle           Geranoaetus melanoleucus
Variable Hawk                         Buteo polyosoma
Eared Dove                            Zenaida auriculata
Bare-faced Ground-Dove                Metriopelia ceciliae
Black-winged Ground-Dove              Metriopelia melanoptera
White-tipped Dove                     Leptotila verreauxi
Peruvian Pygmy-Owl                    Glaucidium peruanum
Andean Swift                          Aeronautes andecolus
Sparkling Violet-ear                  Colibri coruscans
Giant Hummingbird                     Patagona gigas
+**Bronze-tailed Comet                Polyonymus caroli
*Oasis Hummingbird                    Rhodopis vesper
Peruvian Sheartail                    Thaumastura cora
Purple-collared Woodstar              Myrtis fanny
Black-necked Woodpecker               Colaptes atricollis
+*Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail         Leptasthenura pileata
+Canyon Canastero                     Asthenes pudibunda
*Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant              Anairetes reguloides
Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant              Anairetes flavirostris
White-browed Chat-Tyrant              Ochthoeca leucophrys
Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant           Myiotheretes striaticollis
Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant             Muscisaxicola maculirostris
Blue-and-white Swallow                Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
House Wren                            Troglodytes aedon
Chiguanco Thrush                      Turdus chiguanco
Hooded Siskin                         Carduelis magellanica
Cinereous Conebill                    Conirostrum cinereum
Plumbeous Sierra-Finch                Phrygilus unicolor
Band-tailed Sierra-Finch              Phrygilus alaudinus
+***Great Inca-Finch                  Incaspiza pulchra
Band-tailed Seedeater                 Catamenia analis
Rusty Flowerpiercer                   Diglossa sittoides
Greenish Yellow-Finch                 Sicalis olivascens
+*Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch           Atlapetes nationi
Golden-bellied Grosbeak               Pheucticus chrysogaster
Scrub Blackbird                       Dives warszewiczi

MARCOPOMACOCHA (4600M+)

This was the highest altitude I have ever been anywhere in the world. It was a long drive up to the bogs and snowcapped peaks where we would search for some of the rarest birds in Peru and South America. Visibility was good as all the growth was stunted, but our movement was slow and we tired easily.

It was one of the greatest days of birding in my life especially for the furnarids we saw.

Andean Goose                          Chloephaga melanoptera
Crested Duck                          Anas specularioides
Mountain Caracara                     Phalcoboenus megalopterus
Andean Lapwing                        Vanellus resplendens
**Diademed Sandpiper-Plover           Phegornis mitchellii
(two in one location, five in the other in various plumages)
Puna Snipe                            Gallinago andina
Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe              Attagis gayi
(big flocks of them)
Gray-breasted Seedsnipe               Thinocorus orbignyianus
Andean Hillstar                       Oreotrochilus estella
+***Black-breasted Hillstar           Oreotrochilus melanogaster
Olivaceous Thornbill                  Chalcostigma olivaceum
(feeds by walking on the ground)
Andean Flicker                        Colaptes rupicola
+*Dark-winged Miner                   Geositta saxicolina
Pain-breasted Earthcreeper            Upucerthia jelskii
+Striated Earthcreeper                Upucerthia serrana
White-winged Cinclodes                Cinclodes atacamensis
+***White-bellied Cinclodes           Cinclodes palliatus
Cordilleran Canastero                 Asthenes modesta
+***Junin Canastero                   Asthenes virgata
Line-fronted Canastero                Asthenes urubambensis
Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant             Muscisaxicola maculirostris
Cinereous Ground-Tyrant               Muscisaxicola cinerea
White-fronted Ground-Tyrant           Muscisaxicola albifrons
Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant             Muscisaxicola flavinucha
Black Siskin                          Carduelis atrata
White-winged Diuca-Finch              Diuca speculifera
Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch            Sicalis uropygialis
 

LOMAS DE LANCHAY NEAR LIMA (250M)

It was election day in Peru, and everything was closed but we decided to try the reserve at Lomas de Lanchay anyway. We drove out of Lima into the hot, arid desert habitat – gray and rocky with cactus, moisture provided only by coastal fog. In a side canyon we finally found +Cactus Canastero.  The reserve at Lomas de Lanchay was closed, so we hiked around the gate and up the road and the hills to find a +Thick-billed Miner. The vegetation by the side the road which usually has Least Seedsnipe was dry and we didn’t see any. Their favorite food are shoots and there just weren’t any.

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle           Geranoaetus melanoleucus
Black Caracara                        Daptrius ater
American Kestrel                      Falco sparverius
Bat Falcon                            Falco rufigularis
*Tawny-throated Dotterel              Oreopholus ruficollis
Croaking Ground-Dove                  Columbina cruziana
+*Coastal Miner                       Geositta peruviana
Grayish Miner                         Geositta maritima
+*Thick-billed Miner                  Geositta crassirostris
+**Cactus Canastero                   Asthenes cactorum
Vermilion Flycatcher                  Pyrocephalus rubinus
Short-tailed Field-Tyrant             Muscigralla brevicauda
Blue-and-white Swallow                Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
Cinereous Conebill                    Conirostrum cinereum
Blue-and-yellow Tanager               Thraupis bonariensis
Rufous-collared Sparrow               Zonotrichia capensis

STOPS ON THE ROAD FROM LIMA TO PUCUSANA, MINI-PELAGIC FROM PUCUSANA, VILLA MARSHES NEAR LIMA (SEA LEVEL)

Our last day in Peru was spent at a leisurely pace along the coast between Lima and the fishing village of Pucusana. We stopped in San Pedro and birded the agricultural fields and the coast, and we stopped along the highway wherever we saw any habitat in the gray desert. We spent a few hours at the Villa Marshes including the coastal habitat where we searched for Least
Seedsnipe through the fence where they are supposed to be but no luck.

*Humboldt Penguin                     Spheniscus humboldti
(four swimming in the ocean about an hour's boat ride toward Sta.Maria statue from Pucusana)
Pied-billed Grebe                     Podilymbus podiceps
*Great Grebe                          Podiceps major
Peruvian Pelican                      Pelecanus thagus
Peruvian Booby                        Sula variegata
Guanay Cormorant                      Phalacrocorax bougainvillii
Red-legged Cormorant                  Phalacrocorax gaimardi
Great Egret                           Ardea alba
Little Blue Heron                     Egretta caerulea
Snowy Egret                           Egretta thula
Cattle Egret                          Bubulcus ibis
Striated Heron                        Butorides striatus
Black-crowned Night-Heron             Nycticorax nycticorax
Puna Ibis                             Plegadis ridgwayi
White-cheeked Pintail                 Anas bahamensis
Cinnamon Teal                         Anas cyanoptera
Andean Duck                           Oxyura ferruginea
Black Vulture                         Coragyps atratus
Cinereous Harrier                     Circus cinereus
American Kestrel                      Falco sparverius
Common Moorhen                        Gallinula chloropus
Slate-colored Coot                    Fulica ardesiaca
Blackish Oystercatcher                Haematopus ater
Black-necked Stilt                    Himantopus mexicanus
Peruvian Thick-knee                   Burhinus superciliaris
Killdeer                              Charadrius vociferus
Tawny-throated Dotterel               Oreopholus ruficollis
Ruddy Turnstone                       Arenaria interpres
Surfbird                              Aphriza virgata
Band-tailed Gull                      Larus belcheri
Gray Gull                             Larus modestus
Kelp Gull                             Larus dominicanus
Gray-headed Gull                      Larus cirrocephalus
*Inca Tern                            Larosterna inca
Eared Dove                            Zenaida auriculata
Pacific Dove                          Zenaida meloda
Croaking Ground-Dove                  Columbina cruziana
Groove-billed Ani                     Crotophaga sulcirostris
Wren-like Rushbird                    Phleocryptes melanops
Many-colored Rush-Tyrant              Tachuris rubrigastra
Vermilion Flycatcher                  Pyrocephalus rubinus
Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant              Muscisaxicola macloviana
Short-tailed Field-Tyrant             Muscigralla brevicauda
House Wren                            Troglodytes aedon
Collared Warbling-Finch               Poospiza hispaniolensis
Variable Seedeater                    Sporophila corvina
Drab Seedeater                        Sporophila simplex

THIS IS THE END OF THE TRIP REPORT!

Detailed questions, discussions, corrections, opinions welcome at all times
on or off line.

Garry George
Los Angeles
garrygeorge@msn.com