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Abancay, Machu Picchu and Abra Malaga

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Abancay, Machu Picchu and Abra Malaga MANU EXPEDITIONS BIRDING AND WILDLIFE TOURS [email protected] www.Birding-In-Peru.com A TRIP REPORT FOR A BIRDING TRIP TO ABANCAY, MACHU PICCHU AND ABRA MALAGA November 29th – December 4th - 2013 Trip Leader: Silverio Duri Quite a few days not only the fabulous Machu Picchu Ruins but 15 Peruvian endemics and other range restricted species, many of them endangered. BIRDING LOCALITIES AROUND ABANCAY, ABRA MALAGA AND MACHU-PICCHU Andahuaylas road – below Abancay S 09 05 162 W 077 47 732 (2370 meters) Huanipaca road - S 10 01 017 W 072 53 071 (3325 mts) Abra Malaga - Polylepis forest west slope 13° 8'36.72"S 72°18'16.10"W (4435m) Abra Malaga - East slope cloud forest at Canchailloc S 13 06 943 W 072 20 433 (2632m) Machu Picchu Ruins S13 09 851 W 072 32 619 (2950 meters) Puente Ruinas - Aguas Calientes Machu Picchu S13 09 851 W 072 32 619 (2010m) DAY BY DAY ACTIVITIES November 04th: Afternoon flight from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco and right away continue our journey to Abancay and after arrival to Abancay we just had dinner and rested for an early start next day. Night in Abancay at “Hotel de Turistas” November 05th: Abancay to Ollantaytambo; early morning without breakfast we drove down to Pachachaca road for the Koepcke’s (Apurimac) Screech-Owl where it responded right away and 1 come very close to as and then we waited for better light and to go onto the Andahuaylas road for the Pale-tailed Canastero where we also where lucky to get it right away and then return it to the Hotel for breakfast and after breakfast we head to Ollantaytambo with some birding stops along the way; the first official stop was bellow the pass where some saw the “Ampay “ Tapaculo and after the pass we went to the Huanipaca road for the rest of our target birds and better views of the Ampay Tapaculo and the rest of the Apurimac specialties where we did very well, finding the rest of the Apurimac targets as we got to a good patch of forest, and after that we drove straight back to Ollantaytambo. Overnight at Pakaritampu Hotel November 06th: Abra Malaga Polylepis woodlands (west slope), where we had a great view of the Royal Cinclodes that responded well to playback. Night at the (Pakaritampu Hotel) November 07th: Abra Malaga east slope (cloud forest) - night at the (Pakaritampu Hotel) – end of the trip for our good friend Hector who returned back to Cusco that afternoon with our bus. November 08th: Ollantaytambo to Machu-Picchu (Aguas Caliente); after we arrived we met our local guide Vilma to do the tour of the Inca ruins after the tour we had lunch and right after lunch we went birding all the way down to the (Puente Ruinas) and along the Urubamba River and all the way back to our Hotel. Overnight at Aguas Caliente bellow Machu-Picchu (El Mapi Hotel). November 09th: A rainy morning that we couldn’t do much until almost at mid morning I got permission to get into the Machu-Picchu Pueblo Hotel ground where we spent it our time until the rain stop and then we went onto the trail rail along the Urubamba River for birding where we got some of our missing targets and then back to Aguas Calientes town for lunch and after lunch we just waited for our train back to Cusco via Poroy station - return to Cusco at the Casa Andina Plaza Hotel; and good dinner outside of the Hotel and very nice show at the restaurant. November 10th: End of the trip. 2 The Key to the Bird list RED – IUCN RED LIST CATEGORY SACC = South American Classification Committee IOC = International Ornithological Congress RR = Range restricted species E = Peruvian Endemic *= Heard Only THE BIRDLIST Family: ANATIDAE - DUCKS Andean Goose - Chloephaga melanoptera Seen at Abra Malaga both days Torrent Duck - Merganetta armata turneri Fantastic views along the Urubamba River on our way in and out to Machu-Picchu; how on earth does this species cope “acoustically” by living in such torrential waters? Yellow-billed (Speckled) Teal - Anas flavirostris Common at Huaypo Lake – seen late in the afternoon on our way to Ollantaytambo from Abancay Yellow-billed Pintail - Anas georgica Also seen at Huaypo Lake Puna Teal - Anas puna Common Cinnamon Teal - Anas cyanoptera Common Family: PODICIPEDIDAE - GREBES White-tufted Grebe – Rollandia rolland Several seen at Huaypo Lake on our way to Ollantaytambo from Abancay. Family: PHALACROCORACIDAE - CORMORANTS Neotropic Cormorant – Phalacrocorax brasilianus Common Family: ARDEIDAE - HERONS Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis Common Family: ACCIPITRIDAE - HAWKS & EAGLES Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle – Geranoaetus melanoleucus One seen on the Huanipaca road at Abancay Variable Hawk - Buteo polysoma Seen around Abancay and Abra Malaga; the taxonomy of this group is confusing, and some people try to split it as Puna Hawk B. poecilochrous and Red-backed Hawk B. polyosoma. SACC comment: Farquhar (1988) concluded that Buteo poecilochrous and B. polyosoma are conspecific, as they were formerly treated; he was unable to find any way to reliably diagnose the two forms using plumage characters or measurements. Ridgely & Greenfield (2001), Jaramillo (2003), and Schulenberg et al. (2007) followed this 3 treatment and suggested "Variable Hawk" be retained for the composite species. Genetic data (Riesing et al. 2003) are consistent with hypothesis that B. polyosoma and B. poecilochrous are conspecific. Family: RALLIDAE - RAILS Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata Common at the Huaypo Lake Andean Coot - Fulica ardesiaca Common Family: CHARADRIIDAE - PLOVERS Andean Lapwing - Vanellus resplendens Common around Abra Malaga Family: RECURVIROSTRIDAE - STILTS White-backed Stilt – Himantopus melanurus Seen at Huaypo Lake Family: SCOLOPACIDAE – SANDPIPERS AND SNIPES Greater Yellowlegs – Tringa melanoleuca Also seen at Huaypo Lake Lesser Yellowlegs – Tringa flavipes Common Family: LARIDAE - GULLS Andean Gull - Chroicocephalus serranus Common at Abra Malaga Family: COLUMBIDAE – PIGEONS AND DOVES Spot-winged Pigeon - Patagioenas maculosa Quiet common around Ollantaytambo, common at the Pakaritampu hotel Band-tailed Pigeon – Patagioenas fasciata Seen in the humid Montane forest of west slope at Abra Malaga White-tipped Dove - Leptotila verreauxi decipiens Common below Abancay and Machu-Picchu Family: STRIGIDAE – TYPICAL OWLS E Koepcke’s Screech Owl - Megascops koepckeae hockingi Great view of one individual along the “Pachachaca” road – responded really well to playback. These Apurimac birds represent the hockingi subspecies – slight vocal differences between these and the northern Peruvian populations, and they tend to ignore playback of the northern calls. Family: APODIDAE - SWIFTS White-collared Swift - Streptoprocne zonaris Seen at Abra Malaga White-tipped Swift - Aeronautes montivagus Very nice views around Machu-Picchu 4 Koepcke’s Screech Owl –Fabrice Schmitt Family: TROCHILIDAE - HUMMINGBIRDS Sparkling Violet-ear - Colibri coruscans Common at Abancay and Machu-Picchu Amethyst - throated Sunangel - Heliangelus amethysticollis Good views at Machu-Picchu. They rae called sunagels due to their habit of lifting their wings in an angel- like manner on alighting in a branch Speckled Hummingbird - Adelomyia melanogenys Quiet common at Machu-Picchu RR Olivaceous Thornbill - Chalcostigma olivaceum Nice views on the west slope at Abra Malaga E Bearded Mountaineer - Oreonympha nobilis Seen around the ground of the Pakaritampu Hotel – a Peruvian endemic Tyrian Metaltail - Metallura tyrianthina Common at Abancay and in the east slope of Abra Malaga - Named after the color Tyrian purple; Variously known as Royal purple, Tyrian purple, purple of the ancients, this ancient dyestuff, mentioned in texts dating about 1600 BC, was produced from the mucus of the hypobranchial gland of various species of marine mollusks, notably Murex. Although originating in old port of Tyre in modern day Syria (hence the name), man's first large scale chemical industry spread throughout the world. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the use of the dye also declined and large scale production ceased with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It was replaced by other cheaper dyes like lichen purple and madder RR Scaled Metaltail - Metallura aeneocauda One seen at Abra Malaga east slope. A hard one anywhere. RR Sapphire-vented Puffleg – Eriocnemis luciani sapphiropygia Seen at Abra Malaga east slope – previously split as Coppery-naped Puffleg 5 Shining Sunbeam – Aglaeactis cupripennis Seen at Abancay and west slope of Abra Malaga E White-tufted Sunbeam - Aglaeactis castelnaudii Two + seen on the Huanipaca road – a Peruvian endemic. Named for Louis Nompar de Caumont Laporte Comte de de Castelnau ( 1810-1880) French diplomat collector and exporer. Collared Inca – Coeliegena torquata Common at the Machu-Picchu Pueblo Hotel Violet-throated Starfrontlet – Coeligena violifer Very good views by the east slope of Abra Malaga Sword-billed Hummingbird – Ensifera ensifera A brief view on the east slope of Abra Malaga Chestnut-breasted Coronet- Boissonneauta matthewsii Common at the feeders of Machu-Picchu Pueblo Hotel. Booted Racket-tail - Ocreatus underwoodii Seen at Machu-Picchu. Giant Hummingbird – Patagona gigas Very common at the Pakaritampu Hotel in Ollantaytambo. White-bellied Hummingbird - Amazilia chionogaster Good views at Abancay and at the Pakaritampu Hotel E Green and White Hummingbird - Amazilia viridicauda Quiet common at Machu Picchu but we had good studies at the garden of the Pakaritampu Hotel Family: MOMOTIDAE - MOTMOTS Andean Motmot - Momotus aequatorialis Seen in two consecutive days around Machu-Picchu; M. aequatorialis
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